Saturday, November 11, 2017

BAUAW NEWSLETTER, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2017

Addicted to War:

And this does not include "…spending $1.25 trillion dollars to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and $566 billion to build the Navy a 308-ship fleet…"
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/10/18/funding-for-war-vs-natural-disasters/

Dear Comrades, attached is some new art, where Xinachtli really outdid himself some.

Kaepernick sports new T-shirt:

Love this guy!

------------------------------------------------------*

Bay Area United Against War Newsletter

Table of Contents:

A) EVENTS, ACTIONS AND ONGOING STRUGGLES

B) ARTICLES IN FULL

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

A) EVENTS, ACTIONS AND ONGOING STRUGGLES

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

Standing Rock raised the stakes for the global environmental and indigenous rights movements. Now, another victory. A North Dakota judge has ruled that my legal team is entitled to substantially more evidence from the North Dakota State Prosecutor's office than has been forthcoming in other water protector cases. We will be able to take sworn testimony and demand documents from Energy Transfer Partners and their private, militarized security firm, TigerSwan.

The timing on this ruling is important for all environmental protectors. 84 members of Congress—nearly all Republicans—recently sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions encouraging him to invoke the domestic terrorism statute to prosecute fossil fuel protesters. These attacks on our fundamental constitutional rights, spearheaded by Donald Trump and parroted by congressional shills of Big Oil, should deeply concern all citizens who value our right to speak freely and demonstrate.

Our team has produced a new video that explains how I was singled out and targeted—and the justification for our bold legal strategy to expose the illegal and immoral wedding of the fossil fuel industry, law enforcement, and militarized private security forces. You'll see why I took action on behalf of my people, millions of others downstream, and Unci Maka—Grandmother Earth. Please watch it, and share it widely.

Don't lose sight of what Standing Rock means. My tribe—one of the poorest communities in the nation—won't stop leading the struggles to protect the earth and freedom of expression. Continue to stand with me, my courageous fellow defendant HolyElk Lafferty, and hundreds of others being represented by our ally organization, the Water Protector Legal Collective. Our fight is your fight—and it is nothing less than the movement to protect freedom and the earth for future generations.

Wopila—I thank you.

Chase Iron Eyes
Lakota People's Law Project Lead Counsel

P.S. Help us reach 60,000 petition signatures. Please share our video with your network and together we will pressure North Dakota's legal authorities to do the right thing and #DropDAPLCharges. In the coming weeks, we will hand-deliver petitions to the state's attorney. More than 45,000 have already signed. Help us free the water protectors!

Lakota People's Law Project
547 South 7th Street #149
Bismarck, ND 58504-5859
United States

------------------------------------------------------*

No More War! — Käthe Kollwitz

Plan to attend these important events to demonstrate that the American people do not another war in Korea, do not want to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and do not want a president who conducts foreign policy by Twitter and trashtalk. Additional details will be forthcoming as they become available

Please share with your networks

Averting U.S. War on North Korea: What Progressives Must Know and Do Now

Start: November 10, 2017• 7:00 PM

End: November 10, 2017• 9:00 PM

Location:First Congregational Church•2501 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA 94612

The U.S. and North Korea are on a dangerous path towards a military confrontation that could kill millions and engulf the world in a nuclear holocaust. Trump has threatened, "to totally destroy North Korea," and the United States has shifted massive military assets to Guam and Okinawa in preparation for a military first strike. North Korea is on track to launch a long-range missile with the capacity to strike Washington, DC, and Pyongyang has responded that it has the right to shoot down U.S. strategic bombers – even outside their airspace for self-defense.

As part of our War & Liberation series, Center for Political Education is proud to host a discussion with leading Korea peace activists and experts on the historical roots of this conflict. The panel will discuss what peace and social justice movements are doing and must do locally, nationally and internationally to avert war. This movement includes Korean American activists whose families and friends live directly in the line of fire in North and South Korea.

Speakers:

Christine Ahn, Women Cross DMZ

Ellen Choy, HOBAK

Kevin Gray, University of Sussex

Co-sponsored by Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans (HOBAK) and Women Cross DMZ.

________________________________________________________________________________

Korea Peace Walk

Start: November 11, 2017• 1:00 PM

End: November 11, 2017• 4:00 PM

Location:Telegraph Ave•Route currently being finalized, Oakland, CA 94609

Host Contact Info: Paul Liem info@kpolicy.org

Korea Peace Walk through Historic Oakland Koreatown

Co-sponsored by Korea Policy Institute and HOBAK

Saturday, November 11, 2017, 1:00pm to 4:00pm, Oakland, Telegraph Ave corridor
In view of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea stemming from U.S. threats to destroy North Korea, this year's walkathon is a Korea Peace Walk jointly sponsored by KPI and HOBAK traversing approximately 20 blocks of Telegraph Avenue populated with Korean business and historic sites of labor and Black Panther Party activism. We will stop along the way, leafleting, drumming and chanting as we go, winding up with a rally at Koryo Place, 44th Street and Telegraph Avenue.

We are still finalizing the route, and will send out details next week. But please save the date 11/11, 1-4pm.

HOBAK stands for Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans, a dynamic and creative collective of Korean American activists working on peace an social justice issues in the Bay Area since 2009.

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

Labor Studies and Radical History

4444 Geary Blvd., Suite 207, San Francisco, CA 94118

415.387.5700

http://www.holtlaborlibrary.org/mayday.html

Hours

(call 415.387.5700 to be sure the library is open for the hours you are interested in. We close the library sometimes to go on errands or have close early) suggested)

7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed on all major holidays and May Day

We can arrange, by request, to keep the library open longer during the day or open it on weekends. Just ask.

Services

Reference Librarian On-site

Email and Telephone Reference

Interlibrary Loan

Online Public Access Catalog

Microfilm Reader/Printer

DVD and VCR players

Photocopier

Quiet well-lighted place for study and research

For an appointment or further information, please email: david [at] holtlaborlibrary.org

------------------------------------------------------*

Prison Radio UPDATE:

Please sign this petition:

Release all the records and files regarding Mumia Abu-Jamal's legal case!
https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/release-mumia-abu-jamal-case-record

A ruling to implement Judge Leon Tucker's recent order to release Mumia's court documents could be made as soon as May 30, 2017. Please call or e-mail the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office now to pressure them to follow the court's order to release all the records and files regarding Mumia Abu-Jamal's legal case.

Phone: 215-686-8000

E-mail: DA_Central@phila.gov

Judge Orders DA to Produce Complete File for Mumia's Case

Dear Friend,

This just in! Judge Leon Tucker of the Common Pleas Court of Philadelphia has ordered the District Attorney of Philadelphia to produce the entire case file for Cook v. the Commonwealth- the case file in Mumia Abu-Jamal's criminal conviction, by September 21st.

The DA's office has to produce the entire file for "in camera" review in Judge Tucker's chambers. This mean Judge Tucker thinks that a thorough review of all the relevant files is in order! Or in other words, what has been produced under court order from the DA'a office has been woefully deficient.

Judge Tucker worked as an Assistant District Attorney in the late 90's, so he knows what is in -and not in- files. Cook v. the Commonwealth comprises at least 31 boxes of material held by the DA. Will they turn over "all information and the complete file" for Mumia's case, as Judge Tucker has ordered?

This in camera review by Judge Tucker himself means that an independent jurist will personally inspect the documents the DA produces. See the order here. Stay tuned for more information following September 21. This is just one step in a long walk to freedom. It is a step that has never been taken before.

OPEN the files. Justice Now!

------------------------------------------------------*

Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?

Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? (City Lights Open Media)

By Mumia Abu-Jamal

A Book Review by Robert Fantina

With the recent acquittal of two more police officers in the deaths of unarmed Black men, the question posed by the title of this book is as relevant as it ever was. Through a series of concise, clear essays, Mumia Abu-Jamal details the racism against Blacks, comparing today's behaviors with the lynchings that were common in the south prior to the decade of the sixties. He points out the obvious: The passage of Civil Rights legislation hasn't changed much; it simply changed the way racism operates.

The ways in which the white establishment has worked to oppress Blacks is astounding. After the Civil War, when slavery was no longer legal, "whites realized that the combination of trumped-up legal charges and forced labor as punishment created both a desirable business proposition and an incredibly effective tool for intimidating rank-and-file emancipated African Americans and doing away with their most effective leaders."

Abu-Jamal states that, today, "where once whites killed and terrorized from beneath a KKK hood, now they now did so openly from behind a little badge." He details the killing of Black men and women in the U.S. with almost complete impunity.

There are two related issues Abu-Jamal discusses. The first is the rampant racism that enables the police to kill unarmed Blacks, as young as 12 years old, for no reason, and the second is the "justice" system that allows them to get away with it.

One shocking crime, amid countless others, occurred in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2012; a police officer was acquitted in the deaths of two, unarmed Blacks, after leaping onto the hood of their car and firing 15 rounds from his semi-automatic rifle into the car's occupants. That is 137 shots, at point blank range, into the bodies of two unarmed people.

If this were an anomaly, it would be barbaric, but it is not: it is common practice for the police to kill unarmed Blacks, and, on the rare occasions that they are charged with a crime, for the judges and juries to acquit them.

In the U.S., Black citizens are disproportionally imprisoned. With for-profit prisons on the rise, this injustice will only increase.

Abu-Jamal relates story after story with the same plot, and only the names are different. An unarmed Black man is stopped by the police for any of a variety of reasons ranging from trivial (broken tail light), to more significant (suspect in a robbery). But too often, the outcome is the same: the Black man is dead and the police officer who killed him, more often than not white, is either not charged, or acquitted after being charged.

The Black Lives Matter movement formed to combat this blatant injustice, but it will be an uphill battle. As Abu-Jamal says, "Police serve the ownership and wealth classes of their societies, not the middling or impoverished people. For the latter, it is quite the reverse." As a result, people of color suffer disproportionately, too often winding up on the wrong side of a gun.

What is to be done? Abu-Jamal refers to the writings of Dr. Huey P. Newton, who calls not for community policing, but for community control of the police. Abu-Jamal argues forcefully for a new movement, "driven by commitment, ethics, intelligence, solidarity, and passions; for without passion, the embers may dim and die."

Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? is powerful, disturbing, well-written, and an important book for our day.

Robert Fantina is the author of Empire, Racism and Genocide: A History of U.S. Foreign Policy. His articles on foreign policy, most frequently concerning Israel and Palestine, have appeared in such venues as Counterpunch and WarIsaCrime.org.

—New York Journal of Books, July 2017

http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/Black-lives

------------------------------------------------------*

FREE OUR BROTHERS

Campaign to Stop Modern Day Slavery in Colorado, Demanding Equal Rights to the Under Represented

http://freeourbrothers.com

Petitioning Denver FBI & US Department of Justice

Stop Slavery in Colorado

Kierra Gent Greenacres, FL

On May 29, 2008 at approximately 10:00 p.m. Omar Gent was driving in his car headed to the gas station; however was pulled over by local police for what was stated to be a "traffic violation". Omar was then arrested on scene and taken to be identified as the suspect of a local robbery. The victim was shown a photo of Omar Gent (which is illegal) and then was taken to the traffic stop where Omar was already handcuffed in the back of the police car and a one-on-one show up was held at a distance of approximately 20-30 feet; the victim was unable to identify Omar as the suspect during the first show up. After given a second show up the victim believed he was 90% sure Omar was the suspect.

Coworkers #1 and #2 were not present at the time of the robbery but were used as witnesses to help identify the suspect. Coworker #1 was also taken to the one-on-one show up and was asked to identify Omar as the suspect and he could not as he stated "I have astigmatism" and was not 100% sure Omar was the man. Coworker #2 positively identified Omar Gent as the suspect because he stated, "there aren't that many black men in Parker Colorado." At the pretrial suppression of ID/photo line up the victim picked three other black men all with different builds and heights; although prior the victim was "90% sure" he had identified the right man. In addition, Coworker #1 stated during the trial that he was angry when he made the ID because he was ready to go home and coworker #2 told him that it was Omar.

