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People United for General Amnesty
We are here and we are not leaving!
We are working people who have left the best of our lives in the
soil of this country.
Don't let the politicians lie to us with the so-called Immigration
Reform Laws.
We want and demand a General Amnesty for All!
Let's March Together
Monday, April 10, 2006
5:00 p.m. assemble at 16th and Mission Streets
March to the Rally at 24th and Mission Streets at 6:00 p.m.
For More Information:
Companeros Del Barrio
415-431-9925
BARRIO UNIDO POR UNA AMNISTIA GENERAL
AQUI ESTAMOS Y NO NOS VAMOS!
Somos trabajadores, estamos dejando lo mejor de nosostros en este
pais.
No nos dejemos enganar por los politicos y sus llamadas
Reformas Migratorias.
Queremos y demandamos una AMNISTIA GENERAL, para todos.
UNETE A LA MARCHA!
FECHA: 10 DE ABRIL
DONDE: 16th AND MISSION STREETS
HORA: 5:00 P.M.
MARCHAREMOS HASTA EL LUGAR DE CONCENTRACION:
24TH AND MISSION STREETS AT 6:00 P.M.
Mayor Informacion llamar a COMPANEROS DEL BARRIO,
415-431-9925
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NEXT MEETING OF THE MOBILIZATION TO FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 2006, 12:00 NOON
Centro del Pueblo
474 Valencia St., S.F
(Near 16th Street BART)
JOIN US TO HELP CELEBRATE MUMIA'S BIRTHDAY!
Mumia's Been Fast-Tracted! FREE MUMIA!
Saturday, April 22, 3-5:30 p.m.
West Oakland Public Library
1801 Adeline St. at 18th
Speakers:
Jack Heyman, ILWU Local 10; Mel Mason, Seasice CA NAACP, former
Black Panther; Pierre Labossiere, Haiti Action; Yuri Kochiyama, Friend
of Malcolm X and long time Mumia supporter; Cristina Gutierrez,
Co-Founder, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Bay Area United
Against War. (Organizations for identification purposes only.)
Legal Update: Leigh Fleming, Associate of Robert R. Bryan, lead counsel
for Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Moderator: Gerald Smith, Copwatch and former Black Panther
Video: 1999 West Coast Longshore Port Shutdown to Free Mumia
Donations to benefit Mumia's legal defense.
Sponsored by: Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
and The Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
Info: 510-763-2347
The Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
P.O. Box 16222, Oakland, CA 94610, www.laboractionmumia.org
(The Oakland Public Library does not advocate or endorse viewpoints
of meetings or meeting-room users.)
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REMINDER TO ALL GROUPS: BE SURE AND POST ALL ACTIONS AND
EVENTS TO WWW.INDYBAY.ORG TO REACH THE MOST PEOPLE
AGAINST THE WAR IN THE BAY AREA!
http://www.indybay.org
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Flash Film: Ides of March
http://isahaqi.chris-floyd.com/
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NO BORDERS! NO WALLS! NO FENCES! AMNESTY FOR ALL!
OUR HOMELAND IS WHERE WE LIVE!
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QUICKVOTE
Do you agree with Charlie Sheen that the U.S. government
covered up the real events of the 9/11 attacks?
[So far it's running 83 percent in agreement.]
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/showbiz.tonight/
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REPEAL THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT IN 2007!
Check out: 10 EXCELLENT REASONS NOT TO JOIN THE MILITARY
http://www.10reasonsbook.com/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
REPORT ON BOARD OF EDUCATION'S APPROVAL OF:
EQUAL ACCESS FOR RECRUITERS BOARD OF EDUCATION
POLICY (62-14Sp1)
Commissioner Eric Mar voted against this resolution
at the March 28 Board of Education meeting. We, who spoke
against it were applauded with enthusiasm by the parents
and teachers who were at the meeting. Some even spoke
against it from their own experiences. One had a daughter
in JROTC and she asked the military representatives why
they don't show the returning veterans who have lost their
legs or parts of their brains?
I wrote the following letter to Eric Mar and sent copies to
the other Board members. I didn't get to hear how everyone
of them voted so others might have voted against it as well
but the room was full of pre-school kids because there was
a childcare issue on the agenda. It was noisy but it was
beautiful to see their parents respond against approval
of the policy.
Here's my letter to Eric Mar:
Dear Eric,
Thank you so much for taking such a strong stand last
evening and voting against the Equal Access for Recruiters
Board of Education Policy (62-14Sp1). Naturally, I am very
disappointed that it passed. And I am dismayed at the way
Board members, who I know are opposed to the war, voted
on this issue. (I didn't catch how everyone voted. I hope
it will be posted somewhere.)
I am particularly concerned about the restrictions on protests
outside the schools--a restriction that is unconstitutional--
and on the lack of clarity about the equal access to students
by antiwar counter-recruiters.
During the Proposition I campaign this past fall, on the
first day of school, we passed out flyers outside of George
Washington High School. About six of us came early in the
morning, set up a table with buttons and flyers, etc. and
tried to reach as many students as possible with brochures
advocating a yes vote on Prop. I.
When parents drove up with their children we politely
offered them a brochure. Most gladly took them. We did
not use sound or loud voices, we did not block the front
entrance at all, nor did we force any brochure on any
student or parent. Yet, the Principal and Vice Principal
came out with the security guard and told us we were
"disrupting" the school by handing out the brochures.
They called the police. I expressed to them and the police
that we were doing nothing illegal and that we had every
right to stand out here quietly and offer our information
to whoever was interested. The police left because that
is the truth. I am very disturbed by the addition of the
prohibition of "activity" outside of the school within
a block of the entrance.
Clearly it may become school policy to prohibit activity
in front of the school but it is unconstitutional to prohibit
the distribution of material as long as all laws are being
observed. It will not stop us from trying to reach students
and parents to let them know that the military will now be
on school grounds on a regular basis.
I am very unclear as to whether antiwar counter-recruiters
will also be allowed on school grounds on an equal basis?
That was not clarified. There are Career Fairs coming up
very soon and we have material we have to gather to inform
students of alternatives to military service and of career
choices instead of the military.
And, there is still the problem of JROTC--the military's
prime recruitment tool--entrenched in the district. It has
to stop and we have to get enough Physical Education
classes to go around and save the district a million dollars
in the bargain (it's share of the Phys. Ed./JROTC deal.
My figure could be wrong but I thought it was around one
million from the district and one million from the Army
[a million to it's own program] to fund JROTC in lieu of
Phys. Ed. Classes that don't exist and that students need.)
It is also unclear how the community--the parents, families,
friends of school children--are going to know when the
military will be coming to their local school?
The parents have the right to know that their children are
being put in contact with the military against their wishes.
In fact, there are some school districts that prohibit students
who have chosen to "opt out" from coming in contact with
the military recruiters when they are there. Perhaps this
can be added to the policy. In addition, perhaps a sign
could be posted outside of the front door of the school
notifying the local community of the schedule of military
visits to the school at least a month ahead of time.
The schools have a basic obligation to respect the wishes
of the parents who have "opted out" of having that "career
choice" offered to their children. That is the whole sense
of "opting out." The military should be kept away from
those children. Perhaps the military should be assigned
a room and only those children who have "opted in"
be allowed to attend.
I did have trouble hearing a lot of what was being said
by Board members. I was in the last row in the back
with the preschoolers so, as I said, I did not catch how
everyone voted. (To all those who voted No, we thank you.)
We were sitting with a parent of an eleven-year-old in
the SFUSD who thought that by passage of the ballot
initiative, Proposition I, this issue was over and the
schools were finally rid of the military.
This new policy has brought us to a rude awakening.
It seems we won't get rid of the military any time soon--
at least until 2007 when No Child Left Behind will come
before Congress again and we can defeat it. But we can
educate our children in these matters and take a stand
with them and their parents against war, against No Child
Left Behind and against the militarization of our schools.
