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"If corporations are people, why can't we put them in jail?"
Drop All Charges on the 'Occupy Wall Street' Arrestees!
Stop Police Attacks & Arrests! Support 'Occupy Wall Street'!
SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION AT http://bailoutpeople.org/dropchargesonoccupywallstarrestees.shtml to send email messages to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NYC City Council, NYPD, the NY Congressional Delegation, Congressional Leaders, the NY Legislature, President Obama, Attorney General Holder, members of the media YOU WANT ALL CHARGES DROPPED ON THE 'OCCUPY WALL STREET ARRESTEES!
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This drawing has come to symbolize the California prison hunger strike and the solidarity it has generated. It was contributed by Rashid Johnson, a prisoner in Red Onion Prison, Virginia.
California Prison Hunger Strike Resumes as Sides Dig In
"The new protocols seek to isolate inmates participating in the strike from those in the general population and potentially subject them to disciplinary measures, while prisoners identified as strike leaders could potentially be denied contact with visitors and even lawyers. In addition, two lawyers who had helped mediate talks were temporarily barred from state prisons last week because 'their presence in the institution/facility presents a security threat.' But Ms. Weills said other prisoners told her that those four did so because they could no longer endure conditions at the administrative housing unit where they had been moved. 'We're freezing,' Ronald Yandell, one of the strike leaders, said to Ms. Weills this week. 'The air-conditioner is blowing. It's like arctic air coming through, blowing at top speed. It's torture. They're trying to break us.'"
By IAN LOVETT
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/us/hunger-strike-resumes-in-california-prisons.html?ref=us
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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
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A. EVENTS AND ACTIONS
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OCTOBER 9TH, Sunday, 3:00-6:30pm, AFGHANISTAN PEACE DAY
37260 Fremont Blvd., Fremont. Join hands with the Afghanistan community
in Fremont. Together we have a stronger voice. Please wear SKY BLUE, the color chosen by the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers inside Afghanistan.
www.AfghansForPeace.org
http://journeytosmile.wordpress.com/
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United National Antiwar Committee
UNACpeace@gmain.com or UNAC at P.O. Box 123, Delmar, NY 12054
518-227-6947
www.UNACpeace.org
UNITED NATIONAL ANTIWAR COMMITTEE (UNAC) CALLS FOR ACTIONS IN OCTOBER
TO MARK 10 YEARS OF WAR ON AFGHANISTAN
On June 22, the White House defied the majority of Americans who want an end to the war in Afghanistan. Instead of announcing the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops, contractors, bases, and war dollars, Obama committed to removing only one twentieth of the US forces on the ground in Afghanistan over the next eight months. Another 23,000 will supposedly be withdrawn just in time to influence the 2012 elections. Even if the President follows thru on this plan, nearly 170,000 US soldiers and contractors will remain in Afghanistan. All veterans and soldiers will be raising the question, "Who will be the last U.S. combatant to die in Afghanistan?"
In truth, the President's plan is not a plan to end the war in Afghanistan. It was, instead, an announcement that the U.S. was changing strategy. As the New York Times reported, the US will be replacing the "counterinsurgency strategy" adopted 18 months ago with the kind of campaign of drone attacks, assassinations, and covert actions that the US has employed in Pakistan.
At a meeting of the United National Antiwar Committee's National Coordinating Committee, held in NYC on June 18, representatives of 47 groups voted to endorse the nonviolent civil resistance activities beginning on October 6 in Washington, D.C. and to call for nationally coordinated local actions on October 15 to protest the tenth anniversary of the US war in Afghanistan. UNAC urges activists in as many cities as possible to hold marches, picket lines, teach-ins, and other events to say:
· Withdraw ALL US/NATO Military Forces, Contractors, and Bases out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya NOW!
· End drone attacks on defenseless populations in Pakistan and Yemen!
· End US Aid to Israel! Hands Off Iran!
· Bring Our War Dollars Home Now! Money for Jobs and Education, Not for War and Incarceration!
In this message:
The Wall Street Occupation continues
October 15
NATO/G8 protests in Chicago
UNAC conference
The Wall Street Occupation continues.
The Wall Street occupation is continuing despite dozens of arrests on Friday. A number of UNAC supporters have joined the occupation. You can join the occupation virtually by joining the viewers of the livestream at: http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution. Here is another video of the occupation from Stan Heller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rfuvDr2wJQ
October 15.
UNAC calls for protest in local areas on October 15 to protest the 10th anniversary of the war on Afghanistan. Click here for a partial list of action:
http://nepajac.org/oct15.htm
Click here to add you action to the national list:
http://www.jotform.com/form/12185630202
NATO/G8 protests in Chicago.
UNAC, along with other organizations and activists, has formed a coalition to help organize protests in Chicago during the week of May 15 - 22 while NATO and G8 are holding their summit meetings. The new coalition was formed at a meeting of 163 people representing 73 different organization in Chicago on August 28 and is called Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda (CANGATE). For a report on the Chicago meeting, click here: http://nepajac.org/chicagoreport.htm
To add your email to the new CANGATE listserve, send an email to cangate-subscribe@lists.riseup.net.
To have your organization endorse the NATO/G8 protest, please click here:
https://www.nationalpeaceconference.org/NATO_G8_protest_support.html
Click here to hear audio of the August 28 meeting:
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/54145
Click here for the talk by Marilyn Levin, UNAC co-coordinator at the August 28 meeting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1tHQ7ilDJ8&NR=1
Click here for Pat Hunts welcome to the meeting and Joe Iosbaker's remarks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoNGcnBGGfI
UNAC Conference.
The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) conference originally scheduled for November, 11-13, 2011, has been rescheduled for March 23-25, 2012, in order to tie in to organizing efforts for building massive protests at the NATO/G-8 Summits in Chicago, May 15-22, and to have sufficient time to generate an action program for the next stage of building a mass movement for social change.
Organizations are invited to endorse this conference by clicking here:
http://www.jotform.com/form/12685942513
Donations are needed for bringing international speakers and to subsidize attendance of students and low income participants. Contributions will be accepted at www.UNACpeace.org.
For the initial conference flyer, click here:
http://nepajac.org/conferenceflyer.pdf
Click here to donate to UNAC:
https://nationalpeaceconference.org/Donate.html
Click here for the Facebook UNAC group:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_157059221012587&ap=1
Oct. 15-22, 2011 antiwar week of solidarity and in defense of civil liberties...
Marking the 10th year of the U.S. war against the people of Afghanistan...
Bring the Troops Home Now! Civil Liberties for all!
Fightback Tour!
No to FBI Repression, Government Islamophobia and War
Civil Liberties for All!
Featuring:
Stephen Downs, Albany, NY civil liberties attorney; Legal Counsel, Project Salam (Support and Legal Advocacy for Muslims); Leading national spokesman against government-promoted Islamophobia and repression against the Islamic-American communities
Jess Sundin, Chicago Grand Jury subpoena victim and solidarity/antiwar activist facing, along with 23 others, felony charges of conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism. Twin Cities antiwar activist; Leader, Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Other tour speakers participating in some of the meetings listed below include:
• Zahra Billoo, Executive Director, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations)
• Hatem Bazian, Palestinian-American UC Berkeley Professor of Near Eastern Studies
• Carlos Villarreal, Exec. Dir., National Lawyers Guild
• Rep., United National Antiwar Coalition
• Michael Thurman, Bradley Manning Support Network
• Laura Herrera, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Jeff Mackler, Lynne Stewart Defense Committee and Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Rep., Immigrant rights community
October 15-22 Initial Tour Schedule
Sat., October 15, 2:30 - 4 PM, 1182 Market Street (near 8th Street) Suite 203, San Francisco, Sponsor: SF Gray Panthers, reception/meeting, donations accepted 415-552-8800, graypanthers-sf@sbcglobal.net
Sat., October 15, 7 PM, 518 Valencia St. (near 16th St.), San Francisco, Main sponsor: Northern California UNAC 510-268-9429. $10 sliding scale. No one turned away.
Sun., October 16, Oakland Reception/lunch/meeting at the home of Jeff Mackler... with KPFA friends, 1-4 PM, $20/no one turned away. RSVP: 510-268-9429
Monday, October 17, 7-9 PM, The Redwoods Auditorium, 40 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA, Sponsor, Mill Valley Seniors for Peace; Marin Peace and Justice Coalition warrenut@aol.com 415-389-9040 Free
Tuesday, Oct 18, 7pm, 909 12th St, Sacramento. Free/donation requested. Sponsors: Sacramento Valley Chapter, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, 916-369-5510 & Sacramento Area Peace Action,
Wednesday, October 19, Campus meeting to be announced.
Thursday, October 20, 7:30 PM Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar Street at Bonita, Berkeley, Free/donation requested.
Friday, October 21, 7:00 PM, Sonoma State University, Warren Auditorium (Tentative location) in Ives Hall (Directions to Warren Auditorium: At the Main Entrance to the University, turn left off of E. Cotati Avenue onto Sequoia Drive. Take the first right at the Information Booth onto Redwood Drive. Turn left into parking lot E. Ives Hall is the building on the North side of the parking lot.. Parking free after 5:00 pm), 707-874-2695 Sponsor: Project Censored: Media Democracy in Action and Santa Rosa Peace and Justice Center
Saturday, October 22, 2- 4 PM, San Jose Peace and Justice Center, 48 S. Seventh Street (between San Fernando and Santa Clara Streets), San Jose, Sponsors: San Jose Peace and Justice Center and San Jose Committee to Stop FBI Repression. Donations accepted. 408-373-0817
Tour co-sponsors: United National Antiwar Coalition • National Lawyers Guild SF Bay Area Chapter Committee to Stop FBI Repression • Project Salam • San Jose Peace and Justice Center • Mill Valley Seniors for Peace • Marin Peace and Justice Center • South Bay Committee to Stop Political Repression • Green Party of Alameda County • Oakland Education Association Peace and Justice Caucus • Peninsula Peace and Justice Center • Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists • International Action Center • International Socialist Organization • BAYAN/USA • Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal • Lynne Stewart Defense Committee • Code Pink San Francisco • Socialist Viewpoint • Solidarity • Sacramento Area Peace Action • Socialist Action • Project Censored: Media Democracy in Action • Santa Rosa Peace and Justice Center • Sacramento Valley Chapter Women's International League for Peace and Freedom • Veterans for Peace Chapter 162 East Bay • Afghans for Peace • California Peace and Freedom Party • Michel Shehadeh, Case of the Los Angeles 8 • Cindy Sheehan, Peace activist • Courage to Resist • Muslim Peace Coalition/USA • Samina Sundas, Founding Executive, American Muslim Voice • Bay Area Committee To Stop Political Repression
All meetings wheelchair accessible. All meetings co-sponsored by United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC), 510-268-9429 jmackler@lmi.net
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Please share this announcement widely
MoveOn.org East Bay Council, Alameda Labor Council, San Francisco Labor Council,
New Priorities Campaign, U.S. Labor Against the War and Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15
1PM Rally at Laney College
2:30 PM March to Federal Building & Frank Ogawa Plaza
Urge you to Rally & March for:
Jobs not Cuts !!!
Education not Incarceration
Work not War
Clean Energy not Climate Change
Social Security not Bank Bailouts
Main St. not Wall St.
Prosperity not Austerity
Hands Off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid!
End the Wars! Invest in Our Communities!
BRING ALL THE TROOPS AND WAR DOLLARS HOME!
We want an economy that supports the rights of all people to jobs at decent pay in safe workplaces, affordable healthcare for all, decent affordable housing, quality education in modern schools, a secure retirement, and a clean sustainable environment. We oppose cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other social programs. The rich, corporations, Wall St. banks and financial speculators should pay to fix the crisis that their irresponsibility and greed created. We have made our sacrifices. Now they should make theirs.
Make your voices heard!
www.jobs-not-cuts.org
For more information and to register endorsements, write to:
MoveOnEastBay@gmail.com
NewPrioritiesCampaign@gmail.com
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The Call for the 16th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation
Saturday, October 22,2011
12:00 NOON
3rd Street and Palou
San Francisco
(Endorse this call, forward to others. Return endorsements to oct22bayarea@gmail.com or call 510 206-0742)
Across the U.S., Black, Latino, and poor neighborhoods are treated like occupied territory by increasingly militarized armies of law enforcement. People are criminalized and brutalized for their perceived status - socioeconomic, immigration, mental health, and/or racial, gender, or sexual identity. People living in our communities, especially youth, are routinely stopped, harassed, beaten, and even killed.
--In Chicago, the home of the first Black president, police have shot 44 people so far this year, mostly youth of color, including 13-year-old Jimmell Cannon, who was shot eight times.
--NYPD continues to stop hundreds of thousands of youth of color every year for the most minimal suspicion, fewer than 10 percent of which result in arrest, and far fewer in charges or conviction.
--Police nationwide continue to kill with very little consequence. Twelve Miami cops shot at 22-year-old Raymond Herisse 100 times, then threatened those who recorded the incident, destroying their cellphones. A Tucson SWAT team shot at 26-year-old Iraq War veteran Jose Guerena over 70 times, claiming that he fired at them and then leaving him to bleed to death in his home. Both their allegations of gunfire and drug-dealing were later revealed to be false. In New York and New Jersey, at least 27 people have been killed by police since October 22 of last year, while at least 35 people have been killed by law enforcement in Washington State in the last 12 months. The killing of 22-year old Oscar Grant in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2009 resulted in a rare conviction for the officer who shot him; however, he was freed after mere months in prison, while people protesting the outrageous verdict were met with police violence and mass arrests. In the weeks following that cop's release, SF cops killed Charles Hill, a 45-year-old homeless man, on a subway platform and 19-year old Kenneth Harding after he supposedly failed to pay a $2 train fare, then left him dying on the pavement in front of dozens of outraged witnesses.
--Police routinely abuse the mentally ill and disabled. Fullerton, CA cops beat to death homeless and mentally ill 27-year-old Kelly Thomas, described by many in the community as "a gentle, childlike soul." In Fresno, CA, 28-year-old Raul Rosas, Jr. died after being tasered by police. His girlfriend said "I didn't call the Fresno County Sheriff to kill him. I called because he needed help with his mental illness." Raul went into cardiac arrest and was denied access to three medical ambulances that showed up to assist.
--Recently enacted anti-immigrant laws have given police in the states of Arizona, Georgia, and Alabama sweeping powers to stop people "suspected" of being undocumented on no other basis than appearance. The hostility and racism stoked by these policies have already culminated in violence, as seen in the killing of 15-year-old Sergio Adrián Hernández Güereka by a border patrol agent and the beating death of 42-year-old Anastasio Hernández Rojas at the hands of La Migra. More than one million have been deported under the Obama administration.
--Racially targeted mass incarceration exacerbates the criminalization and marginalization of Black people, playing the same role as the Jim Crow laws that sprang from the Virginia slave codes of 1705. In 1954, 90,000 Black people were incarcerated. Now, over 900,000 Black people are imprisoned, a tenfold increase, while the total U.S. Black population has merely doubled in the same period. The U.S. also has the highest incarceration rate worldwide, with 2.4 million people in prison.
--Law enforcement continues to harass and sexually assault people, most especially women and the transgendered. According to the website InjusticeEverywhere.com, sexual misconduct was the second most common complaint (following excessive force) against police in 2010, involving 618 cops.
--Young schoolchildren are increasingly labeled and treated as criminals by school security and local police. Eight-year-old Aidan Elliot was peppersprayed and handcuffed by Colorado police, and ten-year-old Sofia Bautista was removed from her elementary school, then taken to a NYPD precinct, handcuffed, and interrogated for hours, while police nationwide continue to use tasers on students as young as six.
Meanwhile, repression against those who take action against injustices continues to escalate. Over a dozen activists with Food Not Bombs have been arrested in Orlando for feeding the homeless in public parks. The killings of Oscar Grant, Kenneth Harding, Kelly Thomas, Raymond Herisse, and John T. Williams in Seattle were all caught on video. Now, as if in retaliation against the subsequent public outrage, police in cities and towns nationwide have attacked and arrested people merely for recording their activity, while in Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts, video-recording the police is now explicitly illegal. Cops haven't stopped killing and brutalizing people--they're just making it a crime to record them while they do. Repression against progressive and antiwar activism has intensified: simultaneous FBI raids on activists from numerous antiwar and international solidarity organizations in three U.S. cities took place on September 24, 2010. Twenty-three activists now face serious jail time for refusing to participate in the ensuing grand jury witch hunts that clearly intend to discourage and intimidate would-be dissenters.
These vicious attacks are not going down without opposition. Whether standing up to police violence when it happens, as we saw in the video of Kenneth Harding's shooting, or organizing inspiring prison strikes in Georgia and California, people are uniting to fight back. Determined outcry from people nationwide against the shooting of unarmed men crossing the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina has finally brought convictions of the guilty cops and exposed the sort of extensive cover-ups that are routine with police shootings. More and more crimes against the people are being revealed, as we have seen with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' Operation Fast and Furious, which intentionally provided weapons to Mexican drug cartels, and the overturning of over 4,000 convictions of youth in Pennsylvania after it was found that juvenile judge Mark Ciavarella received kickbacks from private for-profit detention centers.
Once we have seen the man behind the curtain, how can we pretend he is not there? One thing we know from years of experience is that when this system has to answer to organized people, it can't easily get away with all the things it's used to doing. Resistance matters.
THE VIOLENCE OF THE COPS, THE COURTS, THE FBI, LA MIGRA, AND HOMELAND SECURITY IS INTENSIFYING. OUR RESISTANCE MUST INTENSIFY AS WELL! Every year, thousands of people nationwide express their outrage, creativity, and resistance in response to the crimes of this system. People speak out and perform, they march in the streets, and more. The October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation embraces and encourages any and all such expressions of people's righteous outrage.
As said by the mother of Gil Barber, gunned down by a deputy in High Point, NC in 2001, "October 22nd is our day." ORGANIZE against these injustices! BREAK DOWN the barriers between communities that these crimes seek to strengthen! MOBILIZE people of all communities in the most visible way...and on October 22, 2011, WEAR BLACK! FIGHT BACK!
JOIN US if there is already an October 22nd event in your area. CREATE one if you are in an area where there is currently no group organizing. For listings of activities in your area, check the websitewww.october22.org.
To start building for an event in your area, email info@october22.org
TO ENDORSE THIS CALL, SIGN BELOW AND MAIL TO: October 22, P.O. Box 2627, New York, NY 10009, along with your tax-deductible donation to the national organizing effort. Suggested donation $15.00 (paid to "IFCO/October 22")
Name: ___________________________________________
Email: ____________________________________________
Organization: __________________________________________________________* (note if for identification purposes only)
Signature: __________________________________________________________
You may also make this endorsement directly on the website www.october22.org
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MEDICARE IN THE CROSS-HAIRS
SOCIAL SECURITY NEXT?
SAN FRANCISCO LABOR COUNCIL TEACH-IN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011, 7:30-9PM
Plumbers Union Hall, 1621 Market St., S.F.
(5 blocks from Civic Center BART station)
For more information call Carl, San Francisco Labor Council Education Project
415-829-3816
CUTTING MEDICARE-MEDICAID IS THE POLITICIANS CONSENSUS #1 BUDGET TARGET
• President Obama has just proposed a $248 billion cut in Medicare as a starter & another $72 billion in Medicaid cuts.
• Obama indicated September 19 he will support cutting more than $320 Billion if Republicans agree with him on taxes.
• Vice-President Joe Biden last June offered Republicans to cut $400-$500 billion in Medicare-Medicaid
• Republicans last April proposed to raise out-of-pocket costs for Medicare for seniors by $7,000 per year
• The 'Supercommittee' of 12 in Congress said last week they want to cut even more than Obama has proposed. They will report 'how much' more on November 19.
• Congress will vote on how much more in Medicare-Medicaid cuts before December 23.
How Much Will Your Medicare Be Cut?
How Much More Will You Have to Pay?
Come Hear the Facts
Open Discussion to Follow
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For Immediate Release
Howard Petrick's "Rambo" - anti-VietNam activist tells his story-Marsh Berkeleyu-Oct 20-Dec 10
The Little Guy Takes on the Pentagon in Howard Petrick's "Rambo: The Missing Years" at The Marsh-Berkeley, Oct 20-Dec 10
The Hilarious and True Story of the Private Who Protested the Viet Nam War - While Still in the Army!
"Howard's show is proof you can fight bureaucracy and win. How he does so is told with aplomb and a certain sense of mischievousness." - Vancouver Fringe
"The potency of the show...springs from Petrick's first-hand account of his anti-Vietnam activism from within the army...this comes with an intriguing authenticity."- Winnipeg Free Press
"Petrick delivers...For 60 minutes he has you laughing through the fear." - Winnipeg Uptown
San Francisco. September 26, 2011. The Vancouver Sun calls San Francisco's Howard Petrick, "a guy who really knows how to get up the nose of the war machine." Petrick's Rambo: The Missing Years is an hilarious - and true - account of the misadventures of a Vietnam-era draftee who frustrates the military brass by asserting his right to organize his fellow GIs against the war. Petrick's Rambo - not to be confused in the least with the Sylvester Stallone action figure - plays at The Marsh-Berkeley, 2120 Alston Way in Berkeley, October 20 through December 10.
The story begins as Petrick (aka 'Hanoi Howie") reports for the draft and refuses to fill out the forms, befuddling the military bureaucracy for the first of many times to come. Yet, during his time of service he maintains an unblemished military record, breaks no rules, and continues to carry out his military duties.
Directed by Mark Kenward and developed with David Ford, the show plays on Thursday and Friday at 7:00 pm and Saturday at 8:30 pm from October 20 to December 10, 2011 (press opening November 4, no performance on Thanksgiving Day) at The Cabaret at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, near Shattuck. The public may visit www.themarsh.org or call 415-282-3055.
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International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
La Colmenita, the National Children's Theater of Cuba, US tour 2011
Whether you are 7 or 70, Abracadabra will move you...Come and enjoy!
ABRACADABRA is not a play. It is an act of Justice and Life, written mainly by children who share the dream of freedom. A teacher invites her students to walk the road to the essences, through five very true stories of heroism and virtue.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
Wednesday October 26, 7pm
East Bay Center for the Performing Arts
339 11th Street, Richmond, CA 94801-3105
Suggested donation at the door $10, Children Free
http://eastbaycenter.org/Events/EventsbyDate/tabid/261/Default.aspx
Thursday October 27, 1pm
Esperanza Elementary School, Oakland
Private Presentation
Friday October 28, 7:30pm & Saturday October 29, 2pm
Fort Mason Center, Cowell Theater
Entrance at intersection of Marina Blvd. and Buchanan St., San Francisco, CA 94123
Tickets $20, Students & Seniors $15, Children Free
www.fortmason.org/events/events-details?id=2026
Tickets on line: http://lacolmenita.eventbrite.com
For more information about performances in your area, please visit:
www.lacolmenitacuba.com
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Here is the official statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression on the 1-year anniversary of the raids.
Build the Movement Against Political Repression
One year since the September 24 FBI Raids and Grand Jury Subpoenas
Statement of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, 9-22-2011
Please come to the Committee to Stop FBI Repression one-day Conference in Chicago on November 5, 2011.
http://www.stopfbi.net/national-conference-2011
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) is asking you to build the movement against political repression on the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids on anti-war and international solidarity activists. We need your continued solidarity as we build movements for peace, justice and equality.
The storm of political repression continues to expand and threaten. It is likely to intensify and churn into a destructive force with indictments, trials, and attempts to imprison anti-war activists. The last we knew, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was preparing multiple indictments as he and Attorney General Eric Holder attempt to criminalize the targeted activists and the movements to which we dedicate our lives.
It is one year since the FBI raided two homes in Chicago and five homes plus the Anti-War Committee office in Minneapolis, eventually handing out 23 subpoenas. The anti-war activists' homes were turned upside down and notebooks, cell phones, artwork, computers, passports and personal belongings were all carted off by the FBI. Anyone who has ever been robbed knows the feelings - shock and anger.
The man responsible for this assault on activists and their families, on free speech and the right to organize, is U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago. Fitzgerald has an ugly record of getting powerful Republicans like Dick Cheney and Karl Rove off the hook, while mercilessly pursuing an agenda to scare America into silence and submission with the phony 'war on terror.' Fitzgerald is attempting to criminalize anti-war activists with accusations of 'material support for terrorism,' involving groups in Palestine and Colombia.
First the U.S. government targeted Arabs and Muslims, violating their civil rights and liberties and spying on them. Then they came for the anti-war and international solidarity activists. We refuse to be criminalized. We continue to speak out and organize. We say, "Opposing U.S. war and occupation is not a crime!" We are currently building a united front with groups and movements to defeat Fitzgerald's reactionary, fear mongering assault on anti-war activism and to restore civil liberties taken away by the undemocratic USA PATRIOT Act.
Many people know the developments in the case, but for those who do not, we invite you to read a timeline at stopfbi.net. We think the repression centers on this: During the lead up to the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota, a federal law enforcement officer, using the phony name of "Karen Sullivan" got involved and joined the Anti-War Committee and Freedom Road Socialist Organization in Minneapolis. She lied to everyone she met and helped the FBI to disrupt many activities in the anti-war, international solidarity and labor movements in Minnesota - and also other states and even over in Palestine. It is outrageous.
In fact, many of those being investigated travelled to Colombia or Palestine to learn firsthand about U.S. government funding for war and oppression. There was no money given to any groups that the U.S. government lists as terrorist organizations. However, we met people who are a lot like most Americans - students, community organizers, religious leaders, trade unionists, women's group leaders and activists much like ourselves. Many of the U.S. activists wrote about their trips, did educational events, or helped organized protests against U.S. militarism and war. In a increasingly repressive period, this is enough to make one a suspect in Fitzgerald's office.
This struggle is far from one-sided however. The response to the FBI raids and the pushback from the movement is tremendous. Minneapolis and Chicago immediately organized a number of press conferences and rallies with hundreds of people. Over the first two weeks after the raids, 60 cities protested outside FBI offices, from New York to Kalamazoo, from traveled to the Bay Area. The National Lawyers Guild convention was in New Orleans the day of the FBI raids and they immediately issued a solidarity statement and got to work on the case. Solidarity poured in from anti-war, civil rights, religious and faith groups, students and unions. Groups and committees began working to obtain letters of support from members of Congress. The solidarity was overwhelming. It was great!
It is possible that U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald thought he was picking on an isolated group of activists. Instead, those raided proved to have many friends and allies from decades of work for social justice and peace. Over the months, all the targeted activists refused to appear at the grand jury dates set by U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald's office. In November 2010, a large crew of us travelled to New York City to found the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, after the United National Antiwar Committee meeting.
In December 2010, U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald's office called in three of the Minnesota women and threatened them. We prepared a campaign in case they were jailed for refusing to speak. The FBI also delivered subpoenas to nine more Arab-American and Palestine solidarity activists in December. Their grand jury date was on Jan. 25, 2011, and we organized protests in over 70 American cities, plus a few overseas. The movement was building and expanding, so we organized conferences with over 800 participants in the Midwest, the South, and on the East and West Coasts. While we were organizing a pushback, the FBI was making new plans.
On May 17, 2011, at 5:00 a.m., the Los Angeles, California Sheriff, under the direction of the FBI, busted down the front door of Chicano leader Carlos Montes, storming in with automatic weapons drawn and shouting. The early morning raid was supposedly about weapons and permits, but they seized decades of notes and writings about the Chicano, immigrant rights, education rights and anti-war movements. The FBI attempted to question Carlos Montes while he was handcuffed and in the back of a L.A. sheriff squad car. Montes is going to another preliminary court date on Sept. 29, prepared to face six felony charges, carrying up to three years in prison for each, knowing he is extraordinarily targeted by the FBI. We will walk every step of the way with Carlos Montes, and more. Montes was with us at the Republican National Convention protests; his name was included on the search warrant for the Anti-War Committee office in Minneapolis, and the FBI attempted to question him about this case. We ask you to support Carlos Montes and to organize speaking events with him and local protests on his important court dates, Sept. 29 being the next one.
The same week the FBI raided Carlos Montes in May 2011, the CSFR came back with a big revelation - we released a set of documents, the FBI game plan, which the FBI mistakenly left behind in a file drawer at one of the homes. The FBI documents are on the CSFR website and are fascinating to read. Fitzgerald and company developed 102 questions that come right from a McCarthy witch-hunt trial of the 1950s. It is like turning back the clock five decades.
The whole intention of the raids is clear: They want to paint activists as 'terrorists' and shut down the organizing. They came at a time when the rich and powerful are frightened of not just the masses of people overseas, but of the people in their own country. With a failing U.S. war in Afghanistan, a U.S. occupation of Iraq predicted to last decades, a new war for oil and domination in Libya, a failing immigration policy that breaks up families and produces super-profits for big business, and now a long and deep economic crisis that is pushing large segments of working people into poverty, the highest levels of the U.S. government are turning to political repression.
The only hope for the future is in building stronger, consistent and determined movements. In a principled act of solidarity, the 23 subpoenaed activists refuse to testify before the grand jury. This sets an example for others.
In addition, the outpouring of support and mobilization into the streets from the anti-war, international solidarity, civil rights, labor and immigrant rights movements means that not one of the 24 has spent a single day in jail. That is a victory.
We ask you to stand with us, to stay vigilant and to hold steady as we proceed to organize against wars abroad and injustice at home and as we defend Carlos Montes from the FBI charade in Los Angeles.
Committee to Stop FBI Repression - www.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 55414
Add us to your address book
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White House Petition for Leonard Peltier
http://tinyurl.com/3qq4muc
A petition in favor of granting clemency to Leonard Peltier is now on the We the People portion of the White House Web site. We have 30 days (until October 22) to get 5,000 signatures in order for our petition to be reviewed by the White House. This petition may only allow US signatories.
Sign the petition here:
http://tinyurl.com/3qq4muc
Due to heavy site traffic, you may have trouble accessing the petition. Keep trying until you succeed. Try during off-peak hours.
Email our petition to your friends, family and others who care about this issue.
Facebook: Post our petition to your Facebook wall to let folks know about it. Here's a sample message you can cut and paste into your Facebook status: Petition for Leonard Peltier on the White House site, We the People. Will you sign it?
Twitter: Tweet about your petition. Here's a sample tweet you can use: Leonard Peltier petition on the White House site, We the People. Will you sign it?
Let's do it!
Launched into cyberspace by the
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
PO Box 7488, Fargo, ND 58106
www.whoisleonardpeltier.info
The Petition:
we petition the obama administration to:
grant clemency to Native American activist Leonard Peltier without delay.
10th Circuit Court of Appeals: "...Much of the government's behavior... and its prosecution of Leonard Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed."
While others were acquitted on grounds of self defense, Peltier was convicted in connection with the 1975 shooting deaths of two FBI agents. Evidence shows that prosecutors knowingly presented false statements to a Canadian court to extradite Peltier and manufactured the murder weapon (the gun and shell casings entered into evidence didn't match; this fact was hidden from the jury). The number of constitutional violations in this case is simply staggering.
It's time to right this wrong. Mr. President, you can and must free Leonard Peltier.
Created: Sep 22, 2011
Issues: Civil Rights and Liberties, Human Rights
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/grant-clemency-native-american-activist-leonard-peltier-without-delay/LLWBZq1S
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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]
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@OccupyTheHood, Occupy Wall Street
By adele pham
http://vimeo.com/30146870
@OccupyTheHood, Occupy Wall Street from adele pham on Vimeo.
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Occupy Wall Street Protesters Marching
[Thousands of NYU Students march to OWS...bw]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWJpzx9IqU4
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AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Supporting Occupy Wall Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soV79czwzoo&feature=player_embedded
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Live arrest at brooklyn bridge #occupywallstreet by We are Change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yULSI-31Pto&feature=player_embedded
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Occupy Wall Street Begins To Go National!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDnFbIwZUWQ
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AlphaDog Proto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSbZrQp-HOk&feature=player_embedded
The AlphaDog Proto is a lab prototype for the Legged Squad Support System, a robot being developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from DARPA and the US Marine Corps. When fully developed the system will carry 400 lbs of payload on 20-mile missions in rough terrain. The first version of the complete robot will be completed in 2012. This video shows early results from the control development process. In this video the robot is powered remotely. AlphaDog is designed to be over 10x quieter than BigDog. For more information visit us at www.BostonDynamics.com.
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Children's Art from Palestine--Censored!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_8mHw2-aZQ&feature=youtu.be
You can see the whole exhibit in a new space located just around the corner from MOCHA (Museum of Children's Art) at 917 Washington Street. For more information please call Middle East Children's Alliance at (510) 548-0542 or email at meca@mecaforpeace.org.
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OCCUPY-WALL-STREET-PROTESTERS-ARRESTS( Sept 20, 2011) Spread This Video Please.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyvbI6Eq-qA
PEACEFUL FEMALE PROTESTORS PENNED IN THE STREET AND MACED!- #OccupyWallStreet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moD2JnGTToA
UNEDITED - COP KNEE ON THROAT 9/24/2011 #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbXfelyIoM&NR=1
9/24/2011 COPS KETTLING AT UNION SQUARE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJaQvh80L-g&NR=1
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Judge Mathis Weighs in on the execution of Troy Davis
[And he does a great job and he has a huge audience. ...bw]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogBdP6INHlE
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Bill Maher, Michael Moore Defend Tony Bennett for Saying That U.S. Foreign Policy Helped Cause 9/11
By Lauren Kelley | Sourced from AlterNet
Posted at September 24, 2011, 7:44 am
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/670832/bill_maher%2C_michael_moore_defend_tony_bennett_for_saying_that_u.s._foreign_policy_helped_cause_9_11/#paragraph2
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FREE THE CUBAN FIVE!
http://www.thecuban5.org/wordpress/index.php
Free Them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmS4kHC_OlY&feature=player_embedded
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Troy Davis, Racism, The Death Penalty & Labor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEues_-KoZU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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Empire State Rebellion: An Idea Whose Time Has Come - OpESR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCIlfV1pCZY&feature=player_embedded
Post to Twitter Post to Facebook Post to Reddit Post to Digg Post to StumbleUpon
The video below is dedicated to all the people currently Occupying Wall Street.
See you there again on September 24th at noon, and the day after, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that...
Video Transcript:
Mainstream media in the United States is the most efficient
weapon of mass oppression.
The propaganda system is so extensive.
People are very confused.
They don't really grasp what is happening.
On a very basic and profound level
they understand that global banks have robbed the country.
They get that, but there is so much divide and conquer rhetoric -
it goes from the mainstream media
and it filters all the way down
into independent media.
So it's a matter of finding that place
where you can overcome the divide and conquer propaganda.
And where we can find that place
is on Wall Street and breaking up the banks.
How would a million people clogging lower Manhattan's financial district
play out in the global media?
If we came down there and said:
"We're not leaving until we have commitments
to break up the banks
and end the campaign finance racket."
Let's just go over some statistics here:
· 59 Million people without health care
· 52 Million in poverty
· 44 Million on food stamps
· 30 Million in need of work
· 7 Million foreclosed on
· 5 Million homes over 60 days late on mortgage payments
· $1 Trillion in student debt
We have the highest, most severe inequality of wealth we have ever had,
unlimited campaign spending,
budget cuts for the poor,
tax breaks for the rich -
this is the ultimate recipe for revolution.
America has 239 million people living paycheck to paycheck right now.
Food prices are going up, oil is going up, everything is going up -
these people aren't going to be able to make ends meet.
It's the same everywhere, it's global policies,
whether its Ireland, United States, Egypt, Greece.
People are going to fight back because
the economic central planners have become so arrogant.
Economic central planners, who control the global economy
through the IMF, World Bank and Federal Reserve,
are committed to sentencing tens of millions of people
to a slow death through economic policy.
Obviously, those people, as time goes by,
they are going to fight back,
because they are fighting to survive.
This is a global rebellion.
People don't seem to get the fact that we live in a global economy
and there is a Neo-Liberal centrally planned aristocracy
which runs the global economy,
and we are in the midst of a
worldwide economic war right now.
It is a straight up economic war
with genocidal economic policies,
which of course are going to lead to mass rebellion.
Decentralized global rebellion.
Decentralized resistance.
Decentralized revolutionaries.
We had you on the show a few months ago,
and you called for a revolution.
The revolution is happening right now.
Tells us about A99 Operation Empire State Rebellion.
The revolution is happening right now.
#OccupyWallStreet
Editor's Note: This music video was created on March 16th by Anon and posted to our social network. It was also posted on Max Keiser's website. It features clips from a Max Keiser interview with David DeGraw.
DO SOMETHING: @OccupyWallStNYC | #OccupyWallStreet | #OpESR
Have Fun and Get Something Done on Wall Steet This Weekend (MAP)
YOUR STREET: @OccupyChicago | @OccupyCleveland | @OccupyDallas
@OccupyFDSF | @OccupySTL | @OccupyHouston | VIDEO: Livestream
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9/11: Explosive Evidence - Experts Speak Out
http://911blogger.com/news/2011-09-16/911-explosive-evidence-experts-speak-out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw-jzCfa4eQ
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9/11: A Conspiracy Theory
http://www.corbettreport.com/911-a-conspiracy-theory/
[click on above to view the video]
Everything you ever wanted to know about the 9/11 conspiracy theory in under 5 minutes.
TRANSCRIPT: On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 men armed with boxcutters directed by a man on dialysis in a cave fortress halfway around the world using a satellite phone and a laptop directed the most sophisticated penetration of the most heavily-defended airspace in the world, overpowering the passengers and the military combat-trained pilots on 4 commercial aircraft before flying those planes wildly off course for over an hour without being molested by a single fighter interceptor.
These 19 hijackers, devout religious fundamentalists who liked to drink alcohol, snort cocaine, and live with pink-haired strippers, managed to knock down 3 buildings with 2 planes in New York, while in Washington a pilot who couldn't handle a single engine Cessna was able to fly a 757 in an 8,000 foot descending 270 degree corskscrew turn to come exactly level with the ground, hitting the Pentagon in the budget analyst office where DoD staffers were working on the mystery of the 2.3 trillion dollars that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had announced "missing" from the Pentagon's coffers in a press conference the day before, on September 10, 2001.
Luckily, the news anchors knew who did it within minutes, the pundits knew within hours, the Administration knew within the day, and the evidence literally fell into the FBI's lap. But for some reason a bunch of crazy conspiracy theorists demanded an investigation into the greatest attack on American soil in history.