Omar's car was illegally searched without consent or warrant. After his arrest and enduring many hours of integration, Omar asked for an attorney, yet all he received were more questions and did not receive the legal representation requested. During interrogation, the police tried to coerce Omar to confess to the robbery or else they would throw his family out of their home. Omar maintained his innocence and did not confess to the crime and as a result the police kept their word. Four Colorado Police Officers forcefully entered Omar's home and began to search his home without a warrant or consent; Omar's family was present and told police that they were not given permission to enter. The police forced Omar's family out of their home into the Colorado winter night. The police took what they wanted during the illegal search of Omar's home. Omar's family filed a complaint against the city because of the illegal search of their home. In efforts to conceal the police officers' wrongdoing, the presiding Judge sealed the legit complaint. In addition, the video interrogation showing Omar requesting to have legal representation and police threats to throw his family out of their home unless he confessed was deemed inadmissible in court.

Omar has written proof that he requested a preliminary hearing to challenge the charges of probable cause but he was illegally denied the right--without Omar's knowledge and approval the public defender waived his rights to a preliminary hearing. Omar was then charged with an infamous felony yet never received a grand jury indictment (which is required by Colorado Bill of Rights for felony charges). Due to the fact that Omar was never indicted, he was subsequently denied his sixth Amendment right (to confront and cross examine witnesses). Omar has been fighting his case by seeking justice for the violation of his civil rights. Help us stop illegal imprisonment in Colorado.

This petition will be delivered to:

Denver FBI & US Department of Justice

"Please help us by stopping the mass incarceration in Colorado! Basic civil rights are being violated and we need your help to shed light on this issue."

Sign then share this petition at:

https://www.change.org/p/u-s-department-of-justice-and-denver-fbi-stop-slavery-in-colorado

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

Support:

CONTRIBUTE

Thank you for being a part of this struggle.

Cuando luchamos ganamos! When we fight we win!

Noelle Hanrahan, Director

To give by check:

PO Box 411074

San Francisco, CA

94141

Stock or legacy gifts:

Noelle Hanrahan

(415) 706 - 5222

------------------------------------------------------*

MEDIA ADVISORYMedia contact: Morgan McLeod, (202) 628-0871
mmcleod@sentencingproject.org

NEW REPORT FINDS RECORD NUMBER OF PEOPLE SERVING
LIFE SENTENCES IN U.S. PRISONS
Washington, D.C.— Despite recent political support for criminal justice reform in most states, the number of people serving life sentences has nearly quintupled since 1984.

A new report by The Sentencing Project finds a record number of people serving life with parole, life without parole, and virtual life sentences of 50 years or more, equaling one of every seven people behind bars.

Eight states — Alabama, California, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, and Utah — have at least one of every five prisoners serving a life or de facto life sentence in prison.
The Sentencing Project will host an online press conference to discuss its report Still Life: America's Increasing Use of Life and Long-Term Sentences, on Wednesday, May 3rd at 11:00 a.m. EDT.

Press Conference Details

WHAT: Online press conference hosted by The Sentencing Project regarding the release of its new report examining life and long-term sentences in the United States. REGISTER HERE to participate. The call-in information and conference link will be sent via email.
WHEN:

Wednesday, May 3, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. EDT
WHO:

Ashley Nellis, The Sentencing Project's senior research analyst and author of Still Life: America's Increasing Use of Life and Long-Term Sentences

Evans Ray, whose life without parole sentence was commuted in 2016 by President Obama

Steve Zeidman, City University of New York law professor and counsel for Judith Clark—a New York prisoner who received a 75 year to life sentence in 1983

The full report will be available to press on Wednesday morning via email.

Founded in 1986, The Sentencing Project works for a fair and effective U.S. criminal justice system by promoting reforms in sentencing policy, addressing unjust racial disparities and practices, and advocating for alternatives to incarceration.

###

The Sentencing Project works for a fair and effective U.S. justice system by promoting reforms in sentencing policy, addressing unjust racial disparities and practices, and advocating for alternatives to incarceration.
Sign up for our updates here. Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe.
Problems viewing this email? Click here to view as a web page.


The Sentencing Project
1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20036
sentencingproject.org
202.628.0871

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

Announcing that Reality would be denied bail a second time, judge Brian Epps cited as his justification that Reality Winner "hates America" and "plotted against the government".
This statement is an outrageous slander against a young woman who's spent her entire adult life serving this country, right up to the day she was arrested.
In this way of thinking, to want America to be better is to hate it. To spend your entire adult life working hard and making sacrifices for America is to hate it. To be so outraged by a threat to America that you'd risk your career and your freedom to stop it is to hate it.
And it makes no sense. What does it mean to say that Reality "hates America," and why is it important to the prosecution that the public believes this?

The real reason is the text of the Espionage Act. The 100-year-old law has been used since its passage as a loophole to deny Americans their rights to a free press, free speech, and whistleblower protections. The Espionage Act doesn't mention "classified information" at all -- the law is intended to punish people who transmit information with an intent to harm the United States or aid its enemies.
The document Reality is charged with releasing contains information about threats to our election integrity, which is still being covered up by the government. Voters and election officials have a right to know about these threats so they can take action to fix them. Having this information in the open is critically important, and the idea that releasing it "harmed America" is so absurd it's barely worth dignifying with a response.
The idea is so absurd that Reality's prosecutors are doing everything they can to avoid having to argue for it, because they would absolutely lose. Instead, they're trying to put Reality's politics on trial.

Reality's defense team intends to not only prove her innocence, but to turn the tables on this outrageously unjust prosecution, and put the Espionage Act on trial. We have the chance to permanently end this tactic, and to force the government to honor whistleblower protections, but only if we have the resources for the fight. We're up against the unlimited resources of Trump's justice department, and all we have is each other.

We recently posted a gallery of Reality's drawing and paintings, including a few she's sent her mom from jail.

STAND WITH REALITY WINNER ~ PATRIOT & ALLEGED WHISTLEBLOWERc/o Courage to Resist, 484 Lake Park Ave #41, Oakland CA 94610 ~ 510-488-3559
standwithreality.org ~ facebook.com/standwithreality

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

When they knock on your front door: Preparing for Repression

BAY AREA ANTI-REPRESSION COMMITTEE

When they knock on your front door: Preparing for Repression
BY OAKLANDANTIREPRESSION

On May 24th 2017, police in the Bay Area raided two houses and arrested one person in connection to the recent protests in Berkeley California. In this moment of increasing state repression, we must be vigilant in protecting ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Never speak to the police. Remember that any response can incriminate you and others. You have a right to remain silent, but not to lie – even to say "I don't know." Better responses are "I have nothing to say to you." or "No comment." We recommend practicing how to respond to emergency situations such as raids where police are particularly threatening and nefarious about getting you to speak to them.

Share this information with friends and housemates, particularly those who are intimately tied to political communities but are not that involved or invested in them. These are often the people the state targets to get information on wider activist communities.

Political repression in any form has the common purpose of undermining our movements as a whole, even when it seems particular individuals are the targets. Therefore it is extremely important that we all get prepared for further repression. We do this by supporting each other in remaining calm and brushing up on some basic know-your-rights information as well as being mindful of how we communicate on the internet.

Here are some links with helpful info to get you started:

If an Agent Knocks
This booklet is the best know-your-rights manual to dealing with law enforcement encounters that we've come across. Although it was written for how to handle encounters with federal agents, the information is just as useful in situations with local police. The first chapter, which is only 8 pages, covers law enforcement visits and searches. The booklet also covers state infiltration, surveillance, grand jury resistance, and special considerations for non citizens.

Time to Beef up Defense Against Far-Right Doxxing
Now that there's a far right, internet-based movement growing in this country, we have to deal with attacks on two fronts: the state, and the far right. The alt-right might put you on the radar to the state and/ vis versa. If our personal information is available online, the alt right can find you and "doxx" you, meaning they publicize your name, address, phone number and your family members' names, addresses and phone numbers for the purpose of harassing and intimidating you. Below is an article with tips on preventing this from happening, along with a list of websites that the alt-right uses to uncover people's sensitive, personal information.

Security in a Box – Digital security tools and tactics
The state can and does monitor activists' communication and internet activity. This website is an excellent resource for giving you step-by-step guides to encrypting and securing your various devices and computer operating systems. It also goes over encrypting email.

Resisting Grand Juries
With resistance comes repression and unfortunately often repression leads to more repression. We can help damage control this by always refusing to talk to law enforcement. Sometimes investigations result in grand juries. It is important to be prepared to remain silent if subpeoned to a grand jury. We should all prepare ourselves to support those who refuse to testify. This website has tons of information on grand juries, how they work, and the importance of resisting them. We particularly recommend reading the "Statement of Resistance" written by a collective of folks from various movements in the Bay Area and endorsed by dozens of groups, political prisoners, and former grand jury resisters.

Lastly, if you or anyone you know has been approached by law enforcement or has been visited at their homes or jobs please contact the National Lawyers Guild at 415-285-1011 to access legal advice, resources, and support.

Solidarity is our best weapon in the face of repression. Lets use it!

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

A Message to the... Activist Community From The Mothers and Family Victims Of Police Violence and the Racist Raids By ICE Immigration and NYPD Gang Units

This message is obviously directed to the East Coast cities of New York and New Jersey. But after reading their "What We Want, What We Need" May, 2017 - NY/NJ Parents 10 Point Justice Platform and Wish List I think the platform could be applied pretty much as is to practically every community. Check it out.

Mothers Message to the NY/NJ Activist Community

In order to effectively combat the existing opportunism, hidden agendas and to better provide ALL genuinely good willed social justice organizations and individuals who work inside of the New York and New Jersey metropolitan areas... with more concrete guidelines;

The following "10 Point Platform and Justice Wish List" was adopted on Saturday, May 13, 2017 during the "Motherhood: Standing Strong 4 Justice" pre-mothers day gathering which was held at Hostos Community College - Bronx, New York.......

"What We Want, What We Need"