There seems to be no end in sight to U.S. Imperial military
involvement throughout the world or to their fantastic,
trillion-dollar budget that starves all other social necessities
including our schools. This means it is up to us, the people,
to say no to military service and no to war as a means
to solving the world's problems.
If no one joins they can't fight a war. That would be a truly
democratic expression of the will of the people.
I hope we can work together to change this policy and
make our schools "military free zones."
In solidarity,
Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War, www.bauaw.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Public Law print of PL 107-110, the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001 [1.8 MB]
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html
Also, the law is up before Congress again in 2007.
See this article from USA Today:
Bipartisan panel to study No Child Left Behind
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
February 13, 2006
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-02-13-education-panel_x.htm
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FILM SHOWING:
"Sir! No Sir!"
April 6 Benefit for Iraq Vets Against the War
Runs in SF at the Red Vic April 7-13th
PLEASE FORWARD FAR AND WIDE TO ALL YOUR
LISTS in San Francisco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Greetings all,
I hope you'll come out to see this amazing and
important film! It is the untold story of the GI
movement to end the war in Vietnam and tells a
part of history that has been forgotten, about
the conscientious objectors, underground
newspapers and coffee houses, of those who
resisted in many ways. It is a powerful glimpse
of both history and of the present and
future. In addition to meeting vets featured in
the film and modern day resisters on April 6th,
there will also be talks featuring these folks,
the director David Zeiger, and members of Bay
Area peace groups after all the screenings during
the week run at the Red Vic April
7-13th!! Finally, we need your help and support
to get the word out in NYC where the film will be
at the IFC for a week April 19-26th. There are
some 30 cities around the nation that are waiting
to see how the film does in NY. If news of this
movement is to reach the heartland of the USA we
MUST sell out all the shows in NYC. If you or
someone you know has contacts in NYC please email
celia@riseup.net for an email blast about the NYC screenings!
Peace,
Celia Alario
celia@riseup.net
310-721-6517
Global Exchange presents
Special Oakland Preview Screening of the film
Sir, No Sir!
A Benefit for Iraq Vets Against the War
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary
at the Los Angeles Film Festival &
Best Documentary Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival
Thursday April 6th at 7:00pm
Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Avenue in Oakland
(Closest BART: MacArthur or 19th Street Station)
Celebrate Soldiers' Resistance from Vietnam to Iraq
Film, Music, Spoken Word, Community
Aimee Allison, Army Conscientious Objector
Pablo Paredes, Iraq War Resister
David Zeiger, Director of the Film
Vietnam Veterans from the Film
Advance tickets $8, $10 at the door
For Tickets call 415-255-7296 x244
Presented in partnership with:
Global Exchange, Courage to Resist, Not Your
Soldier, Leave My Child Alone, Not in Our Name,
Ruckus Society, Art in Action, Central Committee
for Conscientious Objectors, Veterans for Peace, Codepink
"A penetrating eye-opener of a documentary."
-The Hollywood Reporter
"Bolstered by proud memories of Vietnam vets
who turned against the war, Sir! No Sir! rings
with an exultant, even elated tone."
-Variety
Check out the trailer at www.sirnosir.com and
contact celia @ riseup.net for posters, postcards
and flyers to help promote this event!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
FROM PROTEST TO RESISTANCE
Regional Student Antiwar Conferences
Sponsored by the Campus Antiwar Network
WEST
Students and Educators to Stop the War Conference
San Francisco, CA
Mission High School
April 22
contact: tigger482@gmail.com
http://campusantiwar.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=149&Itemid=34
http://www.campusantiwar.net/
Recently the US government has stepped up its bombing campaign
in Samara to the highest level of intensity since the onset of the war.
Even though public support has turned against the war and active
resistance has begun in many sectors of the country and in the
military, the movement is not at the necessary organizational
levels to attain a complete withdrawal of American forces from
the Middle East. Meanwhile, large demonstrations are being
planned in cities across the country in April. This comes at
a time when many politicians, Democrat and Republican, are
supporting policies of “re-deployment” or outright military
action against Iran.
Students are becoming organized and have been making great
strides in fighting recruitment, fostering debate, and
demonstrating for civil liberties. At this crucial time in the
antiwar movement it is essential that a unified student front
emerge to fight campus repression and to end the war.
Real strategies for active resistance need to be developed
to motivate the overwhelming public support into viable
solutions.
Campus Antiwar Network is establishing regional conferences
to develop the true student power needed to breakdown the
military machine that has relentlessly torn several countries
asunder. Workshops will look at concrete steps to end the war.
Anyone is welcome to attend and campuses are encouraged
to send as many people as they can. With the spirit of grassroots
democratic action, we can truly set in motion the catalyst to change.
MIDWEST
Chicago, IL
University of Illinois Chicago
April 22
contact: schwartz2020@gmail.com
mailto:schwartz2020@gmail.com
NORTHEAST
New York City, NY
April 29 & 30
(to coincide with the April 29 protest in New
York City to bring all the troops home now)
contact: monkeywithsoda@hotmail.com
SOUTH
location and date to be announced
contact: originalman777@aol.com
For more information, contact the people above or visit:
http://www.campusantiwar.net/
###
Charles Jenks
Chair of Advisory Board and Web Manager
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-7427
fax 413-773-7507
http://www.traprockpeace.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
END THE WAR IN IRAQ! BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
End the War at Home! Money for Human Needs, Jobs, Education,
Healthcare, and Hurricane Disaster Relief, Not War! No U.S. Wars and
Occupations from Palestine to Haiti, from Afghanistan to Cuba,
from Iran to Venezuela!
The STOP THE WAR NOW! COALITION Invites all those who agree
with the above perspective to join us at the:
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EDUCATION AND ORGANIZING
CONFERENCE TO STOP THE WAR IN IRAQ
SATURDAY, MAY 13, 9:00 A.M. TO 9:00 P.M.
(Including evening entertainment and rally)
LANEY COLLEGE
OAKLAND, CA
10TH AND FALLON STS. (LAKE MERRIT BART)
WE ARE THE MAJORITY!
In the U.S. today there is a major gap between the rapidly growing
antiwar consciousness of the U.S. population and the dramatic
decline of support for the U.S. war in Iraq, on the one hand, and
the organizational framework to mobilize ever-widening and broad
sectors of society against this war. This is particularly glaring on the
West Coast.
The growing opposition to the war is evidenced by the massive response
to the courageous actions of Cindy Sheehan, the growth of groups like
Gold Star Mothers for Peace and Military Families Speak Out, Iraq veterans'
organizations, the formation of U.S. Labor Against the War, the massive
demonstration of 300,000 in Washington D.C. on September 24, the
open debate in Congress, the increasing number of soldiers who lose
their lives for corporate profit and empire, the exposure of the lies
that were employed to justify the war and the subordination of many
social programs (like the immediate and critical relief necessitated
by Hurricane Katrina) to ever increasing military spending. All of the
above takes place against the backdrop of increasing attacks on basic
civil liberties and civil rights, union busting and broadside attacks
on social gains that were won decades ago, including pensions and
healthcare.
The above fives us great confidence that a far wider social and
political spectrum of society are opposed to the Iraq War and can
be engaged in ongoing educational activities as well as massive
mobilizations against it. What is needed most of all is a broad,
independent united-front perspective and an open and democratic
organizational form that is capable of filling the present void.
For list of endorsers, and information on registration fees, agenda,
workshops, etc. visit:
www.stopthewarnowcoalition.org
415-647-8796, 650-326-8837 or 510-451-1422
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SCROLL DOWN TO READ:
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
ARTICLES IN FULL
LINKS ONLY
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EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Power in Eden:
Emergence of Gender Hierarchies
in the Ancient World
With Bruce Lerro
4 Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 March 19th, 26th, April 2nd, April 9th
Marxist Library 6501 Telegraph (cross-street Alcatraz)
-How Relevant is Engels' Origin of the Family,
Private Property and the State in the light of over one-hundred
years of anthropology and archeology?