The investigation was delayed, underfunded, set up to fail, a conflict of interest and a cover up from start to finish. It was based on testimony extracted through torture, the records of which were destroyed. It failed to mention the existence of WTC7, Able Danger, Ptech, Sibel Edmonds, OBL and the CIA, and the drills of hijacked aircraft being flown into buildings that were being simulated at the precise same time that those events were actually happening. It was lied to by the Pentagon, the CIA, the Bush Administration and as for Bush and Cheney...well, no one knows what they told it because they testified in secret, off the record, not under oath and behind closed doors. It didn't bother to look at who funded the attacks because that question is of "little practical significance". Still, the 9/11 Commission did brilliantly, answering all of the questions the public had (except most of the victims' family members' questions) and pinned blame on all the people responsible (although no one so much as lost their job), determining the attacks were "a failure of imagination" because "I don't think anyone could envision flying airplanes into buildings " except the Pentagon and FEMA and NORAD and the NRO.
The DIA destroyed 2.5 TB of data on Able Danger, but that's OK because it probably wasn't important.
The SEC destroyed their records on the investigation into the insider trading before the attacks, but that's OK because destroying the records of the largest investigation in SEC history is just part of routine record keeping.
NIST has classified the data that they used for their model of WTC7?s collapse, but that's OK because knowing how they made their model of that collapse would "jeopardize public safety".
The FBI has argued that all material related to their investigation of 9/11 should be kept secret from the public, but that's OK because the FBI probably has nothing to hide.
This man never existed, nor is anything he had to say worthy of your attention, and if you say otherwise you are a paranoid conspiracy theorist and deserve to be shunned by all of humanity. Likewise him, him, him, and her. (and her and her and him).
Osama Bin Laden lived in a cave fortress in the hills of Afghanistan, but somehow got away. Then he was hiding out in Tora Bora but somehow got away. Then he lived in Abottabad for years, taunting the most comprehensive intelligence dragnet employing the most sophisticated technology in the history of the world for 10 years, releasing video after video with complete impunity (and getting younger and younger as he did so), before finally being found in a daring SEAL team raid which wasn't recorded on video, in which he didn't resist or use his wife as a human shield, and in which these crack special forces operatives panicked and killed this unarmed man, supposedly the best source of intelligence about those dastardly terrorists on the planet. Then they dumped his body in the ocean before telling anyone about it. Then a couple dozen of that team's members died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
This is the story of 9/11, brought to you by the media which told you the hard truths about JFK and incubator babies and mobile production facilities and the rescue of Jessica Lynch.
If you have any questions about this story...you are a batshit, paranoid, tinfoil, dog-abusing baby-hater and will be reviled by everyone. If you love your country and/or freedom, happiness, rainbows, rock and roll, puppy dogs, apple pie and your grandma, you will never ever express doubts about any part of this story to anyone. Ever.
This has been a public service announcement by: the Friends of the FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, SEC, MSM, White House, NIST, and the 9/11 Commission. Because Ignorance is Strength.
(c) 2011 The Corbett Report. All rights reserved.
Hosting generously provided by: EuroVPS.com
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HUNDREDS OCCUPY WALL STREET (LIVE STREAM VIDEO)
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution/share?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=ui-share&utm_campaign=globalrevolution&utm_content=globalrevolution
Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com
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What is the true cost of the Afghanistan war?
Narrated by Tony Benn. Music by Brian Eno
Mass Demonstration October 8, Noon, Trafalgar Square, London
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Bkg8zgoYQ&feature=youtu.be
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LOWKEY OBAMA NATION (BANIDO DA TV)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRFywomdJTM&feature=related
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Remember Building 7 on France 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOaJZr83RJg&feature=share
Sound Evidence for WTC 7 Explosions and NIST Cover Up
http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/the-911-files/sound-evidence-for-wtc-7-explosions.html
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Architects & Engineers - Solving the Mystery of WTC 7 - AE911Truth.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZEvA8BCoBw&feature=player_embedded
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Geneva Towers Controlled Demolition -- San Francisco, May 16, 1968
I lived in Geneva Towers in 1967 for about six months. I was married with a six-month-old son when we moved to the Towers. It reminded us of New York (we had just moved to San Francisco in August of 1966 so an apartment building was familiar to us.) But what a difference from New York. I didn't drive at the time and, with a baby, and elevators that often didn't work (we were on the 15th floor--I don't remember which building) I was basically trapped. Mass transit was slow and the distances were long to get downtown. The apartment had heating under the synthetic flooring tiles and the first time we turned it on, the tiles melted where the heating coils were. The electric oven caught fire the first time we used it; and the first time we took a shower the tiles started to pop off the walls. The kitchen cabinets were made of unpainted particle board. The sliding doors to the cabinets were less than a quarter-inch thick and cracked if you slid them too fast! What a pre-fab slum that was!
I was so glad to break the lease and move into the Castro--into a two bedroom, first-floor Victorian flat--in a warm and bustling community close to everything. And the rent was $125.00 a month!
I did make it a point to watch the demolition of the Towers on TV (it was broadcast live.) And I was so glad to see it go. It's the first thing I thought of when I saw the collapse of the World Trade Center. ...Bonnie Weinstein
Geneva Towers Implosion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7XVQ1LE2es&feature=related
The implosion [controlled demolition] of the Geneva Towers near the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA on May 16, 1998
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Benton Harbor REPEAL RECALL.wmv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woLL-AxOnTk
A few facts from the video:
Whirlpool has been meddling in [Benton Harbor] city politics for 30 years. For every tax break and advantage it can get. As the neighborhoods crumble...
With global sales of $18 Billion Whirpool paid 0% in 2010 federal taxes.
It received a refund of $64 Million.
Whirlpool has received 500 Million in tax breaks just since 2005.
Millions more in the past 3 decades.
Whirlpool took 19 Billion in federal stimulus funds. Then closed plants in the US. Including the plant in BH.
Rep. Fred Upton receives substantial campaign contributions from Whirlpool. And the Koch brothers.
Gov. Rick Snyder signed the Emergency Manager Law. And a budget that taxes pensions and cuts education funding in Michigan.
Then gave corporations (like Whirlpool) a $1.8 Billion tax break."
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Labor Beat: THE PEOPLE'S PUTT PUTT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FkYBneJpds
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The Preacher and the Slave - Joe Hill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca_MEJmuzMM
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London Riots. (The BBC will never replay this. Send it out)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biJgILxGK0o
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Protest which sparked Tottenham riot
Hours before the riot which swept the area demonstrators gather outside Tottenham Police Station in North London demanding "justice" for the killing of a 29-year-old man, Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by police.
By Alastair Good
August 7, 2011
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/8687058/Protest-which-sparked-Tottenham-riot.html
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Visualizing a Trillion: Just How Big That Number Is?
"1 million seconds is about 11.5 days, 1 billion seconds is about 32 years while a trillion seconds is equal to 32,000 years."
Digital Inspiration
http://www.labnol.org/internet/visualize-numbers-how-big-is-trillion-dollars/7814/
How Much Is $1 Trillion?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPfY0q-rEdY&feature=player_embedded
Courtesy the credit crisis and big bailout packages, the figure "trillion" has suddenly become part of our everyday conversations. One trillion dollars, or 1 followed by 12 zeros, is lots of money but have you ever tried visualizing how big that number actually is?
For people who can visualize one million dollars, the comparison made on CNN should give you an idea about a trillion - "if you start spending a million dollars every single day since Jesus was born, you still wouldn't have spend a trillion dollars".
Another mathematician puts it like this: "1 million seconds is about 11.5 days, 1 billion seconds is about 32 years while a trillion seconds is equal to 32,000 years".
Now if the above comparisons weren't really helpful, check another illustration that compares the built of an average human being against a stack of $100 currency notes bundles.
A bundle of $100 notes is equivalent to $10,000 and that can easily fit in your pocket. 1 million dollars will probably fit inside a standard shopping bag while a billion dollars would occupy a small room of your house.
With this background in mind, 1 trillion (1,000,000,000,000) is 1000 times bigger than 1 billion and would therefore take up an entire football field - the man is still standing in the bottom-left corner. (See visuals -- including a video -- at website:
http://www.labnol.org/internet/visualize-numbers-how-big-is-trillion-dollars/7814/
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One World One Revolution -- MUST SEE VIDEO -- Powerful and beautiful...bw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE3R1BQrYCw&feature=player_embedded
"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty." Thomas Jefferson
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Very reminiscent of Obama...bw
Pat Paulsen 1968
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oiQhhdz8ys
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Japan: angry Fukushima citizens confront government (video)
Posted by Xeni Jardin on Monday, Jul 25th at 11:36am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVuGwc9dlhQ&feature=player_embedded
The video above documents what I am told is a meeting between Fukushima residents and government officials from Tokyo, said to have taken place on 19 July 2011. The citizens are demanding their government evacuate people from a broader area around the Fukushima nuclear plant, because of ever-increasing fears about the still-spreading radiation. They are demanding that their government provide financial and logistical support to get out. In the video above, you can see that some participants actually brought samples of their children's urine to the meeting, and they demanded that the government test it for radioactivity.
When asked by one person at the meeting about citizens' right to live a healthy and radioactive-free life, Local Nuclear Emergency Response Team Director Akira Satoh replies "I don't know if they have that right."
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Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class [Full Film]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ZS91cqpa8
Narrated by Ed Asner
Based on the book by Pepi Leistyna, Class Dismissed navigates the steady stream of narrow working class representations from American television's beginnings to today's sitcoms, reality shows, police dramas, and daytime talk shows.
Featuring interviews with media analysts and cultural historians, this documentary examines the patterns inherent in TV's disturbing depictions of working class people as either clowns or social deviants -- stereotypical portrayals that reinforce the myth of meritocracy.
Class Dismissed breaks important new ground in exploring the ways in which race, gender, and sexuality intersect with class, offering a more complex reading of television's often one-dimensional representations. The video also links television portrayals to negative cultural attitudes and public policies that directly affect the lives of working class people.
Featuring interviews with Stanley Aronowitz, (City University of New York); Nickel and Dimed author, Barbara Ehrenreich; Herman Gray (University of California-Santa Cruz); Robin Kelley (Columbia University); Pepi Leistyna (University of Massachusetts-Boston) and Michael Zweig (State University of New York-Stony Brook). Also with Arlene Davila, Susan Douglas, Bambi Haggins, Lisa Henderson, and Andrea Press.
Sections: Class Matters | The American Dream Machine | From the Margins to the Middle | Women Have Class | Class Clowns | No Class | Class Action
http://www.mediaed.org
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Let's torture the truth out of suicide bombers says new CIA chief Petraeus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sm02UbKNCKQ
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Kim Ives & Dan Coughlin on WikiLeaks Cables that Reveal "Secret History" of U.S. Bullying in Haiti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL0Dk21dC-M
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Operation Empire State Rebellion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJvBlQcaaaU&feature=player_embedded#at=10
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20 Facts About U.S. Inequality that Everyone Should Know
Click an image to learn more about a fact!
http://www.stanford.edu/group/scspi/cgi-bin/facts.php
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Licensed to Kill Video
http://nirs.org/multimedia/video/l2k.htm
Gundersen Gives Testimony to NRC ACRS from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
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Tier Systems Cripple Middle Class Dreams for Young Workers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09pQW6TW8m4&feature=youtu.be
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Union Town by Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ZT71DxLuM&feature=player_embedded
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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
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Max Romeo - Socialism Is Love
http://youtu.be/eTvUs4rY4to
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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. ...bw]
Watch the full episode. See more Nature.
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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
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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
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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
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Domestic Espionage Alert - Houston PD to use surveillance drone in America!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpstrc15Ogg
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Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVGqE726OAo&feature=player_embedded
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Coal Ash: One Valley's Tale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E7h-DNvwx4&feature=player_embedded
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Flashmob: Cape Town Opera say NO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wElyrFOnKPk
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"Don't F*** With Our Activists" - Mobilizing Against FBI Raid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyG3dIUGQvQ
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C. SPECIAL APPEALS AND ONGOING CAMPAIGNS
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It's time to tell the White House that "We the People" support PFC Bradley Manning's freedom and the UN's investigation into alleged torture in Quantico, VA
On September 22nd, the White House launched a new petition website called "We the People." According to the White House blog, if a petition reaches 5,000 signatures in 30 days, "it will be reviewed by policy experts and you'll receive an official response."
Act now! Sign our petition to the White House: LINK
This is our chance to make sure the people in power know that the public still care about the fate of PFC Bradley Manning, and that we won't let this issue go away until PFC Manning is recognized as the whistleblower he is. It is also an opportunity for us to educate fellow Americans who may not have heard of PFC Manning yet, by boosting our petition to the top of the WhiteHouse.gov site.
The same day the White House launched the petition website, it also unveiled an Open Government Action Plan calling to "Strengthen and Expand Whistleblower Protection for Government Personnel." We consider this ironic given the fact that in April of 2011 the UN Chief Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, was forced to issue a rare reprimand to the U.S. for repeatedly denying his request to meet with alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower PFC Manning in an official, unmonitored visit to investigation allegations of his torture in the military brig of Quantico, VA.
We submitted the petition to the "We the People" website earlier this week, and we have already gathered over 1,000 signatures. We are relying on your help so that we can reach the 5,000 mark, and then some.
Signing the petition requires a quick and simple registration process. (Should you encounter technical trouble, please check out the link at the bottom of this e-mail.)
Click here to sign the petition now!
Already signed the petition? You can promote it to your friends on facebook and twitter! Copy and paste the following text: Tell the Obama Administration to let UN investigate torture of alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning! http://wh.gov/40y
We petition the obama administration to:
Free PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks whistleblower.
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/free-pfc-bradley-manning-accused-wikileaks-whistleblower/kX1GJKsD?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
Using the information PFC Bradley Manning allegedly revealed, media outlets have published thousands of stories, detailing countless attempts by governments around the world -- including our own -- to illegally conceal evidence of human rights abuses.
According to the President, "employees with the courage to report wrongdoing are a government's best defense against waste, fraud and abuse."
It appears that PFC Manning acted on his conscience, at great personal risk, to answer the President's call.
However, he has been subjected to extreme confinement conditions that US legal scholars have said may amount to torture.
Therefore, we also ask the Obama administration to stop blocking the UN's chief torture investigator, Juan Mendez, from conducting an official visit with PFC Manning.
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Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Resumes
By Erin Sherbert
September 26 2011
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/09/pelican_bay_hunger_strike_resumes.php
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Cristian Fernandez is only 12 years old. And if Florida prosecutor Angela Corey has her way, he'll never leave jail again.
Cristian hasn't had an easy life. He's the same age now as his mother was when he was born. He's a survivor of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. In 2010, Cristian watched his stepfather commit suicide to avoid being charged with abusing Cristian.
Last January, Cristian was wrestling with his 2-year-old brother, David, and accidentally broke David's leg. Despite this, their mother left Cristian with his brother again in March. While the two boys were alone, Cristian allegedly pushed his brother against a bookcase, and David sustained a head injury. After their mother returned home, she waited six hours before taking David to the hospital. David eventually died.
Now Cristian is being charged with first degree murder -- as an adult. He's the youngest person in the history of his Florida county to receive this charge, and his next hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
Melissa Higgins works with kids who get caught up in the criminal justice system in her home state of New Hampshire. When she read about Cristian's case, she was appalled -- so she started a petition on Change.org asking Florida State's Attorney Angela Corey to try Cristian as a child. Please sign Melissa's petition immediately before Cristian's hearing tomorrow.
As part of his prosecution, Cristian has been examined by two different forensic psychiatrists -- each of whom concluded that he was "emotionally underdeveloped but essentially reformable despite a tough life."
Cristian has already been through more than most of us can imagine -- and now the rest of his life is in the hands of a Florida prosecutor who wants to make sure Cristian never leaves jail.
The purpose of the juvenile justice system is to reform kids who haven't gotten a fair shake. If Cristian is sent to adult prison, it will be more than a tragedy for him -- it will also be a signal to other prosecutors that kids' lives are acceptable collateral in the quest to be seen as "tough on crime."
Cristian's next hearing is in just 24 hours. State's Attorney Angela Corey needs to know that her actions are being watched -- please sign the petition asking her not to try Cristian as an adult:
http://www.change.org/petitions/reverse-decision-to-try-12-yo-cristian-fernandez-as-an-adult
Thanks for being a change-maker,
- Michael and the Change.org team
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Your help is needed to defend free speech rights
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.AnswerCoalition.org/
info@AnswerCoalition.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-265-1948
Boston: 857-334-5084 | New York City: 212-694-8720 | Chicago: 773-463-0311
San Francisco: 415-821-6545| Los Angeles: 213-251-1025 | Albuquerque: 505-268-2488
We are writing to urge you to send an email letter today that can make a big difference in the outcome of a free speech fight that is vital to all grassroots movements that support social justice and peace.
It will just take a moment of your time but it will make a big difference.
https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=326
All across the country people and organizations engaged in producing and disseminating leaflets and posters - the classic method of grassroots outreach used by those without institutional power and corporate money - are being faced with bankrupting fines.
This has been happening with ferocity in the nation's capital ever since the ANSWER Coalition was fined over $50,000 in the span of a few weeks for posters advertising the Sept. 15, 2007, protest against the Iraq war.
Attorneys for the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) filed a major lawsuit in August 2007 against the unconstitutional postering regulations in Washington, D.C.
"The District has employed an illegal system that creates a hierarchy of speech, favoring the speech of politicians and punishing grassroots outreach," Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the PCJF, stated in explaining a basic tenet of the lawsuit. "It's time for that system to end, and it will."
The hard-fought four-year-long lawsuit filed by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund against Washington, D.C.'s unconstitutional postering regulations has succeeded in achieving a number of important victories, including the issuance of new regulations after the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia warned just last month of an impending declaration of unconstitutionality against the District.
In July 2011 the federal District Court issued a preliminary opinion regarding one aspect of our lawsuit and suggested that the D.C. government "revise the regulations to include a single, across-the-board durational restriction that applies equally to all viewpoints and subject matters."
But this battle is not finished. The new regulations still contain dissent-crushing "strict liability" provisions (explained below) and remain unconstitutionally vague and ambiguous. Plus the District has never withdrawn the tens of thousands of dollars of fines against ANSWER.
The District of Columbia is required by law to open the new rules to public comment, which it has done with an extremely short comment period that is now open. We need people to send a comment today to the government of Washington, D.C. It just takes a minute using our online Submit a Comment tool, which will send your comment by email.
Send a letter today in support of the right to produce and disseminate leaflets and posters in Washington, D.C. We have included a sample comment but we encourage people to use or add your own language.
An Opportunity for You to Make a Difference
In response to our lawsuit, the District of Columbia has now issued "Emergency Regulations" replacing the current system which the city now admits are a "threat to the public welfare," after the court issued a preliminary opinion that agreed with a basic argument of the lawsuit.
This is an important moment and we need you and others who believe in Free Speech to weigh in during the short 15-day public comment period in response to the proposed Emergency Regulations for postering. Submit an online Comment now that makes one or more of three vital points:
Drop the $70,000 fines that have been applied to the ANSWER Coalition for anti-war posters during the past four years.
End "Strict Liability" fines and penalities. Strict Liability constitutes something of a death penalty for Free Speech activities such as producing leaflets and posters. It means that an organization referenced on posted signs can be held "strictly liable" for any materials alleged to be improperly posted, even if the group never even posted a single sign or poster. The D.C. government is even going further than that - it just levied fines against a disabled Vietnam veteran who didn't put up a single poster but was fined $450 because three posted signs were seen referencing a Veterans for Peace demonstration last December, and the District's enforcement agents researched that his name was on the permit application for the peace demonstration at the White House. Any group or person that leaves literature at a bookstore, or distributes literature, or posts .pdf fliers on the Internet, can be fined tens of thousands of dollars simply for having done nothing more than making political literature available.
Insist that any new regulations be clear, unambiguous and fair. The District's new "Emergency" Regulations are still inadequate because they are vague and ambiguous. Vaguely worded regulations in the hands of vindictive authority can and will be used to punish, penalize and fine grassroots organizations that seek to redress grievances while allowing the powerful and moneyed interests to do as they please. The District's postering regulations must be clear and unambiguous if they are to be fair, uniform and constitutional.
Take two minutes right now, click through to our online comment submission tool.
Thank you for your continued support. After you send your comment today to the District of Columbia please send this email to your friends and encourage them to take action as well. Click here to send your comment to the District.
Sincerely,
ANSWER Coalition
www.AnswerCoalition.org
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International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
TAKE ACTION: New Punishment Against Rene Gonzalez
On Oct 7, René González, one of the Cuban 5 Patriots will be released from the US prison in Marianna Florida after serving out his 15 year sentence. Rene's crime was defending the security of the Cuban people against terrorist attacks.
The US government is now trying to stop his immediate return to his homeland, and his family, after he serves out the last day of this unjust sentence. And now, in the most cynical and mean spirited fashion, the US court that sentenced him in 2001 is extending his punishment by making him remain in the United States.
Because Rene was born in the US he will now have to spend an additional 3 years of probation here. Seven months ago his lawyer presented a motion asking the court to modify the conditions of his probation so that after he finished his sentence he be allowed to return to Cuba to reunite with his wife and his family for humanitarian reasons.
On March 25, the prosecutor Caroline Heck Miller asked the judge to deny the motion. On September 16 Judge Joan Lenard rejected the defense motion, alleging among other reasons, that the Court needs time to evaluate the behavior of the condemned person after he is freed to verify that he is not a danger to the United States.
We have to remember that this is the same prosecutor that rejected an attempt to try Posada Carriles as a criminal, and this is the same judge that included in the conditions of his release a special point that while Rene is under supervised release that," the accused is prohibited from associating with or visiting specific places where individuals or groups such as terrorists are known to be or frequent"
By writing this Judge Lenard made the shameful recognition that terrorists groups do exist and enjoy impunity in Miami. Furthermore she is offering them protection from Rene from bothering or denouncing them upon his release.
It was not enough for the US government to make Rene fulfill the complete sentence to the last day; It was not enough to try and blackmail his family by telling them he would not go to trial if he collaborated against his 4 brothers; it was not enough to pressure Rene with what could happen to his family if he did not cooperate with the government, including the detention and deportation of his wife Olga Salanueva; and it was not enough to deny Olga visas to visit her husband repeatedly all these years.
Why does the US government want to continue punishing René and his family?
The prejudice of the Miami community against the Five was denounced by three judges of the Eleventh Circuit of the Atlanta Court of Appeals on August 27, 2005, where it was recognized who the terrorists were, what organizations they belonged to and where they reside. To mandate that Rene Gonzalez stay another 3 years of supervised "freedom" in Florida, where a nest of international terrorists reside and who publicly make their hatred of Cuba and the Cuban 5 known, is to put the life of Rene in serious risk.
Today we are making a call to friends from all over the world to denounce this new punishment and to demand the US government allow René Gonzalez to return to Cuba to reunite with his wife and his family as soon as he get out of prison.
Contact now President Barack Obama and US Attorney General Eric Holder demanding the immediate return of René Gonzalez to his homeland and his family
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE
Write a letter to President Obama
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.
Make a phone call and leave a message for President Barack Obama: 202-456-1111
Send an e-mail message to President Barack Obama
HTTP://WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/CONTACT
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Write a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder
US Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Make a phone call and leave a message for US Attorney General Eric Holder: 202-514-2000
Or call the public commentary line: 202-353-1555
Send an e-mail message to US Attorney General Eric Holder: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
To learn more about the Cuban 5 visit:
www.thecuban5.org
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Say No to Police Repression of NATO/G8 Protests
http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/nato-g8-police-repression
The CSFR Signs Letter to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
The CSFR is working with the United National Antiwar Committee and many other anti-war groups to organize mass rallies and protests on May 15 and May 19, 2012. We will protest the powerful and wealthy war-makers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Group of 8. Mobilize your groups, unions, and houses of worship. Bring your children, friends, and community. Demand jobs, healthcare, housing and education, not war!
Office of the Mayor
City of Chicago
To: Mayor Rahm Emanuel
We, the undersigned, demand that your administration grant us permits for protests on May 15 and 19, 2012, including appropriate rally gathering locations and march routes to the venue for the NATO/G8 summit taking place that week. We come to you because your administration has already spoken to us through Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. He has threatened mass arrests and violence against protestors.
[Read the full text of the letter here: http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/nato-g8-police-repression/full-text]
For the 10s of thousands of people from Chicago, around the country and across the world who will gather here to protest against NATO and the G8, we demand that the City of Chicago:
1. Grant us permits to rally and march to the NATO/G8 summit
2. Guarantee our civil liberties
3. Guarantee us there will be no spying, infiltration of organizations or other attacks by the FBI or partner law enforcement agencies.
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Supporter of Leak Suspect Is Called Before Grand Jury
By SCOTT SHANE
June 15, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/us/politics/16brfs-Washington.html?ref=world
A supporter of Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, who is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, was called before a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday, but he said he declined to answer any questions. The supporter, David M. House, a freelance computer scientist, said he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, because he believes the Justice Department is "creating a climate of fear around WikiLeaks and the Bradley Manning support network." The grand jury inquiry is separate from the military prosecution of Private Manning and is believed to be exploring whether the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, or others in the group violated the law by acquiring and publishing military and State Department documents.
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Justice for Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace: Decades of isolation in Louisiana state prisons must end
Take Action -- Sign Petition Here:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/justice-for-albert-woodfox-and-herman-wallace
For nearly four decades, 64-year-old Albert Woodfox and 69-year-old Herman Wallace have been held in solitary confinement, mostly in the Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola prison). Throughout their prolonged incarceration in Closed Cell Restriction (CCR) Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace have endured very restrictive conditions including 23 hour cellular confinement. They have limited access to books, newspapers and TV and throughout the years of imprisonment they have been deprived of opportunities for mental stimulation and access to work and education. Social interaction has been restricted to occasional visits from friends and family and limited telephone calls.
Louisiana prison authorities have over the course of 39 years failed to provide a meaningful review of the men's continued isolation as they continue to rubberstamp the original decision to confine the men in CCR. Decades of solitary confinement have had a clear psychological effect on the men. Lawyers report that they are both suffering from serious health problems caused or exacerbated by their years of close confinement.
After being held together in the same prison for nearly 40 years, the men are now held in seperate institutions where they continue to be subjected to conditions that can only be described as cruel, inhuman and degrading.
Take action now to demand that Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace be immediately removed from solitary confinement
Sign our petition which will be sent to the Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, calling on him to:
* take immediate steps to remove Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace from close confinement
* ensure that their treatment complies with the USA's obligations under international standards and the US Constitution.
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WITNESS GAZA
http://www.witnessgaza.com/
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Stop Coal Companies From Erasing Labor Union History
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-coal-companies-from-erasing-labor-union-history
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One year after Bradley's detainment, we need your support more than ever.
Dear Friends,
One year ago, on May 26, 2010, the U.S. government quietly arrested a humble young American intelligence analyst in Iraq and imprisoned him in a military camp in Kuwait. Over the coming weeks, the facts of the arrest and charges against this shy soldier would come to light. And across the world, people like you and I would step forward to help defend him.
Bradley Manning, now 23 years old, has never been to court but has already served a year in prison- including 10 months in conditions of confinement that were clear violation of the international conventions against torture. Bradley has been informally charged with releasing to the world documents that have revealed corruption by world leaders, widespread civilian deaths at the hands of U.S. forces, the true face of Guantanamo, an unvarnished view of the U.S.'s imperialistic foreign negotiations, and the murder of two employees of Reuters News Agency by American soldiers. These documents released by WikiLeaks have spurred democratic revolutions across the Arab world and have changed the face of journalism forever.
For his act of courage, Bradley Manning now faces life in prison-or even death.
But you can help save him-and we've already seen our collective power. Working together with concerned citizens around the world, the Bradley Manning Support Network has helped raise worldwide awareness about Manning's torturous confinement conditions. Through the collective actions of well over a half million people and scores of organizations, we successfully pressured the U.S. government to end the tortuous conditions of pre-trial confinement that Bradley was subjected to at the Marine Base at Quantico, Virginia. Today, Bradley is being treated humanely at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. T hanks to your support, Bradley is given leeway to interact with other pre-trial prisoners, read books, write letters, and even has a window in his cell.
Of course we didn't mount this campaign to just improve Bradley's conditions in jail. Our goal is to ensure that he can receive a fair and open trial. Our goal is to win Bradley's freedom so that he can be reunited with his family and fulfill his dream of going to college. Today, to commemorate Bradley's one year anniversary in prison, will you join me in making a donation to help support Bradley's defense?
http://bradleymanning.org/donate
We'll be facing incredible challenges in the coming months, and your tax-deductible donation today will help pay for Bradley's civilian legal counsel and the growing international grassroots campaign on his behalf. The U.S. government has already spent a year building its case against Bradley, and is now calling its witnesses to Virginia to testify before a grand jury.
What happens to Bradley may ripple through history - he is already considered by many to be the single most important person of his generation. Please show your commitment to Bradley and your support for whistle-blowers and the truth by making a donation today.
With your help, I hope we will come to remember May 26th as a day to commemorate all those who risk their lives and freedom to promote informed democracy - and as the birth of a movement that successfully defended one courageous whistle-blower against the full fury of the U.S. government.
Donate now: bradleymanning.org/donate
In solidarity,
Jeff Paterson and Loraine Reitman,
On behalf of the Bradley Manning Support Network Steering Committee
www.bradleymanning.org
P.S. After you have donated, please help us by forwarding this email to your closest friends. Ask them to stand with you to support Bradley Manning, and the rights of all whistleblowers.
View the new 90 second "I am Bradley Manning" video:
I am Bradley Manning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-P3OXML00s
Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Ave. #41
Oakland, CA 94610
510-488-3559
couragetoresist.org
"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
Courage to Resist needs your support
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
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
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Drop the Charges Against Carlos Montes, Stop the FBI Attack on the Chicano and Immigrant Rights Movement, and Stop FBI Repression of Anti-War Activists NOW!Call Off the Expanding Grand Jury Witchhunt and FBI Repression of Anti-War Activists NOW!
Cancel the Subpoenas! Cancel the Grand Juries!
Condemn the FBI Raids and Harassment of Chicano, Immigrant Rights, Anti-War and International Solidarity Activists!
STOP THE FBI CAMPAIGN OF REPRESSION AGAINST CHICANO, IMMIGRANT RIGHTS, ANTI-WAR AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS NOW!
Initiated by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression stopfbi.net stopfbi@gmail.com
http://iacenter.org/stopfbi/
Contact the Committee to Stop FBI Repression
at stopfbi.net
stopfbi@gmail.com
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
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
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
P.O. Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
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
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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
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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
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DEFEND LYNNE STEWART!
http://lynnestewart.org/
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.
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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
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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!
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D. ARTICLES IN FULL (Unless otherwise noted)
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1) Greek Workers Strike to Protest Austerity Program
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/europe/greek-workers-general-strike-protest-austerity.html?ref=world
2) Back Home, and Homeless
By MATT FARWELL
October 5, 2011, 12:48 pm
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/back-home-and-homeless/?ref=world
3) Wall St. Protest Attracts Many New to This Sort of Thing
By CARA BUCKLEY
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/wall-st-protest-lures-many-new-to-this-sort-of-thing.html?ref=nyregion
4) Citing Police Trap, Protesters File Suit
By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS
October 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/nyregion/citing-police-trap-protesters-file-suit.html?ref=nyregion
5) This Is Only Getting Bigger: 20,000 Rally in New York to Support Occupy Wall Street
By Sarah Jaffe, AlterNet
Posted on October 5, 2011, Printed on October 6, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/152622/this_is_only_getting_bigger%3A_20%2C000_rally_in_new_york_to_support_occupy_wall_street
6) Union Movement Opens 'Arms and Hearts' to Occupy Wall Street Activists
by Mike Hall
Oct 5, 2011
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/10/05/union-movement-opens-arms-and-hearts-to-occupy-wall-street-activists/
7) Drone Strike in Yemen
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/drone-strike-in-yemen.html?ref=world
8) Chile: Proposal to Curb Protesters
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/americas/chile-proposal-to-curb-protesters.html?ref=world
9) Race-Based Names Dot the Landscape
By KIM SEVERSON
October 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/us/perrys-hunting-camp-puts-focus-on-us-maps-race-based-names.html?ref=us
10) E.P.A. Panel Issues Plan for Gulf Coast Restoration
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/us/task-force-releases-plan-for-battered-gulf-of-mexico.html?ref=us
11) 23 Arrested Wednesday in Wall St. Protest
By ANDY NEWMAN and COLIN MOYNIHAN
October 6, 2011, 10:22 am
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/23-arrested-wednesday-in-wall-st-protest/?ref=nyregion
12) Seeking Energy, Unions Join Protest Against Wall Street
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and CARA BUCKLEY
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/major-unions-join-occupy-wall-street-protest.html?ref=nyregion
13) Manhattan D.A. Is Asked to Seek to Undo 1999 Murder Conviction
By JOHN ELIGON
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/manhattan-da-is-asked-to-seek-to-undo-murder-conviction.html?ref=nyregion
14) 500 March in LA as Part of Wall Street Protests
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/06/business/AP-US-Wall-Street-Protest-Los-Angeles.html?src=busln
15) Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Bradley Manning Now 500 Days in Confinement
Peace prize nominee Bradley Manning now 500 days in confinement
By the Bradley Manning Support Network.
October 7, 2011.
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/peace-prize-nominee-bradley-manning-now-500-days-in-confinement
16) International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
RENE GONZALEZ WILL ONLY BE FREE WHEN HE RETURNS TO CUBA
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
To learn more about the Cuban 5 visit:
www.thecuban5.org
17) Happening Now: Occupy Atlanta Occupying Woodruff Park
By GLORIA TATUM
10-7-2011
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/news/2011/10/07/happening-now-occupy-atlanta-occupying-woodruff-park.html
18) [NationalMassAction] Oct. 15 - a global day of action
October 15 is turning out to be a global day of action against the wars and economic crisis. We are not alone - let's link our struggles. From the Occupy London web page http://occupylondon.org.uk/
19) Return to Little Beirut
Occupy Portland is Born with Ten Thousand Strong
by SHAMUS COOKE
Counterpunch Weekend Edition October 7-9, 2011
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/07/occupy-portland-is-born-with-ten-thousand-strong/
20) Occupy New Orleans begins with mass protest
Members plan to stake out City Hall indefinitel
By Brian Sibille, Staff Writer
October 6, 2011 20:10
http://www.lsureveille.com/occupy-new-orleans-begins-with-mass-protest-1.2647966
21) More Bleak Job Numbers
New York Times Editorial
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/opinion/more-bleak-job-numbers.html?hp
22) Inmate's Release Brings Call for New Evidence Law
By BRANDI GRISSOM
October 8, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/us/inmates-release-brings-call-for-new-evidence-law.html?hp
23) California Prison Hunger Strike Resumes as Sides Dig In
"The new protocols seek to isolate inmates participating in the strike from those in the general population and potentially subject them to disciplinary measures, while prisoners identified as strike leaders could potentially be denied contact with visitors and even lawyers. In addition, two lawyers who had helped mediate talks were temporarily barred from state prisons last week because 'their presence in the institution/facility presents a security threat.' But Ms. Weills said other prisoners told her that those four did so because they could no longer endure conditions at the administrative housing unit where they had been moved. 'We're freezing,' Ronald Yandell, one of the strike leaders, said to Ms. Weills this week. 'The air-conditioner is blowing. It's like arctic air coming through, blowing at top speed. It's torture. They're trying to break us.'"
By IAN LOVETT
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/us/hunger-strike-resumes-in-california-prisons.html?ref=us
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1) Greek Workers Strike to Protest Austerity Program
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/europe/greek-workers-general-strike-protest-austerity.html?ref=world
ATHENS - In the first general strike since June, thousands of Greeks walked off the job on Wednesday to protest a relentless austerity drive by the government, which is struggling to avert a default that could shake the euro zone and global markets.
Two separate rallies - one organized by the country's two main labor unions and the other by the Communist Party - drew roughly 13,000 protesters, police officials estimated. The organizers said at least twice as many people gathered for the two demonstrations.
Men and women shouted "traitors" and "employees of Merkel," a reference to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, at riot police in central Athens, while a crowd of younger protesters chanted "cops, pigs, murderers" - the Greek anarchists' slogan.
By early afternoon, sporadic clashes had broken out between riot police and dozens of masked youths, some wearing gas masks, who hurled chunks of stone at police officers guarding Parliament, at Athens University and outside luxury hotels on the fringes of the capital's central Constitution Square.
Most international travel was halted, with all scheduled flights into and out of the country canceled, the national rail service was suspended and ferries remained in their ports. Public transportation in the capital and other major cities was to run on a limited service to enable workers to attend protest rallies. Tax offices, courts and schools shut down for the day and hospitals were operating with only emergency staff.
The strike was called by the country's two main labor unions, which represent about 2.5 million workers and have led resistance to the latest measures. These include additional taxes, further cuts to civil servants' pay and pensions and a controversial plan to cut 30,000 jobs in the public sector which employs about 10 percent of Greek workers.
Protesters sardonically invoked Mrs. Merkel's name in reference to the central role played by Germany in resolving Greece's fiscal crisis. Lawmakers in Germany, Europe's largest economy, voted last week to expand the bailout fund for heavily indebted European countries, a necessary step in approving a second bailout for Greece, a 110-billion-euro package agreed to in principle by European Union leaders in July.
The Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, who is trying to convince foreign auditors that Greece is getting its financial house in order, said on Tuesday that the government could only meet a budget deficit target for 2011, revised up to 8.5 percent of gross domestic product from 7.6 percent, if the Greek public unites behind the cutbacks.
"If state mechanisms don't work and if we don't have the cooperation of the public, we may have problems with the 8.5 percent target," Mr. Venizelos said. In a nod to widespread tax evasion, he also appealed to Greeks to pay their taxes.
But national solidarity has been in short supply. Protests against the new measures have been vehement and the two main labor unions already have called a second strike for Oct. 19, ahead of planned votes on the new measures in Parliament. The votes are expected to be close as the governing Socialist Party has a majority of only four in the country's 300-seat Parliament and some lawmakers are said to be wavering.