May, 2017 - NY/NJ Parents 10 Point Justice Platform and Wish List

Point #1 - Lawyers and Legal Assistance: Due to both the overwhelming case loads and impersonal nature of most public defenders, the Mothers believe that their families are receiving limited options, inadequate legal advise and therefore; WE WANT and NEED for community activists to help us in gaining access to experienced "pro-bono" and/or activist attorneys as well as the free resources provided by non-profit social justice and legal advocacy groups.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Point #2 - First Response Teams: The Mothers felt that when their loved ones were either killed or captured by the police that they were left in the hands of the enemy and without any support, information or direction on how to best move forward and therefore; WE WANT and NEED community activists to help us develop independently community controlled & trained first response teams in every borough or county that can confirm and be on the ground within 24 hours of any future incident.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Point #3 - Security and Support At Court Appearances: The Mothers all feel that because community activist support eventually becomes selective and minimal, that they are disrespected by both the courthouse authorities, mainstream media and therefore; WE WANT and NEED community activists to collectively promote and make a strong presence felt at all court appearances and; To always provide trained security & legal observers... when the families are traveling to, inside and from the court house.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Point #4 - Emotional/Spiritual Healing and Grief and Loss Counseling: After the protest rallies, demonstrations, justice marches and television cameras are gone the Mothers all feel alone and abandoned and therefore; WE WANT and NEED for community activists to refer/help provide the families with clergy, professional therapy & cultural outlets needed in order to gain strength to move forward.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Point #5 - Parents Internal Communication Network: The Mothers agreed as actual victims, that they are the very best qualified in regards to providing the needed empathy and trust for an independent hotline & contact resource for all of the parents and families who want to reach out to someone they can mutually trust that is able understand what they are going through and therefore; WE WANT and NEED for community activists to help us in providing a Parents Internal Communication Network to reach that objective.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Point #6 - Community Offices and Meeting Spaces: The Mothers agreed that there is an extreme need for safe office spaces where community members and family victims are able to go to for both confidential crisis intervention and holding organizing meetings and therefore; WE WANT and NEED for community activists to help us in securing those safe spaces inside of our own neighborhoods.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Point #7 - Political Education Classes and Workshop Training: The Mothers agreed in implementing the "each one, teach one" strategy and therefore; WE WANT and NEEDfor community activists to help us in being trained as educators and organizers in Know Your Rights, Cop Watch, First Response, Emergency Preparedness & Community Control over all areas of public safety & the police in their respective neighborhoods.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Point #8 - Support From Politicians and Elected Officials: The Mothers believe that most political candidates and incumbent elected officials selectively & unfairly represent only those cases which they think to be politically advantageous to their own selfish personal success on election day and therefore; WE WANT and NEED for community activists to help us in either publicly exposing or endorsing these aforementioned political candidates and/or elected officials to their constituents solely based upon the uncompromising principles of serving the people.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Point #9 - Research and Documentation: The Mothers believe that research/case studies, surveys, petitions, historical archives, investigative news reporting and events should be documented and made readily available in order to counter the self-serving police misinformation promoted by the system and therefore; WE WANT and NEED for community activists to help us by securing college/university students, law firms, film makers, authors, journalists and professional research firms to find, document & tell the people the truth about police terror & the pipeline to prison.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Point #10 - Grassroots Community Outreach and Information: The Mothers believe that far too much attention is being geared towards TV camera sensationalism with the constant organizing of marches & rallies "downtown" and therefore; WE WANT and NEED for community activists to provide a fair balance by helping us to build in the schools, projects, churches and inside of the subway trains and stations of our Black, brown and oppressed communities where the majority of the police terror is actually taking place.

The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make the criminal look like he's a the victim and make the victim look like he's the criminal... If you aren't careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. Malcolm X

www.hugopinell.com

www.kiilunyasha.blogspot.com

@nyashakiilu

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

1) Puerto Rico's Second-Class Treatment on Food Aid
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD NOV. 9, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/opinion/puerto-rico-food-aid.html?action=
click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=
opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=
opinion-c-col-left-region

Of all Puerto Rico's continuing miseries seven weeks after Hurricane Maria's devastation, the most blatantly unjust is that islanders have been denied the more generous and swifter food relief distributed to storm victims this year in Texas and Florida under the emergency food stamp program.

Yes, both the island and mainland victims are United States citizens. But not all citizens are created equal: A 35-year-old congressional budget cap on Puerto Rico's food stamp program has limited the amount of disaster aid immediately available. Texas and Florida have no such federal restraints and were able to quickly increase food stamp help in the face of the hurricane damage last summer.

It is hard to argue with Puerto Rican officials pointing to the disparity as painful evidence of a colonial second-class status suffered by citizens of this American territory, citizens who lack political clout, voting representation in Congress or a say in who's in the White House.

Puerto Rico already was fighting bankruptcy before the hurricane hit. Since then, nearly 60 percent of the island's power generation remains offline, its tourist and farming economies have been crippled and 100,000 of its 3.4 million residents joined a growing exodus to the mainland (where they at least will gain full federal voting rights). It will take months more to install temporary tarps on the roofs of tens of thousands of ruined houses and import more than 50,000 utility power poles and 6,500 miles of cable. There is also disturbing evidence, as Frances Robles reported in The Times, that the lack of power may be killing the very sick and the very old in overheated hospitals and nursing homes. Officials say 472 more people died this September compared with the same month last year.

The head of the island's financial oversight panel appointed by Congress warned this week that recovery will fail without "an unprecedented scale" of emergency funds from the federal government — tens of billions of dollars to restore housing, water and electric power, and to repair infrastructure.

Food stamp aid was particularly needed in the weeks right after the disaster. But Puerto Rican officials were hobbled in offering emergency increases both to needy families already receiving aid and to others plunged into temporary need by the hurricane's destruction. Unlike the states, the island cannot resort to the disaster relief section of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the formal name of the food stamp program — even though all of the island was designated as a federal disaster area.

Such a one-time emergency disbursement would have averaged $478, twice the normal monthly benefit for food stamp families, according to The Washington Post. But congressional leaders contended in 1982 that the island's reliance on food stamps was excessive and instituted a separate, tighter block grant system for Puerto Rico. It is capped this year at $1.9 billion, and has already been depleted.

As the island continues to reel, the hope is that $1.27 billion for two years of extra food stamp funding will eventually arrive under a relief package signed last month by President Trump. It would have been far better for island residents if this aid had been on tap as soon as the disaster hit, as it was in Florida and Texas. In Florida, $1.2 billion was spent on emergency food stamp help after Hurricane Irma.

President Trump is probably no more interested in this than he's been in any of the island's problems. " … We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!" he tweeted a month ago. You know who must feel like it's been forever? Hungry Puerto Ricans.

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

2) A Tax Loophole for the Rich That Just Won't Die
By JAMES B. STEWART NOV. 9, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/business/carried-interest-tax-loophole.html?hp&action=
click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=
first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Representative Kevin Brady, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said this week that he would seek to extend the holding period for assets that qualified for the carried interest tax break.Tom Brenner/The New York Times

After the billionaire investor Warren Buffett exposed the unfairness of a federal tax code that assessed his secretary at a higher rate than him, it was hard to imagine a tax reform plan that would be even less fair.

House Republicans have come up with one.

That's not because the plan indiscriminately favors the rich. It's because to a degree unprecedented in American tax history, it favors the investor class, Mr. Buffett prominent among them, at the expense of people who work for a living, like his secretary.

It favors Donald Trump and his fellow real estate developers and investors, who already benefit from numerous loopholes in the tax code.

"I wouldn't call this tax reform," said Steven M. Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan T ax Policy Center.

There is no more glaring example of the House Republicans' indifference to the inequities embedded in the tax code than the treatment of so-called carried interest. For decades, the carried interest provision has enabled wealthy private equity managers, hedge fund managers and real estate investors to pay the lower capital gains rate (20 percent, not counting the Obama health care surcharge of 3.8 percent) on their income rather than the rate on ordinary income (a maximum of 39.6 percent).

The former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was excoriated for taking advantage of the loophole in 2012, and as a candidate Mr. Trump repeatedly promised to close it.

"The hedge fund guys didn't build this country," Mr. Trump said in 2015. "These are guys that shift paper around, and they get lucky."

"They are energetic," he added. "They are very smart. But a lot of them — it's like, they are paper pushers. They make a fortune. They pay no tax. It's ridiculous, O.K.?"

Yet in the House plan unveiled last week, and in the Senate plan released Thursday, the carried interest loophole emerged unscathed.

The proposed legislation "is a home run for private equity investors," said Victor Fleischer, a law professor at the University of San Diego who has spent years arguing (persuasively, in my view) that the loophole should be closed. "If you were designing something that perfectly avoids hitting private equity, venture capital and real estate, this would be it." (Mr. Fleischer is also a contributor to The New York Times.)

This week, the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, said he would address concerns about the loophole by seeking to extend the holding period for assets that qualified for the tax break from one year to three years. That's better than doing nothing, and might affect some hedge funds. But they could easily qualify simply by holding the assets for more than three years.

Mr. Brady's tweak would have no impact at all on most private equity managers, who typically buy companies, restructure and refinance them, and then sell them, usually after seven to 10 years. Most real estate partnerships have similar holding periods. And Mr. Brady said explicitly that the revision would preserve the carried interest provision for real estate interests.

"The amendment will encourage and reward long-term investment while also applying equally to all sources of growth capital — no matter if that investment is provided by hedge funds, private equity, venture capital or otherwise," Shane McDonald, a spokesman for Mr. Brady, told me. "By providing a three-year holding period on certain assets, this amendment strikes the right balance for economic growth and fairness without stifling investment in American entrepreneurship."

But the primary argument against the carried interest loophole isn't that those who benefit from it don't hold their assets long enough. It's that the "carry" — the percentage of an investment's gains that the manager takes as compensation — should be treated as a payment for services and taxed like regular income, and not be viewed as a return on invested capital, in which the manager has put assets at risk.

"The real issue is that carried interest is compensation for services performed for the investment fund," Mr. Fleischer said. "The theory behind the Republican plan is that somehow, holding something for a longer period of time makes it more like a financial investment. But why would that be the case?

"If you write a book, and it takes three or four years before you earn a royalty, that doesn't make the income a capital gain," he continued. "If a movie takes three years to generate a return, that doesn't make it a capital gain. There's no reason why financial services should be any different."

Proponents of the loophole, most of whom benefit from it one way or another, have long argued that the lower tax rate encourages risk taking and hence economic growth, an argument that Republican lawmakers appear to have embraced.

But there's little empirical support for the position.

Mr. Fleischer argues that the proposed tax bill — by slashing the corporate and pass-through tax rates and preserving the lower rate for capital gains — already heavily favors risk taking and investment.

"We don't need to further subsidize people who go to work in this sector by giving them a lower tax rate," he said. "There's no shortage of people who want to go into private equity and earn millions or billions of dollars."

The rationale, he said, "is absurd."

That the carried interest provision survived, despite Mr. Trump's campaign statements and populist hostility to it, appears to be a testament to the enduring influence that Wall Street and wealthy investors exert over both the White House and Congress.

Some of Mr. Trump's most prominent backers and donors come from the world of private equity, hedge funds and real estate partnerships, among them Stephen A. Schwarzman, chief executive of the powerhouse firm Blackstone; Wilbur Ross, the former private equity executive who is now secretary of commerce; Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., executive chairman of Colony Northstar, a real estate investment trust, and chairman of the president's inauguration committee; Betsy DeVos, a co-founder of the Windquest Group and now secretary of education; and Stephen A. Feinberg, a co-founder of Cerberus CapitalManagement and a Trump donor and adviser. And Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Mr. Trump's top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, are prominent alumni of Goldman Sachs, which has a range of hedge fund and private equity clients.

More broadly, preserving the break for carried interest fits into the overarching theme of the Republican tax plan: that what is good for investors is good for economic growth, which in turn is good for everyone, including the working poor. That's why the proposed code is tilted so heavily toward investors rather than people who earn salaries or compensation for services rendered.

That's also why it's imprecise to say the proposed code benefits the "rich." While most rich people are also investors, and thus will benefit disproportionately, not all rich people will benefit. People with high incomes generated primarily by their own labor or services may actually see their federal tax increase, especially if they lose their deductions for state and local taxes. The proposed code specifically names lawyers, doctors, athletes and performers — all of whom work for a living — as ineligible for the lower pass-through rate.

The plan "is a tax increase on the working upper middle class and the rich in states like California, New York and New Jersey in order to benefit the people who own pass-through entities and are shareholders," Mr. Fleischer said.

Tax reform advocates generally agree that a fair code shouldn't single out certain groups for favorable treatment at the expense of others. There is already widespread resentment that ultrarich investment managers pay such low rates — nowhere near the top 39.6 percent rate.

Closing the loophole may promote fairness, but it wouldn't do much to help the overall budget deficit. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that eliminating it would generate $17 billion over 10 years, a drop in the bucket given that Republicans have been trying to close a budget gap in the trillions. Mr. Fleischer contends that the figure is much higher, more like $180 billion over 10 years. Even that is a modest down payment on the larger cuts the tax plan calls for.

But as a symbol, the carried interest loophole looms large, calling into question the fairness of the entire proposed tax code. That's a shame, since large elements of the proposal have widespread bipartisan support. (Even former President Barack Obama agreed that the corporate tax rate needed to be lowered for the United States to be competitive.)

There's still a chance that lawmakers will eliminate the loophole as the bill moves through Congress.