-To what extent was "primitive communism" egalitarian
in terms of gender relations?
-When in history does individualism start? Is it a product
of capitalism or does it go back further?
-Agricultural State Civilizations (The Asiatic Mode
of Production) were the most oppressive to women in history.
Why was there no women's movement in the ancient world?
Bruce Lerro has been teaching and writing about the origins
of class and gender inequalities for the past fifteen years.
He has lectured at New College of California and teaches
regularly at Golden Gate University, Dominican University,
John F. Kennedy University and Diablo Valley College.
He is the author of Power in Eden: Emergence of Gender
Hierarchies in the Ancient World, Trafford Press, 2005.
Format
Initial Talk˘broadly discussing all four questions
Part I˘In Depth Reading and Discussion of each of the
Four Questions
Part II √Optional˘In Depth Reading and Discussion of Other
Chapters in the text.
This will be determined by Bruce and the class participants
Pedagogy
The initial talk will be a lecture with brief discussion
at the end of each question
For all four classes in part one there will be assigned
readings during the week and each class will be
a discussion of the readings. We will discuss clarification
as well as substantive questions each week.
There will be no lecture.
Required Reading: Power in Eden: Emergence
of Gender Hierarchies in the Ancient World
My Approach
I consider myself a Marxist-materialist and I believe
that the Marxian tradition must be informed and
enriched by over one hundred years of research.
I consider Marxism a method rather than a scholastic dogma.
What You May Learn
-The process of female subordination was a very gradual
and had super-structural and psychological components
as well as economic
-Engels was right about some things and wrong about others
-A provocative stage theory about how male dominance originated
-There are well-researched conditions under which women
will or will not be likely to rebel
......................................................................
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL TEXAS PEACE MARCH, ENDORSED
BY CINDY SHEEHAN, HOWARD ZINN,
TO ALSO CALL ON EXXONMOBIL TO
“RETURN” $7 BILLION IN WAR PROFITS
(A two-week march to the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas,
starting April 1, that will call for an end to the Iraq War and
immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq)
Contacts - March info: Valley Reed valley.reed@earthlink.net
ExxonMobil info: Nick Mottern nickmottern@earthlink.net
http://www.marchtoredeem.org
http://www.consumersforpeace.org
A two-week march to the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas,
starting April 1, that will call for an end to the Iraq War and
immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq - endorsed
by peace worker Cindy Sheehan and historian Howard Zinn -
will also call on ExxonMobil Corporation to spend $7 billion
of its record $36 billion 2005 profit to alleviate war suffering
and to compensate thousands more who have documented
harm from its operations.
Ms. Sheehan and Mr. Zinn are among a list of endorsers
of the march that includes: independent journalist Dahr Jamail;
Nobel Peace Prize nominee Kathy Kelly; Michael Letwin,
co-convener of New York City Labor Against the War; author
Norman Solomon; Sundiata Xian Tellem, co-chair of the Green
Party of the U.S. Black Caucus; David Swanson, co-founder
of AfterDowningStreet.org; Tim Carpenter, National Director
of Progressive Democrats of America; and Global Exchange.
The march is being organized by the Dallas Peace Center,
Peace Action Texas, Crawford Peace House, ConsumersforPeace.org
and is endorsed also by the Southern Christian Leadership Council
and the Dallas NAACP. (A complete list of endorsers appears below.)
The call for ExxonMobil to spend $7 billion on meeting war-
related and business-related human needs is based on the
increasingly widely-held view that the conditions created by
the Iraq War have contributed significantly to the dramatic
profits of ExxonMobil and other major oil companies since
the occupation began in 2003. For example, Nobel Prize-
winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and colleague, Linda Blimes,
writing on the cost of the Iraq War, note that the war has had
a major inflationary impact on oil prices, which in turn, has
meant that “Profits of oil companies have increased enormously.”
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and
Policy Research, responding to an inquiry from
ConsumersforPeace.org, estimates that as much as 20
percent of ExxonMobil’s record $36 billion 2005 profit,
or about $7 billion, is “a ball park number” for what can
be considered war profits for the oil giant. This is an estimate
of the amount of profit that is essentially unearned and is
traceable to oil prices that have been inflated because
(1) the Iraq War has severely depressed Iraq oil production,
and (2) there are fears that the Iraq War may spread, possibly
affecting oil production in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
ConsumersforPeace.org is promoting the ExxonMobil War
Boycott, which seeks immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces
and mercenaries from Iraq, reparations for Iraq, impeachment
of George W. Bush and prosecution of U.S. officials for war
crimes and crimes against humanity in Iraq.
“ExxonMobil has made at least $7 billion extra in 2005 because
of the invasion and occupation of Iraq,” said Nick Mottern,
director of ConsumersforPeace.org. “This is unearned money,
taken from consumers, and it needs to be returned to society,”
he continued. “We propose that ExxonMobil write checks
to private organizations for relief in Iraq, for war-related
injuries of U.S. veterans and to compensate people in the U.S.
and elsewhere who have been harmed by ExxonMobil operations.”
The beneficiaries would include residents of Beaumont and Baytown,
Texas, living near ExxonMobil refineries who have experienced severe
health problems, according to Mottern.
ConsumersforPeace.org is developing a list of potential
recipients for the $7 billion.
“War profiteering is unacceptable in any war,” said Mottern, “and
it is particularly despicable when it is done by the nation’s largest
oil company during an illegal war that has so much suffering and
has so much to do with oil.”
On April 4, in Waxahachie, Texas, the march will commemorate
the 38th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. This is also the date in 2004 when Ms. Sheehan’s son
was killed in Iraq; his body was returned to her on Palm Sunday.
MARCH SCHEDULE
April 1 - 10 a.m. Press conference at ExxonMobil headquarters
in Irving, Texas, then march to the Trinity River.
A partial list of those appearing at the press conference:
Texas Rep. Lon Burnham
Dallas civil rights leader Rev. Peter Johnson
Rev. Roy Malveaux, Beaumont, Texas
Valley Reed, chief organizer, March to Redeem Campaign
Maureen Haver, Jumpstart Ford Campaign
Nick Mottern, Director, ConsumersforPeace.org
April 2 - 2:30 p.m. Press conference in front of Dallas County
Courthouse and Jail, then take DART to Dallas VA Hospital.
4:30 p.m. Rally at Dallas VA Hospital.
April 3 - 10 a.m. March south to Red Oak.
April 4 - 10 a.m. March south to Waxahachie.
7 p.m. Vigil in Waxahachie commenrating the
assassination of Dr. King.
April 5 - 10 a.m. March south to Italy.
April 6 - 10 a.m. March south to Carl’s Corner.
8 p.m. Performances by musicians and dancers.
April 7 - 10 a.m. March south to Hillsboro,
then southwest to Aquilla Lake.
April 8 - 10 a.m. March to Aquilla.
April 9 - 10 a.m. March to Gholson.
April 10 -10 a.m. March to Lacy Lake View.
April 11 -10 a.m. March to Waco.
April 12 -10 a.m. March to Waco Lake.
April 13 -10 a.m. March to Crawford for the celebration
of the 3rd Anniversary of the founding of the
Crawford Peace House.
ENDORSERS
After Downing Street
Annie and Buddy Spell, Louisiana peace activists
(Annie is president of the Greater Covington, LA branch of the NAACP.)
Anthony Arnove, author - “Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal”;
co-editor with Howard Zinn - “Voices of a People’s History of the U.S.”