The strongest opposition is from the civil servants whom the government depends on to push through many of the changes such as the collection of additional taxes. Angry public sector workers have staged sit-ins this week at several government offices, including the Finance Ministry and Labor Ministry, thwarting the efforts of foreign inspectors to complete their audit.
The results of the audit by officials of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, known as the troika, will determine whether Greece receives the latest in a series of rescue loans. Without the release of an 8 billion euro installment - part of the 110 billion euro rescue package - Greece will run out of money to pay state salaries and pensions by mid-November, Mr. Venizelos said on Tuesday. Government officials had said last month that state coffers would run dry by mid-October.
A decision on the disbursement of the funding, originally scheduled to be made on Oct. 13 by euro zone ministers, has been put off until November, Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg and head of the euro zone finance ministers, said late on Monday, noting that the troika needed more time to complete its report.
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2) Back Home, and Homeless
By MATT FARWELL
October 5, 2011, 12:48 pm
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/back-home-and-homeless/?ref=world
Mid-June, 2011: I find myself alone in a dark wooded park tucked between million-dollar houses south of Stanford University, looking for a spot in the bushes to stash my bags. Until that morning I'd been living in a cheap weekly-rate motel in Palo Alto. Before checkout, knowing I couldn't afford the $48 fee for another night, I laid out my stuff on the bed. Over the cigarette burns on threadbare sheets, I scrounged for quarters, dimes and nickels. There was enough for an extra value meal at Taco Bell. I divided everything else I had between three bags; an olive-drab backpack my brother used in the Army Rangers, a black duffel I bought at Goodwill and a satchel for my laptop.
This was my life. I was two weeks shy of my 28th birthday, unemployed, broke, thousands of miles from my family, watching the weather forecast to see how uncomfortable sleeping outside would be that night. Whatever the prediction, I could handle it. Four and a half years in the Army, including 16 months as an infantryman in eastern Afghanistan, provided plenty of skills with no legal application in the civilian world. It was, however, wonderful preparation for being homeless.
I was searching for a hole in the bushes to hide my bags. They were heavy and awkward, cumbersome to lug around Palo Alto. They clashed with the mishmash of designer bags embroidered with labels from Silicon Valley tech companies that the Stanford kids carried. Walking with them, I stood out, the opening scene of the first Rambo movie cycling through my mind: Sylvester Stallone on the side of the road with a big, green duffel bag slung over his shoulder and blending in with every part of his faded green field jacket except the red, white and blue flag patch, attracts the attention of the sheriff who wants John Rambo and all the bad mojo he carries from Vietnam out of his town. That movie ended badly for Rambo, the sheriff and the town. My life wasn't a movie and I wasn't John Rambo, but the same possibilities for a bad ending loomed. I'd learned that fact the only way fools like me learn anything: experience.
As infantry on the ground in Afghanistan, we were introduced to the ugliness of violent, unpredictable death. Over the 16 months of our tour, we caused it and we endured it; we grew well acquainted with it. Sometimes I think that we took it back, an invisible scythe-carrying stowaway on board the airplane we took back to the States. How else to explain my friend Michael Cloutier, whose spot-on shooting probably saved my life when our observation post was attacked by Taliban who outnumbered us three to one, dying of a drug overdose a year after we came back?
Or the staff sergeant from my former battalion - Second Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, Third Brigade, Tenth Mountain Division - who committed suicide by cop on Fort Drum later that year when military police were called to investigate a domestic disturbance? I didn't know him that well and had already left Fort Drum for a cushy assignment as an assistant in a four-star general's headquarters, but I wrote the eulogy my old company commander delivered at his funeral.
Not too long after that, when my friends in my old unit were rotating back, I started to crack a bit. That year the Taliban killed two of my friends, Staff Sgt. Esau I. DeLaPena-Hernandez, 25, and Sgt. Carlie M. Lee III, 23. The next year a helicopter crash killed my brother, Chief Warrant Officer Gary Marc Farwell. As my last real duty in the Army, I escorted his body home from Germany, wearing a dress uniform and saluting his casket in Atlanta and Salt Lake City as it was loaded and unloaded from the commercial airliner.
None of this was on my mind that night in Palo Alto. I just wanted to stash my bags and get some sleep, if I could. I had a plan. I wrapped the bags in a space blanket to keep the books and clothes inside dry, then wrapped it in a camouflage, Army-issue poncho liner to keep them concealed. After I stashed them in the bushes and saved the location on the G.P.S. that also held grid coordinates for Firebases and Combat Outposts I had manned in Afghanistan, I set off with my satchel, bound for Stanford and their 24-hour library.
It was finals time and short of a T.S.A. inspection at the library entrance, no one would know that under my laptop, iPad, chargers, batteries, pens, paperback books and notepads were my hobo essentials: a Ziploc with a small hygiene kit, deodorant, a pair of underwear and a change of socks. Wearing a polo shirt and a pair of khakis, I could blend in, hide out and hopefully get a little sleep in the once-familiar environment - an American college campus - that, like my country, now felt so foreign and hostile.
Paul Reickhoff, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the founder and chairman of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America testified that over 11,000 veterans between the ages of 18 and 30 were officially listed - that is, somehow identified, confirmed and entered in the Department of Veteran's Affairs database - as homeless. That's more than a standard Army division. It's also really tricky to measure exactly, since there are plenty, like me, you'd never suspect were homeless veterans if you saw them around town.
The law, "United States Code Title 42, Chapter 119, Subchapter 1," essentially defines a homeless person as somebody with no stable bed or shelter. If you live in a box under the bridge, this counts. If you live in a state- or church-funded homeless shelter, this counts. If you are an inpatient for some sort of medical or psychiatric condition, this counts. Also, if you're somewhere in between: couch surfing, living in a series of cheap motels, staying with your parents for an extended period of time, that counts. By the definition of the law, I've been homeless for about 16 months. To put that in perspective, I've been out of the Army for about 18 months.
I'm still not sure how I got there. Before Afghanistan, I was no saint but I generally kept out of trouble. No trouble with the law beyond a handful of tickets for speeding and parking. I was a healthy and an absurdly well-educated striver. My résumé lists Eagle Scout, Davis Scholar, Echols Scholar and National Merit Finalist alongside the Combat Infantryman's Badge, Army Commendation Medals and Parachutist wings. With the exception of the last year, which I have spent unemployed, attending one semester of college while recuperating from a spinal injury and trying to write, my work experience is unbroken since I landed my first job at 15; soldier, SAT & G.R.E. tutor, defense contracting intern, plumbing guy at Lowe's, waiter and lifeguard. I try to gloss over the multiple arrests and hospitalizations after the war and highlight my hope to return to the college I dropped out of once my head gets screwed on a little straighter.
Part of the reason I came to California was to heal and figure out why my life seemed determined to come unglued. Blaming it on the war, the things I'd seen and done there, seems a cop-out and a cliché, but maybe there's something to it. Jonathan Shay, a psychiatrist with the Veterans Administration who earned a MacArthur Genius Grant for his work on behalf of vets, wrote that combat post-traumatic stress disorder is "a war injury."
"Veterans with combat PTSD are war wounded, carrying the burdens of sacrifice for the rest of us as surely as the amputees, the burned, the blind and the paralyzed carry them," he wrote. The Palo Alto V.A. was one of the best in the country, I'd heard, and their psychiatric division in Menlo Park, near Facebook's new headquarters, had one of the best programs for treating guys like me, so I was waiting to get in.
That night in June, though, I was on my own. I walked down to Greene Library, took a spot on a couch in the corner, unpacked my laptop and carefully set up my workspace. I used the bathroom, washed my hands, rolled a cigarette and walked outside to bum a light from a stressed-out student. I inhaled, exhaled and saw the sky. Looking at the stars, I laughed and coughed, the honest part of me wishing I was still in Afghanistan.
Memories (bad, good and indifferent) of four and a half years wearing the uniform, a third of that in combat, occupy psychic space next to deeply ingrained habits, skills and instinctive reactions that, like all things war-related, are double-edged back home: they helped keep me alive and sane amid the boredom, ennui, confused terror and brief moments of adrenaline-fueled elation of combat - a euphoric sense of zen-like calm and focus that's better than any drug I've ever tried or heard about - but they've been doing their damnedest to kill me and my friends since we got back.
Matt Farwell was a soldier in the United States Army from 2005 to 2010. After infantry and airborne training at Fort Benning, Ga., he was assigned to the Tenth Mountain Division's Second Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment and deployed to Afghanistan for 16 months. Before enlisting, he studied government and history at the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar and graduated from the United World College of the American West as a Davis Scholar. He currently lives in California.
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3) Wall St. Protest Attracts Many New to This Sort of Thing
By CARA BUCKLEY
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/wall-st-protest-lures-many-new-to-this-sort-of-thing.html?ref=nyregion
Dan Aymar-Blair - age 36, suit wearer, resident of Crown Heights, Brooklyn - never expected to find himself at a protest. Neither did Sean Aiken, a 35-year-old D.J. from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, whose interest in politics had mostly involved grumbling with his friends. The last time Peter Linard, 71, a retired waiter who lives in the Upper East Side, went to a protest, he was living in Greece, where he marched for peace - in 1961.
"We have to get together; what's worse than what's happening now?" Mr. Linard said. "The money flies too high, very fast, and for the low people, there's nothing."
The Occupy Wall Street gathering, now midway through its third week in a Lower Manhattan park, was hatched by a Canadian magazine, Adbusters, and is heavily populated by youthful out-of-towners. But it has also become a magnet for scores of New Yorkers who said they had rarely if ever attended a protest before.
Mr. Aiken, the D.J., said he joined up because he was frustrated over what he described as a lack of accountability from the big banks, and because he wanted to add to the protest's breadth.
"In my opinion, corporate overreach is the source of our problems," said Mr. Aymar-Blair, who works for the city's Department of Education. "I'm not sure how our democracy is going to work if our votes are drowned out by money."
Several New Yorkers said they had not known about the protest until a handful of participants were pepper-sprayed by a high-ranking police official last week. A video clip of the episode circulated widely on the Internet.
Others said they learned about it after roughly 700 marchers were arrested Saturday on the Brooklyn Bridge. Some indicated that they initially stayed away because they feared arrest, or were uncertain about the protest's aims, or never considered themselves protesters. Some happened upon the gathering on their way to work and, first out of curiosity and then a sense of kinship, found themselves staying, and coming back.
"I love the grassroots nature, the direct democracy," said Gregory Schwedock, 23, a first-time protester who works as a software engineer on Wall Street near Zuccotti Park, the movement's base in New York City.
Mr. Schwedock learned about the protest after his boss warned that he might have trouble getting to work. Mr. Schwedock read Occupy Wall Street's Web site, was inspired, and has been going every day since. "The consensus process, the networking - these are all the issues I care about," he said.
Peter Gavaghen, 50, a Brooklyn-born iron worker who lives in New Jersey, first went to the square with his 12-year-old daughter last week for her school project about current events. But Mr. Gavaghen, who is grizzled and lanky and working on 2 World Trade Center, found himself returning.
He said his own father had saved $250,000 to pay for college for Mr. Gavaghen's three children, but he said the money was lost when Lehman Brothers collapsed. Mr. Gavaghen said the government bailout of banks still bothers him.
"I've never been a victim of anything, but I feel like a victim now," Mr. Gavaghen said softly. "I feel connected to these people."
Several New Yorkers recalled that they had not been to a protest since the Vietnam War, among them Roger Schwarz, 61, a criminal lawyer who spent part of Monday afternoon chatting with several young protesters.
Mr. Schwarz, who was carrying a Brooks Brothers bag, said he was disappointed with the conversations, and that he and his contemporaries were more articulate in the 1960s and '70s.
Still, several people said they believed that the movement in New York and elsewhere would congeal and grow. Richard Florentino, 62, a retired engineer from Staten Island, suggested that protesters might one day unite with the Democratic Party. Others said Occupy Wall Street might spawn a left-leaning equivalent of the Tea Party.
"It offers a glimmer of hope," Mr. Schwarz said. "A spark that may ignite."
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4) Citing Police Trap, Protesters File Suit
By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS
October 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/nyregion/citing-police-trap-protesters-file-suit.html?ref=nyregion
A group of people arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge as part of the Occupy Wall Street protests last week filed a suit against New York City on Tuesday, alleging that officers had violated their constitutional rights by luring them into a trap and then arresting them.
The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, says that protesters who marched to the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday were led onto the bridge's roadway by commanding police officers. Once protesters were on the bridge, the complaint says, officers prevented them from leaving. More than 700 people were arrested.
After the protesters were taken into custody, the police released videos showing an officer with a bullhorn warning protesters that they would be arrested if they did not get off the roadway. But those warnings "could not be heard mere feet away," the suit says.
"We believe the N.Y.P.D. engaged in a premeditated, planned, scripted and calculated effort to get the protesters off the street," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which is representing the protesters.
The class-action lawsuit, which says such tactics have been ruled illegal in other cases, seeks to ban similar measures in the future. It also demands that the arrests be expunged and requests unspecified damages.
On Tuesday evening, the city's Law Department said it had not been formally served with the suit, which also names Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Raymond W. Kelly, the police commissioner. The Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"The police did exactly what they were supposed to do," Mr. Bloomberg said on Sunday.
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5) This Is Only Getting Bigger: 20,000 Rally in New York to Support Occupy Wall Street
By Sarah Jaffe, AlterNet
Posted on October 5, 2011, Printed on October 6, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/152622/this_is_only_getting_bigger%3A_20%2C000_rally_in_new_york_to_support_occupy_wall_street
It's 10 PM in Liberty Plaza and the jubilant 20,000-plus crowd from the day's solidarity march has dwindled, now, to the faithful, the regulars, having debated and decided by consensus against another attempt at marching.
The police have dropped barricades around the entire plaza, but rumors that they are coming in are so far unfounded. The medical team has calmed down and are eating pizza from the boxes being carried throughout the plaza. A giant projection on the wall of a building across Trinity Street reminds the protesters "The Whole World is Watching #OccupyWallStreet."
A large group of people are holding signs and singing "This Little Light of Mine" down at the base of the plaza, almost to Trinity Street, where Ed Schultz of MSNBC is broadcasting his show live on the other side of the police barricade. An officer tells me the barricades aren't shutting us in, I'm welcome to leave at the corners of the plaza.
Despite an earlier clash with police (28 arrests reported, a far cry from Saturday's 700-plus) as a breakaway march from the permitted, union-supported solidarity rally headed down Wall Street proper, the plaza is mostly quiet.
Chris from the medical team, a firefighter from New Jersey, tells me that he treated one marcher who made it back to the plaza after having been pepper-sprayed. Videos and photographs are starting to circulate online of the clash with police, which include two Fox 5 reporters hit with batons and pepper spray.
Phillip Anderson, a local blogger and activist, was on the march to Wall Street and told me this story:
"We saw a ton of people crossing Broadway and decided to see what was happening. Easily 1000 people headed toward Wall Street; the cops made sure we didn't go straight there, so we took a circuitous route. When we got to Wall and William St., there was a barricade along the west side of William, along Cipriani, and people on the balcony above with glasses of champagne.
"It was obvious the cops weren't going to let the crowd go right so they went east down Wall, and then I don't know what happened but they came back loud and moving fast, drums banging. Instantly the cops moved the barricade to the east side, there were cops on horses, cops on scooters, they barricaded themselves in the middle and the crowd got to the edge of the barricade and then everyone just shut up. Dead quiet. I'm going to give those cops a lot of credit, they opened a corner and let the crowd walk out and the scooter cops escorted them almost all the way back."
The chant from the crowd, he said, was "Cops are the 99%!"
*******
Earlier in the day, over 20,000 people packed Foley Square near New York's City Hall and marched to Liberty Plaza to support the occupiers, who are on day 19 of their protest. Colorful union signs dotted the crowd as well as the handmade kind, showing delegations from the United Auto Workers, Amalgamated Transit Union, Teamsters, City University of New York faculty, and many, many more. And all of the protesters that I spoke to knew exactly why they were there.
"When someone's looking for a job, they're not visible," Jesse LaGreca, a blogger at Daily Kos who recently became an Internet celebrity for his smackdown of Fox News in an interview that leaked to the Web, told me. The occupation, and the massive march in support, made those problems visible. LaGreca's takedown of Griff Jenkins, who he called "one of the biggest cheerleaders for the Tea Party movement," resonated with activists tired of not being taken seriously. He pointed out "The last thing they want is someone who can clearly state why we're here. It's called Occupy Wall Street, not big bake sale, for God's sake."
Naturally we would join," said Lisanne McTerran, a New York City teacher wearing her United Federation of Teachers hat. She pointed out that the unions have been in this fight for a while, noting that UFT had marched down Wall Street back in May to protest continued banker power. McTerran is an art teacher by trade, but has been working as a substitute since New York's school budget cuts.
"Arts are the first thing they cut," she said, handing out a flyer that points out that budget cuts have led directly to the loss of over 100,000 jobs. "Bloomberg wants to bust the teachers' union," she said.
The official, permitted rally began at 4 PM and it seemed strange to hear the sound of a loudspeaker broadcasting speeches as we approached in a crowd from Liberty Plaza. The crowd of occupiers still communicated on the move using the "people's mic," repeating each other's words back, and it did seem that the union leaders who spoke took a page from the activists in the square, keeping their words brief and powerful, stoking the crowd's excitement at the popular support they were receiving. The organizers at Occupy Wall Street have been reaching out to labor from the beginning, and their efforts were paying off.
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) New York City local RWDSU, told the crowd that he had a message for Mayor Bloomberg. "If your police department overreacts again like it did last Saturday, stifling dissent and limiting free speech, New Yorkers will not stand for it!"
Héctor Figueroa of SEIU's 32BJ, the building service workers' union, made the connection between the occupiers in Liberty Plaza and the international protests that have echoed around the world in recent months, declaring, "Nosotros somos los indignados del Nueva York, los indignadoes del Estados Unidos, los indignados del mundo!"
It was a sentiment heard at my first visit to the occupation, when I met Spanish activist Monica Lopez, who had been part of Spain's "Indignados" movement. Lopez has been back to Spain and is now back again at the Liberty Plaza occupation, taking photos and working the media table.
"It's the right thing at the right time after so many mistakes," Thomas Blewitt, told me when I asked why he was involved in this movement. Blewitt, a former member of ACT UP in a trim shirt and tie, was one of the many defying the popular image of the protesters as all young hippies. He explained that he'd cared for his mother until her death and between Medicare and the AARP--"That system works," he said. Everyone, he pointed out, deserves the same access to health care.
Health care was also on the minds of the National Nurses United, who came out in force with their professionally printed signs declaring support for Occupy Wall Street on one side--and calling for a financial transactions tax on the other, as the union have been for months. "It's catching on like wildfire," Pam Merriman, a nurse from the University of Chicago, told me.
"The hardest pill to swallow," her colleague Talisa Hardin said, "is America is hurting, and when you look at how well corporations are doing, it doesn't seem fair."
The nurses' president, Karen Higgins, spoke at the rally as well. "We're sick of the greed!" she told the crowd. "As nurses, we can fix that."
And Merriman reiterated: "The nurses will not be moved."
Lindsay Personett, a recent graduate in dance performance from Oklahoma City University, was handing out flyers that read "I Owe SallieMae," and offering a marker to fellow grads who've found themselves in debt to the loan giant. "Kids are told to get this expensive degree and you'll get a job," she said. "You end up owing too much and owning nothing."
As the march moved off slowly through the financial district, I ducked into a cafe and struck up a conversation with Joel Wise, a tall, burly member of Operating Engineers Local 68 from New Jersey. Wise noted that his union had yet to express an opinion on the occupation, but told me "I'm here as an American, proud to be a union member." He told me that the sign he'd been carrying earlier, which he'd given away on the street, had read "The Tea Party is Owned By Big Business."
Wise's friend commented, "If they keep monetizing debt, it's gonna be ugly," and Wise continued "Most people are outraged that white-collar criminals weren't prosecuted. If you steal a loaf of bread, or a kid sells some weed, they go to jail for five years, but these guys stole millions."
******
As I leave Liberty Plaza at 10:30, a lawyer hands me his card, telling me "I used to be a prosecutor here, I know what they're capable of." The man, whose card declares him to be Musa Ali, a proud supporter of the LGBT community, then joins the legal team in a small huddle.
I am struck once again at the ease with which the organization here falls back into its duties. The medics treat the injured or sick, the food team hands out pizza, rumors are quashed with a quick "mic check" and the legal team works to keep people out of jail--or get them out quickly if they do wind up there.
I walk out past the barricades, a girl passes me with her dog, and police vans move down the street. An officer tells me that I'm probably better off picking up a train to the north rather than the south, and I take his advice, hearing a round of cheers erupt behind me from something going on in the plaza.
And so the uneasy truce at Liberty Plaza holds, but the protesters inside remember the feeling of elation, of support from the huge crowds earlier. It's not just rhetoric; they know that they are the 99%.
This is only getting bigger.
Sarah Jaffe is an associate editor at AlterNet, a rabblerouser and frequent Twitterer. You can follow her at @seasonothebitch.
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6) Union Movement Opens 'Arms and Hearts' to Occupy Wall Street Activists
by Mike Hall
Oct 5, 2011
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/10/05/union-movement-opens-arms-and-hearts-to-occupy-wall-street-activists/
In a statement released this afternoon supporting the growing Occupy Wall Street movement, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says:
"Occupy Wall Street has captured the imagination and passion of millions of Americans who have lost hope that our nation's policymakers are speaking for them. We support the protesters in their determination to hold Wall Street accountable and create good jobs."
This evening in New York City, union members joined the Occupy Wall Street protestors-now in their third week camped in the heart of the financial district-and other activists for a Wall Street march and rally drawing several thousand.
Says Trumka:
We are proud that today on Wall Street, bus drivers, painters, nurses and utility workers will join students and homeowners, the unemployed and the underemployed to call for fundamental change.
With the Occupy Wall Street mobilization gaining steam in cities across the country, Trumka says the labor movement "will open our union halls and community centers as well as our arms and our hearts to those with the courage to stand up and demand a better America."
Click the video for Trumka's full statement at:
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/10/05/union-movement-opens-arms-and-hearts-to-occupy-wall-street-activists/
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7) Drone Strike in Yemen
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/drone-strike-in-yemen.html?ref=world
SANA, Yemen (AP) - A strike by an American drone on Wednesday killed five militants connected with Al Qaeda in southern Yemen, officials said.
A Yemeni official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comply with military rules, said the drone attacked militant hide-outs in an area east of the city of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan Province. Islamic fighters seized control of the city in May, taking advantage of the uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, but military forces have since fought their way back into the city.
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8) Chile: Proposal to Curb Protesters
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/americas/chile-proposal-to-curb-protesters.html?ref=world
President Sebastián Piñera sent a bill to Congress Tuesday night calling for a strengthening of Chile's penal code, a move aimed at further repressing large student protests that have led his government's popularity to plummet. The bill, which is expected to face a stiff challenge from the opposition Concertación coalition, would set prison sentences of up to three years for anyone who occupied public or private institutions like schools or universities, and it would also penalize other forms of demonstration. Since May, students have occupied more than 200 institutions of learning. They are demanding a range of reforms, chief among them a return to widely available free public college education that existed before the 17-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
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9) Race-Based Names Dot the Landscape
By KIM SEVERSON
October 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/us/perrys-hunting-camp-puts-focus-on-us-maps-race-based-names.html?ref=us
ATLANTA - The onetime name of Gov. Rick Perry's Texas hunting camp is currently the most famous example of an egregious race-based place name, but it is not the only one.
Consider Runaway Negro Creek, which runs near a state park outside Savannah, Ga. The name is printed on nautical charts, but park rangers find it so uncomfortable to use, they try to avoid saying it out loud.
It is just one of several hundred places that have the word "Negro" in their names and still exist on government maps and in the local vernacular in dozens of states.
They are vestiges of racial attitudes that not that long ago made it acceptable to label a piece of property once leased by Gov. Rick Perry's family as Niggerhead, an offensive name that had been painted in block letters on a large rock at the entrance to the rural northern Texas hunting camp. The word was once so common it was used as a brand name for everyday items like soap, canned shrimp and tobacco.
Although it would be hard to find anyone willing to argue that the term or its variants should still be on any maps or signs, many people now also say that Negro - a government-approved alternative to the harsher epithet that is still affixed to mountains, rivers and other places - should also be removed.
Debates over potentially offensive place names have long been a part of the civic debate in the United States, and some groups persuaded the government to change race-based names that were considered insulting. But it is not always a simple or a welcome process.
The United States Board on Geographic Names, the federal agency that maintains the official names of more than 2.5 million streams, mountains, cities and civic buildings, lists 757 names that use the word Negro or a variation, said Lou Yost, executive secretary of the board.
Some are based on the Spanish word for black and are not necessarily race-based, but many were derived from the same slur that caused trouble for Mr. Perry.
In 1963, the federal government ordered that the offensive term be replaced with "Negro" in all geographic names. At the time, that word was an acceptable reference to African-Americans. (The only other similar blanket order came a few years later, when the word "Jap" on place names was changed to "Japanese.")
But language, like culture, changes. Now place names like Negro Mountain in western Maryland seem, to many, antiquated at best and offensive at worst.
But officially or unofficially, erasing race-based references is difficult.
Just ask Patricia Colman, a history professor at Moorpark College in Ventura County, Calif., who in 2004 thought that a small peak near Malibu, Calif., that for years had been known as Negrohead Mountain should be changed to Ballard Mountain, after the black homesteader who settled there.
After an effort that wound through the National Park Service, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, a state naming board and, finally, the federal naming board, it was changed in 2009.
She does not quibble with the high bar the federal government sets for changing place names, and she understands that many names were given to honor African-Americans.
"A lot of people feel the names should not be changed because they reflect a historical reality," she said. "I would argue that there are better ways to teach that history."
Maps show that Negro Creek Road runs through part of Maury County near Columbia, Tenn. Bob Duncan, the county historian, said the creek was given the name after three young black boys drowned at its mouth in the early 1800s. The road was named after the creek, and everybody still calls it that. It is to honor and remember the children, he said.
"Every three to five years somebody will rise up and say, 'Oh, my! Why do you call it that?' " he said. "We tell them and they say, 'Oh, O.K.' "
Securing an official federal name change is a challenge. The petitioner must convince first a state board and then the federal government that a new name is better, based on factors that include historical significance and local acceptance.
"It's not something we do lightly," Mr. Yost said.
The board receives about 325 requests to add a new name or change one every year, and grants most of them. Requests to change a name that includes the word Negro are rare, but "they have been a little more frequent lately," he said.
Still, even on the local level, changing a name is difficult. Part of the reason is the nature of cultural sensitivities. One person's offensive name may be another's point of pride, as communities are learning as they grapple with requests to change sites that use the term "Squaw."
Then there is custom. Local residents, including some African-Americans, sometimes see no reason to change a name that has always been there. Others argue that changing race-based names is political correctness run amok.
There are practical reasons to keep the old names. With millions to track and countless versions of official maps on file both on paper and digitally, order must maintained. It is a Sisyphean task that falls to the keepers of the national database of place names, the Geographic Names Information System.
As a result, the federal database does not always reflect the names on maps from other government agencies, or even local usage. For example, the database shows that Negro Mountain is in Marshall County, Ala. But Johnny Hart, the director of the county's 911 center, has lived in the area for 63 years and has never heard of the place.
States and local governments can also change names, with new ones eventually making their way to the federal database. But raising interest in the issue is difficult, said Steven A. Geller, a former Florida state senator who fought for years to pass a law requiring state agencies and local governments to identify offensive names and find suitable replacements.
"There were several opponents," he said. "One was the faction who said, 'Who cares? It's not that important an issue.' The other was from local governments who said, 'We aren't racists; that's just what it's always been called.' "
Still, as Mr. Perry is finding, what something is called can matter a great deal.
"Like many of these questions, it's case by case, but I certainly think there are some words that can't be painted over or blacked out," said Kevin Young, a professor of English and creative writing at Emory University in Atlanta whose coming book, "The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness," explores issues of race and language.
Words, he said, matter, whether in conversation or in the name of a creek.
"Most people feel like the N-word, when used in a certain context, and even Negro, is being called out of your name," he said. "And no one likes that."
Robbie Brown contributed reporting.
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10) E.P.A. Panel Issues Plan for Gulf Coast Restoration
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/us/task-force-releases-plan-for-battered-gulf-of-mexico.html?ref=us
A year after its creation, a federal-state working group on Wednesday released a preliminary strategy for addressing long-term environmental problems along the Gulf Coast, including the disappearance of wetlands and a seasonal dead zone caused by runoff from the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico.
Members of the group hailed the document as the first formal agreement on the priorities of coastal restoration, an accord at times hard fought despite a broadly shared acknowledgment that the gulf is in dire shape.
"To me this is big because as the gulf speaks, it speaks with one voice, and says here are the things we need to do to save the gulf," the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, said in an interview.
That unity was belied somewhat on Wednesday when a Louisiana official on the task force took issue with some elements of the strategy, saying that several important matters had not been addressed. Still, even critics in Louisiana applauded its release and supported the report's recommendations.
The recommendations vary in specificity and in how soon or easily they could be carried out.
An appendix lists some state-specific restoration strategies, many of which can be acted on quickly.
The larger proposals, like adjustments to the way the Army Corps of Engineers controls the Mississippi River, are more ambitious. Nearly all of them require hefty financing, which is not easy to find in Washington or in any state capital these days.
The report acknowledges it is a "time of severe fiscal constraints" and suggests forming public-private partnerships and other arrangements that could pool or capitalize on existing resources.
President Obama called for the creation of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force last October after the secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, submitted a report on the gulf's health after the three-month BP oil spill. The task force, which included federal and state officials, consulted nongovernmental organizations and representatives of the private sector.
The strategy, which is being made available for a period of public comment before being submitted to the president, lays out several broad goals and specific means to achieve them
To restore coastal habitat, for example, the report advises using strategic dredging and river diversions to rebuild the rapidly disappearing wetlands of the Mississippi Delta. It also proposes placing ecological restoration on equal footing with flood control and navigation interests in making Mississippi River management decisions.
Corps officials, who have been frequently criticized as ignoring such issues, were involved in the drafting of the strategy, but it remains to be seen whether they can follow these new guidelines with a few changes in policy or whether they will need Congressional authorization.
The report also puts a priority on improving water quality, particularly on countering the giant dead zone that develops in late spring in the Gulf of Mexico. Because the majority of the runoff that fosters the dead zone enters the river farther upstream, this would require the involvement of states that are far from the gulf, setting up significant jurisdictional and political hurdles.
While acknowledging the difficulties, Ms. Jackson said, "We shouldn't be as a country moving away from thinking about big hard problems."
The strategy also calls for, among other things, more monitoring of gulf species, the restoration of oyster and coral reefs and a reduction in emissions from oceangoing vessels.
Under the president's plan, a permanent council would be established to carry out the task force's strategy alongside federal and state agencies and existing organizations working on the gulf. Its activities would be funded in large part by Clean Water Act penalties stemming from the BP spill in 2010, the biggest in the nation's history. The spill, resulting from a BP oil-well blowout, killed 11 people and spewed 200 million gallons of crude into the gulf.
The creation of the council, however, depends on Congressional passage of a bill making its way through the Senate that would direct four-fifths of the spill penalties toward coastal restoration. A similar version of the bill was introduced in the House on Wednesday.
The legislation has inched forward slowly, with states initially disagreeing about how the money should be divided up and whether it could be spent on economic projects, like a convention center, rather than exclusively on environmental restoration.
Some of these conflicting forces have been at work within the task force itself.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Garret Graves, the senior coastal adviser for Louisiana and the vice chairman of the task force, said that the strategy "seems to miss some of the gaping holes that are challenging us in southern Louisiana," mentioning in particular a state-backed plan for an expanded levee system.
Nevertheless, he called the creation of the task force "a great step forward" as it laid out some of the most pressing issues the region faces.
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11) 23 Arrested Wednesday in Wall St. Protest
By ANDY NEWMAN and COLIN MOYNIHAN
October 6, 2011, 10:22 am
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/23-arrested-wednesday-in-wall-st-protest/?ref=nyregion
Updated 1:59 p.m. | The total number of people arrested on Wednesday at the Occupy Wall Street protest was 23, the police said Thursday morning.
Most of those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct, said Paul J. Browne, the head police spokesman.
They included five people who rushed a police line at Broadway and Wall Street just before 8 p.m., Mr. Browne said.
One of the five was charged with riot.
Four others were arrested at State and Bridge Streets at 9:30 p.m., including one charged with assault after he knocked a police officer off his scooter, Mr. Browne said.
But some witnesses said they saw several police officers drive their scooters into the crowd in an apparent attempt to disperse those who had gathered.
Earlier in the day, the march from Foley Square to Zuccotti Park had been peaceful, with thousands of union members joining the Occupy Wall Street protesters. But as night fell, a smaller group began congregating at Broadway and Wall Street, where the police had placed barricades.
Just before 8 p.m., witnesses said, a group of people standing near the metal barricades loudly announced their intention to march along Wall Street. After what some witnesses described as a countdown, members of the group surged against the barricades, attempting to push past them.
Police officers on the other side of the barricades pushed back, witnesses said, and photographs from the scene showed an officer behind the barricade directing a stream of pepper spray at people trying to shove their way past.
At about the same time, some people gathered near the intersection stepped into Broadway and urged others to join them.
"Move into the street," a young man shouted as he stepped off the sidewalk on the east side of Broadway. A few dozen joined him, from both sides of Broadway, and briefly stopped the flow of traffic.
Soon, a wedge of police officers, many of them commanders, walked through that crowd shoving protesters back toward the sidewalks and appearing to grab and arrest a few of them.
Some in that group said that officers also used pepper spray. Sam Connet and Joe Demanuelle said that they had stepped into Broadway and had been among those milling in the street when officers strode through.
"They pepper sprayed first and then there was an officer swinging his baton," Mr. Demanuelle, 21, said.
"The spray was coming from different directions," Mr. Connet said, adding that he was knocked to the ground by a baton after streams of spray struck him.
A video posted to Youtube Wednesday night shows one officer saying to another, "My little nightstick's gonna get some - a workout tonight, hopefully."
When asked about the police's conduct on Thursday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg allowed that he could not account for the actions of every single officer, but that by and large, the Police Department "conducted themselves the way they should."
"This is a city that values people's rights and gives them the ability to say what they want to say, I think, more so than any city I know of around the world," he said. "But you don't have a right to charge police officers like somebody did the other day."
The mayor also expressed skepticism that the city could resolve the protesters' issues, noting the group's lack of leadership. "They don't coalesce about one issue," Mr. Bloomberg said. "People in this country, but not just in this country, people in many parts of the world, certainly in Europe as well as here, are very frustrated."
"I mean," he added, "people are upset. They don't quite know where to go."
Kate Taylor and Al Baker contributed reporting.
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12) Seeking Energy, Unions Join Protest Against Wall Street
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and CARA BUCKLEY
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/major-unions-join-occupy-wall-street-protest.html?ref=nyregion
Stuart Appelbaum, an influential union leader in New York City, was in Tunisia last month, advising the fledgling labor movement there, when he received a flurry of phone calls and e-mails alerting him to the rumblings of something back home. Protesters united under a provocative name, Occupy Wall Street, were gathering in a Lower Manhattan park and raising issues long dear to organized labor.
And gaining attention for it.
Mr. Appelbaum recalled asking a colleague over the phone to find out who was behind Occupy Wall Street - a bunch of hippies or perhaps troublemakers? - and whether the movement might quickly fade.
So far, at least, it has not, and on Wednesday, several prominent unions, struggling to gain traction on their own, made their first effort to join forces with Occupy Wall Street. Thousands of union members marched with the protesters from Foley Square to their encampment in nearby Zuccotti Park.
"The labor movement needs to tap into the energy and learn from them," Mr. Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said. "They are reaching a lot of people and exciting a lot of people that the labor movement has been struggling to reach for years."
In fact, the unexpected success of Occupy Wall Street in leveling criticism of corporate America has stirred some soul-searching among labor leaders. They have noted with envy that the new movement has done a far better job, not only of capturing interest, but also of attracting young people. Protests have spread to dozens of cities, including Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Several union leaders complained that their own protests over the past two years had received little attention, though they had put far more people on the streets than Occupy Wall Street has. A labor rally in Washington last October drew more than 100,000 people, with little news media coverage.
Behind the scenes in recent days, union leaders have debated how to respond to Occupy Wall Street. In internal discussions, some voiced worries that if labor were perceived as trying to co-opt the movement, it might alienate the protesters and touch off a backlash.
Others said they were wary of being embarrassed by the far-left activists in the group who have repeatedly denounced the United States government.
Those concerns may be renewed after a disturbance about 8 p.m. Wednesday as the march was breaking up. The police said they arrested eight protesters around the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street, after people rushed barriers and began spilling into the street. While a couple of witnesses said that officers used pepper spray to clear the streets, Paul J. Browne, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said that one officer "possibly" used it. Several protesters were also arrested at State and Bridge Streets at 9:30 p.m.; the police said one protester was charged with assault after an officer was knocked off his scooter.
Despite questions about the protesters' hostility to the authorities, many union leaders have decided to embrace Occupy Wall Street. On Wednesday, for example, members of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s executive council had a conference call in which they expressed unanimous support for the protest. One A.F.L.-C.I.O. official said leaders had heard from local union members wondering why organized labor was absent.
The two movements may be markedly different, but union leaders maintain that they can help each other - the weakened labor movement can tap into Occupy Wall Street's vitality, while the protesters can benefit from labor's money, its millions of members and its stature.
The labor leaders said they hoped Occupy Wall Street would serve as a counterweight to the Tea Party and help pressure President Obama and Congress to focus on job creation and other concerns important to unions.
"This is very much a crystallizing moment," said Denise Mitchell, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s communications director. "We have to look for sparks wherever they are. It could be an opportunity to talk about what's wrong with the system and how to make it better."
Still, it may not be easy for organized labor to mesh with this new movement. Labor unions generally represent older workers, while the Occupy Wall Street protesters are younger. Unions are hierarchical, while the Occupy Wall Street protesters are more loosely knit and like to see themselves as highly democratic.
Unions invariably have a long and specific list of demands, while Occupy Wall Street has not articulated formal ones. Union leaders often like the limelight, while Occupy Wall Street is largely leaderless.