Mr. Rosenthal said he wasn't holding his breath. Republicans seem to be gambling that most Americans won't care about a few rich private equity managers if their own taxes go down, their stock portfolio goes up and economic growth accelerates. "I don't think most Republicans really care about carried interest," he said.

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

3) Puerto Rico Power Line Fails; Darkness Returns to San Juan
By FRANCES ROBLES NOV. 9, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/us/puerto-rico-electricity-power.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=
Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

A main power line failed Thursday in Puerto Rico, plunging several cities, including San Juan, into darkness. Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo for The New York Times

SAN JUAN, P.R. — A main power line that serves the northern half of Puerto Rico failed Thursday, knocking out electricity to seven cities that had only recently regained service and dealing a major setback to the island's desperate efforts to regain normality.

Seven weeks after Hurricane Maria completely disabled Puerto Rico's power grid, the island was generating just 18 percent of its electrical capacity, returning service to where it had been two and half weeks ago. On Thursday morning, the island had been at about 43.2 percent of capacity.

The disruption also meant that many people no longer had running water, because pumping stations are powered by electricity.

"We're all in the dark," said Maritza Cuprill, 54, a property manager whose San Juan condominium got its power back a week ago, only to lose it again on Thursday. "I was in Walgreens and everything suddenly went pitch black. The first thing I thought of was my vehicle: I filled up the tank for just in case. That was devastating when we had to wait in lines for five, six and seven hours."

Ms. Cuprill was not worried about any food purchases: she had not been foolhardy enough to buy perishables. Many areas where the power had returned had suffered continuous glitches, damaging appliances and fraying nerves.

"I buy food every day," Ms. Cuprill said. "I don't trust what they say. They say the power will be back in 19 hours. I will believe that when I see it."

In a statement Thursday afternoon, the Puerto Rican government said that workers had made progress toward the repairs and that equipment was being put in place to restore the service.

"We have maximum interest in resolving this and energizing the metropolitan area again," Justo González, director of generation for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, said in a Facebook Live video. "We will be resolving this problem soon."

Mr. González said the electric company, known as Prepa, would focus first on bringing the lights back to hospitals, airports, fire stations and areas that are crucial to the economy. He said the most affected areas were in the San Juan metropolitan area, including the cities of Vega Baja, Arecibo, Barceloneta, Manatí, Bayamón, San Juan and areas near Canóvanas.

The power failure was the latest blow for Puerto Rico's beleaguered and bankrupt power company, which has been criticized for awarding a small Montana firm a $300 million contract to fix power lines that included highly unusual clauses that prohibited any audits. Several congressional committees are investigating the deal, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has vowed not to pay for it.

The government was forced to cancel the contract, and the company, Whitefish Energy Holdings, is scheduled to leave at the end of the month. A spokesman for the company said none of the issues concerning the power failure were related to repairs that Whitefish had performed.

"Puerto Rico is not rising," Rosita Aponte, who owns a pharmacy in Caguas, said, referring to a popular slogan #PuertoRicoSeLevanta. "When it does rise, it will be empty, because all of the small-business owners will have left."

Ms. Aponte said the lights went out en masse to all the businesses on her strip.

"We can't take this anymore," she said. "I have spent $8,000 on broken generators. At this point, 50 days into this, everyone has a broken generator. You are not supposed to be living on these things."

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

4) Are Honey Nut Cheerios Healthy? We Look Inside the Box

By DANNY HAKIM, November 10, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/business/honey-nut-cheerios-sugar.html?hp&action=
click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=
top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios. The serving size for the cereal has shrunk, and with it the stated sugar content. Jens Mortensen for The New York Times

I had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios recently. It'd been awhile. Regular Cheerios are more my thing. But sometimes I finish my box faster than my kids do and find myself straying to their side of the cupboard.

Honey Nut is America's best-selling breakfast cereal, and by a comfortable margin. Roughly 151 million boxes and other containers of various sizes were sold over the past year, well ahead of the second best-selling breakfast cereal, Frosted Flakes, according to IRI, a Chicago based market research firm.

I had no idea. The only thing I could think about when I ate it again for the first time in years was how incredibly sweet it is. I looked at the back of the box and could see why. Three of the top six ingredients are sweeteners: sugar, brown sugar and honey.

Previously, I assumed Honey Nut Cheerios was a slightly sweeter Cheerios, but you learn things when you finally get around to reading the back of the box. It actually has about nine times as much sugar as plain Cheerios, per serving. An Environmental Working Group analysisof a number of popular cereals — a report that linked sugary cereals to the "nation's childhood obesity epidemic" — put Honey Nut Cheerios's sugar content second only to Fruity Pebbles. The same group found that one cup of the cereal had more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies.

I asked General Mills about this, over a period of several days. They did not come to the phone, but responded with a series of communiqués.

"You mentioned that three of the top six ingredients in Honey Nut Cheerios are sugar, brown sugar and honey," Mike Siemienas, a spokesman for the company, wrote in a statement. "What you didn't mention is that the number one ingredient is oats. To be so singularly focused on one ingredient — sugar — is irresponsible and doesn't help consumers look at the total nutrition offered."

Honey Nut Cheerios debuted in 1979. The cereal's forebear, Cheerios, originally called Cheerioats, was born in 1941 and has a more favorable nutrition profile. The plain version is low in sugar, "and you're getting some oat fiber that can help lower your cholesterol modestly," said Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Unfortunately, that makes the contrast with its spinoffs difficult. Those include far more sugary options like Pumpkin Spice Cheerios and Apple Cinnamon Cheerios. The newest offering, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios, has what looks like sugar flakes on it, but it actually has a lower sugar content than Honey Nut Cheerios.

"The company has capitalized on the good name of the original," Ms. Liebman said. "We've been saying for years that Honey Nut Cheerios has more sugar than honey and more salt than nuts, in fact it's got no nuts at all, it's just got almond flavor."

The center has quarreled with General Mills before. It sued the company over health claims made about another Cheerios offshoot, Cheerios Protein.

General Mills refers to cereals like Honey Nut Cheerios as "presweetened" — putting the sugar, brown sugar and honey into your cereal so you don't have to. Back in 2009, the company made news by announcing an initiative had already been underway to drop the sugar figure into single digits in such cereals marketed to children. In the last decade or so, Honey Nut Cheerios has fallen to nine grams of sugars per serving, from 11. Or so it seems.

I undertook a review of highly sensitive corporate documents. And by that, I mean I looked at pictures of old cereal boxes on eBay, because apparently there's a market for vintage, flattened cereal boxes. I found a box from 2003 that showed the serving size of Honey Nut Cheerios to be one cup, weighing 30 grams and having 11 grams of sugars. Today, a serving is three-quarters of a cup, and just 28 grams, with nine grams of sugars.

The serving size of regular Cheerios remains one cup. If Honey Nut Cheerios still had a one cup serving size, the sugar content would be in the double digits.

General Mills said little about what had happened, or when.

"There are several reasons that changes in serving size may occur including recipe improvements that may change the density of the cereal or regulation changes," Mr. Siemienas wrote.

Serving sizes are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and can change if a cereal's density changes. It appears that at some point in the last 10 or 15 years, General Mills tweaked the ingredients of Honey Nut Cheerios in a way that lowered the overall weight per serving, which had the effect of helping lower the stated sugar content. It has not been all smoke and mirrors; the percentage of sugar has decreased slightly as well, though rounding makes it difficult to say by how much.

"They've tested and tested and tested to try to find out how much sugar they can take out without it affecting sales," said Marion Nestle, an emerita professor of nutrition and food studies at New York University. "They must surely be at the cut point."

She said "you really want" kids "eating a whole grain, higher fiber cereal."

Speaking for myself, I eat a lot more cereal than three-quarters of a cup. I poured that amount into a bowl. It looked sad. And small. It was an appetizer's worth of Cheerios.

Don't worry, General Mills. I'll continue to eat Cheerios. But I had to have a difficult conversation with a 12-year-old recently. I broke the news that Honey Nut would not be returning to the cupboard. We'd be sticking with regular Cheerios.

"Can I just pour honey on it?" he asked.

He was joking. I think.

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

5) Duterte, Philippine President, Boasts He Killed Someone as a Teenager
By MEGAN SPECIA NOV. 10, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/world/asia/philippines-president-duterte-killed.html?rref=
collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=
stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

The Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, center-right, leaving the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Danang, Vietnam, on Thursday. Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines said on Friday that he had stabbed someone to death when he was a teenager, the latest claim from a leader who has boasted of personally killing people while defending a violent crackdown on drugs.

"When I was a teenager, I had been in and out of jail, rumble here and there," Mr. Duterte said during a speech to Filipinos in Danang, Vietnam. "At the age of 16, I already killed someone."

He said he had stabbed the person "just over a look," and he asked his audience in Vietnam to imagine what he could do as president.

"I won't let you off the hook" if you mess around with Filipinos, he said. "Never mind about the human rights advocates."

Mr. Duterte's spokesman, Harry Roque, said the comment had been meant as a joke. Officials loyal to the president have said he has a tendency to exaggerate.

"I think it was in jest," Mr. Roque said. "The president uses colorful language when with Pinoys overseas," he added, referring to Filipinos.

The comments came as the leader defended his government's brutal countrywide crackdown on drugs. His speech was met with applause and laughter.

Mr. Duterte is in Vietnam with dozens of other world leaders for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting.

In 2015, while he was mayor of Davao City, Mr. Duterte said in an interview with Esquire that he had stabbed someone to death when he was 17 years old. In December 2016, he said that during his time as mayor, he had personally killed at least three people.

The Philippine leader has been widely criticized for an extrajudicial crackdown on drug dealers and users that has left an estimated 4,000 people dead since May 2016, according to local news outlets.

Human rights groups have condemned Mr. Duterte, saying the crackdown has allowed police officers and vigilantes to ignore due process and to take justice into their own hands.

Mr. Duterte is set to meet with President Trump on Sunday in Manila, part of the American president's 12-day tour to several Asian nations. Mr. Trump praised Mr. Duterte this year, congratulating him on the "unbelievable job on the drug program."

Follow Megan Specia on Twitter: @meganspecia.

Felipe Villamor contributed reporting from Manila.

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

6) Five Places to Go in San Francisco

By Lauren Sloss, Nov. 10, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/travel/five-places-to-go-in-san-francisco-bayview.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=sectionfront

Laughing Monk Brewing in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, now a hub for genre-bending craft alcohol producers.CreditJason Henry for The New York Times

Bayview is a neighborhood removed in San Francisco — out toward the old Candlestick Park, in the city's southeastern reaches. It's been relatively untouched by the tech boom and the accompanying high rises that pepper the rest of the city. But the neighborhood, home to a tight-knit community of families and community activists, is coming into its own as a hub for creative, genre-bending craft alcohol producers. Raw industrial spaces are being transformed into production facilities and tasting rooms, decked out with murals by local street artists, and are drawing crowds from all over San Francisco and beyond.

Laughing Monk Brewing

Belgian and California beer styles combine at this craft brewery, opened in 2016 by a duo of passionate home brewers. Their tasting room, graced by a wall-size mural of a gold-hued oak tree, hosts events ranging from monthly brewery karaoke to beer and yoga every Sunday. Sample from 14 beers on tap or take them to-go in crowlers, 32-ounce cans of draft beer. The Bayview Gold, featuring chamomile from nearby community gardens, is a must-try.

1439A Egbert Avenue; 415-890-5970; laughingmonkbrewing.com

Seven Stills

Named for the Seven Hills of San Francisco, Seven Stills makes whiskey from craft beer, both their own brews and beers from local breweries. The distillery features beer and whiskey flights, 8 to 12 beers on tap, and limited-release bottles of whiskey that are exclusively available for purchase on-site. Visit on the first Friday evening of the month for live music.