Arden Buck, Mountain Forum for Peace, Nederland, CO
Beth K. Lamont, Humanist Chaplain, NGO Rep. to the United
Nations for the American Humanist Society.
Bloomington Peace Action Coalition (Indiana)
Campus Antiwar Network
Charles Jenks, Chair, Advisory Board, Traprock Peace Center,
Deerfield, MA
Cindy Sheehan, Co-founder, Gold Star Families for Peace
Coalition Against War and Injustice (Baton Rouge)
Consumers for Peace
Covington Peace Project (Louisiana)
Crawford Peace House
Dahr Jamail, independent journalist who spent over 8 months
reporting from occupied Iraq
Dallas County Young Democrats
Dallas NAACP
Dallas Peace Center
Democrats.com
David Swanson, Co-founder, AfterDowningStreet.org
Dennis Kyne, Gulf War veteran, activist and author of
“Support the Truth”
Dirk Adriaensens, Coordinator, SOS Iraq and member
of the Executive Committee of the Brussells Tribunal, Belgium
Don Debar, correspondent, WBAI, New York, NY
Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, National Coordinating Committee
- Campus Antiwar Network
Eric Ruder, reporter, Socialist Worker newspaper
Gabriele Zamparini, freelance journalist and film maker
living in London; co-editor of thecatsdream.com
Global Exchange
Goldstar Families for Peace
Howard Zinn, historian, playwright and activist; author
of “A People’s History of the United States” and co-editor
with Anthony Arnove of “Voices of a People’s History of the U.S.”
International Socialist Organization
Jacob Flowers, Director, MidSouth Peace and Justice Center
Judy Linehan, Military Families Speak Out
Jumpstart Ford Campaign, a joint effort of Global Exchange,
the Rainforest Action Network and the Ruckus Society
Kathy Kelly, Nobel Peace Prize nominee; Co-founder
Voices for Creative Non-Violence
Karen Burke, Campus Antiwar Movement to End the
Occupation, Austin, TX
Karen Hadden, Seed Coalition, Austin, TX
Lindsey German, Convener, Stop the War Coalition (UK)
Michael Letwin, Co-convener, New York City Labor Against the War
Mid-South Peace and Justice Center (Memphis)
Mike Corwin, International Socialist Organization, Austin, TX
Nick Mottern, Director, ConsumersforPeace.org
Nada Khader, Executive Director, WESPAC Foundation,
White Plains, NY
Norman Solomon, author of “War Made Easy: How Presidents
and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death”
Paola Pisi, professor of religious studies (Italy) and editor of uruknet.info
Phil Gasper, Chair, Department of Philosophy & Religion,
Nortre Dame de Namur University; Professors for Peace
Progressive Democrats of America
Sharon Smith, author of “Women and Socialism: Essays
on Women’s Liberation”
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Sonya Sofia, Rainbow organization
Stan Goff, Master sergeant, retired, U.S. Army
Sundiata Xian Tellem, Co-chair, Green Party of the United States
Black Caucus; former chair, Green Party of Dallas County
Sunny Miller, Executive Director, Traprock Peace Center, Deerfield, MA
Texans for Peace
Traprock Peace Center (Massachusetts)
Thomas F. Barton, Publisher, GI Special
Tim Baer, Director, Bloomington Peace Action Coalition
Tim Carpenter, National Director, Progressive Democrats of America
Valley Reed, Chief organizer, March to Redeem Campaign
Ward Reilly, SE National Contact, Vietnam Veterans Against the
War; Veterans for Peace, Baton Rouge, LA
Wespac Foundation
Affiliations are for identification purposes only.
- 30 -
Charles Jenks
Chair of Advisory Board and Web Manager
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-7427
fax 413-773-7507
http://www.traprockpeace.org
....................................................
SOLIDARITY NOW CONFERENCE
April 7-9, 2006
Quality Inn (Located On US 31)
Kokomo, Indiana 46902
Meeting Introductions 7:ooPM Friday
Saturday & Sunday Begin With Registration At 8:00AM
Working people are under attack as never before. The institutions on
which workers have depended?the Democratic Party and the unions have
utterly failed to defend us. Democratic as well as Republican
politicians support the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act, savage cuts in
social programs, outsourcing jobs, attacking public education,
rewriting bankruptcy laws to benefit credit card companies. Union
officials work with corporations to cut wages, rob retirees of their
pensions, impose wage tiers, cut health care. They replace worker
solidarity with worker-against-worker Company Teams. They support the
war-makers in DC.
Meanwhile most working people, blue-collar and white-collar, employed
and unemployed, remain unorganized and largely defenseless.
The politicians and the unions are part of the problem. We cannot rely
on them and we cannot change them. We have to go around them, to create
institutions that we control to fight for the values, the livelihoods,
the future of working people.
SOLIDARITY NOW is a new organization formed in Peoria, IL in 2005. Our
goals are to rebuild the culture of mutual support that is natural to
working people, to fight for the goals of working people, and to build
a movement for democratic revolution.
If you are an auto worker, a teacher, a nurse, a student, a professor,
work in an office or school or hospital or university, are employed or
unemployed, working or retired, we invite you to join Solidarity Now
and to join us in Kokomo for our National Meeting.
To be assured of a room, please make your reservations now at the
Quality Inn, Kokomo, IN (765-459-8001). Tell them you are with
Solidarity Now. Rooms are $58 per night, single or double, breakfast
included. Please let Tino Scalici (tinoscalici@msn.com) or Dave
Stratman (newdem@aol.com) know if you would like to join Solidarity Now
or if you plan to attend the meeting.
(For more info on Solidarity Now, please see our web site at
solidaritynow.com.)
We are still negotiating the cost of the conference rooms. We will
either take up a collection or charge a small conference fee to cover
the costs. The meeting will be an all day event.
Future of the Union Mailing List
http://futureoftheunion.com/mailman/listinfo/news_futureoftheunion.com
......................................................................
Major Mobilization Set for April 29th
Dear Friends,
We are pleased to announce the kick-off for the organizing
of what promises to be a major national mobilization on
Saturday, April 29th. Today, each of the initiating groups
(see list below) is announcing this mobilization. Our
organizations have agreed to work together on this
project for several reasons:
The April 29th mobilization will highlight our call for an
immediate end to the war on Iraq. We are also raising
several other critical issues that are directly connected
to one another.
It is time for our constituencies to work more closely:
connecting the issues we work on by bringing diverse
communities into a common project.
It is important for our movements to help set the agenda
for the Congressional elections later in the year. Our
unified action in the streets is a vital part of that process.
Please share the April 29th call widely, and please use
the links at the end of the call to endorse this timely
mobilization and to sign up for email updates.
April 29th Initiating Organizations
United for Peace and Justice
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
National Organization for Women
Friends of the Earth
U.S. Labor Against the War
Climate Crisis Coalition
Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund
National Youth and Student Peace Coalition
A war based on lies
Spying, corruption and attacks on civil liberties
Katrina survivors abandoned by government
MARCH FOR PEACE,
JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY
End the war in Iraq -
Bring all our troops home now!
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2006
NEW YORK CITY
Unite for change - let's turn our country around!
The times are urgent and we must act.
Too much is too wrong in this country. We have a foreign
policy that is foreign to our core values, and domestic
policies wreaking havoc at home. It's time for a change.
No more never-ending oil wars!
Protect our civil liberties & immigrant rights. End illegal
spying, government corruption and the subversion of
our democracy.
Rebuild our communities, starting with the Gulf Coast.
Stop corporate subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy
while ignoring our basic needs.
Act quickly to address the climate crisis and the
accelerating destruction of our environment.
Our message to the White House and to Congress
is clear: either stand with us or stand aside!
We are coming together to march, to vote, to speak
out and to turn our country around!