"Labor's needed a way to excite younger people with their message," Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University, said. "And to the extent that Occupy Wall Street's '99 percent versus 1 percent' theme goes along with what labor has been saying for a while, it's a natural fit."
"But obviously," said Professor Kazin, who has written several books on populist and progressive movements, "demographically, there may be some problems here. The protests haven't gotten much institutional presence, and if labor can help give them institutional presence, that can really help them."
Several major labor groups - including the Transport Workers Union, the Service Employees International Union, the United Federation of Teachers and the United Auto Workers - took part in the march on Wednesday. Some more traditionally conservative ones, like those in the construction trades, stayed away.
George White, 60, a retired union member who lives in Marine Park, Brooklyn, said it was up to the young protesters to champion bread-and-butter issues in the future. "Unions are on the way out," he said. "These are the children of mothers and fathers who have worked hard all their lives and now can't put food on the tables. These are the children who can't pay off their loans, who have nowhere to go and no opportunities."
Julie Fry, 32, a lawyer who is a member of the union at the Legal Aid Society, said labor's backing of the protest was momentous, and born out of frustration.
"We're so fed up and getting nowhere through the old political structures that there needs to be old-fashioned rage in the streets," she said.
Before the march, protesters at the Occupy Wall Street encampment's welcome table said that while the unions were welcome, they would be only one more base of support.
"The idea that the unions will take over the crowd, that's not going to happen," said Jeff Smith, 41, a freelancer in advertising who has been on the welcome committee since the protests began. "We are not a group looking for a leader."
Others expressed frustration with the unions. Chris Cicala, 26, from Staten Island, said his father, a union painter, had been laid off, leaving his family without health insurance. "I don't get where the unions have been for the past 10 years," Mr. Cicala said.
Reporting was contributed by Al Baker, Joseph Goldstein, Rob Harris and Colin Moynihan.
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13) Manhattan D.A. Is Asked to Seek to Undo 1999 Murder Conviction
By JOHN ELIGON
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/manhattan-da-is-asked-to-seek-to-undo-murder-conviction.html?ref=nyregion
When the police picked up Jon-Adrian Velazquez more than a dozen years ago in the killing of a retired police officer, three witnesses identified him from a lineup as the gunman.
No physical evidence linked him to the shooting of the officer, Albert Ward, but Mr. Velazquez was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 based primarily on the testimony of those three witnesses and others.
Now, however, two of those witnesses have recanted their identifications, and the third has expressed doubts about whether he picked the right man, lawyers for Mr. Velazquez say.
The lawyers, Robert C. Gottlieb and Celia A. Gordon, are employing a relatively uncommon approach in trying to get Mr. Velazquez's conviction overturned: They are filing a report directly with the Manhattan district attorney's office, rather than with a judge.
Mr. Gottlieb and Ms. Gordon are scheduled to meet on Thursday with members of the Conviction Integrity Unit, which Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the district attorney, established a year and a half ago, shortly after taking office.
With Mr. Velazquez's cause being promoted by David Lemus, who was wrongfully convicted in the Palladium nightclub killing, and Dan Slepian, an NBC News producer who lobbied for Mr. Lemus's exoneration, this case could represent the most widely publicized test so far of Mr. Vance's unit.
"This case is tailor-made for the Conviction Integrity Unit because there's no physical evidence, no DNA," said Mr. Gottlieb, who was a member of Mr. Vance's transition team when he won election in 2009. "It's all eyewitness evidence."
Mr. Vance said his prosecutors had yet to receive written information from the defense about the case but would review it once they did.
Since the unit was formed, it has reviewed more than 100 cases that were referred through channels other than the court, Mr. Vance said.
About a dozen of those referrals led to deeper reviews, some of which are still going on. In two cases, the office fought to uphold the convictions and won, Mr. Vance said. In another two, he said, his office had the charges dismissed before the defendants were convicted. And in one case, prosecutors moved to vacate a defendant's conviction but plan to retry the case.
"Can an office re-evaluate its own prior cases?" Mr. Vance said. "Yes, we can and we do. We take it very seriously. We try to approach it with fresh eyes, without prejudgment."
Barry C. Scheck, a co-founder of the Innocence Project and an adviser to Mr. Vance's unit, said taking innocence claims directly to prosecutors "was a much better starting point than just going into court and filing a motion," because in judicial proceedings, "people develop tunnel vision and institutional bias on either side."
Mr. Gottlieb and Ms. Gordon began investigating Mr. Velazquez's case at the urging of Mr. Slepian, who began looking into Mr. Velazquez's claims in 2002 after a referral by Mr. Lemus. At the time, Mr. Velazquez, now 35, and Mr. Lemus were in the same prison, Green Haven Correctional Facility, and had become friends.
After Mr. Lemus's conviction in the 1990 shooting of a bouncer at the Palladium was overturned, he donated about $10,000 of his settlement with the state to pay for a private investigator for Mr. Velazquez.
"When I looked at him, I saw the same pain and sorrow that I saw when I looked in the mirror," Mr. Lemus said. "And then when we got into the details of his case, I started to believe more and more."
Mr. Ward was fatally shot on Jan. 27, 1998, after two men tried to rob a gambling parlor he ran in Harlem. Investigators turned their attention toward Mr. Velazquez after Augustus Brown, who was in the parlor during the shooting, picked his photo out of several hundred that the police showed him three days after the murder, the defense's report said.
Based on Mr. Brown's identification, the police placed Mr. Velazquez in a lineup, and he was identified by two other witnesses: the brothers Phillip Jones and Robert Jones. Another witness, Lorenzo Woodford, initially identified another man in the lineup but later said the gunman might have been Mr. Velazquez.
Another witness, Joe Scott, picked a different man from the lineup, and yet another, Dorothy Canady, said she did not recognize anyone, according to the report. At the trial, Ms. Canady, when asked to point to Mr. Velazquez in the courtroom, pointed to Juror No. 6.
But since Mr. Velazquez was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, Mr. Brown has recanted his identification in three separate interviews with lawyers and investigators. The report also said Mr. Brown told a private investigator last year that when the police had brought him in to look at photographs, they indicated that he could be implicated in the killing if he did not identify the gunman. Mr. Brown said he had picked Mr. Velazquez's photo just because he wanted to leave the precinct, according to the report.
Phillip Jones has said he did not believe that Mr. Velazquez was the gunman, the report said, and Robert Jones has said he is not sure that he picked the right man.
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14) 500 March in LA as Part of Wall Street Protests
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/06/business/AP-US-Wall-Street-Protest-Los-Angeles.html?src=busln
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Several hundred people are staging a noisy protest against alleged corporate greed in the downtown Los Angeles financial district.
About 500 people from labor unions and activist and grassroots organizations are shouting and carrying signs Thursday outside a bank high-rise.
They're protesting in sympathy with Wall Street demonstrators in New York City who blame the poor economy on corporate greed.
Police Cmdr. Blake Chow says organizers worked with the police department to ensure the protest would be peaceful. No arrests have been made.
Demonstrators have been camping out at Los Angeles City Hall for the past week and say they may continue to do so through the winter.
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15) Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Bradley Manning Now 500 Days in Confinement
Peace prize nominee Bradley Manning now 500 days in confinement
By the Bradley Manning Support Network.
October 7, 2011.
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/peace-prize-nominee-bradley-manning-now-500-days-in-confinement
October 7, 2011 marks the 500th day in confinement for PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks whistleblower. Along with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, PFC Manning is one of the nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The readership of the Guardian selected Bradley Manning as their top choice for the award:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/oct/06/bradley-manning-reader-poll-nobel-peace-prize
The Bradley Manning Support Network issued the following statement today:
"This year's nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize are bound together by a common drive to nonviolently reassert democracy in the face of authoritarian abuses of power.
Alongside those who have fought against the unjust accumulation of financial and political power, PFC Bradley Manning is alleged to be part of a movement to dislodge an informational blockade that enriches the interests of the few at the expense of our democracy.
Citizens cannot make truly informed decisions when the actions of government are routinely concealed from the public that they have sworn to serve. Government officials must be held accountable if they have withheld information from the public so as to hide evidence of wrongdoing.
Tonight, on the eve of PFC Manning's 500th day in pre-trial confinement, we do not forget that all people have a right to due process, free from cruel and unusual punishment. The Obama administration must stop obstructing the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, from conducting an un-monitored meeting with PFC Manning.
We expect any President to obey the constitutional freedoms that we all share. No one should be silenced for having the courage to speak or act against wrongdoing. The administration's message to us is clear: We are all Bradley Manning."
The Bradley Manning Support Network has recently launched a petition at WhiteHouse.gov to force the administration to respond to the United Nations and all those who demand freedom for Bradley Manning.
Click here to sign the petition now!
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/free-pfc-bradley-manning-accused-wikileaks-whistleblower/kX1GJKsD?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
Already signed the petition? You can promote it to your friends on facebook and twitter! Copy and paste the following text: Tell the Obama Administration to let UN investigate torture of alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning! http://wh.gov/40y
The White House petition requires a brief registration process. As some people have been running into technical difficulties trying to sign the petition, we have put together a small list of frequently encountered issues: Click here for a few technical tips.
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/having-trouble-with-the-white-house-petition
Help us help Bradley. Donate to the Bradley Manning Support Network.
https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=38591
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16) International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
RENE GONZALEZ WILL ONLY BE FREE WHEN HE RETURNS TO CUBA
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
To learn more about the Cuban 5 visit:
www.thecuban5.org
After 13 long years of injustice, Rene Gonzalez, one of the Five Cuban anti terrorist fighters, was released early this morning from the Marianna prison in Florida.
This is a step towards his freedom but he still is being denied the embrace of his wife Olga Salanueva.
And he will not be able to be received by the people of Cuba who love him and are demanding his immediate and complete freedom along with his four brothers.
As if 13 years was not enough, now the US government is heaping an additional punishment on Rene and his family by ordering him to serve 3 more years of supervised probation in the US. This is not only inhumane but puts Rene's life in serious danger.
The US government from now on will be responsible for anything that happens to Rene.
We have to ask Obama to identify and put a restrainer order on terrorist groups and individuals who operate freely in Miami so that they cannot come near Rene. After all part of Judge Lenard's conditions for his release was that Rene could not associate, or be in the vicinity of terrorists; the very people he was monitoring. During Rene's "supervised" probation the question has to be who will be supervising the terrorists?
One of the excuses being used to keep Rene Gonzalez in the US is that he could be a danger to the United States. They could remedy that easily by sending him home. This morning Olga summed up how ridiculous this argument is by saying. "If they say that he is a danger to that society what is the reason to keep him there?"
Now is the time to focus our efforts to move the sky and the earth to demand that Obama immediately release Rene Gonzalez to his family and his homeland.
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
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17) Happening Now: Occupy Atlanta Occupying Woodruff Park
By GLORIA TATUM
10-7-2011
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/news/2011/10/07/happening-now-occupy-atlanta-occupying-woodruff-park.html
(APN) ATLANTA -- Occupy Atlanta, the Atlanta branch of the Occupy Together movement, has occupied Woodruff Park, following a General Assembly, which began earlier today at 6pm, Friday, October 07, 2011.
A group of 150 activists decided to stay in the park past the 11pm closing time and are still in the park as of the time of publication of this article, Tim Franzen, activist with the American Friends Service Committee, said, adding that Atlanta Police had begun to circle the park on motorcycles and with wrist ties. Franzen said some activists were prepared to link arms and get arrested tonight.
Activist Joe Beasley of African Ascension told Atlanta Progressive News that he did not think there would be arrests tonight because the park closed at 11pm and, in his experience, the police would have made the arrests then if they were going to.
The AFSC building on Walton Street has also been serving as a 24-hour organizing space for the movement.
Earlier today, Occupy Atlanta held a General Assembly at the park, and about seven hundred people attended.
Occupy Together is a new, young, and vital movement that is emerging in major US cities around the nation. They call themselves the ninety-nine percent that has been left behind and left out, while the one percent control vast amounts of wealth and took even more during the great transfer of wealth in 2008.
Prior to the current economic crisis, Wall Street ran amuck, without regulations, and the banks gambled away their resources in a frenzy of blind greed never before seen. Everyone lost except the CEO's and upper echelon of the corporate world.
Occupy Together is the beginning of a movement to hold Wall Street accountable for crashing our economy and throwing millions of families out of their homes. The ninety-nine percenters are aware that most of our elected representatives only represent the interest of the rich and powerful and not the people. The only thing that has "trickled down" has been unemployment, foreclosures, and homelessness.
During the General Assembly, a crowd of about seven hundred people encircled the facilitators. They announced: We are not Republicans, Democrats or any other party. We are the people and we have found our voice.
A sampling of the signs people carried read: "If we lose America then we have lost it to the Elite," "Corporations are not the People," "Bring the Jobs back - Made in USA," "No more $21 Million Bonus," "Corporate Greed is Destroying American," and "Money for Jobs not War."
State Senators Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta), and US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) were spotted in the crowd.
US Rep. Lewis wanted to speak to the gathering but the leaders wanted consensus from the crowd to allow him to speak which was not reached.
The majority wanted to let Lewis speak at the beginning of the assembly but a minority wanted him to speak after the General Assembly finished reviewing their protocol with the crowd. Lewis had another appointment and could not stay until the end. The more mature and seasoned activists thought this was a missed opportunity to not allow Lewis to speak at the beginning.
Franzen told APN the decision to not allow Lewis to speak was motivated in part by the movement wanting to distance itself from the Democratic Party and the old leadership, to not be coopted like the Tea Party movement, and to reinforce the idea that everyone was equal. However, he noted that several Black activists who came to the General Assembly were upset.
APN observed some of the activists left frustrated at that point.
The General Assembly passed out their draft of demands and read their preamble: We hold this truth to be self-evident that the 99% deserve equal rights, equal protections, equal access and equal opportunity as the 1% who benefit disproportionately from the current system. We therefore freely assemble to assert our rights and demands:
1. We demand greater democratic control in all spheres of life, from the home to the government, from the economy to the workplace. It is a moral, logical and political imperative that people should be in control of their own lives to the greatest extent possible.
2. We deserve an economic system that meets human needs, reduces economic inequality, shrinks the income gap, and doesn't reward decisions that have a negative impact on society.
3. We recognize that the market will not regulate itself. What is good for profit is not always good for people or the environment.
4. We assert the right of every human being to adequate shelter, food, clothing, hygiene and other basic necessities.
5. We assert the right of every individual to adequate protection from the economic uncertainties of old age, accident, unemployment and other hardship.
6. We denounce all predatory lending and fraudulent banking practices and demand accountability.
7. We recognize that no society should allocate more resources to warfare than to the public good.
8. We demand a more democratic, publicly representative and accountable media.
9. We insist that the internet is a basic human right and as such should remain absolutely free and neutral.
10. We assert our right to public spaces and our right to freely inhabit them because they are essential to democracy and our right to assemble.
11. We denounce a criminal justice and for-profit prison system that relies on mass incarceration, especially when it reinforces the marginalization and disenfranchisement of people.
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18) [NationalMassAction] Oct. 15 - a global day of action
October 15 is turning out to be a global day of action against the wars and economic crisis. We are not alone - let's link our struggles. From the Occupy London web page http://occupylondon.org.uk/
On October 15th we will be Occupying the London Stock Exchange. At the same time thousands continue to occupy Wall Street and hundreds of cities from Paris and Madrid to Buenos Aires and Caracas are staging actions and occupations together for a global day of action.
By reclaiming space in the face of the economic systems that have caused terrible injustices across the world, we can open up and engage our communities into public discussions. These assemblies will allow people to voice their ideas for how we can work towards a better future and help us create concrete demands to be met. A future free from austerity within a context of growing inequality, unemployment, tax injustice and a political elite who ignores its citizens. So it's time for citizens to represent themselves. To work together to resist the government's plans and to do this in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of others around the world on the same day.
The problems we face in the UK echoes across the world. We are linked by the same root causes, so we cannot solve these problems in isolation. October 15th will be a global day of action calling for global change.
'O-15: Unite for Global Change' has been called by the 'indignants' movement in Spain, where thousands camped out in the squares for weeks, building massive popular pressure on the government. It inspired the current Wall Street occupation in New York, providing a space for the majority to resist the wishes of the greedy minority.
Join us at the London Stock Exchange to reclaim space and take part in workshops on topics ranging from Debt and The Spanish Indignants Movement to Fuel Poverty and Climate Justice. Contribute in the Open Assemblies and chant songs of solidarity with Samba bands. Exact times and locations to be announced soon.
Block the Bridge: General Assembly
Join us for a General Assembly to plan for Occupy LSX, on Sunday 9th Oct, 1pm, on Westminster Bridge as we 'Block the Bridge' with UK Uncut
http://ukuncut.org.uk/blog/block-the-bridge-block-the-bill
If you would like to run a workshop, or have any questions, please contact us at:
OccupyLSX@gmail.com
Lets make the UK part of an international movement!
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OCCUPATION START: Saturday, Oct 15th (Location to be confirmed)
GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Sunday Oct 9th @Westminster Bridge at the 'Block the Bridge, Block the Bill' protest (please be there at 1pm and listen out for the annoucement / look out for our banner/poster. BTB event page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=277040145648345)
Banner making session: Saturday, October 8th, 12-5pm @Passing Clouds
(Event page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=297127830302586)
OccupyLSX Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/occupylondon
Twitter: @OccupyLSX (www.twitter.com/OccupyLSX)
hashtags #OccupyLSX #OccupyLondon
IRC Chat - http://chat.indymedia.org/?chans=occupyLSX
Email: OccupyLSX@gmail.com
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19) Return to Little Beirut
Occupy Portland is Born with Ten Thousand Strong
by SHAMUS COOKE
Counterpunch Weekend Edition October 7-9, 2011
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/07/occupy-portland-is-born-with-ten-thousand-strong/
It should be no surprise that a city dubbed "Little Beirut" by President Bush Senior - due to the large protests against him - began its "occupation" on a level on par with Wall Street.
On October 6, in Portland, Oregon, ten thousand people assembled at noon at Waterfront Park on a work day in anticipation of the non-permitted march, which would make a pit stop before ending at its official, secret "Occupation" spot.
The buzz for the event had permeated all sectors of Portland society. People who had never shown a political urge in their lives were suddenly convulsing. Hundreds of people started showing up at the organizing meetings, many of them younger people unknown by the "usual suspects" of Portland activism. A refreshing sign, since new blood is a key ingredient to all social movements.
Although people were warned of police violence during the non-permitted march, nothing came of it. This isn't surprising, given the close spotlight on Portland's police (the Justice Department is investigating them for police brutality and having heavy trigger fingers). Also, Portland's Mayor has a reputation for being Mr. Liberal, and cracking heads in broad daylight must not have sounded appealing to him. Most importantly, the march was large enough to defend itself, permits or not.
The atmosphere at Occupy Portland is one that forms the nucleus of any successful social movement: solidarity. Young and old from all backgrounds holding signs, chanting, and forming bonds with complete strangers over the issues that naturally bind all working people together: jobs, inequality, anti-war, student loan forgiveness, defending Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (the social safety net), etc.
These are the demands of the movement, whether or not they are officially recognized. They are the organic demands that arise from the experience of working people, as showcased by the countless signs in Portland's protest.
There were many "anti-system" signs as well; Portland has a healthy number of anarchists, socialists, etc. But many of these more-radical signs were held by working or unemployed families; some of the banners were vague or instinctive, while others were specifically anti-capitalist. The majority of signs were of immediate demands (tax the rich, etc.), but many were "system-based." This is the dual nature of the protests, something that will be eventually reconciled during the life of the movement. One demand needn't be sacrificed for another, but focusing on certain demands at critical times will be crucial to give the movement momentum after the initial of burst of energy has subsided.
For example, the majority of working people can instantly unite and be moved to action with a demand similar to "tax the rich to create jobs and save Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid," while only a minority of working people will unite indefinitely around the banner: "End Inequality" or "end capitalism." This is the main reason why specific demands must eventually be put forth; working people are only powerful against their corporate competition when they are united. Indeed this is the very basis for the plight of working people today - we are ruled because 99 per cent are divided against the 1 per cent.
Linked with unity is organization. The Occupy movement has shown an expert use of organizational tools such as social media. The day that Occupy Portland began, one could watch the protest live at www.occupyportland.org. Linked with organization is leadership, and although the Occupy movement rejects the word, there are already obvious leaders emerging.
For example, the organizers who knew the end location of the march are leaders, as are the organizers who committed to doing the most legwork towards outreach and communication. The leaders also decided that this march was to be non-violent, which angered a minority of protesters in Portland. Leaders also control the use of the web page. Democracy is crucially important, the majority must make the decisions for the movement. But leaders emerge with any organizational effort. They are the people who contribute most and create the space for others to occupy.
After the non-permitted march, protesters gathered in "Portland's Living Room," Pioneer Square, where the festivities continued. Later, the march continued to its overnight venue, a public park across from the county courthouse. As of this writing the Mayor had officially approved the occupation space until 9am the following morning, when the police would evict the occupants in favor of the Portland Marathon run, who had the park reserved. The occupiers hadn't yet decided whether to pack up and move elsewhere or test the power of the police. The optimism and numbers of protesters made the crowd courageous, but the 10,000 high mark had dwindled over the course of the night to a couple of thousand, especially after the drizzle began.
If Portland is any indication, there is plenty of energy ready to be funneled into victories for working people. It is up to the Occupy movement to find ways to best funnel this energy, since people will not indefinitely occupy something without a clear goal in mind, or without a barometer to measure their success. In Egypt, protesters proudly declared "I will occupy Tahrir Square until the dictator has fallen." As it stands now, nobody in Portland can make a similar statement. Demands and goals do matter; wanting general change is not enough, as the Obama campaign clearly proved: vagueness invites political opportunists and their offspring, which ends in disappointment.
But for now occupying is enough. We are entering the infant stage of a new social movement, and once the newborn's excitement of being alive passes away, real life must be dealt with: the infant must learn to walk; must learn what to value and how to achieve its goals while clearing obstacles out of its path. Although there is no telling how this baby will mature, we can only hope that adulthood will be successful.
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org)
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20) Occupy New Orleans begins with mass protest
Members plan to stake out City Hall indefinitel
By Brian Sibille, Staff Writer
October 6, 2011 20:10
http://www.lsureveille.com/occupy-new-orleans-begins-with-mass-protest-1.2647966
Grasping tightly onto signs in their hands, sweat soaking their brows and backs, a group of protestors marched through the heart of New Orleans on Thursday shouting, "Whose street? Our street!"
Nearly a thousand members of the Occupy New Orleans movement walked through Business District streets as police blocked cars from passing through.
But New Orleans protestors were only a small percentage of a movement that has seen thousand of arrests in cities across the United States.
Occupy Wall Street, held in the streets of New York City, began Sept. 17 and has continued to gain support despite alleged police brutality and mass arrests.
The heart of the movement is the current economic state of the U.S., with its targets including large corporations, wealthier Americans and politicians.
Protests similar to those in New York and New Orleans have appeared across the country in San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta and even Lake Charles.
Members of the movement often identify themselves as the "99 percent" of Americans who are not overtly wealthy. Many of the "99 percent" have taken their cause to the Internet, posting pictures and stories detailing unemployment and difficulty supporting families.
Members of the New Orleans protest crowd ranged from college students and young professionals to children and the elderly.
Many could be heard chanting "this is what democracy looks like" and denying political affiliation, claiming the movement "is just people coming together."
The "99 percent" in New Orleans expressed the same outrage as fellow occupiers in New York City, but many localized their grievances to Louisiana. Much of their dissatisfaction was aimed at local politicians like New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
LSU acounting freshman Robin Williams carried a sign accusing the energy company Entergy Louisiana, LLC, of unfairly taxing those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Williams said he learned of the movement online and joined because he agreed with beliefs other members had expressed.
One of Williams' grievances about the current state of the economy is that minimum wage is not sufficient for the youth.
"It's too low," he said. "There's no way someone can survive on it."
Williams was joined by a large number of college-aged protestors, including Nathan Anderson, LSU political science sophomore.
Anderson said he became involved in the "vague but fluid awakening" because he believes Americans are being robbed of their rights.
"Everyone has a right to an education and a home," Anderson said, naming student and housing debt as infringements on those rights.
Anderson said he didn't know what to expect out of the protests in New Orleans, but he said it was a "good first step."
Jillian Chrisman and Sara Mulholland, both seeking master's degrees in education at the University of New Orleans, said they fear the combination of high student debt and low income for teachers will trouble them later in life.
"I'll have student debt until I'm 50," Mulholland said.
The youth have played a large part in the national movement, not only as students but as a generation that will have to deal with a national debt and elders without Social Security, Chrisman said.
"It's our future we're defending," said Genevieve Vegetable, Tulane University public health graduate student. "There's an enormous burden on our generation."
Vegetable said New Orleans has felt the "brunt of corporations" in a country where "Medicare is a fantasy."
Protestors walked to Lafayette Square to protest the Federal Reserve Building nearby. The members took turns speaking to the crowd, including a woman who performed poetry and a college student calling fellow youth into action.
A man with a megaphone began chanting, "Wall Street says cut back. We say fight back." A trio with a drum, trumpet and saxophone crafted a melody, leading protestors in loud song as workers emerged from downtown buildings to observe the crowded streets.
"We don't work for the government," one woman told the crowd. "They are here to work for us."
The group eventually moved to Duncan Plaza in front of New Orleans City Hall, where they intend to occupy indefinitely.
Contact Brian Sibille at bsibille@lsureveille.com
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21) More Bleak Job Numbers
New York Times Editorial
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/opinion/more-bleak-job-numbers.html?hp
It would take a lot of optimism to put a positive spin on the jobs report for September, released on Friday by the Labor Department.
Employers added 103,000 jobs last month, allaying fears, for now, of a double-dip recession. But even if the economy avoids another contraction, the numbers confirm that the job market is in a deep rut that is, for all purposes, indistinguishable from recession. There are still 14 million people officially unemployed, and nearly 12 million more who have given up actively looking for work or who are working part time but need full-time jobs.
Earlier this week, President Obama and the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, delivered bleak economic assessments, which demand a government response. The economy, already at a crawl, could well slow down further in response to economic setbacks in Europe and China or to homegrown problems like political gridlock that delay spending on job-creation efforts.
The economy is not producing enough jobs, and many of the ones created are lousy. Much of last month's job growth came as 45,000 striking Verizon employees returned to work. Without that one-time boost, the economy added only 58,000 new positions in September, roughly in line with the slow pace of job creation over the past several months.
That is not nearly enough to lower the unemployment rate, which is at 9.1 percent and is almost certain to rise in the months ahead, barring an unexpected upsurge in economic activity.
The new jobs are generally in lower-paying fields, like home health care, and in part-time and temporary employment. These kinds of employment may be better than no work, but they are generally not the types of jobs that allow workers to get ahead.
The September report also shows the permanent scars caused by persistent joblessness. The share of workers who have been unemployed for more than six months increased from 42.9 percent to 44.6 percent, near its record high from early last year. That is likely to translate into irreversible reductions in the standard of living for millions of Americans because the longer one is unemployed, the harder it becomes to find new work, especially at previous pay levels.
Children will be among those most harmed by the jobs crisis. The Economic Policy Institute, using data from the September report, has calculated that 278,000 teachers and other public school employees have lost their jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Over the same period, 48,000 new teaching jobs were needed to keep up with the increased enrollments but were never created. In all, public schools are now short 326,000 jobs.
At a time when more and better education is seen as crucial to economic dynamism and competitiveness, larger class sizes and fewer teachers are the last thing the nation needs. Staffing reductions also mean that schools are less able to respond to the needs of poor children, whose ranks have increased by 2.3 million from 2008 to 2010.
The situation calls out for swift passage of Mr. Obama's jobs bill and even more far-reaching efforts to revive growth and employment. The alternative is lasting damage from a jobs crisis that has already done enormous harm to families and communities.
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22) Inmate's Release Brings Call for New Evidence Law
By BRANDI GRISSOM
October 8, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/us/inmates-release-brings-call-for-new-evidence-law.html?hp
Not long after his mother was murdered, 3 1/2-year-old Eric Morton began to tell his grandmother what he had seen that terrible day.
"Mommy's crying. She's - Stop it. Go away," his grandmother said he told her. She asked why his mother was crying.
" 'Cause the monster's there," he said.
Gingerly, she pressed for more details.
"He hit Mommy. He broke the bed," her grandson said.
"Is Mommy still crying?"
"No, Mommy stopped."
Finally, his grandmother asked the question she was most dreading: "Was Daddy there?"
"No," he said. "Mommy and Eric was there."
The next day, she called the lead sheriff's investigator to tell him what the boy had said and that she no longer suspected that her son-in-law, Michael Morton, had killed her daughter, Christine. She urged the investigator to abandon the "domestic thing now and look for the monster."
Days after Mrs. Morton's badly beaten body was found in her bed in August 1986, someone used her credit card in another city. And a check was cashed with her forged signature.
The sheriff's investigators who saw Mr. Morton as the prime suspect had that information and a transcript of the grandmother's call. But when he was on trial facing a life sentence for murder, his defense lawyers knew none of it.
A quarter-century later, after six years of fighting for DNA tests that now almost certainly will result in the reversal of Mr. Morton's conviction, his lawyers say prosecutors withheld this and other exculpatory evidence from his original defense lawyers and from the trial judge despite orders to turn it over. In court filings, the prosecutors have denied accusations of wrongdoing.
Since 1994, DNA tests have exonerated 44 Texas inmates, according to the Innocence Project of Texas, based in Lubbock. In the wake of those cases, Texas lawmakers have made significant reforms to criminal justice procedures to help prevent wrongful convictions. But defense lawyers and Mr. Morton's advocates argue that under antiquated Texas discovery laws, the alleged injustices that robbed him of 25 years could still happen.
"Michael's struggle would be in vain if we didn't think soberly about what went wrong in his case and how it can be fixed," said Nina Morrison, senior staff lawyer for the Innocence Project, which worked on Mr. Morton's case and which is based in New York.
The landmark 1963 United States Supreme Court decision Brady v. Maryland requires prosecutors to provide defendants with exculpatory evidence - information that could prove their innocence. But Texas law does not define "exculpatory evidence," and there is no statewide standard; prosecutors or trial judges typically decide what qualifies. State law does not require prosecutors to automatically share with defense lawyers even basic information like police reports and witness statements.
Many prosecutors, including district attorneys in Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and Austin, have adopted open-file policies that require their lawyers to share all their evidence with the defense.
Tarrant County adopted its policy in the 1970s, said Jack Strickland, a former defense lawyer who is deputy chief in the district attorney's criminal division.
"The more serious the case, the more serious the potential consequences," Mr. Strickland said. "We wanted to have as much transparency as we could because of the stakes involved."
In 2010, the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel, a committee created to recommend new laws that might prevent wrongful convictions, urged legislators to adopt a mandatory statewide discovery policy. Seven of Texas' first 39 DNA exonerations involved evidence suppression or other prosecutorial misconduct, according to the panel's report.
The panel - named after a Lubbock man charged with rape who died in prison before DNA evidence exonerated him - told lawmakers that Texas should follow the example of other states that require lawyers on both sides to share information in criminal cases.
"We have 254 counties in this state, and potentially 254 ways of deciding what the defense will see prior to trial," said Kathryn Kase, executive director of the Texas Defender Service and a member of the Tim Cole panel.
Since 2007, lawmakers have proposed more than a half-dozen measures that would have expanded access to discovery. None have passed.
Senator Rodney Ellis, Democrat of Houston, who is also chairman of the Innocence Project, said prosecutors had worked to stymie the measures. The opposition, he said, reflects an attitude among many Texas prosecutors that a conviction equals a win.
"The role of the prosecutor is to discover the truth," said Mr. Ellis, who is also a lawyer. "But oftentimes there's more interest in getting a conviction."
He pointed to a recent decision of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association to honor a prosecutor who had intervened to stop a court hearing meant to examine whether Cameron Todd Willingham was innocent. Mr. Willingham was executed in 2004 for the 1991 arson fire that killed his three young daughters. Numerous scientists have since discredited the evidence used to convict him.
"I think the Morton case is going to be a catalyst for moving some of those reforms forward," Mr. Ellis said.
John Bradley, the Williamson County district attorney, whom Gov. Rick Perry appointed in 2009 to lead an independent panel charged with reviewing forensic evidence in criminal cases, was an ardent opponent of re-examining the Willingham case.
Mr. Bradley has also most recently been in charge of the Morton prosecution. For more than six years he opposed the DNA testing that led to Mr. Morton's release from prison last week and an agreement by prosecutors to seek to have his conviction overturned. He also resisted efforts by Mr. Morton's lawyers to use public-information laws to gain access to evidence in the original prosecutors' files.
Mr. Bradley publicly derided the lawyers' efforts to prove that a "mystery killer" killed Christine Morton.
Mr. Bradley said last week that he had resisted efforts to test the DNA for good-faith reasons that he could not discuss because of the continuing investigation.
Prosecutors, though, have not been the only ones to object to expanding discovery, said Rob Kepple, executive director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. Defense lawyers, he said, have objected to legislation that would also require them to turn over evidence to prosecutors.
What is more, Mr. Kepple said, a new discovery law would not have prevented the kind of misconduct alleged in the Morton case. If a prosecutor or investigator decides to withhold key information even in the face of the Brady rules that already require its release, he said, a new state law will not spur their compliance.
"If somebody didn't play fair back then," he said, "I'm not sure exactly what law we change today to address it."
Indeed, in Tarrant County, where the open-file policy has long been in place, Mr. Strickland said there had been two instances in which a prosecutor suppressed evidence to help secure death penalty convictions.
The same lawyer worked on both cases and is no longer employed at the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, he said.
"You can't discount the possibility that somebody is going to come in and make a conscious decision to do something wrong," Mr. Strickland said.
Despite that aberration, he said, the open-file policy has only helped Tarrant County.
It is an advantage for defense lawyers, since they can quickly access information they need to represent their clients, he said, and it helps prosecutors because they do not have to spend time and money fighting in court over access to evidence.
"It's a downside only if you think winning is everything," Mr. Strickland said. "And winning is not everything."
bgrissom@texastribune.org
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23) California Prison Hunger Strike Resumes as Sides Dig In
"The new protocols seek to isolate inmates participating in the strike from those in the general population and potentially subject them to disciplinary measures, while prisoners identified as strike leaders could potentially be denied contact with visitors and even lawyers. In addition, two lawyers who had helped mediate talks were temporarily barred from state prisons last week because 'their presence in the institution/facility presents a security threat.' But Ms. Weills said other prisoners told her that those four did so because they could no longer endure conditions at the administrative housing unit where they had been moved. 'We're freezing,' Ronald Yandell, one of the strike leaders, said to Ms. Weills this week. 'The air-conditioner is blowing. It's like arctic air coming through, blowing at top speed. It's torture. They're trying to break us.'"
By IAN LOVETT
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/us/hunger-strike-resumes-in-california-prisons.html?ref=us
LOS ANGELES - When inmates across California's state prisons went on a hunger strike in July, prison officials negotiated with them, ultimately reaching an agreement to bring the strike to an end after three weeks.
But since inmates resumed the strike last week in continued protest against conditions of prolonged isolation, things have gone differently: the corrections department has cracked down, trying to isolate the strike leaders, some of whom say they no longer trust the department and are hoping to push the governor to enact reforms.
"I'm ready to take this all the way," J. Angel Martinez, one of the strike leaders at Pelican Bay State Prison, said in a message conveyed through a lawyer this week. "We are sick and tired of living like this and willing to die if that's what it takes."
This time, though, both sides have shown less inclination to compromise, and no negotiations between the strike leaders and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have taken place since the strike resumed.
An internal memo from George J. Giurbino, director of the Division of Adult Institutions for the department, outlined new, more aggressive processes for dealing with mass hunger strikes.
The new protocols seek to isolate inmates participating in the strike from those in the general population and potentially subject them to disciplinary measures, while prisoners identified as strike leaders could potentially be denied contact with visitors and even lawyers.
In addition, two lawyers who had helped mediate talks were temporarily barred from state prisons last week because "their presence in the institution/facility presents a security threat."
The animosity goes both ways, suggesting no easy resolution to a situation in which inmates are protesting being kept in isolation in excess of 22 hours a day, part of an attempt to hamper gangs.
In late July, inmates ended their initial strike after officials agreed to concessions for prisoners in security housing units, including allowing them wall calendars, hobby items like drawing paper and a comprehensive review of how inmates are placed in these isolation units.
The new hunger strike drew 4,000 people last week across the state. But that number had drifted to fewer than 800 by Friday, according to corrections officials, as the department has moved to isolate participants from the general prison population.
Terry Thornton, a department spokeswoman, said that the promised reforms were continuing as promised, and officials remained willing to negotiate, but that leaders had not approached them with a new list of demands.
"Everything we said we were going to do, we did," Ms. Thornton said. "We are kind of puzzled about why this action was taken again. The review takes time, but we are on track."
Mistrust of the department is fervent among strike leaders, according to Anne Weills, a lawyer who met with four of them at Pelican Bay. Prisoner rights advocates have also accused the department of low-balling the number of prisoners involved in the strike, arguing that as many as 12,000 inmates had participated.
Ms. Thornton confirmed that 15 inmates at Pelican Bay had been moved to an administrative housing unit because they were identified as coercing other inmates into participation. She also said that all the strike leaders at Pelican Bay were confirmed gang members, and that four of the 11 leaders had ended their strikes.
But Ms. Weills said other prisoners told her that those four did so because they could no longer endure conditions at the administrative housing unit where they had been moved.
"We're freezing," Ronald Yandell, one of the strike leaders, said to Ms. Weills this week. "The air-conditioner is blowing. It's like arctic air coming through, blowing at top speed. It's torture. They're trying to break us."
Oscar Hidalgo, a spokesman for the corrections department, said he did not know why the four leaders had ended their strike.
Sharon Dolovich, a professor of prison law at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the department's response to the second strike reflected court cases in the last 25 years that had given officials more discretion to clamp down on inmate rights.
"Before, they didn't want to seem inhumane, and now they're in damage control mode," she said. "They're demonstrating that they're willing to use the full scope of legal discretion to shut it down."
