Friday, April 06, 2012

BAUAW NEWSLETTER--FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012

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"It's a two class country and the wrong class is running it!" -From a Soldier of Solidarity

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MAY DAY 2012

OCCUPY WALL STREET STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH CALLS FOR:

ON MAY DAY -- WHEREVER YOU ARE -- WHOEVER YOU ARE

NO WORK! NO CHORES! NO BANKING! NO SHOPPING! NO SCHOOL!

A DAY WITHOUT THE 99 PERCENT -- A GENERAL STRIKE AND MORE!!

TAKE THE STREETS!

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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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Please distribute widely via Facebook, Twitter, etc. Let us know about April 10th "Justice 4 Trayvon Martin" actions in your city.

Email us with details so that your action can be listed:
info@occupy4jobs.org

A Florida grand jury is scheduled on April 10 to "consider" whether to arrest the vigilante who lynched by bullet our brother and son, Trayvon Martin, on Feb. 26.

International Day of Justice 4 Trayvon Martin

TUES, APRIL 10 TAKE TO THE STREETS

GATHER AT UNION SQUARE 6:00 P.M.

14th Street & Broadway, Manhattan in New York City

The People's Power Tour and Occupy 4 Jobs urges all organizations, activists and communities to UNITE AS ONE to tell the grand jury that we demand the arrest of George Zimmerman and hold the police responsible for him walking the streets free.

JUSTICE for TRAYVON MARTIN

JUSTICE FOR RAMARLEY GRAHAM & ALL VICTIMS OF POLICE BRUTALITY

STOP THE RACIST STOP & FRISK POLICY

JOBS NOT JAILS: A Massive Jobs Program for Youth,

No police & vigilante terror

STOP DEPORTATIONS of Undocumented Workers

NO MORE CUTS in Education, School Closings, Teacher & Faculty layoffs,
End tuition hikes

STOP THE WAR AGAINST YOUTH

For more information and to get involved email: info@occupy4jobs.org

www.occupy4Jobs.org

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Subject: From code pink: Occupy Oakland ENDORSES our NO WAR ON IRAN
April 17th Action!!!
NO WAR ON IRAN ACTION: Occupy & War(s)
April 17th, Tuesday, 12:00 noon - 5pm
Oakland Federal Building

Reasons:

We're happy to bring you GREAT news! The awesome Occupy Oakland folks voted UNANIMOUSLY to endorse our proposal for a NO WAR ON IRAN action to coincide with the Global Day of Action Against Military Spending, April 17th, from noon-5 at the Oakland Federal Building.

This is what we've been hoping for and working towards: getting the anti-war message front and center with the Occupy movement!!! So let's BE THERE!

So PLEASE mark your calendars, call in PINK, and join us in front of the Oakland Federal Building Tuesday, April 17th, the final day our U.S. income taxes - to pay for wars - are due!

Come bring your ideas & resources & help us plan this action on Saturday, March 24th, 11am-1pm at Mudrakers Cafe, 2801 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley! Thus far we are working on a press conference, maybe a march to/from the Post Office, visual timeline of US. military aggression, street theater, FOOD, music, banner drops, and???

PROPOSAL: Endorse Global Day of Action Against Military Spending NO WAR ON IRAN with CodePINK, anti-war groups, Tuesday, April 17th noon-5pm, Oakland Federal Building

HELLO, we are here as part of CodePINK:Women4Peace, WAK:Women Against Killing, Grandmothers Against War & other activist anti-war groups.

We in CodePINK & WAK work to enable, value and project specifically women's voices, womenâ€(tm)s ideas, womenâ€(tm)s actions, womenâ€(tm)s leadership, as we work to end all forms of violence, especially the violence of â€Å"warâ€ and military occupation.

The imminent threat of a new war against Iran carries with it the real danger of yet another horrendous global, human, environmental (not to mention political,etc) catastrophe, while the present wars continue that same horrendous devastation.

The voice of the U.S. people needs to be heard to STOP this from happening, and we would like to work especially with Occupy, with individuals, communities, and working groups to amplify and direct our tactics, actions, and solutions.

As part of our NO WAR ON IRAN actions, NO NEW WARS, END ALL WARS, we are calling for a protest & occupation in front of the Oakland Federal Building in conjunction with the Global Day of Action AGAINST MILITARY SPENDING. And on the day our income taxes - that pay for wars & occupations ââ€" are due.

Also, Help clarify what wars ‘abroadâ€(tm) have to do with wars at home: foreclosures, racism, budget cuts, misogyny, homelessness, military & prison industrial complex

We hope Occupy will vote to endorse this NO WAR ON IRAN Action as a joint action with CodePINK & other anti-war groups & individuals. We also hope that as a result of this Action together, we can begin an occupy working group or committee that will have regular report- backs to the G.A.

The protest thus far will include banner drops, visuals: timeline of US military aggression, especially against Iran, FOOD, educational exercises, music, group discussions, die-ins, teach- ins, and other ACTIONS.

War and the Military & Prison Industrial Complex are and have always been integral to forming and building of our politics, our economy, our culture and our very country.

In 2011, we spent TWO BILLION dollars a DAY on wars, military occupations, attacks against other nations, primarily peoples of color.

In the U.S., we have 4-5% of the worldâ€(tm)s people while we consume 25-60% of the worldâ€(tm)s resources. We are able to secure so many resources because of our military and our willingness to engage our military might in the conquering, capturing, destroying of people, their lands, their resources - people with miinimal weaponry and military technology.

We spend more on our military than every other country in the world combined.

The U.S. military is the largest single consumer of fossil fuels.

Everything we have obtained in this country, from the very land we stand on to all our ‘richesâ€(tm), we have gotten through genocide, enslaving, torturing, and/or killing someone: from the first time Europeans set foot on this soil to commit genocide against Indigenous Peoples, to enslaving African peoples, to declaring wars against Mexicans, to sending troops off this continent to protect U.S. business interest, steal resources, & occupy the lands of others - mostlly peoples of color - beginning in 1801 when the marines occupied Libya for 4 years, until this very day.

We have over 1000 military bases (that we know about) in over 150 countries in our world of about 192 countries.

In 2011, 52% of our federal discretionary budget supplied by income taxes, went to the military; 7% to education; 5% to health care.

War profiteers, as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Atomics, make much more profits then Goldman Sucks and/or banks.

We invite individuals and working groups from Occupy to come and participate with us in this Global Day of Action against Military Spending, END WARS, NO NEW WARS specifically NO WAR ON IRAN, Tuesday, April 17th, noon â€" 5pm.

Again we are asking at this G.A. if you will endorse this Global Day of Action Against Military Spending, Tuesday, April 17th & join us at the Oakland Federal Building, noon - 5pm.

This action will be taking place on: APRIL 17th, Tuesday, from 12 noon until 5PM at the Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland

You are invited to participate in any way, pass out flyers, spread the word. PLEASE come to our next organizing meeting every Saturday, 11-1pm at Mudrakerâ€(tm)s cafÃ(c) - on the flyer. All are invited.

In solidarity and action,
Xan Sam Joi
DISARM DISARM DISARM
work for peace; hold all life sacred; eliminate violence
www.codepinkjournals.blogspot.com

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Stand with Bradley Manning during the April 24-26 hearing
http://ymlp.com/zKyp5L

Write to Bradley Manning at:
Bradley Manning #89289
830 Sabalu Road
Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027
Bradley Manning Support Network:
http://www.bradleymanning.org/
Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Ave. #41
Oakland, CA 94610
510-488-3559
couragetoresist.org

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6 Ways to Get Ready for the May 1st GENERAL STRIKE
by OccupyWallSt
Yesterday, 60,000 marched on Madison to mark the one-year anniversary of the passage of Governor Scott Walker's drastic dismantling of collective bargaining rights for public employees. Last year, Walker's attacks on labor rights sparked massive protests that saw hundreds of thousands occupy the Wisconsin capital building. Their actions prefigured Occupy Wall Street and inspired countless others to take a stand against economic inequality, political injustice, and the tyranny of the 1% enforced through politicians and banksters alike.

This is just one example that people across the globe are actively resisting attacks on the 99%. This year has already seen the largest-ever strike on record in India, hundreds of thousands marching for democracy in Bahrain, general strikes in Montreal and Spain where students once again occupied public space in protest of the austerity measures and spending cuts being enforced by the European banking elite, massive uprisings in the streets of Moscow, and more. Even in the United States, the movement grows. The corporate media claims that Occupy's strength is waning, but they are merely in denial. During the coldest months of this year, the United States has already seen more revolutionary momentum than it has in decades.

This winter, we refocused our energies on fostering ties with local communities, saving homes from corrupt banks and jobs from greedy corporations, and building and expanding our horizontal infrastructure. This #GlobalSpring, we will take the streets again. On May 1st, Occupy Wall Street has called for a General Strike. We are calling on everyone who supports the cause of economic justice and true democracy to take part: No Work, No School, No Housework, No Shopping, No Banking - and most importantly, TAKE THE STREETS!