1439 Egbert Ave., Unit C; 415-914-0936; sevenstillsofsf.com

San Francisco Mead Company

Austrian-born Oron Benary opened his meadery (a winery that produces honey wine) in the neighborhood in 2013, and has since transformed his front tasting room into a cozy gathering place for those looking to try his new-school take on old-school honey wine. Schedule a guided tasting and tour, or drop in on Saturdays to sample pours of Apple Pie and California Gold meads — the latter is made using wildflower honey from Mendocino forests.

1180 Shafter Avenue; 415-819-4941; sfmead.com

Gratta Wines

Barbara Gratta has been making wine in her Bayview garage for more than a decade, and two years ago opened a tasting room at Butchertown Gourmet Marketplace, in a bright, airy space shared with Fox & Lion Bread. You'll find Ms. Gratta behind the bar there pouring glasses and tastes of her Petite Sirah, Garage Blend Red and more. Pair them with small plates from local vendors.

5273 3rd Street; 415-872-9791; grattawines.com

Sequoia Sake

When Jake Myrick started Sequoia Sake with his wife, Noriko Kamei, and partner. Warren Pfhal, his goal was to make the fresh, unpasteurized sakes he loved in Japan, where he and his wife lived for nine years, and couldn't find in the United States. Their year-old brewery serves up tastes of Sequoia's two fresh namazake varietals alongside four pasteurized counterparts. It's also the only place in the United States to find their limited edition shizuku-style sake, or drip sake. The brewery hosts koji workshops and sake pairing events, too.

50 Apparel Way; 415-225-0515; sequoiasake.com

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

7) $300 Billion War Beneath the Street: Fighting to Replace America's Water Pipes
"Scientists are just starting to understand the effect of plastic on the quality and safety of drinking water, including what sort of chemicals can leach into the water from the pipes themselves, or from surrounding groundwater contamination. Studies have shown that toxic pollutants like benzene and toluene from spills and contaminated soil can permeate certain types of plastic pipes as they age. A 2013 review of research on leaching from plastic pipe identified more than 150 contaminants migrating from plastic pipes into drinking water. ...The uncertainty over potable water pipes of all kinds is exacerbated by a lack of regulation over their safety. There is no federal oversight of the materials or processes used to manufacture plastic water pipes; instead, water pipes are certified and tested by an organization paid for by industry."
By HIROKO TABUCHI NOV. 10, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/climate/water-pipes-plastic-lead.html?rref=
collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness&action=click&contentCollection=business&region=
stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront

Derek Brahney

Bursting pipes. Leaks. Public health scares.

America is facing a crisis over its crumbling water infrastructure, and fixing it will be a monumental and expensive task.

Two powerful industries, plastic and iron, are locked a lobbying war over the estimated $300 billion that local governments will spend on water and sewer pipes over the next decade.

It is a battle of titans, raging just inches beneath our feet.

"Things are moving so fast," said Reese Tisdale, president of the water advisory firm Bluefield Research. And it's a good thing, he says: "There are some pipes in the ground that are 150 years old."

How the pipe wars play out — in city and town councils, in state capitals, in Washington — will determine how drinking water is delivered to homes across America for generations to come.

Traditional materials like iron or steel currently make up almost two-thirds of existing municipal water pipe infrastructure. But over the next decade, as much as much as 80 percent of new municipal investment in water pipes could be spent on plastic pipes, Bluefield predicts.

The outcome of the rivalry will also determine the country's response to an infrastructure challenge of epic proportions.

By 2020, the average age of the 1.6 million miles of water and sewer pipes in the United States will hit 45 years. Cast iron pipes in at least 600 towns and countries are more than a century old, according to industry estimates. And though Congress banned lead water pipes three decades ago, more than 10 million older ones remain, ready to leach lead and other contaminants into drinking water from something as simple as a change in water source.

As many as 8,000 children were exposed to unsafe levels of lead in Flint , Mich., after the city switched to a new water supply but failed to properly treat the water with chemicals to prevent its lead pipes from disintegrating. Corroding iron pipes, meanwhile, have been linked to two outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease in Flint that added to the public health emergency.

The plastics industry has seized on the post-Flint fears.

The American Chemistry Council, a deep-pocketed trade association that lobbies for the plastics industry, has backed bills in at least five states — Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Indiana and Arkansas — that would require local governments to open up bids for municipal water projects to all suitable materials, including plastic. A council spokesman, Scott Openshaw, criticized the current bidding process in many localities as "virtual monopolies which waste taxpayer money, drive up costs and ultimately make it harder for states and municipalities to complete critical water infrastructure upgrades."

Opponents of the industry-backed bills, including many municipal engineers, say they are a thinly-veiled effort by the plastics industry to muscle aside traditional pipe suppliers.

"It's simply catering to an industry that is trying to use legislation to gain market share," Stephen Pangori of the American Council of Engineering Companies testified this year before a Michigan Senate committee.

To more directly reach towns and counties across the country, the plastics industry is also leaning on the American City County Exchange, a new group that gives corporations extraordinary capacity to influence public policy at the city and county levels. The group operates under the auspices of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a wider effort funded by the petrochemicals billionaires Charles G. and David H. Kochthat has drawn scrutiny for helping corporations and local politicians write legislation behind closed doors.

Corporations pay membership fees as high as $25,000 to gain access to some 1,500 mayors and local council members who have signed up for the initiative. At a July convention in Denver that brought together about three dozen local legislators, Bruce Hollands, executive director of the plastic pipe industry group Uni-Bell PVC Pipe Association, discussed what had gone wrong in Flint, and explained what needed to be done to open up local bidding for plastic water pipes. To spur local decision-making, the A.C.C.E. has also adopted model legislationpushing for more open bidding for water pipes.

"We're just trying to take up policies that limit the size of government, that keep it from growing exponentially," said Jon Russell, national director of the A.C.C.E. and a councilman from the town of Culpeper, Va.

Plastics are obvious replacement for the country's aging pipes. Lightweight, easy to install, corrosion-free and up to 50 percent cheaper than iron, plastic pipes have already taken the place of copper as the preferred material for service lines that connect homes to municipal mains, as well as water pipes inside the home.

Still, some scientists warn that the rapid replacement of America's water infrastructure with plastic could bring its own health concerns.

Scientists are just starting to understand the effect of plastic on the quality and safety of drinking water, including what sort of chemicals can leach into the water from the pipes themselves, or from surrounding groundwater contamination. Studies have shown that toxic pollutants like benzene and toluene from spills and contaminated soil can permeate certain types of plastic pipes as they age. A 2013 review of research on leaching from plastic pipe identified more than 150 contaminants migrating from plastic pipes into drinking water.

"Plastics are being installed without any real understanding of what they're doing to our drinking water," said Andrew J. Whelton, assistant professor of civil engineering at Purdue University, and an author of the 2013 study. "We don't know what chemicals we're being exposed to."

Sensing an opening, the iron pipe industry has started a public relations push of its own, voicing concerns over plastic, wooing President Trumpwith accolades for his infrastructure drive, and setting up a war between the two industries.

"Iron is just more durable. It's a more proven material," said Patrick Hogan, president of the Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association, the industry's main lobby group. "Iron's been in the ground for 100 years."

Plastic groups have criticized the studies, saying they focus on older generations of plastic piping and conflate different types of plastics. They also stress that their pipes are independently tested by the third-party organization.

"It's not a new material. It's a safe material. It's independently tested," said Mr. Hollands, executive director of the Uni-Bell plastic pipes group.

The industry outreach, at times, has been more overt.

At the height of Flint's water crisis, the chief executive of one of the nation's largest manufacturers of plastic pipes, JM Eagle, traveled to the beleaguered city and offered to replace the city's lead pipes for free.

Pipes fromJM Eagle would last 100 years and were a long-lasting and safe solution, the company's chief executive, Walter Wang, told the city council last February. "This water crisis, this contamination issue," he said, "it's hurting children and making them sick."

JM Eagle, however, has faced recent legal problems. In 2013, a federal jury in California found that the Los Angeles-based company defrauded states and municipalities for more than a decade by knowingly selling defective water pipes. In some places, PVC pipes that were supposed to last 50 years exploded in their first year, causing injuries and flooding.

JM Eagle declined to comment but has previously said the litigation was based on "scurrilous allegations" by a disgruntled former employee. Formosa Plastics, a Taiwanese industrial conglomerate that was its parent company at the time, agreed to pay $22.5 million in a settlement with municipalities and other government agencies in California.

The uncertainty over potable water pipes of all kinds is exacerbated by a lack of regulation over their safety. There is no federal oversight of the materials or processes used to manufacture plastic water pipes; instead, water pipes are certified and tested by an organization paid for by industry.

That organization, NSF International, displays a picture of the Capitol building on its regulatory resources web page and runs a hotline for questions on regulations and product safety. Yet it has never received regulatory authority from the federal government. Nor does it disclose test results for the pipes it certifies.

NSF International called its testing robust. "If a product does not meet the requirements of a standard, it will not pass," said Dave Purkiss, the organization's general manager of water systems.

For now, Flint is fitting the city with service lines made with another material: copper, at an expected cost of more than $140 million. Officials discussed creating a pilot area using plastic to replace the service lines to houses on several city blocks, according to Plastics News, though a Flint spokeswoman, Kristin Moore, said plastic pipes were not currently under consideration.

"When you take that inherent issue that we needed to rebuild trust of the citizens in the water system, we felt that copper was the way to go," Michael McDaniel, a retired Michigan National Guard brigadier general put in charge of replacing Flint's water pipes, said at a conference this year.

In Burton, just next door to Flint, budget realities have made plastics the realistic choice.

The small city of 29,000 saved $2.2 million by using plastic to replace its own 1930s-era water system after state regulators alerted the city to critically needed fixes. For a municipality struggling with a dwindling tax base, those savings were huge.

"We needed safe water, and we needed it fast. We needed to replace the system and PVC was a good choice for us," said Burton mayor Paula Zelenko. "I've got to get the best bang for the buck, because bucks are hard to come by these days."

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

8) How Corporations and the Wealthy Avoid Taxes (and How to Stop Them)
By Gabriel Zucman, November 10, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/10/opinion/gabriel-zucman-paradise-papers-tax-evasion.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0

The United States loses, according to my estimates, close to $70 billion a year in tax revenue due to the shifting of corporate profits to tax havens. That’s close to 20 percent of the corporate tax revenue that is collected each year. This is legal.

Meanwhile, an estimated $8.7 trillion, 11.5 percent of the entire world’s G.D.P., is held offshore by ultrawealthy households in a handful of tax shelters, and most of it isn’t being reported to the relevant tax authorities. This is… not so legal.

These figures represent a huge loss of resources that, if collected, could be used to cut taxes on the rest of us, or spent on social programs to help people in our societies.

How do they do it?

For an example, look no further than your search bar. In 2003, a year before it went public, Google (now a multinational conglomerate known as Alphabet) began a series of moves that would allow it to obtain favorable tax treatment in the future.

First, it transferred ownership of intellectual property related to its all-important search and advertising technologies to an entity named Google Ireland Holdings.

Why Ireland? Because not only did it have favorable corporate tax rates, its regulations also allowed Google Ireland Holdings to incorporate there but be “managed” in Bermuda.

Google Ireland Holdings then created another Irish subsidiary, Google Ireland Limited, and granted it a license to use the technology now owned by the Irish parent company.

Under this arrangement, which as far as we know is still in place, it is Google Ireland Limited that actually licenses the tech of Google’s main business to all the Google affiliates in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. (Google has a similar offshoot in Singapore that covers business in Asia).

Google France, for example, pays royalties to Google Ireland Limited.

That entity in turn moves its profits to Bermuda via a royalty payment to the Google Ireland Holdings.

See where this is going? In 2015, $15.5 billion in profits made their way to Google Ireland Holdings in Bermuda even though Google employs only a handful of people there. It’s as if each inhabitant of the island nation had made the company $240,000.

The corporate
tax rate there?