Join us in New York City on Saturday, April 29th
Click here to endorse this mobilization:
http://unitedforpeace.org/modinput4.php?modin=119
Click here to sign up for email updates on plans for April 29th:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email
April 29th Initiating Organizations
United for Peace and Justice
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
National Organization for Women
Friends of the Earth
U.S. Labor Against the War
Climate Crisis Coalition
Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund
National Youth and Student Peace Coalition
......................................................................
ANSWER Coalition: All Out for April 29 in New York City!
End Occupation from Iraq to Palestine, to Haiti, and Everywhere!
Fight for workers rights, civil rights and civil liberties - unite
against racism!
300,000 Came to Washington on Sept. 24
In recent weeks the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has been in the final
stages for planning a national demonstration in Washington DC on April
29, 2006. This action was to follow the local and regional
demonstrations for March 18-19 and youth and student actions scheduled
on March 20 on the 3rd anniversary of the criminal bombing, invasion
and occupation of Iraq.
On September 24, 2005 more than 300,000 people surrounded the White
House in the largest mobilization against the Iraq war and occupation
since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. This demonstration was
initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition in May 2005 and we urged a
united front with other major anti-war coalitions and communities. We
marched demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Iraq. We
also stood in solidarity with the Palestinian and Haitian people and
others who are suffering under and resisting occupation. Coming as it
did following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we changed the demands of
the September 24 protest to include the slogan "From Iraq to New
Orleans, FundPeople's Needs not the War Machine."
During the past several years, and as demonstrated in a powerful
display on September 24, the anti-war movement has grown significantly
in its breadth and depth as the leadership has included the Arab and
Muslim community -- those who are among the primary targets of the
Bush Administration's current war at home and abroad.
The anti-war sentiment inside the United States is rapidly becoming a
significant obstacle to the Bush Administration's war in Iraq. The
anti-war movement has the potential to be a critical deterrent to the
U.S. government's aspirations for Empire. At this moment the White
House and Pentagon are issuing threats and making plans to move
against other sovereign countries. Iran and Syria are being targeted
as the U.S. seeks to consolidate power in the Middle East.
Simultaneously the Bush administration is working to undermine the
gains of the people of Latin America by working totopple the
democratically elected president of Venezuela and destroy the
revolutionary process for social change going on in that country.
Likewise it is intensifying the economic war and CIA subversions
against Cuba.
We believe that our movement must weld together the broadest, most
diverse coalition of various sectors and communities into an effective
force for change. This requires the inclusion of targeted communities
and political clarity. The war in Iraq is not simply an aberrational
policy of the Bush neo-conservatives. Iraq is emblematic of a larger
war for Empire. It is part of a multi-pronged attack against all those
countries that refuse to follow the economic, political and military
dictates of the Washington establishment and Wall Street.
This is the foundation of the political program upon which the
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition has organized mass demonstrations in the recent
years. The fact that many hundreds of thousands of people
havedemonstrated in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, New
York and other cities is a testament to the huge progress that has
been made in building a new movement on this principled basis.
The people of the United States have nothing to gain and everything to
lose from the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Haiti and
the threats of new wars and intervention in Syria, Iran, Venezuela,
Cuba, the Philippines, North Korea and elsewhere. It has been made
crystal clear in recent weeks that Washington is aggressively
prosecuting its strategy of total domination of the Middle East. U.S.
leaders are seeking to crush all resistance to their colonial agenda,
whether from states or popular movements in the region. The
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition andthe anti-war movement is raising the demand,
"U.S. Out of the Middle East."
At its core, the war for Empire is supported by the Republican Party
and Democratic Party alike, which constitute the twin parties of
militarism and war, and this quest for global domination will continue
regardless of the outcome of the 2006 election. In fact, leading
Democrats are attacking Bush for being "soft" on Iran and North Korea.
Real hope for turning the tide rests with building a powerful global
movement of resistance in which the people of the United States stand
with their sisters and brothers struggling against imperialism and the
new colonialism.
On the home front the Bush administration is involved in a
far-reaching assault against working class communities as most
glaringly evidenced by its criminal and racist negligence towards the
people of New Orleans and throughout the hurricane ravaged Gulf
States. While turning their backs on these communities in the moments
ofgreatest need, the U.S. government is now working with the banks and
developers who, like vultures, are exploiting mass suffering and
dislocation to carry out racist gentrification that only benefits the
wealthy. The administration is also working to eviscerate hard-fought
civil rights and civil liberties, engaging in a widespread campaign of
domestic spying and wiretapping against the people of the U.S. and
other assaults against the First and Fourth Amendments.
In early December 2005, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition filed for permits
for a national march in Washington DC on April 29, 2006. We were
preparing to announce the April 29 action but in recent days we have
heard from A.N.S.W.E.R. organizers in a number of unions that U.S.
Labor Against the War was seeking union endorsements for a call for an
anti-war demonstration on the same day in New York City. Having two
demonstrations on April 29 in both Washington D.C. and New York City
seems to us to be lessadvantageous than having the movement unite
behind one single mobilization. As such, we decided to hold back our
announcement. Subsequently, the New York City demonstration has been
announced by a number of organizations. Underscoring the need to have
the largest possible demonstration on April 29, the A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition has decided to fully mobilize, in all of its chapters and
organizing centers, to bring people to the New York City demonstration
on April 29. The banners and slogans of different coalitions may not
be the same, but it is in the interest of everyone to march
shoulder-to-shoulder against the criminal war in Iraq and the Bush
administration's War for Empire, including its racist, sexist and
anti-worker domestic program.
All out for a united, mass mobilization on April 29 in New York City!
Click here to become a transportation center in your city or town for
the April 29 demonstration.
Click here to receive updates on A.N.S.W.E.R.'s mobilization for the
April 29 NYC demonstration.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Click here to unsubscribe from the ANSWER e-mail list.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Code Pink Mother's Day Vigil May 13-14, in Washington DC
Mother's Day is often seen as if through a soft-focus lens --
a sentimental day of cards and flowers and frills. It has a
surprisingly radical history, however. Just as International
Women’s Day, March 8, started as a day for women to rise
up for peace and justice, so did Mother’s Day in the US begin
with Julia Ward Howe’s inspirational 1870 Proclamation against
the carnage of the Civil War:
Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!…
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity,
mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes
up with our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
Julia goes on to exhort women to leave their homes and
gather for an “earnest day of counsel” to figure out how
“the great human family can live in peace.” It’s time to
take Julia’s words to heart and bring them to fruition
in the world. Bouquets of spring flowers may be lovely,
but lasting peace is the greatest way to honor all mothers
-- past, present and future. Read the rest of Julia's
Proclamation here.
Join us this Mother's Day weekend, May 13-14, in
Washington DC as we gather for a 24-hour vigil outside
the White House. Bring your mother, your children, your
grandmother, your friends, your loved ones. Come for
the whole vigil (4pm Saturday to 4pm Sunday) or for
a few hours! We’ll sing, dance, drum, bond, laugh,
cry and hug. We’ll write letters to Laura Bush to appeal
to her own mother-heart, and read them aloud. We’ll
discuss new ideas for ending the war and building peace.
In the final two hours, from 2-4pm on Sunday, we’ll be
joined by some amazing celebrity actresses, singers,
writers--and moms. For more information & a schedule
of events to help you plan your trip, check out the
Mothers' Day page on the CODEPINK website. If you
can’t join us, you can create or join a Mother's Day
activity in your own community. For ideas to help
you plan an action check out the resources section
of the Mother's Day page.
And whether you’re in the US or overseas, please
consider writing a letter to Laura Bush to ask her how
she, as a mother, can continue to support a war that
is leaving scores of American and Iraqi mothers bereft.
Send your letters to laurabush@codepinkalert.org,
we’ll deliver them en masse; we'll also take the most
compelling letters and turn them into a book, “Letters to Laura.”