We are getting ready. Planning is already underway in dozens of cities. Labor organizers, immigrants' rights groups, artists, Occupiers, faith leaders, and more have all joined in the discussion to get ready. Now, all we need is you. Keep reading to find out how you can get involved!

May 1st, also known as International Workers' Day, is the annual commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, when Chicago police fired on workers during a General Strike for the eight-hour workday. In many countries, May 1st is observed as a holiday. But in the United States, despite the eventual success of the eight-hour-workday campaign, the holiday is not officially recognized. In spite of this, May Day is already a powerful date in the U.S. In 2006, immigrant's rights groups took to the streets in unprecedented numbers in a national "Day Without An Immigrant" - a general strike aimed at proving the economic power of immigrants in the U.S. At least one million people marched in Chicago and Los Angeles alone. Hundreds of thousands more marched throughout cities across the U.S.

Now, in response to call-outs from Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy Chicago, Occupy Oakland, and other General Assemblies and affinity groups, the Occupy Movement is preparing to mobilize a General Strike this May 1st in solidarity with struggles already underway to defend the rights of workers, immigrants, and other communities who are resisting oppression. Dozens of Occupations in cities and towns throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia have already endorsed May Day. Here is just a taste of events in the works for New York City:

* 8am-4pm: Midtown action staging zone in Bryant Park. * Disruptive actions in midtown all day! Hit the 1% where they live and prevent them from getting to work. Let's make this a Day Without the 1%, as well! * Family friendly, free food, a really, REALLY free market, skillshares, workshops, lectures, art, fun and more! * 4pm: March to Union Square for solidarity march * 5:30pm: Solidarity march from Union Square to Wall St. * 7pm: March to staging area for evening actions

And this is just the beginning. To quote the ConfederaciÃ_n Nacional del Trabajo, a major Spanish union, who recently called for a national General Strike in Spain on March 29th to protest labor reforms:

For the CNT, the strike on March 29 must be only the beginning of a growing and sustained process of mobilization, one which includes the entire working class and the sectors that are most disadvantaged and affected by the capitalist crisis. This mobilization must put the brakes on the dynamic of constant assaults on our rights, while laying the bases for the recovery and conquest of new social rights with the goal of a deep social transformation.

None of this would be possible without the grassroots support of everyday organizers who volunteer their time to grow the movement against Wall Street greed and political corruption. Here are eight simple things you can do to help advance the cause of equity for all:

[1] Work With Your Local Occupy: There are hundreds of Occupy groups still holding regular meetings and events. Chances are, there's one nearby. (And if there isn't yet - it's easy to start one!) General Assemblies are open to everyone, and everyone has a voice in the consensus planning process. So find your nearest Occupation and go to a GA! If they haven't already endorsed the General Strike, propose it to the group and start planning marches, distributing fliers, and forming direct action groups.

[2] Spread the Word On Social Media: Follow #M1GS, @OWSMayDay, @OccupyWallSt, and @OccupyGenStrike on Twitter. Also be sure to RSVP on Facebook and follow facebook.com/OccupyGeneralStrike. You can also look for city-specific events, like these from Chicago and Detroit.

[3] Start an Affinity Group: You can take action on your own. All you need are a few friends. Affinity groups are groups of people who know each other and come together autonomously for a particular action. Find a few people who are interested in helping you out on a project you have in mind - whether it's making fliers and literature to distribute, or shutting down a Wall Street bank in your hometown. Get creative, and get to work! (Here's a hint: OccuPrint collects, prints, and distributes posters from the worldwide Occupy movement, and they have a ton of amazing General Strike posters!)

[4] Join the General Strike Conference Calls: InterOccupy hosts regular calls to organize May 1st activities. Check out their schedule and join in the conversation!

[5] Talk to Labor: Due to federal laws, most unions are forbidden from organizing strikes for political reasons. However, unions and labor groups are still some of our strongest allies. During last year's General Strike in Oakland, many unions encouraged their workers to take the day off or attend demonstrations after work. Not long after Occupy Oakland shut down ports in solidarity with striking Longshoreman, their employers caved to the union's demands in a new contract. Get in touch with local unions and labor organizations, let them know about the plans for a General Strike, find out what they're working on and how you can help, and encourage them to let their members know about May 1st and get involved in organizing directly.

[6] Organize Your Workplace, Campus, or Community: If you're a unionized worker, encourage your union to support the General Strike. Whether your workplace is union or not, you can encourage co-workers to take a sick day on May 1st. If you can't afford to lose out on pay, that's okay - there will be plenty of celebrations, marches, and direct actions throughout all hours of the day. Invite your community to attend. If you're a student at a high school or college, spread the word to walk-out of class on May 1st. If you're not a worker or student, organize your friends!

More information: [MayDayNYC.org] | [OccupyMay1st.org] | [StrikeEverywhere.net] | [NYC General Assembly - May Day]

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Occupy Oakland Call for Participation in a May 1, 2012 Global General Strike

Occupy Oakland decides to participate in the Global General Strike on May Day!!!

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly passed the proposal today!

Occupy Oakland Call for Participation in a May 1, 2012 Global General Strike

The general strike is back, retooled for an era of deep budget cuts, extreme anti-immigrant racism, and massive predatory financial speculation. In 2011, the number of unionized workers in the US stood at 11.8%, or approximately 14.8 million people.

What these figures leave out are the growing millions of people in this country who are unemployed and underemployed. The numbers leave out the undocumented, and domestic and manual workers drawn largely from immigrant communities. The numbers leave out workers whose workplace is the home and a whole invisible economy of unwaged reproductive labor. The numbers leave out students who have taken on nearly $1 trillion dollars in debt, and typically work multiple jobs, in order to afford skyrocketing college tuition. The numbers leave out the huge percentage of black Americans that are locked up in prisons or locked out of stable or secure employment because of our racist society.

In December of 2011,Oakland's official unemployment rate was a devastating 14.1%. As cities like Oakland are ground into the dust by austerity, every last public dollar will be fed to corrupt, militarized police departments in order to contain social unrest. On November 2 of last year, Occupy Oakland carried out the first general strike in the US since the 1946 Oakland general strike,shutting down the center of the city and blockading the Port of Oakland. We must re-imagine a general strike for an age where most workers do not belong to labor unions, and where most of us are fighting for the privilege to work rather than for marginal improvements in working conditions. We must take the struggle into the streets, schools, and offices of corrupt local city governments. A re-imagined general strike means finding immediate solutions for communities impacted by budget cuts and constant police harassment beyond changing government representatives. Occupy Oakland calls for and will participate in a new direction for the Occupy movement based on the recognition that we must not only find new ways to provide for our needs beyond thestate we must also attack the institutions that lock us into an increasingly miserable life of exploitation, debt, and deepening poverty everywhere. IF WE CAN'T LIVE, WE WON'T WORK.

May Day is an international holiday that commemorates the 1886 Haymarket Massacre, when Chicago police defending, as always, the interests of the 1% attacked and murdered workers participating in a general strike and demanding an 8-hour workday. In the 21st century, despite what politicians tell us, class war is alive and well against workers (rank-and- file and non-unionized), students, people of color, un- and underemployed, immigrants, homeless, women, queer/trans folks, prisoners. Instead of finding common ground with monsters, it's time we fight them. And it's time we make fighting back an everyday reality in the Bay Area and beyond.

On May Day 2012, Occupy Oakland will join with people from all walks of life in all parts of the world around the world in a global general strike to shut down the global circulation of capital that every day serves to enrich the ruling classes and impoverish the rest of us. There will be no victory but that which we make for ourselves, reclaiming the means of existence from which we have been and continue to be dispossessed every day.
REVOLT FOR A LIFE WORTH LIVING

STRIKE / BLOCKADE / OCCUPY

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Occupy the PGA in Benton Harbor, MI May 23-27, 2012
http://wibailoutpeople.org/2011/12/29/occupy-the-pga-in-benton-harbor-mi-may-23-27-2012/

President/NAACP/BANCO
& Stop The Take Over
Benton Harbor
Rev. Edward Pinkney
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI

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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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Photo of George Zimmerman, in 2005 photo, left, and in a more recent photo.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/04/02/us/the-events-leading-to-the-sooting-of-trayvon-martin.html?hp

SPD Security Cams.wmv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WWDNbQUgm4&feature=player_embedded

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Kids being put on buses and transported from school to "alternate locations" in Terror Drills

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFia_w8adWQ

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Private prisons,
a recession resistant investment opportunity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIGLDOxx9Vg

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Attack Dogs used on a High School Walkout in MD, Four Students Charged With
"Thought Crimes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wafMaML17w

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Common forms of misconduct by Law Enforcement Officials and Prosecutors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViSpM4K276w&feature=related

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Organizing & Instigating: OCCUPY - Ronnie Goodman
http://arthazelwood.com/instigator/occupy/occupy-birth-video.html

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Rep News 12: Yes We Kony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68GbzIkYdc8

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The New Black by The Mavrix - Official Music Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4rLfja8488

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Japan One Year Later
http://www.onlineschools.org/japan-one-year-later/

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The CIA's Heart Attack Gun
http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/assassination-studies/the-cias-heart-attack-gun-.html

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Occupy The PGA
May 23-27 (big day: Sat. May 26) - Benton Harbor, Michigan
Demonstrate in protest of land stolen by Whirlpool Corporation
http://occupythepga.wordpress.com/

bhbanco.org
Rev. Edward Pinkney 269-925-0001

Occupy The PGA
May 23-27 (big day: Sat. May 26) - Benton Harbor, Michigan
Demonstrate in protest of land stolen by Whirlpool Corporation
http://occupythepga.wordpress.com/

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The Invisible American Workforce
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/5/new_expos_tracks_alec_private_prison

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Labor Beat: NATO vs The 1st Amendment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbQxnb4so3U

For more detailed information, send us a request at mail@laborbeat.org.