ZERO

In doing this, Google didn’t break the law. Corporations like Google are simply shifting profits to places where corporate taxes are low. It’s not just Internet companies with valuable intellectual property that do this. A car manufacturer, for instance, might shift profits by manipulating export and import prices – exporting car components from America to Ireland at artificially low prices, and importing them back at prices that are artificially high.

According to the latest available figures, 63 percent of all the profits made outside of the United States by American multinationals are now reported in six low- or zero-tax countries: the Netherlands, Bermuda, Luxembourg, Ireland, Singapore and Switzerland. These countries, but above all the shareholders of these corporations, benefit while others lose.

My colleagues Thomas Torslov and Ludvig Wier and I combined the data published by tax havens all over the world to estimate the scale of these losses. The $70 billion a year in revenue that the United States is deprived of is nearly equal to all of America’s spending on food stamps. The European Union suffers similar losses.

So what can be done?

Thankfully, Ireland has announced it will close the “double Irish” loophole that Google used, and arrangements that take advantage of that loophole must be terminated by 2020. But similar strategies will be used as long as we let companies choose the location of their profits.

Just look at what Apple did in 2014 — it’s one of the most spectacular revelations from the newly released Paradise Papers. After learning Irish authorities were going to close loopholes it had used, Apple asked a Bermuda-based law firm, Appleby, to design a similar tax shelter on the English Channel island of Jersey, which typically does not tax corporate income. Appleby duly obliged, and Jersey became the new home of the (previously Irish) companies Apple Sales International and Apple Operations International.

A potential fix would be to allocate the taxable profits made by multinationals proportionally to the amount of sales they make in each country.

Say Google’s parent company Alphabet makes $100 billion in profits globally, and 50 percent of its sales in the United States (a relatively similar scenario to the first quarter of this year, in which that figure was 48 percent). In that case, $50 billion would be taxable in the United States, irrespective of where Google’s intangible assets are or where its workers are employed. A system similar to this already governs state corporate taxes in America.

Such a reform would quash artificial profit-shifting. Corporations may be able to shift around profits, assets, and subsidiaries, but they cannot move all their customers to Bermuda.

This system is not perfect, but it’s orders of magnitude better than both the laws that now govern the taxation of international profits and the tax package being proposed by congressional Republicans. Under the proposed plan some international profits would be taxed at 10 percent, but there are many likely exemptions.

One advantage of allocating taxable profits as I suggest is that this reform can be adopted unilaterally. There is no need for the United States (or any other nation that wants to cut down on tax avoidance) to obtain permission from anybody.

But we’d still face an equally daunting problem, the far more shadowy – and ultimately illegal – tax evasion of ultrawealthy individuals, many of them with net worths already bolstered by the proceeds of corporate tax avoidance. Here’s an example.

Meet Michael. Michael is the (fictional) chief executive and owner of an American company, Michael & Company. Like many people, he would like to pay as little in taxes as possible. But unlike most people, he can take some steps that will allow him to do just that.

First, he creates an anonymous shell company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, which has lax regulations on disclosing the identities of company owners.

He then opens an account under the shell company’s name in Cyprus (or one of many other tax havens, such as Switzerland, Hong Kong and Panama, whose banks cater to the wealthy and aren't reliable about cooperating with foreign tax authorities).

Finally, Michael & Company buys fictitious services from the Cayman shell company (“consulting,” for example) ...

… and, to pay for these services, wires money to the shell company’s Cyprus account.

The transaction generates a paper trail that can appear legitimate at first glance. But the reality is more insidious. By paying for fictitious consulting, Michael fraudulently reduces the taxable profits of Michael & Company, and thus the amount of corporate income tax he pays.

And once the money has arrived in Cyprus, it is invested in global financial markets and generates income that the Internal Revenue Service can tax only if Michael reports it or if his Cypriot bank informs the I.R.S.

It’s supposed to, but many offshore banks have routinely violated their obligations in the past, by pretending they didn’t have American customers or hiding them behind shell companies. So this way, Michael can evade American federal income tax as well as paying fewer corporate taxes through his company.

And meanwhile, in America, if he wants to use any of the money stashed in Cyprus, he can simply go to an ATM and make a withdrawal from his offshore account.

How do we know all this?

Until recently, we did not have a good sense of who owns the wealth held offshore, but with my colleagues Annette Alstadsaeter and Niels Johannesen, we have been able to make progress thanks to leaks over the last few years. In 2015, the Swiss Leaks revealed the owners of bank accounts at HSBC Switzerland, and in 2016 the Panama Papers revealed those of the shell companies created by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. These showed that 50 percent of the wealth held in tax havens belongs to households with more than $50 million in net wealth, a minuscule number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals who avoid paying their fair share. In the Paradise Papers, we see that these are not only Russian oligarchs or Belgian dentists who use tax havens, but rich Americans too.

As I mentioned above, about 11.5 percent of world G.D.P. is held offshore by households. For a long time, the bulk of it was held in Switzerland, but a fast-growing fraction is now in Hong Kong, Singapore and other emerging havens.

We can stop offshore tax evasion by shining some light on darker corners of the global banking industry. The most compelling way to do this would be to create comprehensive registries recording the true individual owners of real estate and financial securities, including equities, bonds and mutual fund shares.

One common objection to financial registries is that they would impinge on privacy. Yet countries have maintained property records for land and real estate for decades. These records are public, and epidemics of abuse are hard to come by.

The notion that a register of financial wealth would be a radical departure is wrong. And the benefits would be enormous, as comprehensive registries would make it possible to not only reduce tax evasion, but also curb money laundering, monitor international capital flows, fight the financing of terrorism and better measure inequality.

The onus here is on the United States and the European Union. Why do we allow criminals, tax evaders and kleptocrats to ultimately use our financial and real estate markets to launder their wealth? Transparency is the first step in making sure the wealthy can’t cheat their way out of contributing to the common good.

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

9) God, Jesus and Vietnam
By W.D. Ehrhart, November 10, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/god-jesus-and-vietnam.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

I arrived in Vietnam in early February 1967 and was assigned to First Battalion, First Marines. After falling away from the church in my midteens, I’d had a religious reawakening at Parris Island, where I found myself much in need of God’s mercy because we got none from our drill instructors. I took my renewed religious fervor to Vietnam with me, and soon got to know our battalion chaplain, a Jesuit priest, pretty well.

Many months later, in November, the battalion was on an operation near the DMZ. Night was approaching, and I was digging in when Father Lyons came by. The conversation, which I still remember vividly, went something like this:

“Hello, Corporal Ehrhart. How’s it going?”

“Not bad, Father,” I said. “Can’t complain.”

“You know, Corporal, I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but I do miss the talks we used to have when you first got here. You were more faithful than my Catholic boys,” he said with a laugh.

“Things change, Father.”

“What happened, Corporal Ehrhart? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong, Father? Take a look around. And you’re asking me what’s wrong? Look, I’m sorry, sir. I’d rather not get into it.”

“You can talk to me, son. That’s what I’m here for.”

“Man to man?”

“Of course. Making me an officer wasn’t my idea.”

“Father, when I enlisted, I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was doing right by my country — gonna help the Vietnamese, and all like that. I really believed it. I guess that sounds pretty corny, doesn’t it?”

“Not at all, son. We all want to believe we’re doing the right thing.”

“Well, I don’t believe it anymore. I don’t know what I believe, but I sure don’t believe that. We’re not doing anybody any good around here, and any fool can see that. Well, anyway, the thing is, there I’d be, going to chapel every week and praying to God to forgive what I’m doing, knowing all the time I was just gonna go out and do more of the same thing the next day. Father, any God worth his salt isn’t gonna buy that for a minute. It got to where I could almost hear him up there while I was praying: ‘Don’t hand me this crap again, Ehrhart. Just don’t bother me unless you’re serious.’ After awhile, every time I’d try to pray, there’d be that Voice.”

“God’s always ready to listen, son. He’s always been ready to comfort people like us, and he still is. I really don’t mean to preach a sermon at you, but you mustn’t let your own fear keep you from him.”

“Father, that’s not right. You can’t just say you’re sorry, and then go out and deliberately keep doing the same stuff over and over again. You got no business telling guys like me it’s O.K. to deal like that.”

“I’m not saying it’s O.K., Corporal Ehrhart, and I never have. I can’t presume to judge men. But you boys are as much a part of Jesus’ flock as anybody else. Maybe you’re the part he cares about most. Jesus broke bread with publicans and sinners, didn’t he? Can I do any less, and still be a priest?”

“Well, if you’re just here to look after us sheep, how come you got that?” I pointed to the M-16 Father Lyons held.

He looked down at the weapon and shook his head slowly. “I’d be happy not to have to carry one of these, and I hope I never have to use it,” he said, “but I’m afraid the VC don’t make exceptions for Catholic priests.”

“I understand that, sir, but that’s the point. You’ve got an excuse. Colonel Gravel’s got an excuse. General Westmoreland’s got an excuse. President Johnson’s got an excuse. I’m up to my earlobes in everybody’s excuses. Either you’re a Christian, or you’re not a Christian. There’s nothing ambiguous about ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ ”

“You’re right, of course,” said Father Lyons. “But it’s just not that simple. Nobody’s perfect, son. We’re all human beings. God made us in his image, and he knows we’re going to fall. That’s what Jesus Christ is all about.”

“That just don’t get it, Father. These guys believe in you. They trust you. You tell ’em they’re gonna be forgiven, and they just keep praying and shooting and praying and shooting, and thinking they’re gonna go to heaven. You think God gives a big rat’s ass about Communism and democracy and domino theories? I just hope to high heaven there ain’t any God, because we’re all in a whole lot of trouble if there is.”

“Corporal Ehrhart, have you ever thought about applying for a discharge as a conscientious objector?”

“Oh, no. No way. End up in Portsmouth Naval Prison for 20 years? I’ve got enough trouble as it is. I’ve got four more months to go in this cesspool, and then I’m outta here.”

“But if you’re really this troubled, maybe I can help you. I can talk to Colonel Gravel.”

“Listen, Father, you said I could talk straight with you, so I am. But this is just between you and me, and I’m trusting you to keep it to yourself. I’ve got a good record, and I want to keep it that way. It’s gonna be hard enough to live with myself for the rest of my life. And then get drummed out of the service on top of that? I’m not gonna hang that albatross around my neck. No, sir.”

Father Lyons sighed deeply. “Well, that’s your decision,” he said. “If you change your mind, let me know. But think about this, will you? Don’t let what men do in God’s name turn you away from God’s love. Just because we fail to live up to what God asks of us doesn’t mean he won’t forgive us. It’s God’s world, after all. He knows what we’re up against.”

“Well, that’s a heck of a way to send somebody to sea, isn’t it, sir? Knock a hole in the bottom of the lifeboat, and then tell ’em, ‘Do the best you can, folks. Good luck.’ ”

“I’m afraid I just can’t seem to find the right things to say to you, can I?”

“I guess not, sir. I’m sorry. Really — it’s nothing personal. You’re a nice man, Father.”

“I’m sorry, too, son,” said Father Lyons, his voice sounding very tired and lonely. “I just don’t have all the answers. God works in mysterious ways sometimes, I suppose. Let me know if you change your mind.”

But I did not change my mind. At that stage of my life, C.O. didn’t mean “conscientious objector.” It was only the first two letters of “coward.”

Later on that same operation, I lost my dog tags. When we got back to battalion, I had the company clerk make me a new set. On the line for religion, which originally read “UCC” for United Church of Christ, I had him put “None.”

I still have those dog tags. But I’ve spent 50 years wondering if and how my life would be different if I had had the courage to take Father Lyons up on his offer.