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"Amanda Knox: No DNA - Freed. Troy Davis: No DNA - Executed." --Jack Hoffma
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"If corporations are people, why can't we put them in jail?"
Drop All Charges on the 'Occupy Wall Street' Arrestees!
Stop Police Attacks & Arrests! Support 'Occupy Wall Street'!
SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION AT http://bailoutpeople.org/dropchargesonoccupywallstarrestees.shtml to send email messages to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NYC City Council, NYPD, the NY Congressional Delegation, Congressional Leaders, the NY Legislature, President Obama, Attorney General Holder, members of the media YOU WANT ALL CHARGES DROPPED ON THE 'OCCUPY WALL STREET ARRESTEES!
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This drawing has come to symbolize the California prison hunger strike and the solidarity it has generated. It was contributed by Rashid Johnson, a prisoner in Red Onion Prison, Virginia.
California Prison Hunger Strike Resumes as Sides Dig In
"The new protocols seek to isolate inmates participating in the strike from those in the general population and potentially subject them to disciplinary measures, while prisoners identified as strike leaders could potentially be denied contact with visitors and even lawyers. In addition, two lawyers who had helped mediate talks were temporarily barred from state prisons last week because 'their presence in the institution/facility presents a security threat.' But Ms. Weills said other prisoners told her that those four did so because they could no longer endure conditions at the administrative housing unit where they had been moved. 'We're freezing,' Ronald Yandell, one of the strike leaders, said to Ms. Weills this week. 'The air-conditioner is blowing. It's like arctic air coming through, blowing at top speed. It's torture. They're trying to break us.'"
By IAN LOVETT
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/us/hunger-strike-resumes-in-california-prisons.html?ref=us
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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
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A. EVENTS AND ACTIONS
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OCTOBER 9TH, Sunday, 3:00-6:30pm, AFGHANISTAN PEACE DAY
37260 Fremont Blvd., Fremont. Join hands with the Afghanistan community
in Fremont. Together we have a stronger voice. Please wear SKY BLUE, the color chosen by the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers inside Afghanistan.
www.AfghansForPeace.org
http://journeytosmile.wordpress.com/
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United National Antiwar Committee
UNACpeace@gmain.com or UNAC at P.O. Box 123, Delmar, NY 12054
518-227-6947
www.UNACpeace.org
UNITED NATIONAL ANTIWAR COMMITTEE (UNAC) CALLS FOR ACTIONS IN OCTOBER
TO MARK 10 YEARS OF WAR ON AFGHANISTAN
On June 22, the White House defied the majority of Americans who want an end to the war in Afghanistan. Instead of announcing the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops, contractors, bases, and war dollars, Obama committed to removing only one twentieth of the US forces on the ground in Afghanistan over the next eight months. Another 23,000 will supposedly be withdrawn just in time to influence the 2012 elections. Even if the President follows thru on this plan, nearly 170,000 US soldiers and contractors will remain in Afghanistan. All veterans and soldiers will be raising the question, "Who will be the last U.S. combatant to die in Afghanistan?"
In truth, the President's plan is not a plan to end the war in Afghanistan. It was, instead, an announcement that the U.S. was changing strategy. As the New York Times reported, the US will be replacing the "counterinsurgency strategy" adopted 18 months ago with the kind of campaign of drone attacks, assassinations, and covert actions that the US has employed in Pakistan.
At a meeting of the United National Antiwar Committee's National Coordinating Committee, held in NYC on June 18, representatives of 47 groups voted to endorse the nonviolent civil resistance activities beginning on October 6 in Washington, D.C. and to call for nationally coordinated local actions on October 15 to protest the tenth anniversary of the US war in Afghanistan. UNAC urges activists in as many cities as possible to hold marches, picket lines, teach-ins, and other events to say:
· Withdraw ALL US/NATO Military Forces, Contractors, and Bases out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya NOW!
· End drone attacks on defenseless populations in Pakistan and Yemen!
· End US Aid to Israel! Hands Off Iran!
· Bring Our War Dollars Home Now! Money for Jobs and Education, Not for War and Incarceration!
In this message:
The Wall Street Occupation continues
October 15
NATO/G8 protests in Chicago
UNAC conference
The Wall Street Occupation continues.
The Wall Street occupation is continuing despite dozens of arrests on Friday. A number of UNAC supporters have joined the occupation. You can join the occupation virtually by joining the viewers of the livestream at: http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution. Here is another video of the occupation from Stan Heller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rfuvDr2wJQ
October 15.
UNAC calls for protest in local areas on October 15 to protest the 10th anniversary of the war on Afghanistan. Click here for a partial list of action:
http://nepajac.org/oct15.htm
Click here to add you action to the national list:
http://www.jotform.com/form/12185630202
NATO/G8 protests in Chicago.
UNAC, along with other organizations and activists, has formed a coalition to help organize protests in Chicago during the week of May 15 - 22 while NATO and G8 are holding their summit meetings. The new coalition was formed at a meeting of 163 people representing 73 different organization in Chicago on August 28 and is called Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda (CANGATE). For a report on the Chicago meeting, click here: http://nepajac.org/chicagoreport.htm
To add your email to the new CANGATE listserve, send an email to cangate-subscribe@lists.riseup.net.
To have your organization endorse the NATO/G8 protest, please click here:
https://www.nationalpeaceconference.org/NATO_G8_protest_support.html
Click here to hear audio of the August 28 meeting:
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/54145
Click here for the talk by Marilyn Levin, UNAC co-coordinator at the August 28 meeting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1tHQ7ilDJ8&NR=1
Click here for Pat Hunts welcome to the meeting and Joe Iosbaker's remarks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoNGcnBGGfI
UNAC Conference.
The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) conference originally scheduled for November, 11-13, 2011, has been rescheduled for March 23-25, 2012, in order to tie in to organizing efforts for building massive protests at the NATO/G-8 Summits in Chicago, May 15-22, and to have sufficient time to generate an action program for the next stage of building a mass movement for social change.
Organizations are invited to endorse this conference by clicking here:
http://www.jotform.com/form/12685942513
Donations are needed for bringing international speakers and to subsidize attendance of students and low income participants. Contributions will be accepted at www.UNACpeace.org.
For the initial conference flyer, click here:
http://nepajac.org/conferenceflyer.pdf
Click here to donate to UNAC:
https://nationalpeaceconference.org/Donate.html
Click here for the Facebook UNAC group:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_157059221012587&ap=1
Oct. 15-22, 2011 antiwar week of solidarity and in defense of civil liberties...
Marking the 10th year of the U.S. war against the people of Afghanistan...
Bring the Troops Home Now! Civil Liberties for all!
Fightback Tour!
No to FBI Repression, Government Islamophobia and War
Civil Liberties for All!
Featuring:
Stephen Downs, Albany, NY civil liberties attorney; Legal Counsel, Project Salam (Support and Legal Advocacy for Muslims); Leading national spokesman against government-promoted Islamophobia and repression against the Islamic-American communities
Jess Sundin, Chicago Grand Jury subpoena victim and solidarity/antiwar activist facing, along with 23 others, felony charges of conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism. Twin Cities antiwar activist; Leader, Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Other tour speakers participating in some of the meetings listed below include:
• Zahra Billoo, Executive Director, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations)
• Hatem Bazian, Palestinian-American UC Berkeley Professor of Near Eastern Studies
• Carlos Villarreal, Exec. Dir., National Lawyers Guild
• Rep., United National Antiwar Coalition
• Michael Thurman, Bradley Manning Support Network
• Laura Herrera, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Jeff Mackler, Lynne Stewart Defense Committee and Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Rep., Immigrant rights community
October 15-22 Initial Tour Schedule
Sat., October 15, 2:30 - 4 PM, 1182 Market Street (near 8th Street) Suite 203, San Francisco, Sponsor: SF Gray Panthers, reception/meeting, donations accepted 415-552-8800, graypanthers-sf@sbcglobal.net
Sat., October 15, 7 PM, 518 Valencia St. (near 16th St.), San Francisco, Main sponsor: Northern California UNAC 510-268-9429. $10 sliding scale. No one turned away.
Sun., October 16, Oakland Reception/lunch/meeting at the home of Jeff Mackler... with KPFA friends, 1-4 PM, $20/no one turned away. RSVP: 510-268-9429
Monday, October 17, 7-9 PM, The Redwoods Auditorium, 40 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA, Sponsor, Mill Valley Seniors for Peace; Marin Peace and Justice Coalition warrenut@aol.com 415-389-9040 Free
Tuesday, Oct 18, 7pm, 909 12th St, Sacramento. Free/donation requested. Sponsors: Sacramento Valley Chapter, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, 916-369-5510 & Sacramento Area Peace Action,
Wednesday, October 19, Campus meeting to be announced.
Thursday, October 20, 7:30 PM Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar Street at Bonita, Berkeley, Free/donation requested.
Friday, October 21, 7:00 PM, Sonoma State University, Warren Auditorium (Tentative location) in Ives Hall (Directions to Warren Auditorium: At the Main Entrance to the University, turn left off of E. Cotati Avenue onto Sequoia Drive. Take the first right at the Information Booth onto Redwood Drive. Turn left into parking lot E. Ives Hall is the building on the North side of the parking lot.. Parking free after 5:00 pm), 707-874-2695 Sponsor: Project Censored: Media Democracy in Action and Santa Rosa Peace and Justice Center
Saturday, October 22, 2- 4 PM, San Jose Peace and Justice Center, 48 S. Seventh Street (between San Fernando and Santa Clara Streets), San Jose, Sponsors: San Jose Peace and Justice Center and San Jose Committee to Stop FBI Repression. Donations accepted. 408-373-0817
Tour co-sponsors: United National Antiwar Coalition • National Lawyers Guild SF Bay Area Chapter Committee to Stop FBI Repression • Project Salam • San Jose Peace and Justice Center • Mill Valley Seniors for Peace • Marin Peace and Justice Center • South Bay Committee to Stop Political Repression • Green Party of Alameda County • Oakland Education Association Peace and Justice Caucus • Peninsula Peace and Justice Center • Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists • International Action Center • International Socialist Organization • BAYAN/USA • Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal • Lynne Stewart Defense Committee • Code Pink San Francisco • Socialist Viewpoint • Solidarity • Sacramento Area Peace Action • Socialist Action • Project Censored: Media Democracy in Action • Santa Rosa Peace and Justice Center • Sacramento Valley Chapter Women's International League for Peace and Freedom • Veterans for Peace Chapter 162 East Bay • Afghans for Peace • California Peace and Freedom Party • Michel Shehadeh, Case of the Los Angeles 8 • Cindy Sheehan, Peace activist • Courage to Resist • Muslim Peace Coalition/USA • Samina Sundas, Founding Executive, American Muslim Voice • Bay Area Committee To Stop Political Repression
All meetings wheelchair accessible. All meetings co-sponsored by United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC), 510-268-9429 jmackler@lmi.net
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Please share this announcement widely
MoveOn.org East Bay Council, Alameda Labor Council, San Francisco Labor Council,
New Priorities Campaign, U.S. Labor Against the War and Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15
1PM Rally at Laney College
2:30 PM March to Federal Building & Frank Ogawa Plaza
Urge you to Rally & March for:
Jobs not Cuts !!!
Education not Incarceration
Work not War
Clean Energy not Climate Change
Social Security not Bank Bailouts
Main St. not Wall St.
Prosperity not Austerity
Hands Off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid!
End the Wars! Invest in Our Communities!
BRING ALL THE TROOPS AND WAR DOLLARS HOME!
We want an economy that supports the rights of all people to jobs at decent pay in safe workplaces, affordable healthcare for all, decent affordable housing, quality education in modern schools, a secure retirement, and a clean sustainable environment. We oppose cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other social programs. The rich, corporations, Wall St. banks and financial speculators should pay to fix the crisis that their irresponsibility and greed created. We have made our sacrifices. Now they should make theirs.
Make your voices heard!
www.jobs-not-cuts.org
For more information and to register endorsements, write to:
MoveOnEastBay@gmail.com
NewPrioritiesCampaign@gmail.com
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The Call for the 16th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation
Saturday, October 22,2011
12:00 NOON
3rd Street and Palou
San Francisco
(Endorse this call, forward to others. Return endorsements to oct22bayarea@gmail.com or call 510 206-0742)
Across the U.S., Black, Latino, and poor neighborhoods are treated like occupied territory by increasingly militarized armies of law enforcement. People are criminalized and brutalized for their perceived status - socioeconomic, immigration, mental health, and/or racial, gender, or sexual identity. People living in our communities, especially youth, are routinely stopped, harassed, beaten, and even killed.
--In Chicago, the home of the first Black president, police have shot 44 people so far this year, mostly youth of color, including 13-year-old Jimmell Cannon, who was shot eight times.
--NYPD continues to stop hundreds of thousands of youth of color every year for the most minimal suspicion, fewer than 10 percent of which result in arrest, and far fewer in charges or conviction.
--Police nationwide continue to kill with very little consequence. Twelve Miami cops shot at 22-year-old Raymond Herisse 100 times, then threatened those who recorded the incident, destroying their cellphones. A Tucson SWAT team shot at 26-year-old Iraq War veteran Jose Guerena over 70 times, claiming that he fired at them and then leaving him to bleed to death in his home. Both their allegations of gunfire and drug-dealing were later revealed to be false. In New York and New Jersey, at least 27 people have been killed by police since October 22 of last year, while at least 35 people have been killed by law enforcement in Washington State in the last 12 months. The killing of 22-year old Oscar Grant in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2009 resulted in a rare conviction for the officer who shot him; however, he was freed after mere months in prison, while people protesting the outrageous verdict were met with police violence and mass arrests. In the weeks following that cop's release, SF cops killed Charles Hill, a 45-year-old homeless man, on a subway platform and 19-year old Kenneth Harding after he supposedly failed to pay a $2 train fare, then left him dying on the pavement in front of dozens of outraged witnesses.
--Police routinely abuse the mentally ill and disabled. Fullerton, CA cops beat to death homeless and mentally ill 27-year-old Kelly Thomas, described by many in the community as "a gentle, childlike soul." In Fresno, CA, 28-year-old Raul Rosas, Jr. died after being tasered by police. His girlfriend said "I didn't call the Fresno County Sheriff to kill him. I called because he needed help with his mental illness." Raul went into cardiac arrest and was denied access to three medical ambulances that showed up to assist.
--Recently enacted anti-immigrant laws have given police in the states of Arizona, Georgia, and Alabama sweeping powers to stop people "suspected" of being undocumented on no other basis than appearance. The hostility and racism stoked by these policies have already culminated in violence, as seen in the killing of 15-year-old Sergio Adrián Hernández Güereka by a border patrol agent and the beating death of 42-year-old Anastasio Hernández Rojas at the hands of La Migra. More than one million have been deported under the Obama administration.
--Racially targeted mass incarceration exacerbates the criminalization and marginalization of Black people, playing the same role as the Jim Crow laws that sprang from the Virginia slave codes of 1705. In 1954, 90,000 Black people were incarcerated. Now, over 900,000 Black people are imprisoned, a tenfold increase, while the total U.S. Black population has merely doubled in the same period. The U.S. also has the highest incarceration rate worldwide, with 2.4 million people in prison.
--Law enforcement continues to harass and sexually assault people, most especially women and the transgendered. According to the website InjusticeEverywhere.com, sexual misconduct was the second most common complaint (following excessive force) against police in 2010, involving 618 cops.
--Young schoolchildren are increasingly labeled and treated as criminals by school security and local police. Eight-year-old Aidan Elliot was peppersprayed and handcuffed by Colorado police, and ten-year-old Sofia Bautista was removed from her elementary school, then taken to a NYPD precinct, handcuffed, and interrogated for hours, while police nationwide continue to use tasers on students as young as six.
Meanwhile, repression against those who take action against injustices continues to escalate. Over a dozen activists with Food Not Bombs have been arrested in Orlando for feeding the homeless in public parks. The killings of Oscar Grant, Kenneth Harding, Kelly Thomas, Raymond Herisse, and John T. Williams in Seattle were all caught on video. Now, as if in retaliation against the subsequent public outrage, police in cities and towns nationwide have attacked and arrested people merely for recording their activity, while in Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts, video-recording the police is now explicitly illegal. Cops haven't stopped killing and brutalizing people--they're just making it a crime to record them while they do. Repression against progressive and antiwar activism has intensified: simultaneous FBI raids on activists from numerous antiwar and international solidarity organizations in three U.S. cities took place on September 24, 2010. Twenty-three activists now face serious jail time for refusing to participate in the ensuing grand jury witch hunts that clearly intend to discourage and intimidate would-be dissenters.
These vicious attacks are not going down without opposition. Whether standing up to police violence when it happens, as we saw in the video of Kenneth Harding's shooting, or organizing inspiring prison strikes in Georgia and California, people are uniting to fight back. Determined outcry from people nationwide against the shooting of unarmed men crossing the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina has finally brought convictions of the guilty cops and exposed the sort of extensive cover-ups that are routine with police shootings. More and more crimes against the people are being revealed, as we have seen with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' Operation Fast and Furious, which intentionally provided weapons to Mexican drug cartels, and the overturning of over 4,000 convictions of youth in Pennsylvania after it was found that juvenile judge Mark Ciavarella received kickbacks from private for-profit detention centers.
Once we have seen the man behind the curtain, how can we pretend he is not there? One thing we know from years of experience is that when this system has to answer to organized people, it can't easily get away with all the things it's used to doing. Resistance matters.
THE VIOLENCE OF THE COPS, THE COURTS, THE FBI, LA MIGRA, AND HOMELAND SECURITY IS INTENSIFYING. OUR RESISTANCE MUST INTENSIFY AS WELL! Every year, thousands of people nationwide express their outrage, creativity, and resistance in response to the crimes of this system. People speak out and perform, they march in the streets, and more. The October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation embraces and encourages any and all such expressions of people's righteous outrage.
As said by the mother of Gil Barber, gunned down by a deputy in High Point, NC in 2001, "October 22nd is our day." ORGANIZE against these injustices! BREAK DOWN the barriers between communities that these crimes seek to strengthen! MOBILIZE people of all communities in the most visible way...and on October 22, 2011, WEAR BLACK! FIGHT BACK!
JOIN US if there is already an October 22nd event in your area. CREATE one if you are in an area where there is currently no group organizing. For listings of activities in your area, check the websitewww.october22.org.
To start building for an event in your area, email info@october22.org
TO ENDORSE THIS CALL, SIGN BELOW AND MAIL TO: October 22, P.O. Box 2627, New York, NY 10009, along with your tax-deductible donation to the national organizing effort. Suggested donation $15.00 (paid to "IFCO/October 22")
Name: ___________________________________________
Email: ____________________________________________
Organization: __________________________________________________________* (note if for identification purposes only)
Signature: __________________________________________________________
You may also make this endorsement directly on the website www.october22.org
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MEDICARE IN THE CROSS-HAIRS
SOCIAL SECURITY NEXT?
SAN FRANCISCO LABOR COUNCIL TEACH-IN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011, 7:30-9PM
Plumbers Union Hall, 1621 Market St., S.F.
(5 blocks from Civic Center BART station)
For more information call Carl, San Francisco Labor Council Education Project
415-829-3816
CUTTING MEDICARE-MEDICAID IS THE POLITICIANS CONSENSUS #1 BUDGET TARGET
• President Obama has just proposed a $248 billion cut in Medicare as a starter & another $72 billion in Medicaid cuts.
• Obama indicated September 19 he will support cutting more than $320 Billion if Republicans agree with him on taxes.
• Vice-President Joe Biden last June offered Republicans to cut $400-$500 billion in Medicare-Medicaid
• Republicans last April proposed to raise out-of-pocket costs for Medicare for seniors by $7,000 per year
• The 'Supercommittee' of 12 in Congress said last week they want to cut even more than Obama has proposed. They will report 'how much' more on November 19.
• Congress will vote on how much more in Medicare-Medicaid cuts before December 23.
How Much Will Your Medicare Be Cut?
How Much More Will You Have to Pay?
Come Hear the Facts
Open Discussion to Follow
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For Immediate Release
Howard Petrick's "Rambo" - anti-VietNam activist tells his story-Marsh Berkeleyu-Oct 20-Dec 10
The Little Guy Takes on the Pentagon in Howard Petrick's "Rambo: The Missing Years" at The Marsh-Berkeley, Oct 20-Dec 10
The Hilarious and True Story of the Private Who Protested the Viet Nam War - While Still in the Army!
"Howard's show is proof you can fight bureaucracy and win. How he does so is told with aplomb and a certain sense of mischievousness." - Vancouver Fringe
"The potency of the show...springs from Petrick's first-hand account of his anti-Vietnam activism from within the army...this comes with an intriguing authenticity."- Winnipeg Free Press
"Petrick delivers...For 60 minutes he has you laughing through the fear." - Winnipeg Uptown
San Francisco. September 26, 2011. The Vancouver Sun calls San Francisco's Howard Petrick, "a guy who really knows how to get up the nose of the war machine." Petrick's Rambo: The Missing Years is an hilarious - and true - account of the misadventures of a Vietnam-era draftee who frustrates the military brass by asserting his right to organize his fellow GIs against the war. Petrick's Rambo - not to be confused in the least with the Sylvester Stallone action figure - plays at The Marsh-Berkeley, 2120 Alston Way in Berkeley, October 20 through December 10.
The story begins as Petrick (aka 'Hanoi Howie") reports for the draft and refuses to fill out the forms, befuddling the military bureaucracy for the first of many times to come. Yet, during his time of service he maintains an unblemished military record, breaks no rules, and continues to carry out his military duties.
Directed by Mark Kenward and developed with David Ford, the show plays on Thursday and Friday at 7:00 pm and Saturday at 8:30 pm from October 20 to December 10, 2011 (press opening November 4, no performance on Thanksgiving Day) at The Cabaret at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, near Shattuck. The public may visit www.themarsh.org or call 415-282-3055.
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International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
La Colmenita, the National Children's Theater of Cuba, US tour 2011
Whether you are 7 or 70, Abracadabra will move you...Come and enjoy!
ABRACADABRA is not a play. It is an act of Justice and Life, written mainly by children who share the dream of freedom. A teacher invites her students to walk the road to the essences, through five very true stories of heroism and virtue.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
Wednesday October 26, 7pm
East Bay Center for the Performing Arts
339 11th Street, Richmond, CA 94801-3105
Suggested donation at the door $10, Children Free
http://eastbaycenter.org/Events/EventsbyDate/tabid/261/Default.aspx
Thursday October 27, 1pm
Esperanza Elementary School, Oakland
Private Presentation
Friday October 28, 7:30pm & Saturday October 29, 2pm
Fort Mason Center, Cowell Theater
Entrance at intersection of Marina Blvd. and Buchanan St., San Francisco, CA 94123
Tickets $20, Students & Seniors $15, Children Free
www.fortmason.org/events/events-details?id=2026
Tickets on line: http://lacolmenita.eventbrite.com
For more information about performances in your area, please visit:
www.lacolmenitacuba.com
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Here is the official statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression on the 1-year anniversary of the raids.
Build the Movement Against Political Repression
One year since the September 24 FBI Raids and Grand Jury Subpoenas
Statement of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, 9-22-2011
Please come to the Committee to Stop FBI Repression one-day Conference in Chicago on November 5, 2011.
http://www.stopfbi.net/national-conference-2011
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) is asking you to build the movement against political repression on the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids on anti-war and international solidarity activists. We need your continued solidarity as we build movements for peace, justice and equality.
The storm of political repression continues to expand and threaten. It is likely to intensify and churn into a destructive force with indictments, trials, and attempts to imprison anti-war activists. The last we knew, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was preparing multiple indictments as he and Attorney General Eric Holder attempt to criminalize the targeted activists and the movements to which we dedicate our lives.
It is one year since the FBI raided two homes in Chicago and five homes plus the Anti-War Committee office in Minneapolis, eventually handing out 23 subpoenas. The anti-war activists' homes were turned upside down and notebooks, cell phones, artwork, computers, passports and personal belongings were all carted off by the FBI. Anyone who has ever been robbed knows the feelings - shock and anger.
The man responsible for this assault on activists and their families, on free speech and the right to organize, is U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago. Fitzgerald has an ugly record of getting powerful Republicans like Dick Cheney and Karl Rove off the hook, while mercilessly pursuing an agenda to scare America into silence and submission with the phony 'war on terror.' Fitzgerald is attempting to criminalize anti-war activists with accusations of 'material support for terrorism,' involving groups in Palestine and Colombia.
First the U.S. government targeted Arabs and Muslims, violating their civil rights and liberties and spying on them. Then they came for the anti-war and international solidarity activists. We refuse to be criminalized. We continue to speak out and organize. We say, "Opposing U.S. war and occupation is not a crime!" We are currently building a united front with groups and movements to defeat Fitzgerald's reactionary, fear mongering assault on anti-war activism and to restore civil liberties taken away by the undemocratic USA PATRIOT Act.
Many people know the developments in the case, but for those who do not, we invite you to read a timeline at stopfbi.net. We think the repression centers on this: During the lead up to the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota, a federal law enforcement officer, using the phony name of "Karen Sullivan" got involved and joined the Anti-War Committee and Freedom Road Socialist Organization in Minneapolis. She lied to everyone she met and helped the FBI to disrupt many activities in the anti-war, international solidarity and labor movements in Minnesota - and also other states and even over in Palestine. It is outrageous.
In fact, many of those being investigated travelled to Colombia or Palestine to learn firsthand about U.S. government funding for war and oppression. There was no money given to any groups that the U.S. government lists as terrorist organizations. However, we met people who are a lot like most Americans - students, community organizers, religious leaders, trade unionists, women's group leaders and activists much like ourselves. Many of the U.S. activists wrote about their trips, did educational events, or helped organized protests against U.S. militarism and war. In a increasingly repressive period, this is enough to make one a suspect in Fitzgerald's office.
This struggle is far from one-sided however. The response to the FBI raids and the pushback from the movement is tremendous. Minneapolis and Chicago immediately organized a number of press conferences and rallies with hundreds of people. Over the first two weeks after the raids, 60 cities protested outside FBI offices, from New York to Kalamazoo, from traveled to the Bay Area. The National Lawyers Guild convention was in New Orleans the day of the FBI raids and they immediately issued a solidarity statement and got to work on the case. Solidarity poured in from anti-war, civil rights, religious and faith groups, students and unions. Groups and committees began working to obtain letters of support from members of Congress. The solidarity was overwhelming. It was great!
It is possible that U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald thought he was picking on an isolated group of activists. Instead, those raided proved to have many friends and allies from decades of work for social justice and peace. Over the months, all the targeted activists refused to appear at the grand jury dates set by U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald's office. In November 2010, a large crew of us travelled to New York City to found the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, after the United National Antiwar Committee meeting.
In December 2010, U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald's office called in three of the Minnesota women and threatened them. We prepared a campaign in case they were jailed for refusing to speak. The FBI also delivered subpoenas to nine more Arab-American and Palestine solidarity activists in December. Their grand jury date was on Jan. 25, 2011, and we organized protests in over 70 American cities, plus a few overseas. The movement was building and expanding, so we organized conferences with over 800 participants in the Midwest, the South, and on the East and West Coasts. While we were organizing a pushback, the FBI was making new plans.
On May 17, 2011, at 5:00 a.m., the Los Angeles, California Sheriff, under the direction of the FBI, busted down the front door of Chicano leader Carlos Montes, storming in with automatic weapons drawn and shouting. The early morning raid was supposedly about weapons and permits, but they seized decades of notes and writings about the Chicano, immigrant rights, education rights and anti-war movements. The FBI attempted to question Carlos Montes while he was handcuffed and in the back of a L.A. sheriff squad car. Montes is going to another preliminary court date on Sept. 29, prepared to face six felony charges, carrying up to three years in prison for each, knowing he is extraordinarily targeted by the FBI. We will walk every step of the way with Carlos Montes, and more. Montes was with us at the Republican National Convention protests; his name was included on the search warrant for the Anti-War Committee office in Minneapolis, and the FBI attempted to question him about this case. We ask you to support Carlos Montes and to organize speaking events with him and local protests on his important court dates, Sept. 29 being the next one.
The same week the FBI raided Carlos Montes in May 2011, the CSFR came back with a big revelation - we released a set of documents, the FBI game plan, which the FBI mistakenly left behind in a file drawer at one of the homes. The FBI documents are on the CSFR website and are fascinating to read. Fitzgerald and company developed 102 questions that come right from a McCarthy witch-hunt trial of the 1950s. It is like turning back the clock five decades.
The whole intention of the raids is clear: They want to paint activists as 'terrorists' and shut down the organizing. They came at a time when the rich and powerful are frightened of not just the masses of people overseas, but of the people in their own country. With a failing U.S. war in Afghanistan, a U.S. occupation of Iraq predicted to last decades, a new war for oil and domination in Libya, a failing immigration policy that breaks up families and produces super-profits for big business, and now a long and deep economic crisis that is pushing large segments of working people into poverty, the highest levels of the U.S. government are turning to political repression.
The only hope for the future is in building stronger, consistent and determined movements. In a principled act of solidarity, the 23 subpoenaed activists refuse to testify before the grand jury. This sets an example for others.
In addition, the outpouring of support and mobilization into the streets from the anti-war, international solidarity, civil rights, labor and immigrant rights movements means that not one of the 24 has spent a single day in jail. That is a victory.
We ask you to stand with us, to stay vigilant and to hold steady as we proceed to organize against wars abroad and injustice at home and as we defend Carlos Montes from the FBI charade in Los Angeles.
Committee to Stop FBI Repression - www.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 55414
Add us to your address book
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White House Petition for Leonard Peltier
http://tinyurl.com/3qq4muc
A petition in favor of granting clemency to Leonard Peltier is now on the We the People portion of the White House Web site. We have 30 days (until October 22) to get 5,000 signatures in order for our petition to be reviewed by the White House. This petition may only allow US signatories.
Sign the petition here:
http://tinyurl.com/3qq4muc
Due to heavy site traffic, you may have trouble accessing the petition. Keep trying until you succeed. Try during off-peak hours.
Email our petition to your friends, family and others who care about this issue.
Facebook: Post our petition to your Facebook wall to let folks know about it. Here's a sample message you can cut and paste into your Facebook status: Petition for Leonard Peltier on the White House site, We the People. Will you sign it?
Twitter: Tweet about your petition. Here's a sample tweet you can use: Leonard Peltier petition on the White House site, We the People. Will you sign it?
Let's do it!
Launched into cyberspace by the
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
PO Box 7488, Fargo, ND 58106
www.whoisleonardpeltier.info
The Petition:
we petition the obama administration to:
grant clemency to Native American activist Leonard Peltier without delay.
10th Circuit Court of Appeals: "...Much of the government's behavior... and its prosecution of Leonard Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed."
While others were acquitted on grounds of self defense, Peltier was convicted in connection with the 1975 shooting deaths of two FBI agents. Evidence shows that prosecutors knowingly presented false statements to a Canadian court to extradite Peltier and manufactured the murder weapon (the gun and shell casings entered into evidence didn't match; this fact was hidden from the jury). The number of constitutional violations in this case is simply staggering.
It's time to right this wrong. Mr. President, you can and must free Leonard Peltier.
Created: Sep 22, 2011
Issues: Civil Rights and Liberties, Human Rights
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/grant-clemency-native-american-activist-leonard-peltier-without-delay/LLWBZq1S
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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]
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@OccupyTheHood, Occupy Wall Street
By adele pham
http://vimeo.com/30146870
@OccupyTheHood, Occupy Wall Street from adele pham on Vimeo.
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Occupy Wall Street Protesters Marching
[Thousands of NYU Students march to OWS...bw]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWJpzx9IqU4
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AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Supporting Occupy Wall Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soV79czwzoo&feature=player_embedded
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Live arrest at brooklyn bridge #occupywallstreet by We are Change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yULSI-31Pto&feature=player_embedded
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Occupy Wall Street Begins To Go National!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDnFbIwZUWQ
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AlphaDog Proto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSbZrQp-HOk&feature=player_embedded
The AlphaDog Proto is a lab prototype for the Legged Squad Support System, a robot being developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from DARPA and the US Marine Corps. When fully developed the system will carry 400 lbs of payload on 20-mile missions in rough terrain. The first version of the complete robot will be completed in 2012. This video shows early results from the control development process. In this video the robot is powered remotely. AlphaDog is designed to be over 10x quieter than BigDog. For more information visit us at www.BostonDynamics.com.
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Children's Art from Palestine--Censored!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_8mHw2-aZQ&feature=youtu.be
You can see the whole exhibit in a new space located just around the corner from MOCHA (Museum of Children's Art) at 917 Washington Street. For more information please call Middle East Children's Alliance at (510) 548-0542 or email at meca@mecaforpeace.org.
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OCCUPY-WALL-STREET-PROTESTERS-ARRESTS( Sept 20, 2011) Spread This Video Please.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyvbI6Eq-qA
PEACEFUL FEMALE PROTESTORS PENNED IN THE STREET AND MACED!- #OccupyWallStreet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moD2JnGTToA
UNEDITED - COP KNEE ON THROAT 9/24/2011 #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbXfelyIoM&NR=1
9/24/2011 COPS KETTLING AT UNION SQUARE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJaQvh80L-g&NR=1
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Judge Mathis Weighs in on the execution of Troy Davis
[And he does a great job and he has a huge audience. ...bw]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogBdP6INHlE
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Bill Maher, Michael Moore Defend Tony Bennett for Saying That U.S. Foreign Policy Helped Cause 9/11
By Lauren Kelley | Sourced from AlterNet
Posted at September 24, 2011, 7:44 am
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/670832/bill_maher%2C_michael_moore_defend_tony_bennett_for_saying_that_u.s._foreign_policy_helped_cause_9_11/#paragraph2
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FREE THE CUBAN FIVE!
http://www.thecuban5.org/wordpress/index.php
Free Them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmS4kHC_OlY&feature=player_embedded
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Troy Davis, Racism, The Death Penalty & Labor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEues_-KoZU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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Empire State Rebellion: An Idea Whose Time Has Come - OpESR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCIlfV1pCZY&feature=player_embedded
Post to Twitter Post to Facebook Post to Reddit Post to Digg Post to StumbleUpon
The video below is dedicated to all the people currently Occupying Wall Street.
See you there again on September 24th at noon, and the day after, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that...
Video Transcript:
Mainstream media in the United States is the most efficient
weapon of mass oppression.
The propaganda system is so extensive.
People are very confused.
They don't really grasp what is happening.
On a very basic and profound level
they understand that global banks have robbed the country.
They get that, but there is so much divide and conquer rhetoric -
it goes from the mainstream media
and it filters all the way down
into independent media.
So it's a matter of finding that place
where you can overcome the divide and conquer propaganda.
And where we can find that place
is on Wall Street and breaking up the banks.
How would a million people clogging lower Manhattan's financial district
play out in the global media?
If we came down there and said:
"We're not leaving until we have commitments
to break up the banks
and end the campaign finance racket."
Let's just go over some statistics here:
· 59 Million people without health care
· 52 Million in poverty
· 44 Million on food stamps
· 30 Million in need of work
· 7 Million foreclosed on
· 5 Million homes over 60 days late on mortgage payments
· $1 Trillion in student debt
We have the highest, most severe inequality of wealth we have ever had,
unlimited campaign spending,
budget cuts for the poor,
tax breaks for the rich -
this is the ultimate recipe for revolution.
America has 239 million people living paycheck to paycheck right now.
Food prices are going up, oil is going up, everything is going up -
these people aren't going to be able to make ends meet.
It's the same everywhere, it's global policies,
whether its Ireland, United States, Egypt, Greece.
People are going to fight back because
the economic central planners have become so arrogant.
Economic central planners, who control the global economy
through the IMF, World Bank and Federal Reserve,
are committed to sentencing tens of millions of people
to a slow death through economic policy.
Obviously, those people, as time goes by,
they are going to fight back,
because they are fighting to survive.
This is a global rebellion.
People don't seem to get the fact that we live in a global economy
and there is a Neo-Liberal centrally planned aristocracy
which runs the global economy,
and we are in the midst of a
worldwide economic war right now.
It is a straight up economic war
with genocidal economic policies,
which of course are going to lead to mass rebellion.
Decentralized global rebellion.
Decentralized resistance.
Decentralized revolutionaries.
We had you on the show a few months ago,
and you called for a revolution.
The revolution is happening right now.
Tells us about A99 Operation Empire State Rebellion.
The revolution is happening right now.
#OccupyWallStreet
Editor's Note: This music video was created on March 16th by Anon and posted to our social network. It was also posted on Max Keiser's website. It features clips from a Max Keiser interview with David DeGraw.
DO SOMETHING: @OccupyWallStNYC | #OccupyWallStreet | #OpESR
Have Fun and Get Something Done on Wall Steet This Weekend (MAP)
YOUR STREET: @OccupyChicago | @OccupyCleveland | @OccupyDallas
@OccupyFDSF | @OccupySTL | @OccupyHouston | VIDEO: Livestream
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9/11: Explosive Evidence - Experts Speak Out
http://911blogger.com/news/2011-09-16/911-explosive-evidence-experts-speak-out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw-jzCfa4eQ
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9/11: A Conspiracy Theory
http://www.corbettreport.com/911-a-conspiracy-theory/
[click on above to view the video]
Everything you ever wanted to know about the 9/11 conspiracy theory in under 5 minutes.
TRANSCRIPT: On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 men armed with boxcutters directed by a man on dialysis in a cave fortress halfway around the world using a satellite phone and a laptop directed the most sophisticated penetration of the most heavily-defended airspace in the world, overpowering the passengers and the military combat-trained pilots on 4 commercial aircraft before flying those planes wildly off course for over an hour without being molested by a single fighter interceptor.
These 19 hijackers, devout religious fundamentalists who liked to drink alcohol, snort cocaine, and live with pink-haired strippers, managed to knock down 3 buildings with 2 planes in New York, while in Washington a pilot who couldn't handle a single engine Cessna was able to fly a 757 in an 8,000 foot descending 270 degree corskscrew turn to come exactly level with the ground, hitting the Pentagon in the budget analyst office where DoD staffers were working on the mystery of the 2.3 trillion dollars that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had announced "missing" from the Pentagon's coffers in a press conference the day before, on September 10, 2001.