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Anti-War Demonstrators Storm Pentagon 1967/10/24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDiFkckszCw

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Liberal Hypocrisy on Obama Vs Bush - Poll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl_HGEXq_aM&feature=player_embedded

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Greek trade unionists and black bloc October 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHMLD_Vql0o&feature=player_embedded#!

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The Battle of Oakland
by brandon jourdan plus
http://vimeo.com/36256273

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Officers Pulled Off Street After Tape of Beating Surfaces
By ANDY NEWMAN
February 1, 2012, 10:56 am
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/officers-pulled-off-street-after-tape-of-beating-surfaces/?ref=nyregion

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Defending The People's Mic
by Pham Binh of Occupy Wall Street
The North Star
January 20, 2012
http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=53
Grand Central Terminal Arrests - MIRROR
Two protesters mic check about the loss of freedom brought about by the passage of the NDAA and both are promptly arrested and whisked out of public sight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Tj7tEVx8A&feature=player_embedded

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This is excellent! Michelle Alexander pulls no punches!
Michelle Alexander, Author of The New Jim Crow, speaks about the political strategy
behind the War on Drugs and its connection to the mass incarceration of Black and Brown people in the United States.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P75cbEdNo2U&feature=player_embedded

If you think Bill Clinton was "the first black President" you need to watch this video and see how much damage his administration caused for the black community as a result of his get tough attitude on crime that appealed to white swing voters.

This speech took place at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on January 12, 2012.

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NATO, G8 In Chicago: More Details Released, City Grants First Protest Permit
By CARLA K. JOHNSON
January 12, 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/12/nato-g8-in-chicago-more-d_n_1203429.html

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Release Bradley Manning
Almost Gone (The Ballad Of Bradley Manning)
Written by Graham Nash and James Raymond (son of David Crosby)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAYG7yJpBbQ&feature=player_embedded

Locked up in a white room, underneath a glaring light
Every 5 minutes, they're asking me if I'm alright
Locked up in a white room naked as the day I was born
24 bright light, 24 all alone

What I did was show some truth to the working man
What I did was blow the whistle and the games began

Tell the truth and it will set you free
That's what they taught me as a child
But I can't be silent after all I've seen and done
24 bright light I'm almost gone, almost gone

Locked up in a white room, dying to communicate
Trying to hang in there underneath a crushing wait
Locked up in a white room I'm always facing time
24 bright light, 24 down the line

What I did was show some truth to the working man
What I did was blow the whistle and the games began

But I did my duty to my country first
That's what they taught me as a man
But I can't be silent after all I've seen and done
24 bright light I'm almost gone, almost gone
(Treat me like a human, Treat me like a man )

Read more on Nash's blog - grahamnash.com

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FREEDOM ROAD - A Tribute to Mumia sung by Renn Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC27vzqxSCA&feature=youtu.be

FREEDOM ROAD

(written by Samuel Lagitimus- adapted in English, sung and arranged by Paris-Sydney)

They've taken all you had away
And what's left, still they can't bend
To find you guilty was their way
Yet here I am and you're my friend.

Your writing's proof enough for me, Mumia,
You place honor and law
Above all, till the end.

Thirty years gone by
On death row, we never knew
Anything of the weight
You had to carry while you grew.

But they won't get you, no, Mumia, no
We won't let them ever win
Won't let you bear such a heavy load
While walking down the Freedom Road.

(Instrumental)

Like Jimmy (1) and Bob (2) you've lived to see the light:
Believing that all men
Can stand up for their rights.

Accusing you of crime
From behind their scales they hide
It makes them scared deep down inside
To know that truth is on your side.

But they won't get you, no, Mumia, no,
We won't let them ever win
Won't let you bear such a heavy load
While walking down the Freedom Road.

(Instumental)

Those thirty years gone by
On death row, we never knew
Anything of the weight
You had to carry while you grew.

We've named a street for you, Mumia
A lovely rue in Saint-Denis
By joining hands we're showing you
Proof of our strength and peace.

But they won't get you, no, Mumia, no,
We won't let them ever win
Won't let you bear such a heavy load
While walking down the Freedom Road.X2

But they won't get you, no, Mumia, no
We won't let them ever win
Won't let them block you from getting in,
Into your home on Freedom Road.

But they won't get you no Mumia,
We will win, we'll never bend
For thirty years you've shown us all
Just how to fight until the end.

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School police increasingly arresting American students?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl-efNBvjUU&feature=player_embedded

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FYI:
Nuclear Detonation Timeline "1945-1998"

The 2053 nuclear tests and explosions that took place between 1945 and 1998 are plotted visually and audibly on a world map.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9lquok4Pdk&feature=share&mid=5408

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We Are the 99 Percent

We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we're working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent.

Brought to you by the people who occupy wall street. Why will YOU occupy?

OccupyWallSt.org
Occupytogether.org
wearethe99percentuk.tumblr.com
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

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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
DROP ALL CHARGES ON THE OCCUPY WALL STREET ARRESTEES!

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We Are The People Who Will Save Our Schools

YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFAOJsBxAxY

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In honor of the 75th Anniversary of the 44-Day Flint Michigan sit-down strike at GM that began December 30, 1936:

According to Michael Moore, (Although he has done some good things, this clip isn't one of them) in this clip from his film, "Capitalism a Love Story," it was Roosevelt who saved the day!):

"After a bloody battle one evening, the Governor of Michigan, with the support of the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, sent in the National Guard. But the guns and the soldiers weren't used on the workers; they were pointed at the police and the hired goons warning them to leave these workers alone. For Mr. Roosevelt believed that the men inside had a right to a redress of their grievances." -Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story'
- Flint Sit-Down Strike http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8x1_q9wg58

But those cannons were not aimed at the goons and cops! They were aimed straight at the factory filled with strikers! Watch what REALLY happened and how the strike was really won!

'With babies & banners' -- 75 years since the 44-day Flint sit-down strike
http://links.org.au/node/2681
--Inspiring

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HALLELUJAH CORPORATIONS (revised edition).mov
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws0WSNRpy3g

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ONE OF THE GREATEST POSTS ON YOUTUBE SO FAR!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8C-qIgbP9o&feature=share&mid=552

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ILWU Local 10 Longshore Workers Speak-Out At Oakland Port Shutdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JUpBpZYwms

Uploaded by laborvideo on Dec 13, 2011

ILWU Local 10 longshore workers speak out during a blockade of the Port of Oakland called for by Occupy Oakland. Anthony Levieges and Clarence Thomas rank and file members of the union. The action took place on December 12, 2011 and the interview took place at Pier 30 on the Oakland docks.

For more information on the ILWU Local 21 Longview EGT struggle go to
http://www.facebook.com/groups/256313837734192/
For further info on the action and the press conferernce go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz3fE-Vhrw8&feature=youtu.be
Production of Labor Video Project www.laborvideo.org

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UC Davis Police Violence Adds Fuel to Fire
By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News
19 November 11
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/275-42/8485-uc-davis-police-violence-adds-fuel-to-fire

UC Davis Protestors Pepper Sprayed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AdDLhPwpp4&feature=player_embedded

Police PEPPER SPRAY UC Davis STUDENT PROTESTERS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuWEx6Cfn-I&feature=player_embedded

Police pepper spraying and arresting students at UC Davis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmJmmnMkuEM&feature=player_embedded

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UC Davis Chancellor Katehi walks to her car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CZ0t9ez_EGI#!