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

10) The Insanity of Taxpayer-Funded Addiction
By THE EDITORIAL BOARDNOV. 10, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/opioids-taxpayer-funded-addiction.html?action=
click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=
opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

The pharmaceutical industry was listed as one of the “Contributors to the Current Crisis” in the final report of President Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. The report cites decades of aggressive marketing and industry-sponsored physician “conferences” aimed at expanding opioid use by minimizing the dangers of addiction. Lawsuits by state attorneys general, counties and local jurisdictions allege that the industry fostered the epidemic by overpromoting its products, while raking in billions as Americans became addicted and overdosed. “To this day,” the commission says, “the opioid pharmaceutical industry influences the nation’s response to the crisis.”

It sure does. In its response to an epidemic that now kills 50,000 Americans a year, the Trump administration wants to spend tens of millions of dollars in part to help the industry responsible sell ostensibly nonaddictive pain medications and “abuse deterrent” opioids that are as addictive as the original opioids.

In a recent speech, President Trump praised a new public-private partnership involving the National Institutes of Health and pharmaceutical companies to develop nonaddictive painkillers and new treatments for addiction and overdoses. “I’ll be pushing the concept of nonaddictive painkillers very, very hard,” he promised . The N.I.H. says it hasn’t set a budget for its “public-private initiative” but spent roughly $600 million on research into pain and opioid use and abuse in 2016.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that prescribers avoid opioids for most chronic pain. Experts not affiliated with the pharmaceutical industry urge doctors to make greater use of over-the-counter analgesics and non-pharmacological pain relief methods like physical and spinal manipulative therapies, movement retraining and electrical stimulation.

In September, at a meeting in Trenton with more than a dozen pharmaceutical manufacturers to explore solutions to the crisis, the opioids commission’s chairman, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, saiddeveloping nonaddictive drugs was a priority. Among the companies he hosted was Purdue Pharma. In late October New Jersey’s attorney general joined 10 other states in suing Purdue, owned by the Sackler family, alleging that Purdue deceptively marketed its drug OxyContin as safe for long-term use. “The attorney general makes those judgments, not the governor,” Mr. Christie said.

Purdue executives call abuse-deterrent opioids, along with highly effective non-opioid pain products, the “holy grail” for the pharmaceutical industry.

“Abuse-deterrent is a marketing term used to mislead,” says Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, a pharmacology and physiology professor at Georgetown University who directs PharmedOut, a group that monitors pharmaceutical industry marketing efforts. “At least half of prescribers think that abuse-deterrent means less addictive.” It does not; abuse-deterrent pills are simply harder to crush or alter for injection or snorting. “It doesn’t prevent you from swallowing them, which is the most common way of abusing opioids,” Dr. Fugh-Berman said.

In an email, a Purdue spokesman cited support by the N.I.H., the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration for its approach, saying that along with other pharmaceutical companies and “stakeholders” the company believes that “abuse-deterrent technologies can be one of the many effective components of a multipart approach toward combating prescription opioid abuse, misuse and diversion.”

Purdue says it supports the C.D.C. guidelines, and its chief executive, Craig Landau, said in Trenton, “I firmly believe there are too many opioids prescribed in this country.” True. And Purdue owns a large share of the responsibility for that.

The N.I.H. began its public-private initiative this summer with a series of closed-door meetings with pharmaceutical companies and academics. An N.I.H. spokeswoman, Renate Myles, said the research would include work on non-pharmacological approaches, but “we need to develop new nonaddictive medications for pain. These medications can only be brought to market with the active participation of the pharmaceutical industry.”

Purdue participated in the N.I.H. initiative. In June, in response to a call for public comments, J. David Haddox, the company’s vice president for policy, sent a letter to the commission outlining Purdue’s proposed “policy options,” including recommending that the F.D.A. “convert” the opioid market to predominately abuse-deterrent formulations.

The commission’s report includes important recommendations like expanding Medicaid coverage for inpatient treatment; expanding treatment with buprenorphine, methadone and other medications, including some still being developed; establishing a national curriculum and standards for opioid prescribers; and expanding an alternative system of drug courts that encourage treatment. Those should be the immediate priorities, not channeling money for more meds to drug companies, from the pockets of Americans whose pain was the industry’s gain.

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

11) 30 Vaquita Porpoises Are Left. One Died in a Rescue Mission.
By LIVIA ALBECK-RIPKANOV. 11, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/climate/vaquita-porpoise-dies.html?rref=
collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=
stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

On a windy afternoon last weekend, Cynthia Smith was on a boat in the Gulf of California, searching for one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

Never before had a vaquita porpoise been successfully captured and cared for by humans. But Dr. Smith, a veterinarian with a group known as Vaquita CPR, knew that the porpoises — whose black-rimmed eyes and dark noses have earned them the moniker “panda of the sea” — were likely to disappear without human intervention. Scientists estimate there are fewer than 30 vaquitas left in the wild. It was a last resort.

When Dr. Smith and her team spotted a pair of porpoises, and managed to haul in the female, they were hopeful: the vaquita was calm, her vital signs promising. But soon after they moved her into a sea pen she began swimming too rapidly, then abruptly slowed down. By the time the veterinarians released the vaquita back into the wild, it was too late. “She was no longer breathing,” Dr. Smith said. “We just couldn’t bring her back.”

In the past five years, the vaquita population — which lives in only a sliver of water between Mexico’s mainland and Baja California — has plummeted by 90 percent. Humans are to blame, but they are not even hunting for the vaquitas themselves.

The animals, the world’s smallest porpoises, get tangled and drown in nets set illegally to catch another endangered species, a fish called the totoaba. The poachers’ bounty is an organ from the totoaba called the swim bladder, which is considered a delicacy and status symbol in China and can sell for up to $50,000 on the black market. It has been dubbed “aquatic cocaine.”

Mexico banned totoaba fishing in 1993, but it was only in 2015 — when vaquita numbers dwindled to about 100 — that the government also banned most gill nets, including those used for catching shrimp and other kinds of fish. The gill nets catch the totoaba, and also trap the vaquitas.

Fishermen are still allowed to use a different type of net, intended for catching corvina fish, that is not supposed to pose a threat to the vaquitas. But because the corvina and totoaba fishing seasons overlap, fishermen can hide the totoaba nets beneath the corvina nets on their boats, said Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, the director of Vaquita CPR. “You can use a corvina as a cover-up, and that’s what happened,” he said.

Most of the region’s fishermen, who have been out of work since the ban, poach totoaba swim bladders, which fetch $3,000 to $10,000 per kilogram, said Andrea Crosta, the director of a group that investigates the totoaba trade. An equivalent catch of shrimp might earn a fisherman $200 at best.

“If you’re out here on the water, you’re not risking jail time to catch shrimp,” said Dave Bader, a spokesman for Vaquita CPR.

After the death of the captured vaquita, the scientists agreed to shut down the program. “The evidence today is vaquita are not good candidates for being protected in this way,” Dr. Smith said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

The scientists had hoped to keep the animals in captivity temporarily, and possibly even breed them, until gill nets were eliminated from their habitat. While any wild animal is expected to experience some stress when captured, the group had hoped the vaquita could cope with being handled. (Last month, the scientists released a vaquita calf they had pulled from the waters when they determined it was too young to be separated from its mother.)

Other conservationists had been critical of the plan. “I was telling them that this was going to happen, you’re going to stress out the animals,” said Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd conservation group, which also works to protect vaquitas. “They are very elusive, they are very shy; you’re going to kill one of them.”

Mr. Crosta said that while he admired the work of the biologists, they couldn’t possibly solve a problem “that starts in San Felipe and ends in a shop in China.” The fate of the vaquita, he said, was “entirely in the hands of law enforcement.”

In the past two years, Sea Shepherd and local groups have recovered more than 25,000 yards of gill nets from the gulf, weighing about 50 tons. Now that efforts to capture the vaquitas have failed, conservationists say hauling in the poachers’ nets is the best bet to save the species from extinction.

The Mexican government, conservationists say, also needs to crack down on illegal fishing, while providing sustainable alternatives for the community. Financial compensation from the government often never makes it into the hands of the fishermen, diverted by corruption, Mr. Crosta said.

Local economies are an important consideration in conservation biology, Dr. Rojas-Bracho said. “You cannot save vaquita, and drive fishers to extinction.”

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

12) Did Airstrikes in Afghanistan Last Week Kill Civilians? U.S. and U.N. Disagree
By NAJIM RAHIM and ROD NORDLANDNOV. 10, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/world/asia/afghanistan-kunduz-airstrikes-civilian-deaths.html?rref=
collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=stream&module=
stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront

Afghans held a protest on Wednesday in the city of Kunduz in response to reports that recent American airstrikes in Kunduz Province caused civilian casualties. The American military insisted that only Taliban fighters were killed or wounded. Najim Raheem/European Pressphoto Agency

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — Mohammad Anas, a college student, sheltered with friends and relatives in a mosque as they listened, terrified, to the boom of American airstrikes pummeling Taliban positions near their village in northern Afghanistan on Nov. 3.

When the bombing subsided the next morning, the villagers came out and tried to return home, but Taliban insurgents ordered them to begin recovering the bodies of slain fighters.

Before they finished, Mr. Anas said, warplanes returned and bombed the group. When it was over, village elders say, 19 civilians were left dead and at least six others were wounded — including Mr. Anas, whose wounds were minor.

“Three of my friends were dead,” he said.

The United Nations confirmed the broad outlines of Mr. Anas’s account, saying at least 10 civilians were killed in airstrikes on Nov. 4 in Kunduz Province. But the American military in Afghanistan insists that the only dead or wounded were Taliban insurgents.

It was at least the fourth time in the past two years that airstrikes in the hotly contested area have led to controversy over whether civilians were killed.

For the residents of the village, Qatl-e Aam in the Chardara District, the episode has bitter irony.

In 1985, Soviet troops killed 650 residents, leaving only a handful alive. Residents renamed the village Qatl-e Aam, which means “massacre” in Dari.

“There were so many bodies we turned the whole village into a cemetery,” one survivor of the 1985 violence, Ghulam Nabi, 80, recalled.

Another survivor of that massacre was Faiz Mohammad, 53, who said he lost his 13-year-old son in last week’s airstrikes. “He had just finished learning the Holy Quran by heart,” Mr. Mohammad said.

The American military moved unusually quickly to release the results of its own internal investigation into the airstrikes, declaring on Tuesdaythat an “investigation was conducted independently and concluded that there were no civilian casualties.”

But the next day, Wednesday, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan took the unusual step of issuing a series of four posts on Twitter saying that its own investigation found that at least 10 civilians had been killed.

“Accounts indicate victims were civilians forced by AGE’s to retrieve bodies from earlier fighting,” the mission said on Twitter, referring to antigovernment elements, which in Kunduz usually means Taliban insurgents.

The United Nations’ account was similar to what a New York Times reporter in the area was told during interviews this week with local villagers from the vicinity around Qatl-e Aam. “The Taliban forced everyone in the morning to retrieve their bodies,” said one villager, Hajji Mahmoud, 69, who said he was wounded in the head and arm.

In a statement, the United States military said that “numerous enemy combatants were killed,” adding that its account was supported by the governor of Kunduz, Asadullah Omarkhel, and a Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Dawlat Waziri.

But less senior officials in the area gave divergent accounts. Nimatullah Timory, head of public awareness in Governor Omarkhel’s office, said that one civilian was killed and five civilians were wounded, although he added that the death occurred when the civilian tried to remove the body of a wounded Uzbek insurgent to hide evidence of foreign fighters’ working with the Taliban.

The American military claimed that particularly telling was its finding that “no hospitals or clinics in the local area indicated treatment of people with wounds from armed conflict.” But a Times reporter saw six wounded patients in the Kunduz Regional Hospital on Nov. 4 who said they were victims of the airstrikes.

Mr. Anas, the student, was among a group of 70 villagers who came to the city of Kunduz, the capital of the province, to protest outside the governor’s house on Wednesday. He displayed photographs on his cellphone that he said showed children who were victims. “The governor is sitting in his office and doesn’t know what is the real story,” he said. Elders from the village presented the governor with a list of 19 civilians they claimed had been killed, all men except for two children.