Luckily, the news anchors knew who did it within minutes, the pundits knew within hours, the Administration knew within the day, and the evidence literally fell into the FBI's lap. But for some reason a bunch of crazy conspiracy theorists demanded an investigation into the greatest attack on American soil in history.
The investigation was delayed, underfunded, set up to fail, a conflict of interest and a cover up from start to finish. It was based on testimony extracted through torture, the records of which were destroyed. It failed to mention the existence of WTC7, Able Danger, Ptech, Sibel Edmonds, OBL and the CIA, and the drills of hijacked aircraft being flown into buildings that were being simulated at the precise same time that those events were actually happening. It was lied to by the Pentagon, the CIA, the Bush Administration and as for Bush and Cheney...well, no one knows what they told it because they testified in secret, off the record, not under oath and behind closed doors. It didn't bother to look at who funded the attacks because that question is of "little practical significance". Still, the 9/11 Commission did brilliantly, answering all of the questions the public had (except most of the victims' family members' questions) and pinned blame on all the people responsible (although no one so much as lost their job), determining the attacks were "a failure of imagination" because "I don't think anyone could envision flying airplanes into buildings " except the Pentagon and FEMA and NORAD and the NRO.
The DIA destroyed 2.5 TB of data on Able Danger, but that's OK because it probably wasn't important.
The SEC destroyed their records on the investigation into the insider trading before the attacks, but that's OK because destroying the records of the largest investigation in SEC history is just part of routine record keeping.
NIST has classified the data that they used for their model of WTC7?s collapse, but that's OK because knowing how they made their model of that collapse would "jeopardize public safety".
The FBI has argued that all material related to their investigation of 9/11 should be kept secret from the public, but that's OK because the FBI probably has nothing to hide.
This man never existed, nor is anything he had to say worthy of your attention, and if you say otherwise you are a paranoid conspiracy theorist and deserve to be shunned by all of humanity. Likewise him, him, him, and her. (and her and her and him).
Osama Bin Laden lived in a cave fortress in the hills of Afghanistan, but somehow got away. Then he was hiding out in Tora Bora but somehow got away. Then he lived in Abottabad for years, taunting the most comprehensive intelligence dragnet employing the most sophisticated technology in the history of the world for 10 years, releasing video after video with complete impunity (and getting younger and younger as he did so), before finally being found in a daring SEAL team raid which wasn't recorded on video, in which he didn't resist or use his wife as a human shield, and in which these crack special forces operatives panicked and killed this unarmed man, supposedly the best source of intelligence about those dastardly terrorists on the planet. Then they dumped his body in the ocean before telling anyone about it. Then a couple dozen of that team's members died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
This is the story of 9/11, brought to you by the media which told you the hard truths about JFK and incubator babies and mobile production facilities and the rescue of Jessica Lynch.
If you have any questions about this story...you are a batshit, paranoid, tinfoil, dog-abusing baby-hater and will be reviled by everyone. If you love your country and/or freedom, happiness, rainbows, rock and roll, puppy dogs, apple pie and your grandma, you will never ever express doubts about any part of this story to anyone. Ever.
This has been a public service announcement by: the Friends of the FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, SEC, MSM, White House, NIST, and the 9/11 Commission. Because Ignorance is Strength.
(c) 2011 The Corbett Report. All rights reserved.
Hosting generously provided by: EuroVPS.com
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HUNDREDS OCCUPY WALL STREET (LIVE STREAM VIDEO)
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution/share?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=ui-share&utm_campaign=globalrevolution&utm_content=globalrevolution
Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com
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What is the true cost of the Afghanistan war?
Narrated by Tony Benn. Music by Brian Eno
Mass Demonstration October 8, Noon, Trafalgar Square, London
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Bkg8zgoYQ&feature=youtu.be
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LOWKEY OBAMA NATION (BANIDO DA TV)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRFywomdJTM&feature=related
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Remember Building 7 on France 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOaJZr83RJg&feature=share
Sound Evidence for WTC 7 Explosions and NIST Cover Up
http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/the-911-files/sound-evidence-for-wtc-7-explosions.html
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Architects & Engineers - Solving the Mystery of WTC 7 - AE911Truth.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZEvA8BCoBw&feature=player_embedded
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Geneva Towers Controlled Demolition -- San Francisco, May 16, 1968
I lived in Geneva Towers in 1967 for about six months. I was married with a six-month-old son when we moved to the Towers. It reminded us of New York (we had just moved to San Francisco in August of 1966 so an apartment building was familiar to us.) But what a difference from New York. I didn't drive at the time and, with a baby, and elevators that often didn't work (we were on the 15th floor--I don't remember which building) I was basically trapped. Mass transit was slow and the distances were long to get downtown. The apartment had heating under the synthetic flooring tiles and the first time we turned it on, the tiles melted where the heating coils were. The electric oven caught fire the first time we used it; and the first time we took a shower the tiles started to pop off the walls. The kitchen cabinets were made of unpainted particle board. The sliding doors to the cabinets were less than a quarter-inch thick and cracked if you slid them too fast! What a pre-fab slum that was!
I was so glad to break the lease and move into the Castro--into a two bedroom, first-floor Victorian flat--in a warm and bustling community close to everything. And the rent was $125.00 a month!
I did make it a point to watch the demolition of the Towers on TV (it was broadcast live.) And I was so glad to see it go. It's the first thing I thought of when I saw the collapse of the World Trade Center. ...Bonnie Weinstein
Geneva Towers Implosion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7XVQ1LE2es&feature=related
The implosion [controlled demolition] of the Geneva Towers near the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA on May 16, 1998
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Benton Harbor REPEAL RECALL.wmv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woLL-AxOnTk
A few facts from the video:
Whirlpool has been meddling in [Benton Harbor] city politics for 30 years. For every tax break and advantage it can get. As the neighborhoods crumble...
With global sales of $18 Billion Whirpool paid 0% in 2010 federal taxes.
It received a refund of $64 Million.
Whirlpool has received 500 Million in tax breaks just since 2005.
Millions more in the past 3 decades.
Whirlpool took 19 Billion in federal stimulus funds. Then closed plants in the US. Including the plant in BH.
Rep. Fred Upton receives substantial campaign contributions from Whirlpool. And the Koch brothers.
Gov. Rick Snyder signed the Emergency Manager Law. And a budget that taxes pensions and cuts education funding in Michigan.
Then gave corporations (like Whirlpool) a $1.8 Billion tax break."
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Labor Beat: THE PEOPLE'S PUTT PUTT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FkYBneJpds
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The Preacher and the Slave - Joe Hill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca_MEJmuzMM
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London Riots. (The BBC will never replay this. Send it out)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biJgILxGK0o
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Protest which sparked Tottenham riot
Hours before the riot which swept the area demonstrators gather outside Tottenham Police Station in North London demanding "justice" for the killing of a 29-year-old man, Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by police.
By Alastair Good
August 7, 2011
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/8687058/Protest-which-sparked-Tottenham-riot.html
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Visualizing a Trillion: Just How Big That Number Is?
"1 million seconds is about 11.5 days, 1 billion seconds is about 32 years while a trillion seconds is equal to 32,000 years."
Digital Inspiration
http://www.labnol.org/internet/visualize-numbers-how-big-is-trillion-dollars/7814/
How Much Is $1 Trillion?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPfY0q-rEdY&feature=player_embedded
Courtesy the credit crisis and big bailout packages, the figure "trillion" has suddenly become part of our everyday conversations. One trillion dollars, or 1 followed by 12 zeros, is lots of money but have you ever tried visualizing how big that number actually is?
For people who can visualize one million dollars, the comparison made on CNN should give you an idea about a trillion - "if you start spending a million dollars every single day since Jesus was born, you still wouldn't have spend a trillion dollars".
Another mathematician puts it like this: "1 million seconds is about 11.5 days, 1 billion seconds is about 32 years while a trillion seconds is equal to 32,000 years".
Now if the above comparisons weren't really helpful, check another illustration that compares the built of an average human being against a stack of $100 currency notes bundles.
A bundle of $100 notes is equivalent to $10,000 and that can easily fit in your pocket. 1 million dollars will probably fit inside a standard shopping bag while a billion dollars would occupy a small room of your house.
With this background in mind, 1 trillion (1,000,000,000,000) is 1000 times bigger than 1 billion and would therefore take up an entire football field - the man is still standing in the bottom-left corner. (See visuals -- including a video -- at website:
http://www.labnol.org/internet/visualize-numbers-how-big-is-trillion-dollars/7814/
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One World One Revolution -- MUST SEE VIDEO -- Powerful and beautiful...bw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE3R1BQrYCw&feature=player_embedded
"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty." Thomas Jefferson
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Very reminiscent of Obama...bw
Pat Paulsen 1968
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oiQhhdz8ys
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Japan: angry Fukushima citizens confront government (video)
Posted by Xeni Jardin on Monday, Jul 25th at 11:36am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVuGwc9dlhQ&feature=player_embedded
The video above documents what I am told is a meeting between Fukushima residents and government officials from Tokyo, said to have taken place on 19 July 2011. The citizens are demanding their government evacuate people from a broader area around the Fukushima nuclear plant, because of ever-increasing fears about the still-spreading radiation. They are demanding that their government provide financial and logistical support to get out. In the video above, you can see that some participants actually brought samples of their children's urine to the meeting, and they demanded that the government test it for radioactivity.
When asked by one person at the meeting about citizens' right to live a healthy and radioactive-free life, Local Nuclear Emergency Response Team Director Akira Satoh replies "I don't know if they have that right."
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Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class [Full Film]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ZS91cqpa8
Narrated by Ed Asner
Based on the book by Pepi Leistyna, Class Dismissed navigates the steady stream of narrow working class representations from American television's beginnings to today's sitcoms, reality shows, police dramas, and daytime talk shows.
Featuring interviews with media analysts and cultural historians, this documentary examines the patterns inherent in TV's disturbing depictions of working class people as either clowns or social deviants -- stereotypical portrayals that reinforce the myth of meritocracy.
Class Dismissed breaks important new ground in exploring the ways in which race, gender, and sexuality intersect with class, offering a more complex reading of television's often one-dimensional representations. The video also links television portrayals to negative cultural attitudes and public policies that directly affect the lives of working class people.
Featuring interviews with Stanley Aronowitz, (City University of New York); Nickel and Dimed author, Barbara Ehrenreich; Herman Gray (University of California-Santa Cruz); Robin Kelley (Columbia University); Pepi Leistyna (University of Massachusetts-Boston) and Michael Zweig (State University of New York-Stony Brook). Also with Arlene Davila, Susan Douglas, Bambi Haggins, Lisa Henderson, and Andrea Press.
Sections: Class Matters | The American Dream Machine | From the Margins to the Middle | Women Have Class | Class Clowns | No Class | Class Action
http://www.mediaed.org
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Let's torture the truth out of suicide bombers says new CIA chief Petraeus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sm02UbKNCKQ
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Kim Ives & Dan Coughlin on WikiLeaks Cables that Reveal "Secret History" of U.S. Bullying in Haiti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL0Dk21dC-M
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Operation Empire State Rebellion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJvBlQcaaaU&feature=player_embedded#at=10
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20 Facts About U.S. Inequality that Everyone Should Know
Click an image to learn more about a fact!
http://www.stanford.edu/group/scspi/cgi-bin/facts.php
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Licensed to Kill Video
http://nirs.org/multimedia/video/l2k.htm
Gundersen Gives Testimony to NRC ACRS from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
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Tier Systems Cripple Middle Class Dreams for Young Workers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09pQW6TW8m4&feature=youtu.be
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Union Town by Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ZT71DxLuM&feature=player_embedded
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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
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Max Romeo - Socialism Is Love
http://youtu.be/eTvUs4rY4to
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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. ...bw]
Watch the full episode. See more Nature.
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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
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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
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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
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Domestic Espionage Alert - Houston PD to use surveillance drone in America!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpstrc15Ogg
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Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVGqE726OAo&feature=player_embedded
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Coal Ash: One Valley's Tale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E7h-DNvwx4&feature=player_embedded
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Flashmob: Cape Town Opera say NO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wElyrFOnKPk
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"Don't F*** With Our Activists" - Mobilizing Against FBI Raid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyG3dIUGQvQ
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C. SPECIAL APPEALS AND ONGOING CAMPAIGNS
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It's time to tell the White House that "We the People" support PFC Bradley Manning's freedom and the UN's investigation into alleged torture in Quantico, VA
On September 22nd, the White House launched a new petition website called "We the People." According to the White House blog, if a petition reaches 5,000 signatures in 30 days, "it will be reviewed by policy experts and you'll receive an official response."
Act now! Sign our petition to the White House: LINK
This is our chance to make sure the people in power know that the public still care about the fate of PFC Bradley Manning, and that we won't let this issue go away until PFC Manning is recognized as the whistleblower he is. It is also an opportunity for us to educate fellow Americans who may not have heard of PFC Manning yet, by boosting our petition to the top of the WhiteHouse.gov site.
The same day the White House launched the petition website, it also unveiled an Open Government Action Plan calling to "Strengthen and Expand Whistleblower Protection for Government Personnel." We consider this ironic given the fact that in April of 2011 the UN Chief Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, was forced to issue a rare reprimand to the U.S. for repeatedly denying his request to meet with alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower PFC Manning in an official, unmonitored visit to investigation allegations of his torture in the military brig of Quantico, VA.
We submitted the petition to the "We the People" website earlier this week, and we have already gathered over 1,000 signatures. We are relying on your help so that we can reach the 5,000 mark, and then some.
Signing the petition requires a quick and simple registration process. (Should you encounter technical trouble, please check out the link at the bottom of this e-mail.)
Click here to sign the petition now!
Already signed the petition? You can promote it to your friends on facebook and twitter! Copy and paste the following text: Tell the Obama Administration to let UN investigate torture of alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning! http://wh.gov/40y
We petition the obama administration to:
Free PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks whistleblower.
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/free-pfc-bradley-manning-accused-wikileaks-whistleblower/kX1GJKsD?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
Using the information PFC Bradley Manning allegedly revealed, media outlets have published thousands of stories, detailing countless attempts by governments around the world -- including our own -- to illegally conceal evidence of human rights abuses.
According to the President, "employees with the courage to report wrongdoing are a government's best defense against waste, fraud and abuse."
It appears that PFC Manning acted on his conscience, at great personal risk, to answer the President's call.
However, he has been subjected to extreme confinement conditions that US legal scholars have said may amount to torture.
Therefore, we also ask the Obama administration to stop blocking the UN's chief torture investigator, Juan Mendez, from conducting an official visit with PFC Manning.
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Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Resumes
By Erin Sherbert
September 26 2011
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/09/pelican_bay_hunger_strike_resumes.php
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Cristian Fernandez is only 12 years old. And if Florida prosecutor Angela Corey has her way, he'll never leave jail again.
Cristian hasn't had an easy life. He's the same age now as his mother was when he was born. He's a survivor of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. In 2010, Cristian watched his stepfather commit suicide to avoid being charged with abusing Cristian.
Last January, Cristian was wrestling with his 2-year-old brother, David, and accidentally broke David's leg. Despite this, their mother left Cristian with his brother again in March. While the two boys were alone, Cristian allegedly pushed his brother against a bookcase, and David sustained a head injury. After their mother returned home, she waited six hours before taking David to the hospital. David eventually died.
Now Cristian is being charged with first degree murder -- as an adult. He's the youngest person in the history of his Florida county to receive this charge, and his next hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
Melissa Higgins works with kids who get caught up in the criminal justice system in her home state of New Hampshire. When she read about Cristian's case, she was appalled -- so she started a petition on Change.org asking Florida State's Attorney Angela Corey to try Cristian as a child. Please sign Melissa's petition immediately before Cristian's hearing tomorrow.
As part of his prosecution, Cristian has been examined by two different forensic psychiatrists -- each of whom concluded that he was "emotionally underdeveloped but essentially reformable despite a tough life."
Cristian has already been through more than most of us can imagine -- and now the rest of his life is in the hands of a Florida prosecutor who wants to make sure Cristian never leaves jail.
The purpose of the juvenile justice system is to reform kids who haven't gotten a fair shake. If Cristian is sent to adult prison, it will be more than a tragedy for him -- it will also be a signal to other prosecutors that kids' lives are acceptable collateral in the quest to be seen as "tough on crime."
Cristian's next hearing is in just 24 hours. State's Attorney Angela Corey needs to know that her actions are being watched -- please sign the petition asking her not to try Cristian as an adult:
http://www.change.org/petitions/reverse-decision-to-try-12-yo-cristian-fernandez-as-an-adult
Thanks for being a change-maker,
- Michael and the Change.org team
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Your help is needed to defend free speech rights
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.AnswerCoalition.org/
info@AnswerCoalition.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-265-1948
Boston: 857-334-5084 | New York City: 212-694-8720 | Chicago: 773-463-0311
San Francisco: 415-821-6545| Los Angeles: 213-251-1025 | Albuquerque: 505-268-2488
We are writing to urge you to send an email letter today that can make a big difference in the outcome of a free speech fight that is vital to all grassroots movements that support social justice and peace.
It will just take a moment of your time but it will make a big difference.
https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=326
All across the country people and organizations engaged in producing and disseminating leaflets and posters - the classic method of grassroots outreach used by those without institutional power and corporate money - are being faced with bankrupting fines.
This has been happening with ferocity in the nation's capital ever since the ANSWER Coalition was fined over $50,000 in the span of a few weeks for posters advertising the Sept. 15, 2007, protest against the Iraq war.
Attorneys for the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) filed a major lawsuit in August 2007 against the unconstitutional postering regulations in Washington, D.C.
"The District has employed an illegal system that creates a hierarchy of speech, favoring the speech of politicians and punishing grassroots outreach," Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the PCJF, stated in explaining a basic tenet of the lawsuit. "It's time for that system to end, and it will."
The hard-fought four-year-long lawsuit filed by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund against Washington, D.C.'s unconstitutional postering regulations has succeeded in achieving a number of important victories, including the issuance of new regulations after the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia warned just last month of an impending declaration of unconstitutionality against the District.
In July 2011 the federal District Court issued a preliminary opinion regarding one aspect of our lawsuit and suggested that the D.C. government "revise the regulations to include a single, across-the-board durational restriction that applies equally to all viewpoints and subject matters."
But this battle is not finished. The new regulations still contain dissent-crushing "strict liability" provisions (explained below) and remain unconstitutionally vague and ambiguous. Plus the District has never withdrawn the tens of thousands of dollars of fines against ANSWER.
The District of Columbia is required by law to open the new rules to public comment, which it has done with an extremely short comment period that is now open. We need people to send a comment today to the government of Washington, D.C. It just takes a minute using our online Submit a Comment tool, which will send your comment by email.
Send a letter today in support of the right to produce and disseminate leaflets and posters in Washington, D.C. We have included a sample comment but we encourage people to use or add your own language.
An Opportunity for You to Make a Difference
In response to our lawsuit, the District of Columbia has now issued "Emergency Regulations" replacing the current system which the city now admits are a "threat to the public welfare," after the court issued a preliminary opinion that agreed with a basic argument of the lawsuit.
This is an important moment and we need you and others who believe in Free Speech to weigh in during the short 15-day public comment period in response to the proposed Emergency Regulations for postering. Submit an online Comment now that makes one or more of three vital points:
Drop the $70,000 fines that have been applied to the ANSWER Coalition for anti-war posters during the past four years.
End "Strict Liability" fines and penalities. Strict Liability constitutes something of a death penalty for Free Speech activities such as producing leaflets and posters. It means that an organization referenced on posted signs can be held "strictly liable" for any materials alleged to be improperly posted, even if the group never even posted a single sign or poster. The D.C. government is even going further than that - it just levied fines against a disabled Vietnam veteran who didn't put up a single poster but was fined $450 because three posted signs were seen referencing a Veterans for Peace demonstration last December, and the District's enforcement agents researched that his name was on the permit application for the peace demonstration at the White House. Any group or person that leaves literature at a bookstore, or distributes literature, or posts .pdf fliers on the Internet, can be fined tens of thousands of dollars simply for having done nothing more than making political literature available.
Insist that any new regulations be clear, unambiguous and fair. The District's new "Emergency" Regulations are still inadequate because they are vague and ambiguous. Vaguely worded regulations in the hands of vindictive authority can and will be used to punish, penalize and fine grassroots organizations that seek to redress grievances while allowing the powerful and moneyed interests to do as they please. The District's postering regulations must be clear and unambiguous if they are to be fair, uniform and constitutional.
Take two minutes right now, click through to our online comment submission tool.
Thank you for your continued support. After you send your comment today to the District of Columbia please send this email to your friends and encourage them to take action as well. Click here to send your comment to the District.
Sincerely,
ANSWER Coalition
www.AnswerCoalition.org
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International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
TAKE ACTION: New Punishment Against Rene Gonzalez
On Oct 7, René González, one of the Cuban 5 Patriots will be released from the US prison in Marianna Florida after serving out his 15 year sentence. Rene's crime was defending the security of the Cuban people against terrorist attacks.
The US government is now trying to stop his immediate return to his homeland, and his family, after he serves out the last day of this unjust sentence. And now, in the most cynical and mean spirited fashion, the US court that sentenced him in 2001 is extending his punishment by making him remain in the United States.
Because Rene was born in the US he will now have to spend an additional 3 years of probation here. Seven months ago his lawyer presented a motion asking the court to modify the conditions of his probation so that after he finished his sentence he be allowed to return to Cuba to reunite with his wife and his family for humanitarian reasons.
On March 25, the prosecutor Caroline Heck Miller asked the judge to deny the motion. On September 16 Judge Joan Lenard rejected the defense motion, alleging among other reasons, that the Court needs time to evaluate the behavior of the condemned person after he is freed to verify that he is not a danger to the United States.
We have to remember that this is the same prosecutor that rejected an attempt to try Posada Carriles as a criminal, and this is the same judge that included in the conditions of his release a special point that while Rene is under supervised release that," the accused is prohibited from associating with or visiting specific places where individuals or groups such as terrorists are known to be or frequent"
By writing this Judge Lenard made the shameful recognition that terrorists groups do exist and enjoy impunity in Miami. Furthermore she is offering them protection from Rene from bothering or denouncing them upon his release.
It was not enough for the US government to make Rene fulfill the complete sentence to the last day; It was not enough to try and blackmail his family by telling them he would not go to trial if he collaborated against his 4 brothers; it was not enough to pressure Rene with what could happen to his family if he did not cooperate with the government, including the detention and deportation of his wife Olga Salanueva; and it was not enough to deny Olga visas to visit her husband repeatedly all these years.
Why does the US government want to continue punishing René and his family?
The prejudice of the Miami community against the Five was denounced by three judges of the Eleventh Circuit of the Atlanta Court of Appeals on August 27, 2005, where it was recognized who the terrorists were, what organizations they belonged to and where they reside. To mandate that Rene Gonzalez stay another 3 years of supervised "freedom" in Florida, where a nest of international terrorists reside and who publicly make their hatred of Cuba and the Cuban 5 known, is to put the life of Rene in serious risk.
Today we are making a call to friends from all over the world to denounce this new punishment and to demand the US government allow René Gonzalez to return to Cuba to reunite with his wife and his family as soon as he get out of prison.
Contact now President Barack Obama and US Attorney General Eric Holder demanding the immediate return of René Gonzalez to his homeland and his family
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE
Write a letter to President Obama
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.
Make a phone call and leave a message for President Barack Obama: 202-456-1111
Send an e-mail message to President Barack Obama
HTTP://WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/CONTACT
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Write a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder
US Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Make a phone call and leave a message for US Attorney General Eric Holder: 202-514-2000
Or call the public commentary line: 202-353-1555
Send an e-mail message to US Attorney General Eric Holder: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
To learn more about the Cuban 5 visit:
www.thecuban5.org
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Say No to Police Repression of NATO/G8 Protests
http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/nato-g8-police-repression
The CSFR Signs Letter to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
The CSFR is working with the United National Antiwar Committee and many other anti-war groups to organize mass rallies and protests on May 15 and May 19, 2012. We will protest the powerful and wealthy war-makers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Group of 8. Mobilize your groups, unions, and houses of worship. Bring your children, friends, and community. Demand jobs, healthcare, housing and education, not war!
Office of the Mayor
City of Chicago
To: Mayor Rahm Emanuel
We, the undersigned, demand that your administration grant us permits for protests on May 15 and 19, 2012, including appropriate rally gathering locations and march routes to the venue for the NATO/G8 summit taking place that week. We come to you because your administration has already spoken to us through Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. He has threatened mass arrests and violence against protestors.
[Read the full text of the letter here: http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/nato-g8-police-repression/full-text]
For the 10s of thousands of people from Chicago, around the country and across the world who will gather here to protest against NATO and the G8, we demand that the City of Chicago:
1. Grant us permits to rally and march to the NATO/G8 summit
2. Guarantee our civil liberties
3. Guarantee us there will be no spying, infiltration of organizations or other attacks by the FBI or partner law enforcement agencies.
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Supporter of Leak Suspect Is Called Before Grand Jury
By SCOTT SHANE
June 15, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/us/politics/16brfs-Washington.html?ref=world
A supporter of Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, who is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, was called before a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday, but he said he declined to answer any questions. The supporter, David M. House, a freelance computer scientist, said he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, because he believes the Justice Department is "creating a climate of fear around WikiLeaks and the Bradley Manning support network." The grand jury inquiry is separate from the military prosecution of Private Manning and is believed to be exploring whether the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, or others in the group violated the law by acquiring and publishing military and State Department documents.
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Justice for Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace: Decades of isolation in Louisiana state prisons must end
Take Action -- Sign Petition Here:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/justice-for-albert-woodfox-and-herman-wallace
For nearly four decades, 64-year-old Albert Woodfox and 69-year-old Herman Wallace have been held in solitary confinement, mostly in the Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola prison). Throughout their prolonged incarceration in Closed Cell Restriction (CCR) Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace have endured very restrictive conditions including 23 hour cellular confinement. They have limited access to books, newspapers and TV and throughout the years of imprisonment they have been deprived of opportunities for mental stimulation and access to work and education. Social interaction has been restricted to occasional visits from friends and family and limited telephone calls.
Louisiana prison authorities have over the course of 39 years failed to provide a meaningful review of the men's continued isolation as they continue to rubberstamp the original decision to confine the men in CCR. Decades of solitary confinement have had a clear psychological effect on the men. Lawyers report that they are both suffering from serious health problems caused or exacerbated by their years of close confinement.
After being held together in the same prison for nearly 40 years, the men are now held in seperate institutions where they continue to be subjected to conditions that can only be described as cruel, inhuman and degrading.
Take action now to demand that Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace be immediately removed from solitary confinement
Sign our petition which will be sent to the Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, calling on him to:
* take immediate steps to remove Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace from close confinement
* ensure that their treatment complies with the USA's obligations under international standards and the US Constitution.
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WITNESS GAZA
http://www.witnessgaza.com/
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Stop Coal Companies From Erasing Labor Union History
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-coal-companies-from-erasing-labor-union-history
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One year after Bradley's detainment, we need your support more than ever.
Dear Friends,
One year ago, on May 26, 2010, the U.S. government quietly arrested a humble young American intelligence analyst in Iraq and imprisoned him in a military camp in Kuwait. Over the coming weeks, the facts of the arrest and charges against this shy soldier would come to light. And across the world, people like you and I would step forward to help defend him.
Bradley Manning, now 23 years old, has never been to court but has already served a year in prison- including 10 months in conditions of confinement that were clear violation of the international conventions against torture. Bradley has been informally charged with releasing to the world documents that have revealed corruption by world leaders, widespread civilian deaths at the hands of U.S. forces, the true face of Guantanamo, an unvarnished view of the U.S.'s imperialistic foreign negotiations, and the murder of two employees of Reuters News Agency by American soldiers. These documents released by WikiLeaks have spurred democratic revolutions across the Arab world and have changed the face of journalism forever.
For his act of courage, Bradley Manning now faces life in prison-or even death.
But you can help save him-and we've already seen our collective power. Working together with concerned citizens around the world, the Bradley Manning Support Network has helped raise worldwide awareness about Manning's torturous confinement conditions. Through the collective actions of well over a half million people and scores of organizations, we successfully pressured the U.S. government to end the tortuous conditions of pre-trial confinement that Bradley was subjected to at the Marine Base at Quantico, Virginia. Today, Bradley is being treated humanely at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. T hanks to your support, Bradley is given leeway to interact with other pre-trial prisoners, read books, write letters, and even has a window in his cell.
Of course we didn't mount this campaign to just improve Bradley's conditions in jail. Our goal is to ensure that he can receive a fair and open trial. Our goal is to win Bradley's freedom so that he can be reunited with his family and fulfill his dream of going to college. Today, to commemorate Bradley's one year anniversary in prison, will you join me in making a donation to help support Bradley's defense?
http://bradleymanning.org/donate
We'll be facing incredible challenges in the coming months, and your tax-deductible donation today will help pay for Bradley's civilian legal counsel and the growing international grassroots campaign on his behalf. The U.S. government has already spent a year building its case against Bradley, and is now calling its witnesses to Virginia to testify before a grand jury.
What happens to Bradley may ripple through history - he is already considered by many to be the single most important person of his generation. Please show your commitment to Bradley and your support for whistle-blowers and the truth by making a donation today.
With your help, I hope we will come to remember May 26th as a day to commemorate all those who risk their lives and freedom to promote informed democracy - and as the birth of a movement that successfully defended one courageous whistle-blower against the full fury of the U.S. government.
Donate now: bradleymanning.org/donate
In solidarity,
Jeff Paterson and Loraine Reitman,
On behalf of the Bradley Manning Support Network Steering Committee
www.bradleymanning.org
P.S. After you have donated, please help us by forwarding this email to your closest friends. Ask them to stand with you to support Bradley Manning, and the rights of all whistleblowers.
View the new 90 second "I am Bradley Manning" video:
I am Bradley Manning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-P3OXML00s
Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Ave. #41
Oakland, CA 94610
510-488-3559
couragetoresist.org
"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
Courage to Resist needs your support
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
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
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Drop the Charges Against Carlos Montes, Stop the FBI Attack on the Chicano and Immigrant Rights Movement, and Stop FBI Repression of Anti-War Activists NOW!Call Off the Expanding Grand Jury Witchhunt and FBI Repression of Anti-War Activists NOW!
Cancel the Subpoenas! Cancel the Grand Juries!
Condemn the FBI Raids and Harassment of Chicano, Immigrant Rights, Anti-War and International Solidarity Activists!
STOP THE FBI CAMPAIGN OF REPRESSION AGAINST CHICANO, IMMIGRANT RIGHTS, ANTI-WAR AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS NOW!
Initiated by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression stopfbi.net stopfbi@gmail.com
http://iacenter.org/stopfbi/
Contact the Committee to Stop FBI Repression
at stopfbi.net
stopfbi@gmail.com
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
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
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
P.O. Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
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
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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
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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
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DEFEND LYNNE STEWART!
http://lynnestewart.org/
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.
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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
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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!
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D. ARTICLES IN FULL (Unless otherwise noted)
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1) Greek Workers Strike to Protest Austerity Program
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/europe/greek-workers-general-strike-protest-austerity.html?ref=world
2) Back Home, and Homeless
By MATT FARWELL
October 5, 2011, 12:48 pm
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/back-home-and-homeless/?ref=world
3) Wall St. Protest Attracts Many New to This Sort of Thing
By CARA BUCKLEY
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/wall-st-protest-lures-many-new-to-this-sort-of-thing.html?ref=nyregion
4) Citing Police Trap, Protesters File Suit
By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS
October 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/nyregion/citing-police-trap-protesters-file-suit.html?ref=nyregion
5) This Is Only Getting Bigger: 20,000 Rally in New York to Support Occupy Wall Street
By Sarah Jaffe, AlterNet
Posted on October 5, 2011, Printed on October 6, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/152622/this_is_only_getting_bigger%3A_20%2C000_rally_in_new_york_to_support_occupy_wall_street
6) Union Movement Opens 'Arms and Hearts' to Occupy Wall Street Activists
by Mike Hall
Oct 5, 2011
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/10/05/union-movement-opens-arms-and-hearts-to-occupy-wall-street-activists/
7) Drone Strike in Yemen
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/drone-strike-in-yemen.html?ref=world
8) Chile: Proposal to Curb Protesters
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/americas/chile-proposal-to-curb-protesters.html?ref=world
9) Race-Based Names Dot the Landscape
By KIM SEVERSON
October 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/us/perrys-hunting-camp-puts-focus-on-us-maps-race-based-names.html?ref=us
10) E.P.A. Panel Issues Plan for Gulf Coast Restoration
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/us/task-force-releases-plan-for-battered-gulf-of-mexico.html?ref=us
11) 23 Arrested Wednesday in Wall St. Protest
By ANDY NEWMAN and COLIN MOYNIHAN
October 6, 2011, 10:22 am
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/23-arrested-wednesday-in-wall-st-protest/?ref=nyregion
12) Seeking Energy, Unions Join Protest Against Wall Street
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and CARA BUCKLEY
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/major-unions-join-occupy-wall-street-protest.html?ref=nyregion
13) Manhattan D.A. Is Asked to Seek to Undo 1999 Murder Conviction
By JOHN ELIGON
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/manhattan-da-is-asked-to-seek-to-undo-murder-conviction.html?ref=nyregion
14) 500 March in LA as Part of Wall Street Protests
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/06/business/AP-US-Wall-Street-Protest-Los-Angeles.html?src=busln
15) Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Bradley Manning Now 500 Days in Confinement
Peace prize nominee Bradley Manning now 500 days in confinement
By the Bradley Manning Support Network.
October 7, 2011.
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/peace-prize-nominee-bradley-manning-now-500-days-in-confinement
16) International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
RENE GONZALEZ WILL ONLY BE FREE WHEN HE RETURNS TO CUBA
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
To learn more about the Cuban 5 visit:
www.thecuban5.org
17) Happening Now: Occupy Atlanta Occupying Woodruff Park
By GLORIA TATUM
10-7-2011
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/news/2011/10/07/happening-now-occupy-atlanta-occupying-woodruff-park.html
18) [NationalMassAction] Oct. 15 - a global day of action
October 15 is turning out to be a global day of action against the wars and economic crisis. We are not alone - let's link our struggles. From the Occupy London web page http://occupylondon.org.uk/
19) Return to Little Beirut
Occupy Portland is Born with Ten Thousand Strong
by SHAMUS COOKE
Counterpunch Weekend Edition October 7-9, 2011
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/07/occupy-portland-is-born-with-ten-thousand-strong/
20) Occupy New Orleans begins with mass protest
Members plan to stake out City Hall indefinitel
By Brian Sibille, Staff Writer
October 6, 2011 20:10
http://www.lsureveille.com/occupy-new-orleans-begins-with-mass-protest-1.2647966
21) More Bleak Job Numbers
New York Times Editorial
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/opinion/more-bleak-job-numbers.html?hp
22) Inmate's Release Brings Call for New Evidence Law
By BRANDI GRISSOM
October 8, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/us/inmates-release-brings-call-for-new-evidence-law.html?hp
23) California Prison Hunger Strike Resumes as Sides Dig In
"The new protocols seek to isolate inmates participating in the strike from those in the general population and potentially subject them to disciplinary measures, while prisoners identified as strike leaders could potentially be denied contact with visitors and even lawyers. In addition, two lawyers who had helped mediate talks were temporarily barred from state prisons last week because 'their presence in the institution/facility presents a security threat.' But Ms. Weills said other prisoners told her that those four did so because they could no longer endure conditions at the administrative housing unit where they had been moved. 'We're freezing,' Ronald Yandell, one of the strike leaders, said to Ms. Weills this week. 'The air-conditioner is blowing. It's like arctic air coming through, blowing at top speed. It's torture. They're trying to break us.'"
By IAN LOVETT
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/us/hunger-strike-resumes-in-california-prisons.html?ref=us
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1) Greek Workers Strike to Protest Austerity Program
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/europe/greek-workers-general-strike-protest-austerity.html?ref=world
ATHENS - In the first general strike since June, thousands of Greeks walked off the job on Wednesday to protest a relentless austerity drive by the government, which is struggling to avert a default that could shake the euro zone and global markets.
Two separate rallies - one organized by the country's two main labor unions and the other by the Communist Party - drew roughly 13,000 protesters, police officials estimated. The organizers said at least twice as many people gathered for the two demonstrations.
Men and women shouted "traitors" and "employees of Merkel," a reference to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, at riot police in central Athens, while a crowd of younger protesters chanted "cops, pigs, murderers" - the Greek anarchists' slogan.
By early afternoon, sporadic clashes had broken out between riot police and dozens of masked youths, some wearing gas masks, who hurled chunks of stone at police officers guarding Parliament, at Athens University and outside luxury hotels on the fringes of the capital's central Constitution Square.
Most international travel was halted, with all scheduled flights into and out of the country canceled, the national rail service was suspended and ferries remained in their ports. Public transportation in the capital and other major cities was to run on a limited service to enable workers to attend protest rallies. Tax offices, courts and schools shut down for the day and hospitals were operating with only emergency staff.
The strike was called by the country's two main labor unions, which represent about 2.5 million workers and have led resistance to the latest measures. These include additional taxes, further cuts to civil servants' pay and pensions and a controversial plan to cut 30,000 jobs in the public sector which employs about 10 percent of Greek workers.
Protesters sardonically invoked Mrs. Merkel's name in reference to the central role played by Germany in resolving Greece's fiscal crisis. Lawmakers in Germany, Europe's largest economy, voted last week to expand the bailout fund for heavily indebted European countries, a necessary step in approving a second bailout for Greece, a 110-billion-euro package agreed to in principle by European Union leaders in July.
The Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, who is trying to convince foreign auditors that Greece is getting its financial house in order, said on Tuesday that the government could only meet a budget deficit target for 2011, revised up to 8.5 percent of gross domestic product from 7.6 percent, if the Greek public unites behind the cutbacks.
"If state mechanisms don't work and if we don't have the cooperation of the public, we may have problems with the 8.5 percent target," Mr. Venizelos said. In a nod to widespread tax evasion, he also appealed to Greeks to pay their taxes.
But national solidarity has been in short supply. Protests against the new measures have been vehement and the two main labor unions already have called a second strike for Oct. 19, ahead of planned votes on the new measures in Parliament. The votes are expected to be close as the governing Socialist Party has a majority of only four in the country's 300-seat Parliament and some lawmakers are said to be wavering.