Occupy Seattle - 84 Year Old Woman Dorli Rainey Pepper Sprayed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTIyE_JlJzw&feature=related

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THE BEST VIDEO ON "OCCUPY THE WORLD"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S880UldxB1o

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Shot by police with rubber bullet at Occupy Oakland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0pX9LeE-g8&feature=player_embedded

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Copwatch@Occupy Oakland: Beware of Police Infiltrators and Provocateurs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrvMzqopHH0

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Occupy Oakland 11-2 Strike: Police Tear Gas, Black Bloc, War in the Streets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tu_D8SFYck&feature=player_embedded

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Quebec police admitted that, in 2007, thugs carrying rocks to a peaceful protest were actually undercover Quebec police officers:

POLICE STATE Criminal Cops EXPOSED As Agent Provocateurs @ SPP Protest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoiisMMCFT0&feature=player_embedded


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Quebec police admit going undercover at montebello protests
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAfzUOx53Rg&feature=player_embedded

G20: Epic Undercover Police Fail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrJ7aU-n1L8&feature=player_embedded

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WHAT HAPPENED IN OAKLAND TUESDAY NIGHT, OCTOBER 25:

Occupy Oakland Protest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlPs-REyl-0&feature=player_embedded

Cops make mass arrests at occupy Oakland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R27kD2_7PwU&feature=player_embedded

Raw Video: Protesters Clash With Oakland Police
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpO-lJr2BQY&feature=player_embedded

Occupy Oakland - Flashbangs USED on protesters OPD LIES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqNOPZLw03Q&feature=player_embedded

KTVU TV Video of Police violence
http://www.ktvu.com/video/29587714/index.html

Marine Vet wounded, tear gas & flash-bang grenades thrown in downtown Oakland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMUgPTCgwcQ&feature=player_embedded

Tear Gas billowing through 14th & Broadway in Downtown Oakland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU4Y0pwJtWE&feature=player_embedded

Arrests at Occupy Atlanta -- This is what a police state looks like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YStWz6jbeZA&feature=player_embedded

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Labor Beat: Hey You Billionaire, Pay Your Fair Share
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY8isD33f-I

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Voices of Occupy Boston 2011 - Kwame Somburu (Paul Boutelle) Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA48gmfGB6U&feature=youtu.be

Voices of Occupy Boston 2011 - Kwame Somburu (Paul Boutelle) Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjKZpOk7TyM&feature=related

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#Occupy Wall Street In Washington Square: Mohammed Ezzeldin, former occupier of Egypt's Tahrir Square Speaks at Washington Square!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziodsFWEb5Y&feature=player_embedded

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#OccupyTheHood, Occupy Wall Street
By adele pham
http://vimeo.com/30146870

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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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FREE THE CUBAN FIVE!
http://www.thecuban5.org/wordpress/index.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmS4kHC_OlY&feature=player_embedded

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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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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

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FREE BRADLEY MANNING
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/national-call-in-for-bradley

I received the following reply from the White House November 18, 2011 regarding the Bradley Manning petition I signed:

"Why We Can't Comment on Bradley Manning

"Thank you for signing the petition 'Free PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks whistleblower.' We appreciate your participation in the We the People platform on WhiteHouse.gov.

The We the People Terms of Participation explain that 'the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government.' The military justice system is charged with enforcing the Uniform Code of
Military Justice. Accordingly, the White House declines to comment on the specific case raised in this petition...

That's funny! I guess Obama didn't get this memo. Here's what Obama said about Bradley:

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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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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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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C. SPECIAL APPEALS AND ONGOING CAMPAIGNS

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Antiwar/Social Justice Activist Arrested
Support Joe Callahan
On July 31, 2011, after two Salvadoran immigrants went to Canada to apply for asylum, long-time Twin Cities activist Joe Callahan was arrested by Canadian police at the Pigeon River border station. At the time Joe was alone in his car. The Canadian police used a backpack, maps and other items found in Joe's car as the grounds for his arrest.

Joe was charged with "aiding and abetting an immigration without a visa," and "providing false and misleading information." As a result of these charges, Joe was locked up in the Thunder Bay District Jail in cramped, crowded conditions where inmates are frequently forced to sleep on the floor, as Joe did for the first several days he was there. While Joe was in custody, the authorities added the charge of "smuggling" or "human trafficking." This charge is much more serious and carries a maximum sentence of ten years.

After one month Joe was released on bail and was allowed to return to the Minneapolis area, pending trial. He is restricted to the Twin Cities area as a condition of his release. Meanwhile, the prosecuting attorney, or "Crown Attorney," as they are called in Canada, informed Joe's defense attorneys that he is seeking a sentence of three or four years. The trial will be held in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The date has not yet been set. Joe is being represented by Mary Bird and Francis Thatcher, a prominent attorney in the Aboriginal rights struggle.

Over the last thirty years Joe has been active in solidarity work for Central America and Cuba. He has been an active defender of immigration rights. He was also active against an attempt to reinstate the death penalty in Minnesota. His record in the fight for justice goes back to his youth. As a student he was active in the anti-Vietnam war movement.

For four and a half years Joe worked for the Metro Transit System as a bus driver, and was a member of the Amalgamated Transit Union. He has spent his working life in blue collar, unionized jobs. Now, because of his legal difficulties, he has been forced to take a lower-paying position as a driver for a small bus company.

Joe Callahan is NOT a human trafficker! Joe is NOT a smuggler! These charges against him are unfounded and they should be dropped. Joe is a political activist concerned about the rights of immigrants. He needs the help of all supporters of democratic rights.

You can aid in Joe's defense:

--Send donations to: Joe Callahan Support Committee, 2919 Polk St. NE, Minneapolis, Mn 55418

--Circulate this letter and urge others to sign. New signers can sign via email to: joecallahansupport@hotmail.com

--Attend Joe's trial in Thunder Bay, Ontario. For more information contact: supportjoe.wordpress.com or joecallahansupport@hotmail.com

In solidarity,

Michael Rattner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights; Michael Steven Smith, Esq. Co-host, Law and Disorder; Jeff Mackler, Dir., Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu Jamal; Roger Sheppard, Member, Local 105 IBEW (retired); Barbara Mutnick, activist, Queens, New York; Cliff Conner, author, "A People's History of Science"; Marv Gandall, activist, Ottawa Canada; Walker Jones, activist, Ottawa Canada; Bruce Scheff, Chicago, IL; -Continued on page 2-; Support Joe Callahan, page 2; Dianne Feeley, Editor, Against the Current; Alan Wald, Editor, Against the Current; Malik Miah, Editor, Against the Current; John Riddell, Toronto; Suzanne Weiss, Toronto; Art Young, Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly; Linda Meissenheimer, Toronto; Brad Sigal, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition; Marie Braun, Twin Cities Peace Campaign; Dave Bicking, Green Party; Alan Dale, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition; Tracy Molm, Students for a Democratic Society; Eric Angell, co-producer, "Our World in "Depth"; Colleen McGilp, AFSCME (retired); Jess Sundin, Anti-War Committee; Bruce Nestor, Past President, National Lawyers Guild; Linden Gawboy, Committee to Stop FBI Repression; Tim O'Brien, Hands Off Honduras; Anh Pham, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition; Timothy Jordan, architect, Minneapolis; Kay Pitney, activist, Minneapolis; Jennie Eisert, Anti-War Committee; Beth Shapiro, Women Against Military Madness; Joel Greenberg, Chicago, Il.; Mark Satinoff, shop steward, IAM Local Lodge 1894, Queens, NY; Carol Hayse, LCSW Note: Organizations for Identification Purposes Only

This letter has been approved by the Joe Callahan Support Committee. Please circulate this letter as widely as possible to potential supporters.

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LATEST ON LYNNE STEWART:

Free-Speech Argument in Appeal of Disbarred Lawyer's Sentence
By COLIN MOYNIHAN
February 29, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/nyregion/free-speech-is-cited-in-appeal-of-lynne-stewarts-10-year-sentence.html?ref=nyregion

Write to Lynne Stewart Defense Committee at:
Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
1070 Dean Street
Brooklyn, New York 11216
For further information: 718-789-0558 or 917-853-9759

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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Free Mumia NOW!
Prisonradio.org
Write to Mumia

Mumia Abu-Jamal AM 8335
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Road
Frackville, PA 17932

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Urgent Appeal to Occupy and All Social Justice Movements: Mobilize to Defend the
Egyptian Revolution
Endorse the statement here:
http://www.defendegyptianrevolution.org/2011/12/19/defend-the-egyptian-revolution/

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Tarek Mehanna - another victim of the U.S. War to Terrorize Everyone. He was targeted because he would not spy on his Muslim community for the FBI. Under the new NDAA indefinite military detention provision, Tarek is someone who likely would never come to a trial, although an American citizen. His sentencing is on April 12. There will be an appeal.
Another right we may kiss goodbye. We should not accept the verdict and continue to fight for his release, just as we do for hero Bradley Manning, and all the many others unjustly persecuted by our government until it is the war criminals on trial, prosecuted by the people, and not the other way around.

Marilyn Levin

Official defense website: http://freetarek.com/

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HANDS OFF IRAN PETITION
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/hands-off-iran/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend

(For a complete analysis of the prospects of war, click here)
http://nepajac.org/unaciran.htm

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"A Child's View from Gaza: Palestinian Children's Art and the Fight Against Censorship" book
https://www.mecaforpeace.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=25

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Say No to Police Repression of NATO Protests
http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/nato-g8-police-repression

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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

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WITNESS GAZA
http://www.witnessgaza.com/

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Write to Bradley
http://bradleymanning.org/donate

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 ï¬ght 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
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 .