Let’s make this Mother’s Day, May 14, one where we
heed Julia Ward Howe’s original call to action. Let’s
come together to build the world we want for our
children -- and our mothers.
Alison, Dana, Farida, Gael, Jodie, Medea, Rae and Tiffany
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
PUSH FOR PEACE
MEMORIAL DAY KICKOFF
MONDAY, MAY 29, 2006
GOLDEN GATE PARK, S.F.
(Exact location to be announced.)
Welcome to the Official Push for Peace Site!
http://www.pushforpeace.us/civic/index.php?q
The Push For Peace movement is geared to combine the efforts of
able-bodied activists to those with special needs or challenges,
so that all people can participate and be counted.
The Push for Peace logo shows a Navy veteran in a wheelchair
with a peace sign on the wheel, with people marching behind
him. It can be seen at:
http://www.pushforpeace.us/civic/index.php?q=node/71
Just in case we don't get to modify the map before the weekend,
I'll just name our proposed stops. We start, of course with Golden
Gate Park, from there we head south to Los Angeles. Turning
east we move to Phoenix, then on to Albuquerque. Now it's
north to Denver, and east to St Louis. North again to Chicago,
and east to Detroit. Continue east to Cleveland, and then NYC
if all goes well Central Park (Imagine), culminating at the gates
of the White House on July 4, 2006
Push For Peace is a collective of veterans, progressive activists,
and everyday citizens working together through education,
motivation, and truth to bring America's troops home from the
war in Iraq and to help bring healing and peace to our nation.
The Push For Peace movement is geared to combine the efforts
of able-bodied activists to those with special needs or challenges,
so that all people can participate and be counted. The Push
For Peace effort will include organized rallies and marches,
as well as appearances and performances by high-profile
speakers and entertainers, to rally the American people and
show them we stand united with our fellow citizen and soldier.
It is our goal to grow the base of participants each day resulting
in a cross-country Push culminating at the gates of the White
House on July 4, 2006. Events will be scheduled across the
country leading up to the big Push in July. So keep checking
the Push calendar for events near you. Mapping it all out...
[Website shows map of stops in US en route to DC on July 4, 2006...bw]
This is a tentative and unfinished P4P route and is only a work in progress.
The Push is set to leave Golden Gate Park on Memorial Day 2006 (currently
working on permits) and then we will Push our way across the country
to arrive in DC across from the White House gathering at Lafayette Park
(currently working on permits) on July 4th, 2006. Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco, California Las Vegas Nevada Phoenix, Arizona Denver,
Colorado Crawford, Texas New Orleans, Louisiana more states pending...
Pushing real Democracy! http://www.pushforpeace.us/civic/index.php?q=
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
FACTSHEET
The Right To Return, a Basic Right Still Denied
http://al-awda.org/facts.html
...........................................................
Protests Planned Against Media War Coverage
By Danny Schechter
Source: MediaChannel.org
http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3378
...........................................................
TELL BUSH AND CONGRESS: STOP THE WAR
ON IRAN BEFORE IT STARTS!
Please join the online campaign to
STOP THE WAR ON IRAN BEFORE IT STARTS!
YOUR EMERGENCY ACTION IS NEEDED NOW!
Send emails to President Bush, Vice President
Cheney, Secretary of State Rice, U.N. Secretary-
General Annan, Congressional leaders and
the media demanding NO WAR ON IRAN!
http://stopwaroniran.org/
...........................................................
March 2006 National Immigrant
Solidarity Network Monthly Digest
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
URL: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
e-mail: Info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
No Borders! Papers for All!
...........................................................
WHY WE FIGHT
A film by Eugene Jarecki
[Check out the trailer about this new film.
This looks like a very powerful film.]
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
...........................................................
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html
http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/decind.html
http://www.usconstitution.net/declar.html
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1805195.php
Bill of Rights
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1805182.php
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
ARTICLES IN FULL:
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
1) G.M.'s Jobs Bank Looms as Major Obstacle on Road to Survival
By JEREMY W. PETERS
March 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/business/28jobsbank.html
2) New Rise in Number of Millionaire Families
By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON
March 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/business/28rich.html?pagewanted=all
3) Delphi Is Said to Offer Unions a One-Time Sweetener
By JEREMY W. PETERS
March 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/business/28delphi.html?pagewanted=all
4) Down with the Neo Con War in Iraq
Speech delivered at the 3-18-06 Anti War Rallies Across the Country
5) I.R.S. Quickly Answers Study on Audits of Rich Americans
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
March 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/29/business/29tax.html?pagewanted=all
6) Delphi Asks Bankruptcy Court to Void Union Deals
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
March 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/business/31cnd-delphi.html?ei=5094&en=0ec4fa333ed9e67a&hp=&ex=1143867600&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1143832413-RXn0ZTrQoQJyFvsFciQ03g
7) A Buy-Off that Looks Like Rosemary's Baby
Live Bait & Ammo # 67
(sos, shotwell)
"Because there's a record of them screwing us."
[Shareholder Lashes Out... Detroit Free Press 3/17/06]
http://www.soldiersofsolidarity.com/id409.html
8) When a Vehicle Serves as Home, Troubles Abide
By IAN URBINA
Last year was the first year on record,
according to an annual study conducted by the National
Low Income Housing Coalition, that a full-time worker
at minimum wage could not afford a one-bedroom
apartment anywhere in the country at average market rates.
April 2, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/us/02cars.html?hp&ex=1143954000&en=7d8aac00df07d8a8&ei=5094&partner=homepage
9) Chirac Offers Labor Law Compromise; Protesters Reject It
By CRAIG S. SMITH
April 1, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/world/europe/01france.html
10) Car Parts Maker Moves to Break Its Union Deals
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
April 1, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/business/01delphi.html?hp&ex=1143954000&en=1e4a4430347b4cf6&ei=5094&partner=homepage
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
1) G.M.'s Jobs Bank Looms as Major Obstacle on Road to Survival
By JEREMY W. PETERS
March 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/business/28jobsbank.html
At the General Motors assembly plant on the barren outskirts
of Oklahoma City there are 2,300 reminders of why the company
needs to persuade tens of thousands of workers to take the
buyouts it offered last week.
Each day, workers report for duty at the plant and pass their
time reading, watching television, playing dominoes or chatting.
Since G.M. shut down production there last month, these workers
have entered the Jobs Bank, industry's best form of job insurance.
It pays idled workers a full salary and benefits even when there
is no work for them to do.
The Jobs Bank is one critical burden that G.M. has to carry as
it embarks on one of the biggest challenges — and biggest
balancing acts — of its corporate survival. To become a leaner,
more profitable company, it needs to persuade the right number
of workers to take the buyouts, without chasing away its best
people. If not enough people leave, G.M. is stuck with excess
workers, who will swell the ranks of the Jobs Bank.
But in factories like the one in Oklahoma City, where workers
were first interviewed on a visit last month and over the next
several weeks, the buyouts could be a hard sell.
At least it looks that way for Garland Pruitt, who inspected
vehicles on the assembly line before they were painted at the
Oklahoma City plant. "Why would I walk out the door with
$2,000 less per month and have to go find a job when I can
sit in the bank, get my 30 years and retire?" asked Mr. Pruitt,
who at 53 has 27 years' seniority and qualifies for a buyout
that would pay him roughly half his hourly wage for three
years if he leaves the company now. "It's really to my
advantage to ride the bank out as long as it goes."
As much as G.M.'s buyouts are a way for the company to meet
a goal of cutting 30,000 factory hobs by 2008, they are also
a sign that the company wants to reduce as much as possible
the size of its Jobs Bank, which has grown to 7,500 workers.
For workers who remain in the Jobs Bank, their future is
uncertain. As part of the buyout deal, G.M. and the union
agreed to begin discussions no later than Dec. 31 on how
to handle surplus workers.