Asked about the divergent accounts, Liam McDowall, director of strategic communications for the United Nations mission, said, “The U.N. has over the past decade proved itself to be the most credible and reliable source for information about the devastating impact of the conflict on civilians in Afghanistan.”

“The U.N. in Afghanistan is, given its unsparing focus on safeguarding the lives of Afghan civilians, subject to regular criticism from all parties to the conflict,” Mr. McDowall added. “There is rarely an incident or a day when our work to protect lives through our impartial reporting is not challenged.”

He declined to elaborate.

An American military spokesman, Capt. Thomas R. Gresback of the Navy, said, “If there is additional credible evidence out there, we’re open to hearing about it, but to date no one has come forward with anything.”

The United States has stepped up airstrikes as part of President Trump’s new strategy in Afghanistan, with the Air Force reporting that it dropped 900 munitions in August and September this year, compared with only 260 in a similar period in 2016.

Airstrikes in Kunduz have been particularly numerous, with three earlier serious claims that they resulted in civilian casualties just in the past two years.

Those three earlier claims of civilian casualties came from airstrikes during the Obama administration.

The most serious was an attack on the Doctors Without Borders hospital in the city of Kunduz on Oct. 3, 2015, which killed 42 civilians, most of them patients and staff members in the hospital. After a lengthy investigation, the American military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., apologized, blaming human error, and 16 soldiers, one of them a special operations general, were disciplined.

In June 2016, also in the Chardara District where the airstrikes last Saturday occurred, Afghan officials and local residents claimed that American airstrikes on a Taliban prison killed 7 to 16 prisoners.

Last November, 33 civilians and two American soldiers were killed on the outskirts of the city of Kunduz, including many women and children. After a lengthy investigation, the American military admitted in January that 33 civilians had been killed but said that the Taliban had used civilian homes as cover.

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

13) Emergency Manager Resigns in Puerto Rico; Army Ends Its Mission
By FRANCES ROBLESNOV. 10, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/us/puerto-rico-emergency-manager.html?rref=
collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=
rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

Restoring power in Puerto Rico has been slow, and on Friday, Abner Gómez stepped down as the head of the island’s emergency management agency. Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo for The New York Times

SAN JUAN — The head of Puerto Rico’s emergency management agency resigned Friday, the same day that the Army general in charge of the military’s response to the hurricane announced that his mission on the island had ended.

The moves came as Puerto Rico tries to shift away from the emergency phase of its hurricane response, and just a day after a widespread power failure underscored the enormous challenges that remain. More than 2,000 people are still in shelters, and the power grid is operating at 41 percent capacity, 52 days after the storm.

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan arrived in Puerto Rico about a week after Hurricane Maria pummeled the island, in the midst of fierce criticism of the federal response. He quickly acknowledged that not enough federal troops were on the island and vowed to do more to help Puerto Rico.

On Friday, he said the federal government had distributed 51 million gallons of water and 20 million meals and had tended to 5,000 sick residents.

He said that the military’s missions, primarily clearing roads, attending to medical emergencies and helping restore communications, were complete. Other agencies, like the National Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency, would continue the work. Some military officials would remain on the island to wind down operations.

“FEMA is going to be here, very much for the long term and the rebuilding,” General Buchanan said. “We in the military generally don’t do that.”

Shortly afterward, the government announced that Abner Gómez, the commissioner of the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency, had resigned.

It was unclear whether Mr. Gómez’s resignation was an indication that the government had recognized a failure in its response to Hurricane Maria, or that he had simply lost influence at the agency. Mr. Gómez’s profile had diminished this year when the governor created a cabinet position over him. He had not been a visible figure since the storm and rarely appeared at news conferences.

In his resignation letter, Mr. Gómez acknowledged that the recovery had largely been assigned to someone else, so he was stepping down to let his new supervisor, the secretary of public safety, name his own team.

Mr. Gómez did not respond to requests for comment.

On Thursday, Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló asked his cabinet to sign undated letters of resignation. Mr. Rosselló has vowed to eliminate 100 agencies and many members of the cabinet are going to find themselves without jobs, he said.

“We had an emergency phase where practically all of us were sustaining lives,” he said. “We are now entering a recovery phase,” and for that, he said, he needs a more nimble government.

Oscar Ramiro, the head chef of a popular bakery in San Juan, said that Mr. Gómez was not the only official who had shown himself unable to address the destruction of Hurricane Maria. Others should also resign or be replaced, starting at the top, said Mr. Ramiro, who still has no power at his house in Rio Piedras, a San Juan neighborhood.

“He’s been pretty incompetent,” he said of Mr. Gómez. “The governor entrusted him with this responsibility, which means that ultimately, the problem is the governor.”

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

14) After a Nominator Is Denied Access, ‘1984’ Is Ineligible for Tonys
By MICHAEL PAULSONNOV. 10, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/theater/1984-ineligible-tony-awards-nominator-denied-access.html?rref=
collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fnyregion&action=click&contentCollection=nyregion&region=
stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=sectionfront

A scene from the play “1984,” which ran on Broadway but won’t be eligible for Tony Awards.Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

This year’s Broadway production of “1984” will be ineligible for Tony Awards because the production refused to allow the journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who is a member of the nominating committee, to see the play.

The play’s lead producer, Scott Rudin, did not explain why Mr. Vargas was denied access, and neither Mr. Rudin nor Mr. Vargas immediately offered any comment. Another lead producer, Sonia Friedman, said, “I don’t have a comment on the matter other than I am disappointed with the outcome.”

The Tony Awards administration committee made the unusual decision to disqualify “1984” during a meeting on Thursday. The awards rules require that producers invite all members of the Tony nominating committee — there are currently 49 — to a performance.

“It was determined that not all elements of the required eligibility were fulfilled,” the awards administrators said in a statement Friday. “Both the production and the committee have discussed the matter in private. While all parties involved do not necessarily agree on the outcome, all parties agree that the issue was handled properly.”

A Tonys spokeswoman would not confirm that Mr. Vargas was denied access to the play, but several theater industry leaders confirmed that he was the excluded nominator. Last season, his first as a Tony nominator, he recused himself from voting.

Mr. Vargas is a prominent immigration-rights advocate who in 2011, writing for The New York Times Magazine, acknowledged that he is an undocumented immigrant.

In 2010, he wrote criticallyabout “The Social Network,” a movie about the founding of Facebook co-produced by Mr. Rudin.

A spokesman for Mr. Rudin denied that the article — which described the movie as “a simplistic take on a complex character masquerading as an important film” — had anything to do with Mr. Vargas being denied access to see “1984,” but declined to offer further explanation.

The play, adapted and directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan from the novel by George Orwell, ran from May 18 to Oct. 8. Its cast included Tom Sturridge, Olivia Wilde and Reed Birney, a Tony winner for “The Humans.”

The show cost $4 million to mount, according to documents on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It opened to mixed reviews, and grossed $6.9 million over 21 weeks, playing to audiences that ranged from 57 percent to 90 percent full. In total, it was seen by 112,232 people, according to the Broadway League.

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

__._,_.___

Posted by: bonnieweinstein@yahoo.com

Reply via web post

•

Reply to sender

•

Reply to group

•

Start a New Topic

•

Messages in this topic (1)

Have you tried the highest rated email app?

With 4.5 stars in iTunes, the Yahoo Mail app is the highest rated email app on the market. What are you waiting for? Now you can access all your inboxes (Gmail, Outlook, AOL and more) in one place. Never delete an email again with 1000GB of free cloud storage.

VISIT YOUR GROUP

• Privacy • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

1 comment:

yanmaneee said...: lebron james shoes
air jordans
yeezy
supreme new york
stone island sale
yeezy shoes
adidas yeezy
canada goose outlet
jordan shoes
pandora charms; 8:39 AM

Saturday, November 11, 2017

BAUAW NEWSLETTER, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2017

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

A) EVENTS, ACTIONS AND ONGOING STRUGGLES

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

No More War! — Käthe Kollwitz

Please share with your networks

Averting U.S. War on North Korea: What Progressives Must Know and Do Now

Start: November 10, 2017• 7:00 PM

End: November 10, 2017• 9:00 PM

Location:First Congregational Church•2501 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA 94612

________________________________________________________________________________

Korea Peace Walk

Start: November 11, 2017• 1:00 PM

End: November 11, 2017• 4:00 PM

Location:Telegraph Ave•Route currently being finalized, Oakland, CA 94609

Host Contact Info: Paul Liem info@kpolicy.org

Korea Peace Walk through Historic Oakland Koreatown

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

Labor Studies and Radical History

4444 Geary Blvd., Suite 207, San Francisco, CA 94118

415.387.5700

http://www.holtlaborlibrary.org/mayday.html

Hours(call 415.387.5700 to be sure the library is open for the hours you are interested in. We close the library sometimes to go on errands or have close early) suggested)

7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed on all major holidays and May Day We can arrange, by request, to keep the library open longer during the day or open it on weekends. Just ask.

Services

Reference Librarian On-site Email and Telephone Reference Interlibrary Loan Online Public Access Catalog Microfilm Reader/Printer DVD and VCR players Photocopier Quiet well-lighted place for study and research For an appointment or further information, please email: david [at] holtlaborlibrary.org

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

Prison Radio UPDATE: Please sign this petition:

Judge Orders DA to Produce Complete File for Mumia's Case

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

FREE OUR BROTHERS Campaign to Stop Modern Day Slavery in Colorado, Demanding Equal Rights to the Under Represented http://freeourbrothers.com Petitioning Denver FBI & US Department of Justice

Stop Slavery in Colorado

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* *---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

Support: CONTRIBUTE Thank you for being a part of this struggle.Cuando luchamos ganamos! When we fight we win! Noelle Hanrahan, Director To give by check: PO Box 411074 San Francisco, CA 94141 Stock or legacy gifts: Noelle Hanrahan (415) 706 - 5222

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* *---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------* When they knock on your front door: Preparing for Repression

BAY AREA ANTI-REPRESSION COMMITTEE

Mothers Message to the NY/NJ Activist Community

In order to effectively combat the existing opportunism, hidden agendas and to better provide ALL genuinely good willed social justice organizations and individuals who work inside of the New York and New Jersey metropolitan areas... with more concrete guidelines;

The following "10 Point Platform and Justice Wish List" was adopted on Saturday, May 13, 2017 during the "Motherhood: Standing Strong 4 Justice" pre-mothers day gathering which was held at Hostos Community College - Bronx, New York.......

"What We Want, What We Need"

May, 2017 - NY/NJ Parents 10 Point Justice Platform and Wish List

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

http://www.freeleonard.org/case/

Defying the Tomb: Selected Prison Writings and Art of Kevin "Rashid" Johnson featuring exchanges with an Outlaw Kindle Edition

Laughing Monk Brewing

Seven Stills

San Francisco Mead Company

1180 Shafter Avenue; 415-819-4941; sfmead.com

Gratta Wines

Sequoia Sake

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

Hours

(call 415.387.5700 to be sure the library is open for the hours you are interested in. We close the library sometimes to go on errands or have close early) suggested)

7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed on all major holidays and May Day

We can arrange, by request, to keep the library open longer during the day or open it on weekends. Just ask.

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

Prison Radio UPDATE:

Please sign this petition:

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

FREE OUR BROTHERS

Campaign to Stop Modern Day Slavery in Colorado, Demanding Equal Rights to the Under Represented

http://freeourbrothers.com

Petitioning Denver FBI & US Department of Justice

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

Support:

CONTRIBUTE

Thank you for being a part of this struggle.

Cuando luchamos ganamos! When we fight we win!

Noelle Hanrahan, Director

To give by check:

PO Box 411074

San Francisco, CA

94141

Stock or legacy gifts:

Noelle Hanrahan

(415) 706 - 5222

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

When they knock on your front door: Preparing for Repression

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

------------------------------------------------------*

The corporate
tax rate there?