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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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 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

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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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) Half of Irish Homeowners Join Boycott of New Property Tax
By DOUGLAS DALBY
April 2, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/world/europe/half-of-irish-homeowners-join-
boycott-of-household-tax.html?ref=world

2) California: Affirmative Action Ban Upheld
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 3, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/us/california-affirmative-action-ban-
upheld.html?ref=us

3) Missouri: Bat Disease Moves West
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 3, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/us/missouri-bat-disease-moves-west.html?ref=us

4) As Part of New Pact, U.S. Marines Arrive in Australia
By MATT SIEGEL
April 4, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/world/asia/us-marines-arrive-darwin-
australia.html?hp

5) Chancellor Asks Community College to Hold Off on Tuition Plan
By JENNIFER MEDINA
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/us/santa-monica-college-asked-to-hold-off-on-tuition-plan.html?_r=1&hp

6) Public Suicide for Greek Man With Fiscal Woe
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
April 4, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/world/europe/greek-man-ends-financial-despair-with-bullet.html?ref=world

7) Five Ex-Officers Sentenced in Post-Katrina Shootings
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
April 4, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/us/5-ex-officers-sentenced-in-post-katrina-shootings.html?ref=us

8) Plan to Let Poultry Plants Inspect Birds Is Criticized
By RON NIXON
April 4, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/us/usda-poultry-inspection-plan-sets-off-dispute.html?ref=us

9) Graphic: The Billionaires' Club
By BEN PROTESS
[Graphic at link ...bw]
April 5, 2012, 1:06 pm
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/graphic-the-billionaires-club/?src=busln

10) Playing the Violence Card
By KHALIL GIBRAN MUHAMMAD
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/opinion/playing-the-violence-card.html?hp

11) Pensioner's Suicide Continues to Shake Greece
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/world/europe/pensioners-suicide-continues-to-shake-greece.html?ref=world

12) Japan: Plant Leaks Radioactive Water
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/world/asia/japan-plant-leaks-radioactive-water.html?ref=world

13) Occupiers Hold a Slumber Party Near Union Square
By COLIN MOYNIHAN
April 6, 2012, 10:54 am
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/occupiers-hold-a-slumber-party-near-union-square/?ref=nyregion

14) In Lawsuits, Long Island Inmates Complain of Squalor
"Though many prisoners at the facilities are serving short sentences, a majority of them have not been convicted of a crime and were awaiting trial. ...The civil liberties union said inmates who made formal complaints or filed lawsuits over jail conditions were subjected to retaliation from correction officers. Mr. Porter said nothing was done about the complaints until the inmates decided to take their grievances to the courts. 'So they stepped up and filed the petitions,' he said. 'Jurisprudence is not that difficult once you get the hang of it.'"
By MOSI SECRET
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/nyregion/in-lawsuits-suffolk-county-inmates-complain-of-squalor.html?ref=nyregion

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1) Half of Irish Homeowners Join Boycott of New Property Tax
By DOUGLAS DALBY
April 2, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/world/europe/half-of-irish-homeowners-join-
boycott-of-household-tax.html?ref=world

DUBLIN - Anti-austerity protesters are claiming victory after the government acknowledged that around 50 percent of Ireland's estimated 1.6 million homeowners failed to pay a new, flat-rate $133 property tax by the March 31 deadline.

"It is quite clear a mass boycott has really sent this government a significant message it didn't want to hear," Luke Flanagan, one of the parliamentary deputies leading the opposition to the new household charge, said in an interview on Monday. "When we started this campaign, even 25 percent support translating to several hundred thousand would have been phenomenal, but we estimate over a million people eligible to pay this tax have refused."

Introduced on Jan. 1, the household charge was intended as a forerunner to a comprehensive property tax next year. It has become a lightning rod for widespread disenchantment on an assortment of issues like cuts to services, findings of political corruption, taxpayer liability for debts to private banks and even European legislation intended to enhance wastewater treatment from septic tanks.

Ireland has had five austerity budgets in four years and faces at least four more through 2016 as it tries to cut its deficit to an agreed 3 percent of gross domestic product from its current 10 percent. The European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund have lent Ireland $90 billion but in turn have demanded spending cuts and tax increases.

The Irish government argues that it has no choice but to introduce the interim tax at the behest of its lenders and has vowed to identify and prosecute those who have refused to pay.

"We will begin with sending out letters and then escalate it from there to the maximum fine of 2,500 euros" - $3,330 - "on top of the outstanding amounts due in late fees and interest," a spokesman for the Department of Environment said in an interview on Monday. "We will be taking people to court if necessary, and if there is refusal to pay, then that could be seen by a judge as contempt of court."

Opponents, like Joe Higgins, a Socialist Party deputy, argue that the likelihood of this happening is slim. He said that he believed the government would tread warily over the coming months as it tries to persuade the electorate to pass a referendum on May 31 binding Ireland to budgetary constraint.

"I think they will adopt a softly, softly approach so as not to alienate people further in the next two months," he said. "But if a substantial cohort of the decent, law-abiding people of this country continue to make a stand, there is no government that can stand against them."

The government is now concentrating on linking the new tax explicitly with the provision of local services in a bid to persuade people to "do their patriotic duty." The minister for environment, Phil Hogan, who is responsible for introducing the charge, has even suggested that local authorities prepared "to pull out all the stops" in collecting the tax may be rewarded. This was widely interpreted to mean others would be penalized by disproportionate cuts from central funding to local services like libraries, playgrounds and swimming pools.

The government remains determined to collect and still believes most people will be prepared to pay the charge eventually, rather than risk prosecution or escalating fines. Both sides are aware of the importance of weight of numbers: the government is hoping there will be a tipping point that will end the rebellion as the protest dwindles. While acknowledging the potential psychological impact of maintaining its current base of nonpayers, Mr. Flanagan said many would carry on regardless. "I don't care if 99.9 percent of people end up paying it," Mr. Flanagan said. "I won't be paying it and there are plenty like me."

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2) California: Affirmative Action Ban Upheld
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 3, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/us/california-affirmative-action-ban-
upheld.html?ref=us

A federal appeals court panel on Monday upheld California's ban on using race, ethnicity and gender in admitting students to public colleges and universities. The ruling was the second time the Ninth United States Circuit Court of Appeals turned back a challenge to the state's landmark voter initiative, Proposition 209, which was passed in 1996. Affirmative action proponents, who had requested that the court reconsider its 1997 decision after the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that affirmative action could be used in college admissions, said they would ask the full appellate court to review the case since this decision was issued by a three-judge panel. At least six states have adopted bans on affirmative action in state college admissions. Besides California, they include Michigan, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Washington. In its ruling, the court rejected the plaintiffs' arguments that a new ruling is needed and said the previous decision still applies. In February, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case against the University of Texas alleging that affirmative action is discriminatory. If the court decides against the university, the ruling could definitively end consideration of race in public university admissions.

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3) Missouri: Bat Disease Moves West
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 3, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/us/missouri-bat-disease-moves-west.html?ref=us

A disease that has killed millions of bats across 16 states and Canada has been found in Missouri, marking its advent west of the Mississippi River and spelling possible trouble for agriculture in the region, officials said Monday. The disease, white nose syndrome has, been confirmed in three bats in two caves in Lincoln County, north of St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Conservation said. The name describes a white fungus found on the faces and wings of infected bats and has not been found to infect humans or other animals. It had been found only as far west as Kentucky until the Missouri discovery. Ann Froschauer of the federal Fish and Wildlife Service said the spread of the disease could affect crops because bats subsist at least in part on crop pests. She said a recent study estimated that bats provide about $22 billion a year in "ecological services" in part because of all the pests they consume. The Missouri Department of Conservation estimated Missouri's gray bats alone eat about 540 tons of insects each year.

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4) As Part of New Pact, U.S. Marines Arrive in Australia
By MATT SIEGEL
April 4, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/world/asia/us-marines-arrive-darwin-
australia.html?hp

SYDNEY, Australia â€" Defense Minister Stephen Smith greeted about 180 Marines in the northern coast city of Darwin on Wednesday, presiding at a welcome ceremony for the first of 2,500 American troops to be deployed here under an agreement increasing the American military presence in Chinaâs strategic backyard.

The Marines will engage in training exercises with the Australian Defense Force during their six-month rotation as part of the agreement signed in November by President Obama and Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia. The pact is part of the presidentâ€(tm)s publicly stated strategy of shifting the American militaryâ€(tm)s long-term focus toward the Pacific and an increasingly assertive China. Beijing has accused Mr. Obama of escalating military tensions in the region.

Ahead of the welcome ceremony, Mr. Smith touched on the changing regional dynamics during an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"We see this very much as responding and reflecting the fact that the world is moving into our part of the world, the world is moving to the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean," Mr. Smith said. "We need to respond to that. The world needs to essentially come to grips with the rise of China, the rise of India, the move of strategic and political and economic influence to our part of the world."

The United States has had military bases in the North Pacific since the end of World War II, but its presence in Southeast Asia was greatly diminished in the early 1990s. Strengthened ties with Australia, one of Washingtonâ€(tm)s foremost allies, will restore a substantial American footprint near the South China Sea, a major commercial shipping route that has been increasingly the focus of Chinese territorial disputes.

There has been speculation here in recent weeks about what form any further regional military cooperation between the long-time allies would take. Ms. Gillard last week confirmed that discussions with Washington were under way about the possibility of flying long-range American surveillance drones from the remote Cocos Islands â€" an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean â€" but said no substantial progress had been made on the issue.