Union leaders and G.M. officials say it is too early to tell
how many workers will accept the buyouts. G.M. has not
publicly set any targets.
Today, U.A.W. union representatives will meet in Detroit
with local union leaders from across the country to brief
them on the details of the plan and offer guidance.
One issue weighing on union leaders is whether the workers
in G.M.'s Jobs Bank should take the buyout or wait until the
union renegotiates its contract, which expires next summer.
By that time, however, the current buyout program will have
ended, and it is not clear if G.M. will again provide generous
incentives to retire.
While G.M. has not said it will push to eliminate the Jobs
Bank when its contract with the U.A.W. expires, it is no
secret that company executives think the program is a
drain on its ever-tightening financial resources. With
average wages for a factory worker adding up to about
$65,000 a year, or $1,250 a week, G.M. is spending about
$9.4 million each week to pay the salaries of its idled workers
in the Jobs Bank, not including their health care and pension costs.
In the short term, General Motors hopes to entice as many
of its 113,000 hourly employees as possible off the payrolls
with the buyouts, which for some could be worth up to $140,000.
With more openings, it could move workers out of the Jobs Bank
into productive factory roles. But in the long term, analysts say
the company must negotiate with the U.A.W. to end the Jobs
Bank program.
"The auto market is way too competitive with companies that
don't have the costs associated with a Jobs Bank," said Jonathan
Steinmetz, an analyst with Morgan Stanley. "This just isn't a cost
that can be passed along. Most consumers would rather buy
a car with an iPod than a car with a surcharge for a Jobs Bank
worker."
If enough workers take the buyouts, then G.M. can move people
out of its Jobs Bank. With fewer workers there, it could make
a strong case to the union that a bank is not needed.
Such a case would also make it easier for union leaders to
persuade their members to end the program. Union officials
have acknowledged privately that they worry that the Jobs Bank
is a public relations embarrassment and that they find defending
it a distraction, particularly with other benefits, like health care,
now in jeopardy.
But nudging workers out of the Jobs Bank with a bundle
of cash will not be easy.
G.M. employees have several different options under the buyout
program. Under one option, workers within three years of retirement
would leave their jobs now, collect between $2,800 and $2,900
a month —roughly half what they earn now — and then officially
start collecting their pensions once they reach what would have
been their 30-year anniversary with the company.
Workers already eligible to retire are being offered $35,000 to
retire now with full benefits. Workers with 10 years or more seniority,
if they agree to give up all benefits other than their accrued pension,
can leave G.M. now with $140,000. Those with fewer than 10 years
of service are being offered a similar deal, but would get only
$70,000 to leave.
Brian A. Johnson, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company,
said many workers would be skeptical of the offers. "If someone
in the Jobs Bank is happy with that lifestyle, is being paid $35,000
to leave right away versus being in the Jobs Bank for another
two years that much incentive?"
For the Oklahoma City plant and a handful of others that have been
tagged for closure across the country, G.M. is extending the monthly
stipend offer to workers who are four years away from having
30 years with the company, instead of three. Even so, some
workers said they would still wait it out.
Lee Hubbard, 62, a power tool repairman at the Oklahoma City
plant, has less than a year to go before reaching his 30-year mark.
He said he planned to spend the rest of that time in the Jobs Bank.
"The only option I have is sitting in that Jobs Bank," he said.
The Jobs Bank was conceived in 1984 when General Motors
commanded roughly 45 percent of the American vehicle market
and employed 416,000 factory workers in the United States.
The idea was not to create a pool of thousands of idled workers.
Instead, the U.A.W. wanted to ensure that G.M., the Ford Motor
Company and Chrysler — which also have similar programs —
kept as many jobs in the United States as possible. The argument
went that if the auto companies had a pool of idled workers,
they would be less likely to outsource labor overseas.
The original program was supposed to run for six years, at
a total cost to the automakers of $1 billion. Workers who had
been displaced by the introduction of new technology such
as robots, which had reduced the number of employees needed
at factories, were supposed to be retrained. That way, workers
would find new jobs at other factories, retire or find jobs elsewhere.
It was never supposed to be an option for every laid-off worker.
Around the Oklahoma City plant, in the middle of an open plain,
a short distance from the city center, there are few signs of activity.
Loading docks sit empty, no smoke spews from the factory's
smokestacks.
Jane Doke, 61, was an assembly line worker until G.M. stopped
production at the plant. She said the idea of sitting in a factory all
day killing time does not make a lot of sense. "Why would you
want to pay somebody for doing nothing?" she asked. "But I am
not ready to retire, and I feel like it's being forced on me."
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
2) New Rise in Number of Millionaire Families
By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON
March 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/business/28rich.html?pagewanted=all
The number of American households with a net worth of $1 million
or more, excluding their principal residence, grew to a record
8.9 million last year, the British market research firm TNS Financial
Services said in a report to be released today.
More than one in seven of the households were in just 13 of the
nation's 3,140 counties, TNS said.
The number of millionaire families rose to 7.1 million in 1999, said
Jeanette Luhr, a TNS manager who directed the survey, and then,
after the Internet bubble burst, dropped steadily to 5.5 million by
2002. The ranks of millionaire households rose to 6.2 million in
2003 and 8.2 million in 2004, she said.
In most large counties, about one household in 12, or about 8.5
percent, was worth $1 million or more, Ms. Luhr said. An exception
was Nassau County on Long Island, where millionaire families
were more than twice as common, at 17.5 percent of all households.
The households had an average net worth, excluding principal
residence, of nearly $2.2 million, of which more than $1.4 million
was in liquid, or investable, assets. The survey counted some
tax-deferred retirement savings but did not include individual
retirement accounts in the liquid assets.
Despite a rising stock market, Ms. Luhr said that more than
half of those surveyed said they had "become much more
conservative in their investment approach over the past year."
The survey found that 29 percent of the millionaire households
did not own stocks or bonds and 32 percent did not own
mutual funds. One in four had a second mortgage on a home.
Half of the heads of millionaire households were 58 or older,
Ms. Luhr said, and 45 percent were retired.
Just 18.7 percent of the millionaires own — or owned before
they retired — part of a business or professional practice,
an indication that high-wage earners who save and invest
are the dominate group, at least among those on the lower
rungs of the millionaire class.
TNS also found that while 73 percent of those it surveyed
said they would prefer to do all of their financial business
at a single institution, hardly anyone did.
Ms. Luhr said that 195 counties had at least 10,000
millionaires and that slightly more than a third of all
counties had at least 1,000 millionaires.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
3) Delphi Is Said to Offer Unions a One-Time Sweetener
By JEREMY W. PETERS
March 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/business/28delphi.html?pagewanted=all
DETROIT, March 27 — With a Friday deadline to reach a deal with
its labor unions approaching, the auto parts supplier Delphi has
proposed giving its factory workers $50,000 in exchange for
a 40 percent reduction in pay, union officials who have been
briefed on the plan said Monday.
The plan also calls for General Motors, which spun off Delphi
in 1999, to subsidize part of the plan's cost, but it could not
be determined how much G.M. would contribute.
If G.M. agrees to help finance the plan — something it has not
done at this point — it would be an unusual act of cooperation
in a bankruptcy proceeding. It would also be the latest effort
by G.M. to ease its former subsidiary's financial burden
as it tries to reorganize.
A G.M. executive said the carmaker was negotiating with
Delphi whether G.M. would help subsidize the plan.
The reported offer came a few days after Delphi and the
United Automobile Workers reached an agreement on
buyout offers to 13,000 U.A.W. members out of 24,000
at the parts maker.
Under the newest plan, Delphi, which has asked workers
to accept lower wages, has proposed lowering pay for
factory workers initially by $5.50 an hour, to $22 an
hour in early July. The rates would later drop to $16.50
an hour in September 2007, union officials said.