The strongest opposition is from the civil servants whom the government depends on to push through many of the changes such as the collection of additional taxes. Angry public sector workers have staged sit-ins this week at several government offices, including the Finance Ministry and Labor Ministry, thwarting the efforts of foreign inspectors to complete their audit.
The results of the audit by officials of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, known as the troika, will determine whether Greece receives the latest in a series of rescue loans. Without the release of an 8 billion euro installment - part of the 110 billion euro rescue package - Greece will run out of money to pay state salaries and pensions by mid-November, Mr. Venizelos said on Tuesday. Government officials had said last month that state coffers would run dry by mid-October.
A decision on the disbursement of the funding, originally scheduled to be made on Oct. 13 by euro zone ministers, has been put off until November, Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg and head of the euro zone finance ministers, said late on Monday, noting that the troika needed more time to complete its report.
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2) Back Home, and Homeless
By MATT FARWELL
October 5, 2011, 12:48 pm
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/back-home-and-homeless/?ref=world
Mid-June, 2011: I find myself alone in a dark wooded park tucked between million-dollar houses south of Stanford University, looking for a spot in the bushes to stash my bags. Until that morning I'd been living in a cheap weekly-rate motel in Palo Alto. Before checkout, knowing I couldn't afford the $48 fee for another night, I laid out my stuff on the bed. Over the cigarette burns on threadbare sheets, I scrounged for quarters, dimes and nickels. There was enough for an extra value meal at Taco Bell. I divided everything else I had between three bags; an olive-drab backpack my brother used in the Army Rangers, a black duffel I bought at Goodwill and a satchel for my laptop.
This was my life. I was two weeks shy of my 28th birthday, unemployed, broke, thousands of miles from my family, watching the weather forecast to see how uncomfortable sleeping outside would be that night. Whatever the prediction, I could handle it. Four and a half years in the Army, including 16 months as an infantryman in eastern Afghanistan, provided plenty of skills with no legal application in the civilian world. It was, however, wonderful preparation for being homeless.
I was searching for a hole in the bushes to hide my bags. They were heavy and awkward, cumbersome to lug around Palo Alto. They clashed with the mishmash of designer bags embroidered with labels from Silicon Valley tech companies that the Stanford kids carried. Walking with them, I stood out, the opening scene of the first Rambo movie cycling through my mind: Sylvester Stallone on the side of the road with a big, green duffel bag slung over his shoulder and blending in with every part of his faded green field jacket except the red, white and blue flag patch, attracts the attention of the sheriff who wants John Rambo and all the bad mojo he carries from Vietnam out of his town. That movie ended badly for Rambo, the sheriff and the town. My life wasn't a movie and I wasn't John Rambo, but the same possibilities for a bad ending loomed. I'd learned that fact the only way fools like me learn anything: experience.
As infantry on the ground in Afghanistan, we were introduced to the ugliness of violent, unpredictable death. Over the 16 months of our tour, we caused it and we endured it; we grew well acquainted with it. Sometimes I think that we took it back, an invisible scythe-carrying stowaway on board the airplane we took back to the States. How else to explain my friend Michael Cloutier, whose spot-on shooting probably saved my life when our observation post was attacked by Taliban who outnumbered us three to one, dying of a drug overdose a year after we came back?
Or the staff sergeant from my former battalion - Second Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, Third Brigade, Tenth Mountain Division - who committed suicide by cop on Fort Drum later that year when military police were called to investigate a domestic disturbance? I didn't know him that well and had already left Fort Drum for a cushy assignment as an assistant in a four-star general's headquarters, but I wrote the eulogy my old company commander delivered at his funeral.
Not too long after that, when my friends in my old unit were rotating back, I started to crack a bit. That year the Taliban killed two of my friends, Staff Sgt. Esau I. DeLaPena-Hernandez, 25, and Sgt. Carlie M. Lee III, 23. The next year a helicopter crash killed my brother, Chief Warrant Officer Gary Marc Farwell. As my last real duty in the Army, I escorted his body home from Germany, wearing a dress uniform and saluting his casket in Atlanta and Salt Lake City as it was loaded and unloaded from the commercial airliner.
None of this was on my mind that night in Palo Alto. I just wanted to stash my bags and get some sleep, if I could. I had a plan. I wrapped the bags in a space blanket to keep the books and clothes inside dry, then wrapped it in a camouflage, Army-issue poncho liner to keep them concealed. After I stashed them in the bushes and saved the location on the G.P.S. that also held grid coordinates for Firebases and Combat Outposts I had manned in Afghanistan, I set off with my satchel, bound for Stanford and their 24-hour library.
It was finals time and short of a T.S.A. inspection at the library entrance, no one would know that under my laptop, iPad, chargers, batteries, pens, paperback books and notepads were my hobo essentials: a Ziploc with a small hygiene kit, deodorant, a pair of underwear and a change of socks. Wearing a polo shirt and a pair of khakis, I could blend in, hide out and hopefully get a little sleep in the once-familiar environment - an American college campus - that, like my country, now felt so foreign and hostile.
Paul Reickhoff, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the founder and chairman of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America testified that over 11,000 veterans between the ages of 18 and 30 were officially listed - that is, somehow identified, confirmed and entered in the Department of Veteran's Affairs database - as homeless. That's more than a standard Army division. It's also really tricky to measure exactly, since there are plenty, like me, you'd never suspect were homeless veterans if you saw them around town.
The law, "United States Code Title 42, Chapter 119, Subchapter 1," essentially defines a homeless person as somebody with no stable bed or shelter. If you live in a box under the bridge, this counts. If you live in a state- or church-funded homeless shelter, this counts. If you are an inpatient for some sort of medical or psychiatric condition, this counts. Also, if you're somewhere in between: couch surfing, living in a series of cheap motels, staying with your parents for an extended period of time, that counts. By the definition of the law, I've been homeless for about 16 months. To put that in perspective, I've been out of the Army for about 18 months.
I'm still not sure how I got there. Before Afghanistan, I was no saint but I generally kept out of trouble. No trouble with the law beyond a handful of tickets for speeding and parking. I was a healthy and an absurdly well-educated striver. My résumé lists Eagle Scout, Davis Scholar, Echols Scholar and National Merit Finalist alongside the Combat Infantryman's Badge, Army Commendation Medals and Parachutist wings. With the exception of the last year, which I have spent unemployed, attending one semester of college while recuperating from a spinal injury and trying to write, my work experience is unbroken since I landed my first job at 15; soldier, SAT & G.R.E. tutor, defense contracting intern, plumbing guy at Lowe's, waiter and lifeguard. I try to gloss over the multiple arrests and hospitalizations after the war and highlight my hope to return to the college I dropped out of once my head gets screwed on a little straighter.
Part of the reason I came to California was to heal and figure out why my life seemed determined to come unglued. Blaming it on the war, the things I'd seen and done there, seems a cop-out and a cliché, but maybe there's something to it. Jonathan Shay, a psychiatrist with the Veterans Administration who earned a MacArthur Genius Grant for his work on behalf of vets, wrote that combat post-traumatic stress disorder is "a war injury."
"Veterans with combat PTSD are war wounded, carrying the burdens of sacrifice for the rest of us as surely as the amputees, the burned, the blind and the paralyzed carry them," he wrote. The Palo Alto V.A. was one of the best in the country, I'd heard, and their psychiatric division in Menlo Park, near Facebook's new headquarters, had one of the best programs for treating guys like me, so I was waiting to get in.
That night in June, though, I was on my own. I walked down to Greene Library, took a spot on a couch in the corner, unpacked my laptop and carefully set up my workspace. I used the bathroom, washed my hands, rolled a cigarette and walked outside to bum a light from a stressed-out student. I inhaled, exhaled and saw the sky. Looking at the stars, I laughed and coughed, the honest part of me wishing I was still in Afghanistan.
Memories (bad, good and indifferent) of four and a half years wearing the uniform, a third of that in combat, occupy psychic space next to deeply ingrained habits, skills and instinctive reactions that, like all things war-related, are double-edged back home: they helped keep me alive and sane amid the boredom, ennui, confused terror and brief moments of adrenaline-fueled elation of combat - a euphoric sense of zen-like calm and focus that's better than any drug I've ever tried or heard about - but they've been doing their damnedest to kill me and my friends since we got back.
Matt Farwell was a soldier in the United States Army from 2005 to 2010. After infantry and airborne training at Fort Benning, Ga., he was assigned to the Tenth Mountain Division's Second Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment and deployed to Afghanistan for 16 months. Before enlisting, he studied government and history at the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar and graduated from the United World College of the American West as a Davis Scholar. He currently lives in California.
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3) Wall St. Protest Attracts Many New to This Sort of Thing
By CARA BUCKLEY
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/wall-st-protest-lures-many-new-to-this-sort-of-thing.html?ref=nyregion
Dan Aymar-Blair - age 36, suit wearer, resident of Crown Heights, Brooklyn - never expected to find himself at a protest. Neither did Sean Aiken, a 35-year-old D.J. from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, whose interest in politics had mostly involved grumbling with his friends. The last time Peter Linard, 71, a retired waiter who lives in the Upper East Side, went to a protest, he was living in Greece, where he marched for peace - in 1961.
"We have to get together; what's worse than what's happening now?" Mr. Linard said. "The money flies too high, very fast, and for the low people, there's nothing."
The Occupy Wall Street gathering, now midway through its third week in a Lower Manhattan park, was hatched by a Canadian magazine, Adbusters, and is heavily populated by youthful out-of-towners. But it has also become a magnet for scores of New Yorkers who said they had rarely if ever attended a protest before.
Mr. Aiken, the D.J., said he joined up because he was frustrated over what he described as a lack of accountability from the big banks, and because he wanted to add to the protest's breadth.
"In my opinion, corporate overreach is the source of our problems," said Mr. Aymar-Blair, who works for the city's Department of Education. "I'm not sure how our democracy is going to work if our votes are drowned out by money."
Several New Yorkers said they had not known about the protest until a handful of participants were pepper-sprayed by a high-ranking police official last week. A video clip of the episode circulated widely on the Internet.
Others said they learned about it after roughly 700 marchers were arrested Saturday on the Brooklyn Bridge. Some indicated that they initially stayed away because they feared arrest, or were uncertain about the protest's aims, or never considered themselves protesters. Some happened upon the gathering on their way to work and, first out of curiosity and then a sense of kinship, found themselves staying, and coming back.
"I love the grassroots nature, the direct democracy," said Gregory Schwedock, 23, a first-time protester who works as a software engineer on Wall Street near Zuccotti Park, the movement's base in New York City.
Mr. Schwedock learned about the protest after his boss warned that he might have trouble getting to work. Mr. Schwedock read Occupy Wall Street's Web site, was inspired, and has been going every day since. "The consensus process, the networking - these are all the issues I care about," he said.
Peter Gavaghen, 50, a Brooklyn-born iron worker who lives in New Jersey, first went to the square with his 12-year-old daughter last week for her school project about current events. But Mr. Gavaghen, who is grizzled and lanky and working on 2 World Trade Center, found himself returning.
He said his own father had saved $250,000 to pay for college for Mr. Gavaghen's three children, but he said the money was lost when Lehman Brothers collapsed. Mr. Gavaghen said the government bailout of banks still bothers him.
"I've never been a victim of anything, but I feel like a victim now," Mr. Gavaghen said softly. "I feel connected to these people."
Several New Yorkers recalled that they had not been to a protest since the Vietnam War, among them Roger Schwarz, 61, a criminal lawyer who spent part of Monday afternoon chatting with several young protesters.
Mr. Schwarz, who was carrying a Brooks Brothers bag, said he was disappointed with the conversations, and that he and his contemporaries were more articulate in the 1960s and '70s.
Still, several people said they believed that the movement in New York and elsewhere would congeal and grow. Richard Florentino, 62, a retired engineer from Staten Island, suggested that protesters might one day unite with the Democratic Party. Others said Occupy Wall Street might spawn a left-leaning equivalent of the Tea Party.
"It offers a glimmer of hope," Mr. Schwarz said. "A spark that may ignite."
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4) Citing Police Trap, Protesters File Suit
By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS
October 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/nyregion/citing-police-trap-protesters-file-suit.html?ref=nyregion
A group of people arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge as part of the Occupy Wall Street protests last week filed a suit against New York City on Tuesday, alleging that officers had violated their constitutional rights by luring them into a trap and then arresting them.
The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, says that protesters who marched to the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday were led onto the bridge's roadway by commanding police officers. Once protesters were on the bridge, the complaint says, officers prevented them from leaving. More than 700 people were arrested.
After the protesters were taken into custody, the police released videos showing an officer with a bullhorn warning protesters that they would be arrested if they did not get off the roadway. But those warnings "could not be heard mere feet away," the suit says.
"We believe the N.Y.P.D. engaged in a premeditated, planned, scripted and calculated effort to get the protesters off the street," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which is representing the protesters.
The class-action lawsuit, which says such tactics have been ruled illegal in other cases, seeks to ban similar measures in the future. It also demands that the arrests be expunged and requests unspecified damages.
On Tuesday evening, the city's Law Department said it had not been formally served with the suit, which also names Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Raymond W. Kelly, the police commissioner. The Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"The police did exactly what they were supposed to do," Mr. Bloomberg said on Sunday.
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5) This Is Only Getting Bigger: 20,000 Rally in New York to Support Occupy Wall Street
By Sarah Jaffe, AlterNet
Posted on October 5, 2011, Printed on October 6, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/152622/this_is_only_getting_bigger%3A_20%2C000_rally_in_new_york_to_support_occupy_wall_street
It's 10 PM in Liberty Plaza and the jubilant 20,000-plus crowd from the day's solidarity march has dwindled, now, to the faithful, the regulars, having debated and decided by consensus against another attempt at marching.
The police have dropped barricades around the entire plaza, but rumors that they are coming in are so far unfounded. The medical team has calmed down and are eating pizza from the boxes being carried throughout the plaza. A giant projection on the wall of a building across Trinity Street reminds the protesters "The Whole World is Watching #OccupyWallStreet."
A large group of people are holding signs and singing "This Little Light of Mine" down at the base of the plaza, almost to Trinity Street, where Ed Schultz of MSNBC is broadcasting his show live on the other side of the police barricade. An officer tells me the barricades aren't shutting us in, I'm welcome to leave at the corners of the plaza.
Despite an earlier clash with police (28 arrests reported, a far cry from Saturday's 700-plus) as a breakaway march from the permitted, union-supported solidarity rally headed down Wall Street proper, the plaza is mostly quiet.
Chris from the medical team, a firefighter from New Jersey, tells me that he treated one marcher who made it back to the plaza after having been pepper-sprayed. Videos and photographs are starting to circulate online of the clash with police, which include two Fox 5 reporters hit with batons and pepper spray.
Phillip Anderson, a local blogger and activist, was on the march to Wall Street and told me this story:
"We saw a ton of people crossing Broadway and decided to see what was happening. Easily 1000 people headed toward Wall Street; the cops made sure we didn't go straight there, so we took a circuitous route. When we got to Wall and William St., there was a barricade along the west side of William, along Cipriani, and people on the balcony above with glasses of champagne.
"It was obvious the cops weren't going to let the crowd go right so they went east down Wall, and then I don't know what happened but they came back loud and moving fast, drums banging. Instantly the cops moved the barricade to the east side, there were cops on horses, cops on scooters, they barricaded themselves in the middle and the crowd got to the edge of the barricade and then everyone just shut up. Dead quiet. I'm going to give those cops a lot of credit, they opened a corner and let the crowd walk out and the scooter cops escorted them almost all the way back."
The chant from the crowd, he said, was "Cops are the 99%!"
*******
Earlier in the day, over 20,000 people packed Foley Square near New York's City Hall and marched to Liberty Plaza to support the occupiers, who are on day 19 of their protest. Colorful union signs dotted the crowd as well as the handmade kind, showing delegations from the United Auto Workers, Amalgamated Transit Union, Teamsters, City University of New York faculty, and many, many more. And all of the protesters that I spoke to knew exactly why they were there.
"When someone's looking for a job, they're not visible," Jesse LaGreca, a blogger at Daily Kos who recently became an Internet celebrity for his smackdown of Fox News in an interview that leaked to the Web, told me. The occupation, and the massive march in support, made those problems visible. LaGreca's takedown of Griff Jenkins, who he called "one of the biggest cheerleaders for the Tea Party movement," resonated with activists tired of not being taken seriously. He pointed out "The last thing they want is someone who can clearly state why we're here. It's called Occupy Wall Street, not big bake sale, for God's sake."
Naturally we would join," said Lisanne McTerran, a New York City teacher wearing her United Federation of Teachers hat. She pointed out that the unions have been in this fight for a while, noting that UFT had marched down Wall Street back in May to protest continued banker power. McTerran is an art teacher by trade, but has been working as a substitute since New York's school budget cuts.
"Arts are the first thing they cut," she said, handing out a flyer that points out that budget cuts have led directly to the loss of over 100,000 jobs. "Bloomberg wants to bust the teachers' union," she said.
The official, permitted rally began at 4 PM and it seemed strange to hear the sound of a loudspeaker broadcasting speeches as we approached in a crowd from Liberty Plaza. The crowd of occupiers still communicated on the move using the "people's mic," repeating each other's words back, and it did seem that the union leaders who spoke took a page from the activists in the square, keeping their words brief and powerful, stoking the crowd's excitement at the popular support they were receiving. The organizers at Occupy Wall Street have been reaching out to labor from the beginning, and their efforts were paying off.
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) New York City local RWDSU, told the crowd that he had a message for Mayor Bloomberg. "If your police department overreacts again like it did last Saturday, stifling dissent and limiting free speech, New Yorkers will not stand for it!"
Héctor Figueroa of SEIU's 32BJ, the building service workers' union, made the connection between the occupiers in Liberty Plaza and the international protests that have echoed around the world in recent months, declaring, "Nosotros somos los indignados del Nueva York, los indignadoes del Estados Unidos, los indignados del mundo!"
It was a sentiment heard at my first visit to the occupation, when I met Spanish activist Monica Lopez, who had been part of Spain's "Indignados" movement. Lopez has been back to Spain and is now back again at the Liberty Plaza occupation, taking photos and working the media table.
"It's the right thing at the right time after so many mistakes," Thomas Blewitt, told me when I asked why he was involved in this movement. Blewitt, a former member of ACT UP in a trim shirt and tie, was one of the many defying the popular image of the protesters as all young hippies. He explained that he'd cared for his mother until her death and between Medicare and the AARP--"That system works," he said. Everyone, he pointed out, deserves the same access to health care.
Health care was also on the minds of the National Nurses United, who came out in force with their professionally printed signs declaring support for Occupy Wall Street on one side--and calling for a financial transactions tax on the other, as the union have been for months. "It's catching on like wildfire," Pam Merriman, a nurse from the University of Chicago, told me.
"The hardest pill to swallow," her colleague Talisa Hardin said, "is America is hurting, and when you look at how well corporations are doing, it doesn't seem fair."
The nurses' president, Karen Higgins, spoke at the rally as well. "We're sick of the greed!" she told the crowd. "As nurses, we can fix that."
And Merriman reiterated: "The nurses will not be moved."
Lindsay Personett, a recent graduate in dance performance from Oklahoma City University, was handing out flyers that read "I Owe SallieMae," and offering a marker to fellow grads who've found themselves in debt to the loan giant. "Kids are told to get this expensive degree and you'll get a job," she said. "You end up owing too much and owning nothing."
As the march moved off slowly through the financial district, I ducked into a cafe and struck up a conversation with Joel Wise, a tall, burly member of Operating Engineers Local 68 from New Jersey. Wise noted that his union had yet to express an opinion on the occupation, but told me "I'm here as an American, proud to be a union member." He told me that the sign he'd been carrying earlier, which he'd given away on the street, had read "The Tea Party is Owned By Big Business."
Wise's friend commented, "If they keep monetizing debt, it's gonna be ugly," and Wise continued "Most people are outraged that white-collar criminals weren't prosecuted. If you steal a loaf of bread, or a kid sells some weed, they go to jail for five years, but these guys stole millions."
******
As I leave Liberty Plaza at 10:30, a lawyer hands me his card, telling me "I used to be a prosecutor here, I know what they're capable of." The man, whose card declares him to be Musa Ali, a proud supporter of the LGBT community, then joins the legal team in a small huddle.
I am struck once again at the ease with which the organization here falls back into its duties. The medics treat the injured or sick, the food team hands out pizza, rumors are quashed with a quick "mic check" and the legal team works to keep people out of jail--or get them out quickly if they do wind up there.
I walk out past the barricades, a girl passes me with her dog, and police vans move down the street. An officer tells me that I'm probably better off picking up a train to the north rather than the south, and I take his advice, hearing a round of cheers erupt behind me from something going on in the plaza.
And so the uneasy truce at Liberty Plaza holds, but the protesters inside remember the feeling of elation, of support from the huge crowds earlier. It's not just rhetoric; they know that they are the 99%.
This is only getting bigger.
Sarah Jaffe is an associate editor at AlterNet, a rabblerouser and frequent Twitterer. You can follow her at @seasonothebitch.
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6) Union Movement Opens 'Arms and Hearts' to Occupy Wall Street Activists
by Mike Hall
Oct 5, 2011
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/10/05/union-movement-opens-arms-and-hearts-to-occupy-wall-street-activists/
In a statement released this afternoon supporting the growing Occupy Wall Street movement, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says:
"Occupy Wall Street has captured the imagination and passion of millions of Americans who have lost hope that our nation's policymakers are speaking for them. We support the protesters in their determination to hold Wall Street accountable and create good jobs."
This evening in New York City, union members joined the Occupy Wall Street protestors-now in their third week camped in the heart of the financial district-and other activists for a Wall Street march and rally drawing several thousand.
Says Trumka:
We are proud that today on Wall Street, bus drivers, painters, nurses and utility workers will join students and homeowners, the unemployed and the underemployed to call for fundamental change.
With the Occupy Wall Street mobilization gaining steam in cities across the country, Trumka says the labor movement "will open our union halls and community centers as well as our arms and our hearts to those with the courage to stand up and demand a better America."
Click the video for Trumka's full statement at:
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/10/05/union-movement-opens-arms-and-hearts-to-occupy-wall-street-activists/
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7) Drone Strike in Yemen
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/drone-strike-in-yemen.html?ref=world
SANA, Yemen (AP) - A strike by an American drone on Wednesday killed five militants connected with Al Qaeda in southern Yemen, officials said.
A Yemeni official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comply with military rules, said the drone attacked militant hide-outs in an area east of the city of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan Province. Islamic fighters seized control of the city in May, taking advantage of the uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, but military forces have since fought their way back into the city.
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8) Chile: Proposal to Curb Protesters
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/americas/chile-proposal-to-curb-protesters.html?ref=world
President Sebastián Piñera sent a bill to Congress Tuesday night calling for a strengthening of Chile's penal code, a move aimed at further repressing large student protests that have led his government's popularity to plummet. The bill, which is expected to face a stiff challenge from the opposition Concertación coalition, would set prison sentences of up to three years for anyone who occupied public or private institutions like schools or universities, and it would also penalize other forms of demonstration. Since May, students have occupied more than 200 institutions of learning. They are demanding a range of reforms, chief among them a return to widely available free public college education that existed before the 17-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
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9) Race-Based Names Dot the Landscape
By KIM SEVERSON
October 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/us/perrys-hunting-camp-puts-focus-on-us-maps-race-based-names.html?ref=us
ATLANTA - The onetime name of Gov. Rick Perry's Texas hunting camp is currently the most famous example of an egregious race-based place name, but it is not the only one.
Consider Runaway Negro Creek, which runs near a state park outside Savannah, Ga. The name is printed on nautical charts, but park rangers find it so uncomfortable to use, they try to avoid saying it out loud.
It is just one of several hundred places that have the word "Negro" in their names and still exist on government maps and in the local vernacular in dozens of states.
They are vestiges of racial attitudes that not that long ago made it acceptable to label a piece of property once leased by Gov. Rick Perry's family as Niggerhead, an offensive name that had been painted in block letters on a large rock at the entrance to the rural northern Texas hunting camp. The word was once so common it was used as a brand name for everyday items like soap, canned shrimp and tobacco.
Although it would be hard to find anyone willing to argue that the term or its variants should still be on any maps or signs, many people now also say that Negro - a government-approved alternative to the harsher epithet that is still affixed to mountains, rivers and other places - should also be removed.
Debates over potentially offensive place names have long been a part of the civic debate in the United States, and some groups persuaded the government to change race-based names that were considered insulting. But it is not always a simple or a welcome process.
The United States Board on Geographic Names, the federal agency that maintains the official names of more than 2.5 million streams, mountains, cities and civic buildings, lists 757 names that use the word Negro or a variation, said Lou Yost, executive secretary of the board.
Some are based on the Spanish word for black and are not necessarily race-based, but many were derived from the same slur that caused trouble for Mr. Perry.
In 1963, the federal government ordered that the offensive term be replaced with "Negro" in all geographic names. At the time, that word was an acceptable reference to African-Americans. (The only other similar blanket order came a few years later, when the word "Jap" on place names was changed to "Japanese.")
But language, like culture, changes. Now place names like Negro Mountain in western Maryland seem, to many, antiquated at best and offensive at worst.
But officially or unofficially, erasing race-based references is difficult.
Just ask Patricia Colman, a history professor at Moorpark College in Ventura County, Calif., who in 2004 thought that a small peak near Malibu, Calif., that for years had been known as Negrohead Mountain should be changed to Ballard Mountain, after the black homesteader who settled there.
After an effort that wound through the National Park Service, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, a state naming board and, finally, the federal naming board, it was changed in 2009.
She does not quibble with the high bar the federal government sets for changing place names, and she understands that many names were given to honor African-Americans.
"A lot of people feel the names should not be changed because they reflect a historical reality," she said. "I would argue that there are better ways to teach that history."
Maps show that Negro Creek Road runs through part of Maury County near Columbia, Tenn. Bob Duncan, the county historian, said the creek was given the name after three young black boys drowned at its mouth in the early 1800s. The road was named after the creek, and everybody still calls it that. It is to honor and remember the children, he said.
"Every three to five years somebody will rise up and say, 'Oh, my! Why do you call it that?' " he said. "We tell them and they say, 'Oh, O.K.' "
Securing an official federal name change is a challenge. The petitioner must convince first a state board and then the federal government that a new name is better, based on factors that include historical significance and local acceptance.
"It's not something we do lightly," Mr. Yost said.
The board receives about 325 requests to add a new name or change one every year, and grants most of them. Requests to change a name that includes the word Negro are rare, but "they have been a little more frequent lately," he said.
Still, even on the local level, changing a name is difficult. Part of the reason is the nature of cultural sensitivities. One person's offensive name may be another's point of pride, as communities are learning as they grapple with requests to change sites that use the term "Squaw."
Then there is custom. Local residents, including some African-Americans, sometimes see no reason to change a name that has always been there. Others argue that changing race-based names is political correctness run amok.
There are practical reasons to keep the old names. With millions to track and countless versions of official maps on file both on paper and digitally, order must maintained. It is a Sisyphean task that falls to the keepers of the national database of place names, the Geographic Names Information System.
As a result, the federal database does not always reflect the names on maps from other government agencies, or even local usage. For example, the database shows that Negro Mountain is in Marshall County, Ala. But Johnny Hart, the director of the county's 911 center, has lived in the area for 63 years and has never heard of the place.
States and local governments can also change names, with new ones eventually making their way to the federal database. But raising interest in the issue is difficult, said Steven A. Geller, a former Florida state senator who fought for years to pass a law requiring state agencies and local governments to identify offensive names and find suitable replacements.
"There were several opponents," he said. "One was the faction who said, 'Who cares? It's not that important an issue.' The other was from local governments who said, 'We aren't racists; that's just what it's always been called.' "
Still, as Mr. Perry is finding, what something is called can matter a great deal.
"Like many of these questions, it's case by case, but I certainly think there are some words that can't be painted over or blacked out," said Kevin Young, a professor of English and creative writing at Emory University in Atlanta whose coming book, "The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness," explores issues of race and language.
Words, he said, matter, whether in conversation or in the name of a creek.
"Most people feel like the N-word, when used in a certain context, and even Negro, is being called out of your name," he said. "And no one likes that."
Robbie Brown contributed reporting.
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10) E.P.A. Panel Issues Plan for Gulf Coast Restoration
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/us/task-force-releases-plan-for-battered-gulf-of-mexico.html?ref=us
A year after its creation, a federal-state working group on Wednesday released a preliminary strategy for addressing long-term environmental problems along the Gulf Coast, including the disappearance of wetlands and a seasonal dead zone caused by runoff from the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico.
Members of the group hailed the document as the first formal agreement on the priorities of coastal restoration, an accord at times hard fought despite a broadly shared acknowledgment that the gulf is in dire shape.
"To me this is big because as the gulf speaks, it speaks with one voice, and says here are the things we need to do to save the gulf," the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, said in an interview.
That unity was belied somewhat on Wednesday when a Louisiana official on the task force took issue with some elements of the strategy, saying that several important matters had not been addressed. Still, even critics in Louisiana applauded its release and supported the report's recommendations.
The recommendations vary in specificity and in how soon or easily they could be carried out.
An appendix lists some state-specific restoration strategies, many of which can be acted on quickly.
The larger proposals, like adjustments to the way the Army Corps of Engineers controls the Mississippi River, are more ambitious. Nearly all of them require hefty financing, which is not easy to find in Washington or in any state capital these days.
The report acknowledges it is a "time of severe fiscal constraints" and suggests forming public-private partnerships and other arrangements that could pool or capitalize on existing resources.
President Obama called for the creation of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force last October after the secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, submitted a report on the gulf's health after the three-month BP oil spill. The task force, which included federal and state officials, consulted nongovernmental organizations and representatives of the private sector.
The strategy, which is being made available for a period of public comment before being submitted to the president, lays out several broad goals and specific means to achieve them
To restore coastal habitat, for example, the report advises using strategic dredging and river diversions to rebuild the rapidly disappearing wetlands of the Mississippi Delta. It also proposes placing ecological restoration on equal footing with flood control and navigation interests in making Mississippi River management decisions.
Corps officials, who have been frequently criticized as ignoring such issues, were involved in the drafting of the strategy, but it remains to be seen whether they can follow these new guidelines with a few changes in policy or whether they will need Congressional authorization.
The report also puts a priority on improving water quality, particularly on countering the giant dead zone that develops in late spring in the Gulf of Mexico. Because the majority of the runoff that fosters the dead zone enters the river farther upstream, this would require the involvement of states that are far from the gulf, setting up significant jurisdictional and political hurdles.
While acknowledging the difficulties, Ms. Jackson said, "We shouldn't be as a country moving away from thinking about big hard problems."
The strategy also calls for, among other things, more monitoring of gulf species, the restoration of oyster and coral reefs and a reduction in emissions from oceangoing vessels.
Under the president's plan, a permanent council would be established to carry out the task force's strategy alongside federal and state agencies and existing organizations working on the gulf. Its activities would be funded in large part by Clean Water Act penalties stemming from the BP spill in 2010, the biggest in the nation's history. The spill, resulting from a BP oil-well blowout, killed 11 people and spewed 200 million gallons of crude into the gulf.
The creation of the council, however, depends on Congressional passage of a bill making its way through the Senate that would direct four-fifths of the spill penalties toward coastal restoration. A similar version of the bill was introduced in the House on Wednesday.
The legislation has inched forward slowly, with states initially disagreeing about how the money should be divided up and whether it could be spent on economic projects, like a convention center, rather than exclusively on environmental restoration.
Some of these conflicting forces have been at work within the task force itself.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Garret Graves, the senior coastal adviser for Louisiana and the vice chairman of the task force, said that the strategy "seems to miss some of the gaping holes that are challenging us in southern Louisiana," mentioning in particular a state-backed plan for an expanded levee system.
Nevertheless, he called the creation of the task force "a great step forward" as it laid out some of the most pressing issues the region faces.
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11) 23 Arrested Wednesday in Wall St. Protest
By ANDY NEWMAN and COLIN MOYNIHAN
October 6, 2011, 10:22 am
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/23-arrested-wednesday-in-wall-st-protest/?ref=nyregion
Updated 1:59 p.m. | The total number of people arrested on Wednesday at the Occupy Wall Street protest was 23, the police said Thursday morning.
Most of those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct, said Paul J. Browne, the head police spokesman.
They included five people who rushed a police line at Broadway and Wall Street just before 8 p.m., Mr. Browne said.
One of the five was charged with riot.
Four others were arrested at State and Bridge Streets at 9:30 p.m., including one charged with assault after he knocked a police officer off his scooter, Mr. Browne said.
But some witnesses said they saw several police officers drive their scooters into the crowd in an apparent attempt to disperse those who had gathered.
Earlier in the day, the march from Foley Square to Zuccotti Park had been peaceful, with thousands of union members joining the Occupy Wall Street protesters. But as night fell, a smaller group began congregating at Broadway and Wall Street, where the police had placed barricades.
Just before 8 p.m., witnesses said, a group of people standing near the metal barricades loudly announced their intention to march along Wall Street. After what some witnesses described as a countdown, members of the group surged against the barricades, attempting to push past them.
Police officers on the other side of the barricades pushed back, witnesses said, and photographs from the scene showed an officer behind the barricade directing a stream of pepper spray at people trying to shove their way past.
At about the same time, some people gathered near the intersection stepped into Broadway and urged others to join them.
"Move into the street," a young man shouted as he stepped off the sidewalk on the east side of Broadway. A few dozen joined him, from both sides of Broadway, and briefly stopped the flow of traffic.
Soon, a wedge of police officers, many of them commanders, walked through that crowd shoving protesters back toward the sidewalks and appearing to grab and arrest a few of them.
Some in that group said that officers also used pepper spray. Sam Connet and Joe Demanuelle said that they had stepped into Broadway and had been among those milling in the street when officers strode through.
"They pepper sprayed first and then there was an officer swinging his baton," Mr. Demanuelle, 21, said.
"The spray was coming from different directions," Mr. Connet said, adding that he was knocked to the ground by a baton after streams of spray struck him.
A video posted to Youtube Wednesday night shows one officer saying to another, "My little nightstick's gonna get some - a workout tonight, hopefully."
When asked about the police's conduct on Thursday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg allowed that he could not account for the actions of every single officer, but that by and large, the Police Department "conducted themselves the way they should."
"This is a city that values people's rights and gives them the ability to say what they want to say, I think, more so than any city I know of around the world," he said. "But you don't have a right to charge police officers like somebody did the other day."
The mayor also expressed skepticism that the city could resolve the protesters' issues, noting the group's lack of leadership. "They don't coalesce about one issue," Mr. Bloomberg said. "People in this country, but not just in this country, people in many parts of the world, certainly in Europe as well as here, are very frustrated."
"I mean," he added, "people are upset. They don't quite know where to go."
Kate Taylor and Al Baker contributed reporting.
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12) Seeking Energy, Unions Join Protest Against Wall Street
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and CARA BUCKLEY
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/major-unions-join-occupy-wall-street-protest.html?ref=nyregion
Stuart Appelbaum, an influential union leader in New York City, was in Tunisia last month, advising the fledgling labor movement there, when he received a flurry of phone calls and e-mails alerting him to the rumblings of something back home. Protesters united under a provocative name, Occupy Wall Street, were gathering in a Lower Manhattan park and raising issues long dear to organized labor.
And gaining attention for it.
Mr. Appelbaum recalled asking a colleague over the phone to find out who was behind Occupy Wall Street - a bunch of hippies or perhaps troublemakers? - and whether the movement might quickly fade.
So far, at least, it has not, and on Wednesday, several prominent unions, struggling to gain traction on their own, made their first effort to join forces with Occupy Wall Street. Thousands of union members marched with the protesters from Foley Square to their encampment in nearby Zuccotti Park.
"The labor movement needs to tap into the energy and learn from them," Mr. Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said. "They are reaching a lot of people and exciting a lot of people that the labor movement has been struggling to reach for years."
In fact, the unexpected success of Occupy Wall Street in leveling criticism of corporate America has stirred some soul-searching among labor leaders. They have noted with envy that the new movement has done a far better job, not only of capturing interest, but also of attracting young people. Protests have spread to dozens of cities, including Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Several union leaders complained that their own protests over the past two years had received little attention, though they had put far more people on the streets than Occupy Wall Street has. A labor rally in Washington last October drew more than 100,000 people, with little news media coverage.
Behind the scenes in recent days, union leaders have debated how to respond to Occupy Wall Street. In internal discussions, some voiced worries that if labor were perceived as trying to co-opt the movement, it might alienate the protesters and touch off a backlash.
Others said they were wary of being embarrassed by the far-left activists in the group who have repeatedly denounced the United States government.
Those concerns may be renewed after a disturbance about 8 p.m. Wednesday as the march was breaking up. The police said they arrested eight protesters around the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street, after people rushed barriers and began spilling into the street. While a couple of witnesses said that officers used pepper spray to clear the streets, Paul J. Browne, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said that one officer "possibly" used it. Several protesters were also arrested at State and Bridge Streets at 9:30 p.m.; the police said one protester was charged with assault after an officer was knocked off his scooter.
Despite questions about the protesters' hostility to the authorities, many union leaders have decided to embrace Occupy Wall Street. On Wednesday, for example, members of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s executive council had a conference call in which they expressed unanimous support for the protest. One A.F.L.-C.I.O. official said leaders had heard from local union members wondering why organized labor was absent.
The two movements may be markedly different, but union leaders maintain that they can help each other - the weakened labor movement can tap into Occupy Wall Street's vitality, while the protesters can benefit from labor's money, its millions of members and its stature.
The labor leaders said they hoped Occupy Wall Street would serve as a counterweight to the Tea Party and help pressure President Obama and Congress to focus on job creation and other concerns important to unions.
"This is very much a crystallizing moment," said Denise Mitchell, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s communications director. "We have to look for sparks wherever they are. It could be an opportunity to talk about what's wrong with the system and how to make it better."
Still, it may not be easy for organized labor to mesh with this new movement. Labor unions generally represent older workers, while the Occupy Wall Street protesters are younger. Unions are hierarchical, while the Occupy Wall Street protesters are more loosely knit and like to see themselves as highly democratic.