A spokesman for Mr. Smith told The Australian newspaper that the top three priorities to come out of last yearâ€(tm)s bilateral agreement were the deployment of the Marines over five years, the greater use of Australian Air Force bases for American aircraft and, in the longer term, the prospect of increased ship and submarine visits to the Indian Ocean through a naval base outside of Perth, on the countryâ€(tm)s west coast.

Jeffrey Bleich, the American ambassador to Australia, was quick to dismiss what seemed to be a growing media consensus here that the increased military presence in the region was aimed primarily at containing China.

"Thereâ€(tm)s this kind of sexy, fun narrative that you hear from pundits and others trying to suggest this is about China, but itâ€(tm)s not," he said in an interview with Sky TV over the weekend. "If you just look at the Darwin decision, for example: weâ€(tm)ve had our Marines stationed in Central Asia, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they are mostly an amphibious force. So they need to start training and doing amphibious maneuvers again, and weâ€(tm)re looking for the best place to do it and the best partners to do it with, and Darwin is an ideal spot for it."

But Michael Fullilove, director of the Global Issues Program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that addressing Chinaâ€(tm)s recent assertiveness was definitely one of the major aspects of the policy. Australia views the presence of American forces in the region as a counterbalance to what it sees as Beijingâ€(tm)s sometimes erratic foreign policy, he said.

"Given that we know that rising powers can disrupt the system," he said, "it makes sense to balance against the risk of future Chinese recklessness by keeping the U.S. engaged in the region. The more that power can be diffused so that it is spread across different capitals, the less likely you are to have unreasonable actions where one power ignores the otherâ€(tm)s needs."

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5) Chancellor Asks Community College to Hold Off on Tuition Plan
By JENNIFER MEDINA
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/us/santa-monica-college-asked-to-hold-off-on-tuition-plan.html?_r=1&hp

LOS ANGELES - The chancellor of the California community college system has requested that Santa Monica College hold off on its plan to offer popular courses with higher tuition this summer, saying that the legality of the program is still in question.

The request came a day after a student protest at the college ended with a campus police officer spraying dozens of people with pepper spray, several of whom suffered minor injuries. Many students and faculty members have criticized the plan saying it violates the long tradition of community colleges as havens for those without the means to afford four-year colleges.

The chancellor, Jack Scott, had already made it clear that he was wary of the community college's plan to charge more for some popular classes and said it could violate state education codes. He has asked the state's attorney general for an opinion, which he expects to receive in the next week.

Last month, the board of trustees at the college approved a plan that would offer about 50 high-demand courses at $180 a unit, rather than the regular $36 tuition. College administrators have said that the higher tuition would cover their costs.

For years, the college has faced increased demand and overcrowded classes at the same time as the state has cut financing to the community colleges. Students routinely complain about not being able to register for classes that they need for job training and transferring to four-year schools - a problem that plagues community colleges across the country.

Chui L. Tsang, the president of Santa Monica College has said that he believes the plan is legal and is the only way to try to meet the demand for more seats in classes.

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6) Public Suicide for Greek Man With Fiscal Woe
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
April 4, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/world/europe/greek-man-ends-financial-despair-with-bullet.html?ref=world

ATHENS - A 77-year-old Greek pensioner distraught over his financial state shot himself in the head in the capital's busy main square near Parliament on Wednesday morning. "I don't want to leave debts to my children," he shouted before pulling the trigger, witnesses said.

The location, Syntagma Square, is a focal point for frequent public demonstrations and protests. It was full of commuters using the nearby metro station when the man killed himself, around 9 a.m. Shocked witnesses told state television that the man positioned himself under a tree, cried out and fired.

The local news media identified the man as Dimitris Christoulas, a retired pharmacist, and said he left a note saying he could not face the prospect "of scavenging through garbage bins for food and becoming a burden to my child." The police did not immediately confirm the existence of a note, but identical passages were reproduced in nearly all the Greek news media.

Three paragraphs of handwritten red text called on young Greeks to take up arms. "I believe that young people with no future will one day take up arms and hang the traitors of this country at Syntagma square, just like the Italians did to Mussolini in 1945," said one passage.

The suicide prompted an outpouring from politicians. In a statement, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said, "In these difficult times for our country we must all - the state and its citizens - support those next to us who are in despair." On Wednesday evening, Greeks held a vigil in Syntagma Square, while many posted notes of condolence and protest on trees.

Reports said the note blamed "the occupation government of Tsolakoglou for taking away any chance for my survival."

Georgios Tsolakoglou was a collaborationist prime minister during Germany's occupation of Greece during World War II. Germany has drawn the ire of many Greeks in the last year, thanks to its role in shaping harsh austerity measures Greece was required to enact in return for billions of euros in loans from foreign creditors to avert sovereign default. The arrangement helps Europe by stabilizing the euro, but at the cost of financial ruin for some individuals and shrinking the country's social safety net.

The number of suicides reported in Greece over the past three years has risen sharply, a trend experts attribute to repercussions of the debt crisis, including rising unemployment, now at 21 percent, and deepening poverty. Before the crisis, Greece had one of the lowest suicide rates in Europe, just over 300 a year. In 2009, the police recorded 507 suicides; in 2010, 622; and last year, 598.

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7) 5 Ex-Officers Sentenced in Post-Katrina Shootings
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
April 4, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/us/5-ex-officers-sentenced-in-post-katrina-shootings.html?ref=us

NEW ORLEANS - Five former police officers were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for the shooting of six unarmed civilians, two of whom died, in the days after Hurricane Katrina and for orchestrating a wide-ranging cover-up afterward.

The four officers directly involved in the shooting were sentenced in federal court to lengthy terms ranging from 38 to 65 years, while a police sergeant who was charged with investigating the shooting, and instead helped lead the efforts to hide and distort what happened, was sentenced to six years.

But while the sentences were long, they were not nearly as long as prosecutors were seeking - in one case less than a third of the sentence the government recommended - and for the most part were either the mandatory minimum or a few years more than the minimum.

Before delivering the sentences, Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana gave a two-hour speech condemning mandatory minimum sentences for interfering with judicial discretion and criticizing the case put together by federal prosecutors, saying in particular that he was "astonished and deeply troubled" by the plea deals with cooperating witnesses at the heart of the government's case.

Three police officers who pleaded guilty and later testified at the trial were involved in the shooting on the bridge and received sentences ranging from five to eight years. Two others, a detective and a police lieutenant who helped orchestrate the cover-up, were sentenced to three and four years.

The judge spoke of an "air of mendacity" about the prosecution, charging that the plea bargains - which involved lesser charges that came with capped sentences - had limited his discretion in sentencing those who were convicted.

Prosecutors afterward defended their strategy, explaining to reporters that the case was cold when the Justice Department picked it up after a mishandled prosecution by the local district attorney and a dismissal of all charges by a judge in 2008.

"I've never seen an easy police case in my life," said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, who called it the most significant police misconduct prosecution since the Rodney King beating case in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. "I have in particular observed in the New Orleans Police Department that the code of silence was seemingly impenetrable."

Jim Letten, the United States attorney for the Eastern District, called the plea deals "not only appropriate but necessary" for a successful prosecution.

The five former officers were convicted in August on a range of counts including federal civil rights violations and lying to investigators. The account of their actions given at the trial was a grim one.

On Sept 4, 2005, as much of the city still lay submerged in floodwaters, Sgt. Kenneth Bowen and Sgt. Robert Gisevius and Officers Anthony Villavaso and Robert Faulcon jumped in a Budget rental truck with several other officers and raced to the Danziger Bridge in eastern New Orleans, responding to a distress call.

As soon as they arrived, witnesses at the trial said, the officers began firing on members of the Bartholomew family, who were trying to find a grocery store. A 17-year-old named James Brisette, a family friend, was killed and four others were gravely wounded.

The police then began to chase Lance Madison and his brother Ronald, who was 40 years old and mentally disabled, who were trying to get to the other side of the bridge. Ronald Madison was shot in the back by Officer Faulcon and then stomped on by Sergeant Bowen, and Lance Madison was arrested at the scene and accused of shooting at the police. He was later cleared by a grand jury.

The four who were convicted of taking part in the shooting came into the hearing on Wednesday facing sentences of at least 35 years because of mandatory sentencing guidelines; Mr. Faulcon was facing at least 65 years. All could have been sentenced to life in prison. As it was, Mr. Bowen and Mr. Gisevius were sentenced to 40 years, Mr. Villavaso to 38 years and Mr. Faulcon to 65 years.

A cover-up began immediately after the shooting, and eventually grew to include made-up witnesses and a planted handgun. A retired sergeant, Arthur Kaufman, a veteran investigator, was charged with administering much of the cover-up, and while he came into court Wednesday without a mandatory minimum, he was facing up to 120 years in prison. He was sentenced to six years.

Jordan Flaherty contributed reporting.

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8) Plan to Let Poultry Plants Inspect Birds Is Criticized
By RON NIXON
April 4, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/us/usda-poultry-inspection-plan-sets-off-dispute.html?ref=us

WASHINGTON - Federal food safety inspectors said a proposal by the Agriculture Department to expand a pilot program that allows private companies to take over the inspections at poultry plants could pose a health risk by allowing contaminated meat to reach customers.

Currently, the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service inspectors are stationed along the assembly lines in poultry plants and examine the birds for blemishes, feces or visible defects before they are processed.

Under the planned expansion, the agency would hand over these duties to poultry plant employees, while the inspectors would spend more time evaluating the plant's bacteria-testing and other safety programs. The department has run the pilot program in 20 poultry plants since 1998.

But many of the agency's inspectors said the proposal puts consumers at risk for diseases like those caused by salmonella. About 1.2 million cases of food poisoning are caused by salmonella each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In affidavits given to the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit legal-assistance group for government whistle-blowers, several inspectors who work at plants where the pilot program is in place said the main problem is that they are removed from positions on the assembly line and put at the end of the line, which makes it impossible for them to spot diseased birds.

The inspectors, whose names were redacted, said they had observed numerous instances of poultry plant employees allowing birds contaminated with fecal matter or other substances to pass. And even when the employees try to remove diseased birds, they face reprimands, the inspectors said.

The inspectors also said the Agriculture Department proposal allows poultry plants to speed up their assembly lines to about 200 birds per minute from 140, hampering any effort to examine birds for defects.

"It's tough enough when you are trying to examine 140 birds per minute with professional inspectors," said Stan Painter, a federal inspector in Crossville, Ala., a small town near Huntsville. "This proposal makes it impossible."

Mr. Painter works at a plant in the pilot program.

The Agriculture Department says it is simply trying to modernize an outdated poultry inspection system.

"This system is the same inspection model we've had since the Eisenhower administration," said Alfred V. Almanza, the administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The agency said the new inspection model would prevent more than 5,200 poultry-related illnesses each year, though it did not say how. The agency said that over a three-year period this change would save $90 million through the elimination of more than 800 inspector positions.

Mr. Almanza, a former inspector himself, said he felt comfortable giving inspection duties to plant employees.

"The poultry industry has made great strides in the past few years in making birds pretty uniform, so it's easier to spot defective birds now," Mr. Almanza said.

The poultry industry applauded the Agriculture Department decision.

"The proposed rule is the logical next step in the modernization of poultry inspection," said Tom Super, vice president of communications for the National Chicken Council in Washington.

But some agriculture inspectors and advocacy groups see it differently.

Food and Water Watch, an advocacy group in Washington, which obtained more than 5,000 U.S.D.A. documents under the Freedom of Information Act last year, found that companies operating under the pilot program were missing defective poultry at high rates, said Tony Corbo, a lobbyist with the group.

Mr. Corbo said the group did not compare the rates with poultry plants not in the pilot program. However, the Agriculture Department said it did compare the two inspection systems and did not find a difference.

Mr. Almanza, the inspection administrator, said, "We find that plants in the pilot program were just as good or better than those that aren't in finding contamination."

But at least one member of Congress wants more information before the program is expanded. Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, has asked the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to review the Agriculture Department's proposal.

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9) Graphic: The Billionaires' Club
By BEN PROTESS
[Graphic at link ...bw]
April 5, 2012, 1:06 pm
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/graphic-the-billionaires-club/?src=busln

Regardless of who wins the 2012 presidential election, billionaires will come out on top.

This campaign cycle, the richest Americans, a disparate group that crosses party lines and spans political beliefs, are using their wealth to support a wide cast of presidential contenders. Their growing influence has coincided with the rise of the so-called super PACs, fund-raising efforts that are aligned with specific candidates but shielded from the traditional donation limits.

Now, billionaires are doling out millions. Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino, has almost single-handedly kept Newt Gingrich's campaign afloat. The hedge fund magnates Julian Robertson of Tiger Management, John Paulson of Paulson & Company and Paul Singer of Elliott Associates are among the top supporters of Mitt Romney. The academy award-winning director Steven Spielberg is backing President Obama's re-election campaign.

As billionaires wade deeper into elections, their influence in Washington - and globally - is growing.

Warren E. Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway and a loyal Democrat, has been a vocal advocate for higher taxes for the rich. The industrialists Charles and David Koch, staunch supporters of libertarian and conservative causes, host a private seminar that draws other conservative billionaires.

Despite their various beliefs, politically minded billionaires aren't all that different in their daily lives, connected through a wide range of charitable causes, financial activities and extracurricular activities.

The Hamptons are home, or rather second home, to many of the nation's moneyed elite, including Mr. Spielberg, the activist investor Carl Icahn and Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of New York. New York City cultural venues have reaped the benefits of having wealthy neighbors. Lincoln Center, for instance, has recruited donors and board members like Mr. Bloomberg, David Koch and Mr. Soros's sister-in-law, Daisy Soros. And when on their home turf - or on one of several vacation properties - many billionaires share one common passion: golf.

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10) Playing the Violence Card
By KHALIL GIBRAN MUHAMMAD
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/opinion/playing-the-violence-card.html?hp

EVER since the culture wars of the 1980s, Americans have been familiar with "the race card" - an epithet used to discredit real and imagined cries of racism. Less familiar, however, is an equally cynical rhetorical tactic that I call "the violence card."

Here's how it works. When confronted with an instance of racially charged violence against a black person, a commentator draws attention to the fact that there is much more black-on-black violence than white-on-black violence. To play the violence card - as many criminal-justice advocates have done since the Rodney King police brutality case of the early 1990s - is to suggest that black people should worry more about the harm they do to themselves and less about how victimized they are by others.

The national outrage over the Trayvon Martin case has prompted some recent examples. Last week, the journalist Juan Williams wrote in The Wall Street Journal of the "tragedy" of Trayvon's death but wondered "what about all the other young black murder victims? Nationally, nearly half of all murder victims are black. And the overwhelming majority of those black people are killed by other black people." During a debate about the case on Sunday on an ABC News program, the commentator George F. Will argued that the "root fact" is that "about 150 black men are killed every week in this country - and 94 percent of them by other black men."

For Mr. Williams, Mr. Will and countless others playing the violence card, the real issue has little to do with racist fears or police practices - even though those would seem to be the very issues at hand.

It's true that black-on-black violence is an exceptionally grave problem. But this does not explain the allure of the violence card, which perpetuates the reassuring notion that violence against black people is not society's concern but rather a problem for black people to fix on their own. The implication is that the violence that afflicts black America reflects a failure of lower-class black culture, a breakdown of personal responsibility, a pathological trait of a criminally inclined subgroup - not a problem with social and institutional roots that needs to be addressed through collective effort well beyond the boundaries of black communities.

But perhaps the large scale of black-on-black violence justifies playing the violence card? Not if you recall how Americans responded to high levels of white-on-white violence in the past.

Consider the crime waves of 1890 to 1930, when millions of poor European immigrants came to America only to be trapped in inner-city slums, suffering the effects of severe economic inequality and social marginalization. Around the turn of the century, the Harvard economist William Ripley described the national scene: "The horde now descending upon our shores is densely ignorant, yet dull and superstitious withal; lawless, with a disposition to criminality." But the solution, Ripley argued, was not stigma, isolation and the promotion of fear. "They are fellow passengers on our ship of state," he wrote, "and the health of the nation depends upon the preservation of the vitality of the lower classes."

As a spokesman for saving white immigrant communities from the violence within, Ripley was part of a national progressive movement led by Jane Addams, the influential social worker of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the face of grisly, gang-related youth shootings - "duplicated almost every morning," Addams wrote - she insisted that everyone from the elite to community organizers to police officers had a part to play.

She and other progressives mobilized institutional resources to save killers and the future victims of killers. Violent white neighborhoods were flooded with social workers, police reformers and labor activists committed to creating better jobs and building a social welfare net. White-on-white violence fell slowly but steadily in proportion to economic development and crime prevention.

In almost every way the opposite situation applied to black Americans. Instead of provoking a steady dose of compassionate progressivism, crime and violence in black communities fueled the racist belief that, as numerous contemporaries stated, blacks were their "own worst enemies" - an early version of the violence card. Black people were "criminalized" through various institutions and practices, whether Southern chain gangs, prison farms, convict lease camps and lynching bees or Northern anti-black neighborhood violence and race riots.

Racial criminalization has continued to this day, stigmatizing black people as dangerous, legitimizing or excusing white-on-black violence, conflating crime and poverty with blackness, and perpetuating punitive notions of "justice" - vigilante violence, stop-and-frisk racial profiling and mass incarceration - as the only legitimate responses.

But the past does not have to be the future. The violence card is a cynical ploy that will only contribute to more fear, more black alienation and more violence. Rejecting its skewed logic and embracing a compassionate progressive solution for black crime is our best hope for saving lives and ensuring that young men like Trayvon Martin do not die in vain.

Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library, is the author of "The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America."

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11) Pensioner's Suicide Continues to Shake Greece
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/world/europe/pensioners-suicide-continues-to-shake-greece.html?ref=world

ATHENS - The death of a 77-year-old Greek pensioner who shot himself in the head outside Parliament in despair over his financial problems has shaken this austerity-weary country and a crumbling political system struggling to assert its relevance amid an economic and social meltdown.