Unions invariably have a long and specific list of demands, while Occupy Wall Street has not articulated formal ones. Union leaders often like the limelight, while Occupy Wall Street is largely leaderless.
"Labor's needed a way to excite younger people with their message," Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University, said. "And to the extent that Occupy Wall Street's '99 percent versus 1 percent' theme goes along with what labor has been saying for a while, it's a natural fit."
"But obviously," said Professor Kazin, who has written several books on populist and progressive movements, "demographically, there may be some problems here. The protests haven't gotten much institutional presence, and if labor can help give them institutional presence, that can really help them."
Several major labor groups - including the Transport Workers Union, the Service Employees International Union, the United Federation of Teachers and the United Auto Workers - took part in the march on Wednesday. Some more traditionally conservative ones, like those in the construction trades, stayed away.
George White, 60, a retired union member who lives in Marine Park, Brooklyn, said it was up to the young protesters to champion bread-and-butter issues in the future. "Unions are on the way out," he said. "These are the children of mothers and fathers who have worked hard all their lives and now can't put food on the tables. These are the children who can't pay off their loans, who have nowhere to go and no opportunities."
Julie Fry, 32, a lawyer who is a member of the union at the Legal Aid Society, said labor's backing of the protest was momentous, and born out of frustration.
"We're so fed up and getting nowhere through the old political structures that there needs to be old-fashioned rage in the streets," she said.
Before the march, protesters at the Occupy Wall Street encampment's welcome table said that while the unions were welcome, they would be only one more base of support.
"The idea that the unions will take over the crowd, that's not going to happen," said Jeff Smith, 41, a freelancer in advertising who has been on the welcome committee since the protests began. "We are not a group looking for a leader."
Others expressed frustration with the unions. Chris Cicala, 26, from Staten Island, said his father, a union painter, had been laid off, leaving his family without health insurance. "I don't get where the unions have been for the past 10 years," Mr. Cicala said.
Reporting was contributed by Al Baker, Joseph Goldstein, Rob Harris and Colin Moynihan.
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13) Manhattan D.A. Is Asked to Seek to Undo 1999 Murder Conviction
By JOHN ELIGON
October 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/nyregion/manhattan-da-is-asked-to-seek-to-undo-murder-conviction.html?ref=nyregion
When the police picked up Jon-Adrian Velazquez more than a dozen years ago in the killing of a retired police officer, three witnesses identified him from a lineup as the gunman.
No physical evidence linked him to the shooting of the officer, Albert Ward, but Mr. Velazquez was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 based primarily on the testimony of those three witnesses and others.
Now, however, two of those witnesses have recanted their identifications, and the third has expressed doubts about whether he picked the right man, lawyers for Mr. Velazquez say.
The lawyers, Robert C. Gottlieb and Celia A. Gordon, are employing a relatively uncommon approach in trying to get Mr. Velazquez's conviction overturned: They are filing a report directly with the Manhattan district attorney's office, rather than with a judge.
Mr. Gottlieb and Ms. Gordon are scheduled to meet on Thursday with members of the Conviction Integrity Unit, which Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the district attorney, established a year and a half ago, shortly after taking office.
With Mr. Velazquez's cause being promoted by David Lemus, who was wrongfully convicted in the Palladium nightclub killing, and Dan Slepian, an NBC News producer who lobbied for Mr. Lemus's exoneration, this case could represent the most widely publicized test so far of Mr. Vance's unit.
"This case is tailor-made for the Conviction Integrity Unit because there's no physical evidence, no DNA," said Mr. Gottlieb, who was a member of Mr. Vance's transition team when he won election in 2009. "It's all eyewitness evidence."
Mr. Vance said his prosecutors had yet to receive written information from the defense about the case but would review it once they did.
Since the unit was formed, it has reviewed more than 100 cases that were referred through channels other than the court, Mr. Vance said.
About a dozen of those referrals led to deeper reviews, some of which are still going on. In two cases, the office fought to uphold the convictions and won, Mr. Vance said. In another two, he said, his office had the charges dismissed before the defendants were convicted. And in one case, prosecutors moved to vacate a defendant's conviction but plan to retry the case.
"Can an office re-evaluate its own prior cases?" Mr. Vance said. "Yes, we can and we do. We take it very seriously. We try to approach it with fresh eyes, without prejudgment."
Barry C. Scheck, a co-founder of the Innocence Project and an adviser to Mr. Vance's unit, said taking innocence claims directly to prosecutors "was a much better starting point than just going into court and filing a motion," because in judicial proceedings, "people develop tunnel vision and institutional bias on either side."
Mr. Gottlieb and Ms. Gordon began investigating Mr. Velazquez's case at the urging of Mr. Slepian, who began looking into Mr. Velazquez's claims in 2002 after a referral by Mr. Lemus. At the time, Mr. Velazquez, now 35, and Mr. Lemus were in the same prison, Green Haven Correctional Facility, and had become friends.
After Mr. Lemus's conviction in the 1990 shooting of a bouncer at the Palladium was overturned, he donated about $10,000 of his settlement with the state to pay for a private investigator for Mr. Velazquez.
"When I looked at him, I saw the same pain and sorrow that I saw when I looked in the mirror," Mr. Lemus said. "And then when we got into the details of his case, I started to believe more and more."
Mr. Ward was fatally shot on Jan. 27, 1998, after two men tried to rob a gambling parlor he ran in Harlem. Investigators turned their attention toward Mr. Velazquez after Augustus Brown, who was in the parlor during the shooting, picked his photo out of several hundred that the police showed him three days after the murder, the defense's report said.
Based on Mr. Brown's identification, the police placed Mr. Velazquez in a lineup, and he was identified by two other witnesses: the brothers Phillip Jones and Robert Jones. Another witness, Lorenzo Woodford, initially identified another man in the lineup but later said the gunman might have been Mr. Velazquez.
Another witness, Joe Scott, picked a different man from the lineup, and yet another, Dorothy Canady, said she did not recognize anyone, according to the report. At the trial, Ms. Canady, when asked to point to Mr. Velazquez in the courtroom, pointed to Juror No. 6.
But since Mr. Velazquez was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, Mr. Brown has recanted his identification in three separate interviews with lawyers and investigators. The report also said Mr. Brown told a private investigator last year that when the police had brought him in to look at photographs, they indicated that he could be implicated in the killing if he did not identify the gunman. Mr. Brown said he had picked Mr. Velazquez's photo just because he wanted to leave the precinct, according to the report.
Phillip Jones has said he did not believe that Mr. Velazquez was the gunman, the report said, and Robert Jones has said he is not sure that he picked the right man.
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14) 500 March in LA as Part of Wall Street Protests
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/06/business/AP-US-Wall-Street-Protest-Los-Angeles.html?src=busln
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Several hundred people are staging a noisy protest against alleged corporate greed in the downtown Los Angeles financial district.
About 500 people from labor unions and activist and grassroots organizations are shouting and carrying signs Thursday outside a bank high-rise.
They're protesting in sympathy with Wall Street demonstrators in New York City who blame the poor economy on corporate greed.
Police Cmdr. Blake Chow says organizers worked with the police department to ensure the protest would be peaceful. No arrests have been made.
Demonstrators have been camping out at Los Angeles City Hall for the past week and say they may continue to do so through the winter.
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15) Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Bradley Manning Now 500 Days in Confinement
Peace prize nominee Bradley Manning now 500 days in confinement
By the Bradley Manning Support Network.
October 7, 2011.
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/peace-prize-nominee-bradley-manning-now-500-days-in-confinement
October 7, 2011 marks the 500th day in confinement for PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks whistleblower. Along with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, PFC Manning is one of the nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The readership of the Guardian selected Bradley Manning as their top choice for the award:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/oct/06/bradley-manning-reader-poll-nobel-peace-prize
The Bradley Manning Support Network issued the following statement today:
"This year's nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize are bound together by a common drive to nonviolently reassert democracy in the face of authoritarian abuses of power.
Alongside those who have fought against the unjust accumulation of financial and political power, PFC Bradley Manning is alleged to be part of a movement to dislodge an informational blockade that enriches the interests of the few at the expense of our democracy.
Citizens cannot make truly informed decisions when the actions of government are routinely concealed from the public that they have sworn to serve. Government officials must be held accountable if they have withheld information from the public so as to hide evidence of wrongdoing.
Tonight, on the eve of PFC Manning's 500th day in pre-trial confinement, we do not forget that all people have a right to due process, free from cruel and unusual punishment. The Obama administration must stop obstructing the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, from conducting an un-monitored meeting with PFC Manning.
We expect any President to obey the constitutional freedoms that we all share. No one should be silenced for having the courage to speak or act against wrongdoing. The administration's message to us is clear: We are all Bradley Manning."
The Bradley Manning Support Network has recently launched a petition at WhiteHouse.gov to force the administration to respond to the United Nations and all those who demand freedom for Bradley Manning.
Click here to sign the petition now!
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/free-pfc-bradley-manning-accused-wikileaks-whistleblower/kX1GJKsD?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
Already signed the petition? You can promote it to your friends on facebook and twitter! Copy and paste the following text: Tell the Obama Administration to let UN investigate torture of alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower PFC Bradley Manning! http://wh.gov/40y
The White House petition requires a brief registration process. As some people have been running into technical difficulties trying to sign the petition, we have put together a small list of frequently encountered issues: Click here for a few technical tips.
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/having-trouble-with-the-white-house-petition
Help us help Bradley. Donate to the Bradley Manning Support Network.
https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=38591
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16) International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
RENE GONZALEZ WILL ONLY BE FREE WHEN HE RETURNS TO CUBA
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
To learn more about the Cuban 5 visit:
www.thecuban5.org
After 13 long years of injustice, Rene Gonzalez, one of the Five Cuban anti terrorist fighters, was released early this morning from the Marianna prison in Florida.
This is a step towards his freedom but he still is being denied the embrace of his wife Olga Salanueva.
And he will not be able to be received by the people of Cuba who love him and are demanding his immediate and complete freedom along with his four brothers.
As if 13 years was not enough, now the US government is heaping an additional punishment on Rene and his family by ordering him to serve 3 more years of supervised probation in the US. This is not only inhumane but puts Rene's life in serious danger.
The US government from now on will be responsible for anything that happens to Rene.
We have to ask Obama to identify and put a restrainer order on terrorist groups and individuals who operate freely in Miami so that they cannot come near Rene. After all part of Judge Lenard's conditions for his release was that Rene could not associate, or be in the vicinity of terrorists; the very people he was monitoring. During Rene's "supervised" probation the question has to be who will be supervising the terrorists?
One of the excuses being used to keep Rene Gonzalez in the US is that he could be a danger to the United States. They could remedy that easily by sending him home. This morning Olga summed up how ridiculous this argument is by saying. "If they say that he is a danger to that society what is the reason to keep him there?"
Now is the time to focus our efforts to move the sky and the earth to demand that Obama immediately release Rene Gonzalez to his family and his homeland.
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
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17) Happening Now: Occupy Atlanta Occupying Woodruff Park
By GLORIA TATUM
10-7-2011
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/news/2011/10/07/happening-now-occupy-atlanta-occupying-woodruff-park.html
(APN) ATLANTA -- Occupy Atlanta, the Atlanta branch of the Occupy Together movement, has occupied Woodruff Park, following a General Assembly, which began earlier today at 6pm, Friday, October 07, 2011.
A group of 150 activists decided to stay in the park past the 11pm closing time and are still in the park as of the time of publication of this article, Tim Franzen, activist with the American Friends Service Committee, said, adding that Atlanta Police had begun to circle the park on motorcycles and with wrist ties. Franzen said some activists were prepared to link arms and get arrested tonight.
Activist Joe Beasley of African Ascension told Atlanta Progressive News that he did not think there would be arrests tonight because the park closed at 11pm and, in his experience, the police would have made the arrests then if they were going to.
The AFSC building on Walton Street has also been serving as a 24-hour organizing space for the movement.
Earlier today, Occupy Atlanta held a General Assembly at the park, and about seven hundred people attended.
Occupy Together is a new, young, and vital movement that is emerging in major US cities around the nation. They call themselves the ninety-nine percent that has been left behind and left out, while the one percent control vast amounts of wealth and took even more during the great transfer of wealth in 2008.
Prior to the current economic crisis, Wall Street ran amuck, without regulations, and the banks gambled away their resources in a frenzy of blind greed never before seen. Everyone lost except the CEO's and upper echelon of the corporate world.
Occupy Together is the beginning of a movement to hold Wall Street accountable for crashing our economy and throwing millions of families out of their homes. The ninety-nine percenters are aware that most of our elected representatives only represent the interest of the rich and powerful and not the people. The only thing that has "trickled down" has been unemployment, foreclosures, and homelessness.
During the General Assembly, a crowd of about seven hundred people encircled the facilitators. They announced: We are not Republicans, Democrats or any other party. We are the people and we have found our voice.
A sampling of the signs people carried read: "If we lose America then we have lost it to the Elite," "Corporations are not the People," "Bring the Jobs back - Made in USA," "No more $21 Million Bonus," "Corporate Greed is Destroying American," and "Money for Jobs not War."
State Senators Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta), and US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) were spotted in the crowd.
US Rep. Lewis wanted to speak to the gathering but the leaders wanted consensus from the crowd to allow him to speak which was not reached.
The majority wanted to let Lewis speak at the beginning of the assembly but a minority wanted him to speak after the General Assembly finished reviewing their protocol with the crowd. Lewis had another appointment and could not stay until the end. The more mature and seasoned activists thought this was a missed opportunity to not allow Lewis to speak at the beginning.
Franzen told APN the decision to not allow Lewis to speak was motivated in part by the movement wanting to distance itself from the Democratic Party and the old leadership, to not be coopted like the Tea Party movement, and to reinforce the idea that everyone was equal. However, he noted that several Black activists who came to the General Assembly were upset.
APN observed some of the activists left frustrated at that point.
The General Assembly passed out their draft of demands and read their preamble: We hold this truth to be self-evident that the 99% deserve equal rights, equal protections, equal access and equal opportunity as the 1% who benefit disproportionately from the current system. We therefore freely assemble to assert our rights and demands:
1. We demand greater democratic control in all spheres of life, from the home to the government, from the economy to the workplace. It is a moral, logical and political imperative that people should be in control of their own lives to the greatest extent possible.
2. We deserve an economic system that meets human needs, reduces economic inequality, shrinks the income gap, and doesn't reward decisions that have a negative impact on society.
3. We recognize that the market will not regulate itself. What is good for profit is not always good for people or the environment.
4. We assert the right of every human being to adequate shelter, food, clothing, hygiene and other basic necessities.
5. We assert the right of every individual to adequate protection from the economic uncertainties of old age, accident, unemployment and other hardship.
6. We denounce all predatory lending and fraudulent banking practices and demand accountability.
7. We recognize that no society should allocate more resources to warfare than to the public good.
8. We demand a more democratic, publicly representative and accountable media.
9. We insist that the internet is a basic human right and as such should remain absolutely free and neutral.
10. We assert our right to public spaces and our right to freely inhabit them because they are essential to democracy and our right to assemble.
11. We denounce a criminal justice and for-profit prison system that relies on mass incarceration, especially when it reinforces the marginalization and disenfranchisement of people.
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18) [NationalMassAction] Oct. 15 - a global day of action
October 15 is turning out to be a global day of action against the wars and economic crisis. We are not alone - let's link our struggles. From the Occupy London web page http://occupylondon.org.uk/
On October 15th we will be Occupying the London Stock Exchange. At the same time thousands continue to occupy Wall Street and hundreds of cities from Paris and Madrid to Buenos Aires and Caracas are staging actions and occupations together for a global day of action.
By reclaiming space in the face of the economic systems that have caused terrible injustices across the world, we can open up and engage our communities into public discussions. These assemblies will allow people to voice their ideas for how we can work towards a better future and help us create concrete demands to be met. A future free from austerity within a context of growing inequality, unemployment, tax injustice and a political elite who ignores its citizens. So it's time for citizens to represent themselves. To work together to resist the government's plans and to do this in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of others around the world on the same day.
The problems we face in the UK echoes across the world. We are linked by the same root causes, so we cannot solve these problems in isolation. October 15th will be a global day of action calling for global change.
'O-15: Unite for Global Change' has been called by the 'indignants' movement in Spain, where thousands camped out in the squares for weeks, building massive popular pressure on the government. It inspired the current Wall Street occupation in New York, providing a space for the majority to resist the wishes of the greedy minority.
Join us at the London Stock Exchange to reclaim space and take part in workshops on topics ranging from Debt and The Spanish Indignants Movement to Fuel Poverty and Climate Justice. Contribute in the Open Assemblies and chant songs of solidarity with Samba bands. Exact times and locations to be announced soon.
Block the Bridge: General Assembly
Join us for a General Assembly to plan for Occupy LSX, on Sunday 9th Oct, 1pm, on Westminster Bridge as we 'Block the Bridge' with UK Uncut
http://ukuncut.org.uk/blog/block-the-bridge-block-the-bill
If you would like to run a workshop, or have any questions, please contact us at:
OccupyLSX@gmail.com
Lets make the UK part of an international movement!
-
OCCUPATION START: Saturday, Oct 15th (Location to be confirmed)
GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Sunday Oct 9th @Westminster Bridge at the 'Block the Bridge, Block the Bill' protest (please be there at 1pm and listen out for the annoucement / look out for our banner/poster. BTB event page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=277040145648345)
Banner making session: Saturday, October 8th, 12-5pm @Passing Clouds
(Event page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=297127830302586)
OccupyLSX Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/occupylondon
Twitter: @OccupyLSX (www.twitter.com/OccupyLSX)
hashtags #OccupyLSX #OccupyLondon
IRC Chat - http://chat.indymedia.org/?chans=occupyLSX
Email: OccupyLSX@gmail.com
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19) Return to Little Beirut
Occupy Portland is Born with Ten Thousand Strong
by SHAMUS COOKE
Counterpunch Weekend Edition October 7-9, 2011
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/07/occupy-portland-is-born-with-ten-thousand-strong/
It should be no surprise that a city dubbed "Little Beirut" by President Bush Senior - due to the large protests against him - began its "occupation" on a level on par with Wall Street.
On October 6, in Portland, Oregon, ten thousand people assembled at noon at Waterfront Park on a work day in anticipation of the non-permitted march, which would make a pit stop before ending at its official, secret "Occupation" spot.
The buzz for the event had permeated all sectors of Portland society. People who had never shown a political urge in their lives were suddenly convulsing. Hundreds of people started showing up at the organizing meetings, many of them younger people unknown by the "usual suspects" of Portland activism. A refreshing sign, since new blood is a key ingredient to all social movements.
Although people were warned of police violence during the non-permitted march, nothing came of it. This isn't surprising, given the close spotlight on Portland's police (the Justice Department is investigating them for police brutality and having heavy trigger fingers). Also, Portland's Mayor has a reputation for being Mr. Liberal, and cracking heads in broad daylight must not have sounded appealing to him. Most importantly, the march was large enough to defend itself, permits or not.
The atmosphere at Occupy Portland is one that forms the nucleus of any successful social movement: solidarity. Young and old from all backgrounds holding signs, chanting, and forming bonds with complete strangers over the issues that naturally bind all working people together: jobs, inequality, anti-war, student loan forgiveness, defending Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (the social safety net), etc.
These are the demands of the movement, whether or not they are officially recognized. They are the organic demands that arise from the experience of working people, as showcased by the countless signs in Portland's protest.
There were many "anti-system" signs as well; Portland has a healthy number of anarchists, socialists, etc. But many of these more-radical signs were held by working or unemployed families; some of the banners were vague or instinctive, while others were specifically anti-capitalist. The majority of signs were of immediate demands (tax the rich, etc.), but many were "system-based." This is the dual nature of the protests, something that will be eventually reconciled during the life of the movement. One demand needn't be sacrificed for another, but focusing on certain demands at critical times will be crucial to give the movement momentum after the initial of burst of energy has subsided.
For example, the majority of working people can instantly unite and be moved to action with a demand similar to "tax the rich to create jobs and save Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid," while only a minority of working people will unite indefinitely around the banner: "End Inequality" or "end capitalism." This is the main reason why specific demands must eventually be put forth; working people are only powerful against their corporate competition when they are united. Indeed this is the very basis for the plight of working people today - we are ruled because 99 per cent are divided against the 1 per cent.
Linked with unity is organization. The Occupy movement has shown an expert use of organizational tools such as social media. The day that Occupy Portland began, one could watch the protest live at www.occupyportland.org. Linked with organization is leadership, and although the Occupy movement rejects the word, there are already obvious leaders emerging.
For example, the organizers who knew the end location of the march are leaders, as are the organizers who committed to doing the most legwork towards outreach and communication. The leaders also decided that this march was to be non-violent, which angered a minority of protesters in Portland. Leaders also control the use of the web page. Democracy is crucially important, the majority must make the decisions for the movement. But leaders emerge with any organizational effort. They are the people who contribute most and create the space for others to occupy.
After the non-permitted march, protesters gathered in "Portland's Living Room," Pioneer Square, where the festivities continued. Later, the march continued to its overnight venue, a public park across from the county courthouse. As of this writing the Mayor had officially approved the occupation space until 9am the following morning, when the police would evict the occupants in favor of the Portland Marathon run, who had the park reserved. The occupiers hadn't yet decided whether to pack up and move elsewhere or test the power of the police. The optimism and numbers of protesters made the crowd courageous, but the 10,000 high mark had dwindled over the course of the night to a couple of thousand, especially after the drizzle began.
If Portland is any indication, there is plenty of energy ready to be funneled into victories for working people. It is up to the Occupy movement to find ways to best funnel this energy, since people will not indefinitely occupy something without a clear goal in mind, or without a barometer to measure their success. In Egypt, protesters proudly declared "I will occupy Tahrir Square until the dictator has fallen." As it stands now, nobody in Portland can make a similar statement. Demands and goals do matter; wanting general change is not enough, as the Obama campaign clearly proved: vagueness invites political opportunists and their offspring, which ends in disappointment.
But for now occupying is enough. We are entering the infant stage of a new social movement, and once the newborn's excitement of being alive passes away, real life must be dealt with: the infant must learn to walk; must learn what to value and how to achieve its goals while clearing obstacles out of its path. Although there is no telling how this baby will mature, we can only hope that adulthood will be successful.
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org)
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20) Occupy New Orleans begins with mass protest
Members plan to stake out City Hall indefinitel
By Brian Sibille, Staff Writer
October 6, 2011 20:10
http://www.lsureveille.com/occupy-new-orleans-begins-with-mass-protest-1.2647966
Grasping tightly onto signs in their hands, sweat soaking their brows and backs, a group of protestors marched through the heart of New Orleans on Thursday shouting, "Whose street? Our street!"
Nearly a thousand members of the Occupy New Orleans movement walked through Business District streets as police blocked cars from passing through.
But New Orleans protestors were only a small percentage of a movement that has seen thousand of arrests in cities across the United States.
Occupy Wall Street, held in the streets of New York City, began Sept. 17 and has continued to gain support despite alleged police brutality and mass arrests.
The heart of the movement is the current economic state of the U.S., with its targets including large corporations, wealthier Americans and politicians.
Protests similar to those in New York and New Orleans have appeared across the country in San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta and even Lake Charles.
Members of the movement often identify themselves as the "99 percent" of Americans who are not overtly wealthy. Many of the "99 percent" have taken their cause to the Internet, posting pictures and stories detailing unemployment and difficulty supporting families.
Members of the New Orleans protest crowd ranged from college students and young professionals to children and the elderly.
Many could be heard chanting "this is what democracy looks like" and denying political affiliation, claiming the movement "is just people coming together."
The "99 percent" in New Orleans expressed the same outrage as fellow occupiers in New York City, but many localized their grievances to Louisiana. Much of their dissatisfaction was aimed at local politicians like New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
LSU acounting freshman Robin Williams carried a sign accusing the energy company Entergy Louisiana, LLC, of unfairly taxing those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Williams said he learned of the movement online and joined because he agreed with beliefs other members had expressed.
One of Williams' grievances about the current state of the economy is that minimum wage is not sufficient for the youth.
"It's too low," he said. "There's no way someone can survive on it."
Williams was joined by a large number of college-aged protestors, including Nathan Anderson, LSU political science sophomore.
Anderson said he became involved in the "vague but fluid awakening" because he believes Americans are being robbed of their rights.
"Everyone has a right to an education and a home," Anderson said, naming student and housing debt as infringements on those rights.
Anderson said he didn't know what to expect out of the protests in New Orleans, but he said it was a "good first step."
Jillian Chrisman and Sara Mulholland, both seeking master's degrees in education at the University of New Orleans, said they fear the combination of high student debt and low income for teachers will trouble them later in life.
"I'll have student debt until I'm 50," Mulholland said.
The youth have played a large part in the national movement, not only as students but as a generation that will have to deal with a national debt and elders without Social Security, Chrisman said.
"It's our future we're defending," said Genevieve Vegetable, Tulane University public health graduate student. "There's an enormous burden on our generation."
Vegetable said New Orleans has felt the "brunt of corporations" in a country where "Medicare is a fantasy."
Protestors walked to Lafayette Square to protest the Federal Reserve Building nearby. The members took turns speaking to the crowd, including a woman who performed poetry and a college student calling fellow youth into action.
A man with a megaphone began chanting, "Wall Street says cut back. We say fight back." A trio with a drum, trumpet and saxophone crafted a melody, leading protestors in loud song as workers emerged from downtown buildings to observe the crowded streets.
"We don't work for the government," one woman told the crowd. "They are here to work for us."
The group eventually moved to Duncan Plaza in front of New Orleans City Hall, where they intend to occupy indefinitely.
Contact Brian Sibille at bsibille@lsureveille.com
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21) More Bleak Job Numbers
New York Times Editorial
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/opinion/more-bleak-job-numbers.html?hp
It would take a lot of optimism to put a positive spin on the jobs report for September, released on Friday by the Labor Department.
Employers added 103,000 jobs last month, allaying fears, for now, of a double-dip recession. But even if the economy avoids another contraction, the numbers confirm that the job market is in a deep rut that is, for all purposes, indistinguishable from recession. There are still 14 million people officially unemployed, and nearly 12 million more who have given up actively looking for work or who are working part time but need full-time jobs.
Earlier this week, President Obama and the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, delivered bleak economic assessments, which demand a government response. The economy, already at a crawl, could well slow down further in response to economic setbacks in Europe and China or to homegrown problems like political gridlock that delay spending on job-creation efforts.
The economy is not producing enough jobs, and many of the ones created are lousy. Much of last month's job growth came as 45,000 striking Verizon employees returned to work. Without that one-time boost, the economy added only 58,000 new positions in September, roughly in line with the slow pace of job creation over the past several months.
That is not nearly enough to lower the unemployment rate, which is at 9.1 percent and is almost certain to rise in the months ahead, barring an unexpected upsurge in economic activity.
The new jobs are generally in lower-paying fields, like home health care, and in part-time and temporary employment. These kinds of employment may be better than no work, but they are generally not the types of jobs that allow workers to get ahead.
The September report also shows the permanent scars caused by persistent joblessness. The share of workers who have been unemployed for more than six months increased from 42.9 percent to 44.6 percent, near its record high from early last year. That is likely to translate into irreversible reductions in the standard of living for millions of Americans because the longer one is unemployed, the harder it becomes to find new work, especially at previous pay levels.
Children will be among those most harmed by the jobs crisis. The Economic Policy Institute, using data from the September report, has calculated that 278,000 teachers and other public school employees have lost their jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Over the same period, 48,000 new teaching jobs were needed to keep up with the increased enrollments but were never created. In all, public schools are now short 326,000 jobs.
At a time when more and better education is seen as crucial to economic dynamism and competitiveness, larger class sizes and fewer teachers are the last thing the nation needs. Staffing reductions also mean that schools are less able to respond to the needs of poor children, whose ranks have increased by 2.3 million from 2008 to 2010.
The situation calls out for swift passage of Mr. Obama's jobs bill and even more far-reaching efforts to revive growth and employment. The alternative is lasting damage from a jobs crisis that has already done enormous harm to families and communities.
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22) Inmate's Release Brings Call for New Evidence Law
By BRANDI GRISSOM
October 8, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/us/inmates-release-brings-call-for-new-evidence-law.html?hp
Not long after his mother was murdered, 3 1/2-year-old Eric Morton began to tell his grandmother what he had seen that terrible day.
"Mommy's crying. She's - Stop it. Go away," his grandmother said he told her. She asked why his mother was crying.
" 'Cause the monster's there," he said.
Gingerly, she pressed for more details.
"He hit Mommy. He broke the bed," her grandson said.
"Is Mommy still crying?"
"No, Mommy stopped."
Finally, his grandmother asked the question she was most dreading: "Was Daddy there?"
"No," he said. "Mommy and Eric was there."
The next day, she called the lead sheriff's investigator to tell him what the boy had said and that she no longer suspected that her son-in-law, Michael Morton, had killed her daughter, Christine. She urged the investigator to abandon the "domestic thing now and look for the monster."
Days after Mrs. Morton's badly beaten body was found in her bed in August 1986, someone used her credit card in another city. And a check was cashed with her forged signature.
The sheriff's investigators who saw Mr. Morton as the prime suspect had that information and a transcript of the grandmother's call. But when he was on trial facing a life sentence for murder, his defense lawyers knew none of it.
A quarter-century later, after six years of fighting for DNA tests that now almost certainly will result in the reversal of Mr. Morton's conviction, his lawyers say prosecutors withheld this and other exculpatory evidence from his original defense lawyers and from the trial judge despite orders to turn it over. In court filings, the prosecutors have denied accusations of wrongdoing.
Since 1994, DNA tests have exonerated 44 Texas inmates, according to the Innocence Project of Texas, based in Lubbock. In the wake of those cases, Texas lawmakers have made significant reforms to criminal justice procedures to help prevent wrongful convictions. But defense lawyers and Mr. Morton's advocates argue that under antiquated Texas discovery laws, the alleged injustices that robbed him of 25 years could still happen.
"Michael's struggle would be in vain if we didn't think soberly about what went wrong in his case and how it can be fixed," said Nina Morrison, senior staff lawyer for the Innocence Project, which worked on Mr. Morton's case and which is based in New York.
The landmark 1963 United States Supreme Court decision Brady v. Maryland requires prosecutors to provide defendants with exculpatory evidence - information that could prove their innocence. But Texas law does not define "exculpatory evidence," and there is no statewide standard; prosecutors or trial judges typically decide what qualifies. State law does not require prosecutors to automatically share with defense lawyers even basic information like police reports and witness statements.
Many prosecutors, including district attorneys in Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and Austin, have adopted open-file policies that require their lawyers to share all their evidence with the defense.
Tarrant County adopted its policy in the 1970s, said Jack Strickland, a former defense lawyer who is deputy chief in the district attorney's criminal division.
"The more serious the case, the more serious the potential consequences," Mr. Strickland said. "We wanted to have as much transparency as we could because of the stakes involved."
In 2010, the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel, a committee created to recommend new laws that might prevent wrongful convictions, urged legislators to adopt a mandatory statewide discovery policy. Seven of Texas' first 39 DNA exonerations involved evidence suppression or other prosecutorial misconduct, according to the panel's report.
The panel - named after a Lubbock man charged with rape who died in prison before DNA evidence exonerated him - told lawmakers that Texas should follow the example of other states that require lawyers on both sides to share information in criminal cases.
"We have 254 counties in this state, and potentially 254 ways of deciding what the defense will see prior to trial," said Kathryn Kase, executive director of the Texas Defender Service and a member of the Tim Cole panel.
Since 2007, lawmakers have proposed more than a half-dozen measures that would have expanded access to discovery. None have passed.
Senator Rodney Ellis, Democrat of Houston, who is also chairman of the Innocence Project, said prosecutors had worked to stymie the measures. The opposition, he said, reflects an attitude among many Texas prosecutors that a conviction equals a win.
"The role of the prosecutor is to discover the truth," said Mr. Ellis, who is also a lawyer. "But oftentimes there's more interest in getting a conviction."
He pointed to a recent decision of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association to honor a prosecutor who had intervened to stop a court hearing meant to examine whether Cameron Todd Willingham was innocent. Mr. Willingham was executed in 2004 for the 1991 arson fire that killed his three young daughters. Numerous scientists have since discredited the evidence used to convict him.
"I think the Morton case is going to be a catalyst for moving some of those reforms forward," Mr. Ellis said.
John Bradley, the Williamson County district attorney, whom Gov. Rick Perry appointed in 2009 to lead an independent panel charged with reviewing forensic evidence in criminal cases, was an ardent opponent of re-examining the Willingham case.
Mr. Bradley has also most recently been in charge of the Morton prosecution. For more than six years he opposed the DNA testing that led to Mr. Morton's release from prison last week and an agreement by prosecutors to seek to have his conviction overturned. He also resisted efforts by Mr. Morton's lawyers to use public-information laws to gain access to evidence in the original prosecutors' files.
Mr. Bradley publicly derided the lawyers' efforts to prove that a "mystery killer" killed Christine Morton.
Mr. Bradley said last week that he had resisted efforts to test the DNA for good-faith reasons that he could not discuss because of the continuing investigation.
Prosecutors, though, have not been the only ones to object to expanding discovery, said Rob Kepple, executive director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. Defense lawyers, he said, have objected to legislation that would also require them to turn over evidence to prosecutors.
What is more, Mr. Kepple said, a new discovery law would not have prevented the kind of misconduct alleged in the Morton case. If a prosecutor or investigator decides to withhold key information even in the face of the Brady rules that already require its release, he said, a new state law will not spur their compliance.
"If somebody didn't play fair back then," he said, "I'm not sure exactly what law we change today to address it."
Indeed, in Tarrant County, where the open-file policy has long been in place, Mr. Strickland said there had been two instances in which a prosecutor suppressed evidence to help secure death penalty convictions.
The same lawyer worked on both cases and is no longer employed at the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, he said.
"You can't discount the possibility that somebody is going to come in and make a conscious decision to do something wrong," Mr. Strickland said.
Despite that aberration, he said, the open-file policy has only helped Tarrant County.
It is an advantage for defense lawyers, since they can quickly access information they need to represent their clients, he said, and it helps prosecutors because they do not have to spend time and money fighting in court over access to evidence.
"It's a downside only if you think winning is everything," Mr. Strickland said. "And winning is not everything."
bgrissom@texastribune.org
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23) California Prison Hunger Strike Resumes as Sides Dig In
"The new protocols seek to isolate inmates participating in the strike from those in the general population and potentially subject them to disciplinary measures, while prisoners identified as strike leaders could potentially be denied contact with visitors and even lawyers. In addition, two lawyers who had helped mediate talks were temporarily barred from state prisons last week because 'their presence in the institution/facility presents a security threat.' But Ms. Weills said other prisoners told her that those four did so because they could no longer endure conditions at the administrative housing unit where they had been moved. 'We're freezing,' Ronald Yandell, one of the strike leaders, said to Ms. Weills this week. 'The air-conditioner is blowing. It's like arctic air coming through, blowing at top speed. It's torture. They're trying to break us.'"
By IAN LOVETT
October 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/us/hunger-strike-resumes-in-california-prisons.html?ref=us
LOS ANGELES - When inmates across California's state prisons went on a hunger strike in July, prison officials negotiated with them, ultimately reaching an agreement to bring the strike to an end after three weeks.
But since inmates resumed the strike last week in continued protest against conditions of prolonged isolation, things have gone differently: the corrections department has cracked down, trying to isolate the strike leaders, some of whom say they no longer trust the department and are hoping to push the governor to enact reforms.
"I'm ready to take this all the way," J. Angel Martinez, one of the strike leaders at Pelican Bay State Prison, said in a message conveyed through a lawyer this week. "We are sick and tired of living like this and willing to die if that's what it takes."
This time, though, both sides have shown less inclination to compromise, and no negotiations between the strike leaders and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have taken place since the strike resumed.
An internal memo from George J. Giurbino, director of the Division of Adult Institutions for the department, outlined new, more aggressive processes for dealing with mass hunger strikes.
The new protocols seek to isolate inmates participating in the strike from those in the general population and potentially subject them to disciplinary measures, while prisoners identified as strike leaders could potentially be denied contact with visitors and even lawyers.
In addition, two lawyers who had helped mediate talks were temporarily barred from state prisons last week because "their presence in the institution/facility presents a security threat."
The animosity goes both ways, suggesting no easy resolution to a situation in which inmates are protesting being kept in isolation in excess of 22 hours a day, part of an attempt to hamper gangs.
In late July, inmates ended their initial strike after officials agreed to concessions for prisoners in security housing units, including allowing them wall calendars, hobby items like drawing paper and a comprehensive review of how inmates are placed in these isolation units.
The new hunger strike drew 4,000 people last week across the state. But that number had drifted to fewer than 800 by Friday, according to corrections officials, as the department has moved to isolate participants from the general prison population.
Terry Thornton, a department spokeswoman, said that the promised reforms were continuing as promised, and officials remained willing to negotiate, but that leaders had not approached them with a new list of demands.
"Everything we said we were going to do, we did," Ms. Thornton said. "We are kind of puzzled about why this action was taken again. The review takes time, but we are on track."
Mistrust of the department is fervent among strike leaders, according to Anne Weills, a lawyer who met with four of them at Pelican Bay. Prisoner rights advocates have also accused the department of low-balling the number of prisoners involved in the strike, arguing that as many as 12,000 inmates had participated.
Ms. Thornton confirmed that 15 inmates at Pelican Bay had been moved to an administrative housing unit because they were identified as coercing other inmates into participation. She also said that all the strike leaders at Pelican Bay were confirmed gang members, and that four of the 11 leaders had ended their strikes.
But Ms. Weills said other prisoners told her that those four did so because they could no longer endure conditions at the administrative housing unit where they had been moved.
"We're freezing," Ronald Yandell, one of the strike leaders, said to Ms. Weills this week. "The air-conditioner is blowing. It's like arctic air coming through, blowing at top speed. It's torture. They're trying to break us."
Oscar Hidalgo, a spokesman for the corrections department, said he did not know why the four leaders had ended their strike.
Sharon Dolovich, a professor of prison law at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the department's response to the second strike reflected court cases in the last 25 years that had given officials more discretion to clamp down on inmate rights.
"Before, they didn't want to seem inhumane, and now they're in damage control mode," she said. "They're demonstrating that they're willing to use the full scope of legal discretion to shut it down."
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