Dimitris Christoulas, a divorced and retired pharmacist, took his life on Wednesday in Syntagma Square, a focal point for frequent public demonstrations and protests, as hundreds of commuters passed nearby at a metro station and as lawmakers in Parliament debated last-minute budget amendments before elections, expected on May 6.

In a handwritten note found near the scene, the pensioner said he could not face the prospect "of scavenging through garbage bins for food and becoming a burden to my child," blaming the government's austerity policies for his decision.

The incident has prompted a public outpouring, with passers-by pinning notes of sympathy and protest to trees in the square, as well as comment from politicians across the spectrum. A solidarity rally on Wednesday night turned violent when the police clashed with hooded demonstrators in scuffles that left at least three people injured.

On Thursday, before the start of another rally, shocked Athenians visited the site of the shooting. Some expressed sadness at the desperation of a fellow citizen, but also anger.

"It's not just heart-wrenching, it's outrageous," said Haris Anastasiadis, a 48-year-old plumber, pointing to the Parliament building. "It's those in there that killed him, and they're killing us all."

The sentiment echoed many of the notes pinned to the tree, which Mr. Christoulas leaned against before he pulled the trigger, according to witnesses. "This is not suicide, it is political murder," one note said. "Enough is enough," read another. "Austerity kills," declared yet another.

The suicide also prompted comments from politicians, who face growing public anger and have been pelted with yogurt cartons and fruit during public appearances. In a written statement released on Wednesday, Prime Minister Lucas D. Papademos said: "In these difficult times for our country we must all - the state and its citizens - support those next to us who are in despair."

Other political leaders sought to empathize with the desperate pensioner. "Death isn't just to die; it's also to live in despair, without hope," said the leader of conservative New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, whose party is leading in opinion polls.

The leader of the socialist Pasok party, Evangelos Venizelos, described the incident as "so shocking that any political comment would be mistargeted and cheap."

Indeed, the political chorus did not sit well with the local news media. The main commentary of Thursday's edition of the center-right daily Kathimerini began: "If our political leaders had the slightest sense of responsibility, they would have kept their mouths shut."

According to local media, Mr. Christoulas, who sold his pharmacy in 1994, suffered serious health problems and had struggled to pay for medicines.

Neighbors told Greek television that they were not aware of his financial problems and that he appeared to be a generally cheerful person, though angry with the government. One neighbor said Mr. Christoulas frequently attended protest rallies in the square where he killed himself.

"A group of us used to go to Syntagma in the summer," the woman told state television. "He didn't miss a rally. He was exasperated, like all of us."

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12) Japan: Plant Leaks Radioactive Water
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/world/asia/japan-plant-leaks-radioactive-water.html?ref=world

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says tons of highly radioactive water appear to have leaked into the ocean from a purification unit. The Tokyo Electric Power Company is struggling to keep the melted reactors cool and contain radiation; the leak raises concerns about its ability to keep the plant stable. Similar leaks have occurred several times since last year, and officials say they do not pose an immediate health threat. Workers spotted the leak on Thursday coming from a section of hose on a device used to decontaminate cooling water leaking from reactors. The company said it appeared to have stopped the leak.

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13) Occupiers Hold a Slumber Party Near Union Square
By COLIN MOYNIHAN
April 6, 2012, 10:54 am
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/occupiers-hold-a-slumber-party-near-union-square/?ref=nyregion

More than two dozen Occupy Wall Street protesters, citing a ruling by a federal judge that they said gave them the right to sleep on sidewalks, held sleep-outs near bank branches at Union Square early Friday morning.

The horizontal protest occurred after the police cleared the protesters from the southern plaza of Union Square Park, in what has become a nightly operation in recent weeks.

At that point about 75 protesters, who had been using the park as an assembly spot, left. But unlike some previous nights they did not go far. They split up instead into two groups and moved to the banks, at times quoting from the 12-year-old ruling in which a judge held that it was lawful to sleep on sidewalks as a form of political protest.

"We are about to have a slumber party," announced an Occupy organizer, Austin Guest, as police officers dragged barricades into place at Union Square Park. "We have lots of cardboard."

Protesters handed out slips of paper that read "It is our First Amendment right to sleep on the street!" The papers briefly outlined the result of a court challenge to a ban on sleeping in public places that was brought in 2000 by the Metropolitan Council on Housing, an advocacy group that planned sleep-outs near Gracie Mansion to protest rent increases approved by the Rent Guidelines Board.

David Graeber, an anthropologist and anarchist who participated in meetings last summer that helped shape the Occupy movement, carried a large placard that bore part of the decision in the case, Metropolitan Council Inc. v. Safir.

In that decision, Judge Kimba M. Wood wrote, "the First Amendment of the United States Constitution does not allow the city to prevent an orderly political protest from using public sleeping as a means of symbolic expression."

Lauren DiGioia, one of those planning to sleep out, said that the idea arose as a reaction to the police, who have prevented protesters from sleeping in Union Square Park.

"As long as we don't block doors or take up more than half the sidewalk there is no disorderly conduct," she said.

Soon, the crowd split into two groups. Chanting "Let's go to sleep," one contingent paraded to a Bank of America branch at 14th Street and University Place. The second headed for a Citibank branch at 14th Street and Broadway. There, as the temperature hovered around 40 degrees, they spread out pieces of cardboard and wrapped themselves in Mylar blankets, sheets of foam and bright colored sleeping bags.

"Why Citibank?" said Rich Carollan, 23, who was reclining near Broadway. "Because they received a large portion of the bailout funds."

Police commanders visited both groups and issued orders to keep parts of the sidewalk clear. By 3 a.m., about 15 protesters slept in front of each bank and others milled nearby as officers across 14th Street stood guard inside Union Square Park. The police reported no arrests.

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14) In Lawsuits, Long Island Inmates Complain of Squalor
"Though many prisoners at the facilities are serving short sentences, a majority of them have not been convicted of a crime and were awaiting trial. ...The civil liberties union said inmates who made formal complaints or filed lawsuits over jail conditions were subjected to retaliation from correction officers. Mr. Porter said nothing was done about the complaints until the inmates decided to take their grievances to the courts. 'So they stepped up and filed the petitions,' he said. 'Jurisprudence is not that difficult once you get the hang of it.'"
By MOSI SECRET
April 5, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/nyregion/in-lawsuits-suffolk-county-inmates-complain-of-squalor.html?ref=nyregion

The inmates at Suffolk County Correctional Facilities told anyone who would listen that they were being forced to live in squalid conditions, with human waste bubbling up from the drains, brown water running from the tap and mold multiplying on the walls.

Saying that their complaints were ignored by jail officials, inmates accused of murder and robbery became jailhouse lawyers, banding together to file scores of handwritten lawsuits claiming that they were being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.

First they sought help from the inmates who had the least to lose, those with long sentences. Soon low-level offenders were taking part. And in less than a year, a litigation campaign that was organized in whispers on the jailhouse yard, resulted in the filing of 69 separate handwritten lawsuits in Federal District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., eventually overwhelming the court.

"The courthouse called us," said Corey Stoughton, a lawyer for the New York Civil Liberties Union. "The court really wanted us to take this on."

The court official in charge of handling pro se lawsuits, which are filed by individuals without a lawyer, had turned to the civil liberties group to consolidate what had become an increasingly unwieldy case, Ms. Stoughton said.

On Thursday, the organization, along with the law firm Shearman & Sterling, filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of current and former inmates at two Suffolk County Correctional Facilities in Riverhead and Yaphank, at the eastern tip of Long Island.

Suffolk County and its sheriff, Vincent F. DeMarco, were named as defendants. The chief of staff at the sheriff's office, Michael P. Sharkey, said that he had not known about the suit until the civil liberties group issued a news release on Thursday afternoon, and that he had not had time to review the allegations. He said he was not aware of the many previous lawsuits.

The collective suit claims that flawed plumbing at Riverhead causes waste from one toilet to gush out of the toilet in an adjoining cell, an occurrence the inmates call "Ping-Pong toilets." In addition, the suit said that showers and air vents were coated with black mold, and that rodents ran rampant throughout the jail.

Though many prisoners at the facilities are serving short sentences, a majority of them have not been convicted of a crime and were awaiting trial.

Pro se litigation by inmates, often claiming mistreatment by the criminal justice system, is as common nationally as jury duty at any federal courthouse, but rarely does it come in such volume as to arouse attention or force action.

"To be honest, I was ecstatic," said Jason Porter, a former inmate of Suffolk County jails who said he had been in out and of jails for about 14 years and was among those who filed a lawsuit.

"Regardless of what their crimes were, they are being treated like animals, and it's not good."

Louis E. Mazzola, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, which regularly represents inmates at the jails, said he had not heard about problems at the jail. But he said the claims sounded similar to a class-action suit over conditions at the jail in the 1980s.

The civil liberties union said inmates who made formal complaints or filed lawsuits over jail conditions were subjected to retaliation from correction officers.

Mr. Porter said nothing was done about the complaints until the inmates decided to take their grievances to the courts.

"So they stepped up and filed the petitions," he said.

"Jurisprudence is not that difficult once you get the hang of it."

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