The U.A.W. leadership will meet Tuesday with local union
leaders from across the country to brief them on the plan's
details. Any preliminary agreement would be subject
to review by the court and would require ratification
by U.A.W. members.
Unless there is an agreement with the U.A.W. and its
other unions by Friday, Delphi has said it plans to ask
a federal bankruptcy judge for permission to cancel its
labor contracts and impose lower wages and benefits.
Such a move would increase the likelihood of a strike
by Delphi workers and create more problems for General
Motors, Delphi's largest customer. Any strike at Delphi
could quickly cripple G.M.'s vehicle production.
A Delphi spokesman, Lindsey Williams, said the company
sent its offer to union representatives over the weekend.
He declined to comment on the contents of the proposal.
A U.A.W. spokesman, Paul Krell, also declined to comment.
A G.M. spokesman, Jerry Dubrowski, was similarly
uncommunicative. "We don't think it's appropriate to
comment on Delphi's proposal," he said. "This is a Delphi
proposal to the union, not ours."
But George Anthony, bargaining chairman of U.A.W.
Local 292 at a Delphi electrical components plant in
Kokomo, Ind., told Bloomberg News, "If today's offer
is what the International U.A.W. gives the locals for
ratification, my people are going to be standing
out there with picket signs."
The latest Delphi plan offers considerably higher wages
than what the company first proposed when it was
preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in October.
Initially, Delphi asked its hourly employees to work for
as little as $9.50 an hour. It later increased that to
$12.50 an hour, but then withdrew as talks with the
U.A.W. and General Motors progressed.
Since Delphi filed for reorganization, General Motors
has agreed to help Delphi in several crucial ways.
Last week, General Motors and the U.A.W. agreed that
up to 5,000 Delphi workers could return to G.M. General
Motors also agreed to finance the buyouts of 13,000
Delphi employees.
Last week G.M., staggering under the weight of $10.6 billion
in losses last year, said it would offer buyouts and early-retirement
packages to every one of its 113,000 unionized workers in the
United States who agreed to leave the company. G.M. workers
would be offered packages ranging from $35,000 for those who
are already eligible to retire, to $140,000 for those with 10 years
at the company who are willing to cut ties and give up health
care coverage.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
4) Down with the Neo Con War in Iraq
Speech delivered at the 3-18-06 Anti War Rallies Across the Country
Ona Move! Long live John Africa! Thanks for inviting me to join ya'll in
this international protest against this mad war in Iraq. I say mad
because it was waged solely because neo-cons have been itching for this
battle for years. In a report put out by the Project for a New American
Century, the group wrote that it needed a new Pearl Harbor to launch
their plots. In a open letter of January, 1998, the former president
Clinton, eighteen members of this project, called for the removal of
Saddam Hussein saying it should be the aim of American foreign policy.
9-11 provided the pretext for war and by then eleven of those project
members were at high levels of government. They forced this war on the
American people to seize the rich oil reserves in Iraq and to dominate
the region directly. They brought this country and the Middle East to
the brink of disaster for their own financial, corporate, and imperial
ends. The promises of freedom and democracy in Iraq were as empty and as
meaningless as the promises to rebuild New Orleans or to bring help to
those thousands who suffered in the wake of hurricane Katrina. That
wasn‚t incompetence, and neither was Katrina. They both were acts of
capitalism's innate cruelty, where Iraqis can be bombed, invaded, and
occupied based on lies and where African Americans can be left alone to
face the full fury of nature, and then left alone again to starve, to
suffer, to drown, for days. Yes, stop the war in Iraq but how about
stopping the war against poor Black folks here at home, because both
arrive from the same source: this system. Let‚s build a movement against
both wars.
Thank you. Ona Move! Long Live John Africa! From Death Row, this Mumia
Abu-Jamal, author of We Want Freedom, a Life in the Black Panther Party.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
5) I.R.S. Quickly Answers Study on Audits of Rich Americans
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
March 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/29/business/29tax.html?pagewanted=all
In a rare disclosure, the Internal Revenue Service said yesterday
that it had audited 11,715 — or 5.2 percent — of the 225,000
Americans who reported incomes of more than $1 million in 2005.
The I.R.S. released the data to counter a report by researchers
at Syracuse University that the agency had conducted face-to-face
audits of only 30 households reporting incomes of more than
$1 million. The discrepancy is a result of a change in the way
the I.R.S. keeps records, officials said.
"The bottom line is we recently added a new audit classification
of a million or more," said Frank Keith, an I.R.S. spokesman.
Most of the audits were included in earlier categories that
counted only examinations of returns reporting $100,000
and up, he said.
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse
said yesterday that recent I.R.S. data showed that Americans
who reported incomes of less than $25,000 were nearly twice
as likely to be audited as those with incomes of more
than $200,000.
The university's researchers said that 8.8 of every 1,000 tax
returns reporting income of under $25,000 were examined
in 2005, compared with 4.6 of every 1,000 returns that
reported more than $200,000.
The assertion that only 30 millionaires sat down with an
auditor led the I.R.S. to disclose its own numbers. Mr. Keith
said the 30 represented only the number of audits started
and closed since January 2005, when the I.R.S. changed
its record-keeping procedures.
The I.R.S. actually completed 7,197 face-to-face audits
and 4,518 audits by mail of this income group, most
of them begun before January 2005 and given a different
income code, he said.
Mr. Keith said the I.R.S. data, published in a table released
this month, should have contained a footnote to explain
the discrepancy.
Susan Long, a professor of management information and
decision sciences at the Martin J. Whitman School of
Management at Syracuse and the clearinghouse's head
researcher, said that the research center was awaiting more
details about I.R.S. data before drawing final conclusions.
Although the I.R.S. had not previously released data about
its audit coverage of millionaires, it said in November that
it had more than doubled audits of small businesses and
increased scrutiny of Americans earning more than
$100,000 as it collected $47.3 billion in unpaid taxes in 2005.
The agency said it audited 221,426 Americans who earned
more than $100,000 in the 2005 fiscal year, up from
166,221 in the previous year.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
6) Delphi Asks Bankruptcy Court to Void Union Deals
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
March 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/business/31cnd-delphi.html?ei=5094&en=0ec4fa333ed9e67a&hp=&ex=1143867600&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1143832413-RXn0ZTrQoQJyFvsFciQ03g
DETROIT, March 31 — Delphi, the nation's biggest auto-parts
maker, followed through on a months-old threat today and asked
a bankruptcy court judge for permission to throw out its labor
agreements and impose sharply lower wages and benefits.
It also said it plans to close or sell most of its plants in the United
States, and cut its worldwide salaried staff. Together, the moves
will eliminate 28,500 jobs.
In addition, Delphi asked the bankruptcy court to reject some
of its contracts with General Motors, its biggest customer, which
would allow Delphi to renegotiate the prices G.M. pays for parts.
It said it would keep only eight of its American plants.
The move was the first time that a major player in the automobile
industry had sought to void its labor contracts, setting the stage
for a precedent-setting court ruling later this year.
The actions by Delphi, which filed for Chapter 11 last October,
would eliminate 20,000 hourly jobs in the United States, or about
60 percent of its total work force. It will cut another 8,500 salaried
jobs worldwide. Delphi has about 34,000 hourly workers in the
United States, with the United Automobile Workers representing
about 24,000.
G.M., which spun off Delphi in 1999, has played a significant
role in three-way discussions with Delphi and the U.A.W.
A hearing on Delphi's request is scheduled to begin May 9.
If the request is granted, Delphi would be able to tear up
its existing labor contracts and impose new terms. Leaders
of Delphi's unions have threatened to strike if that happens,
a move that in turn could cripple G.M. and lead to its own
bankruptcy filing.
However, a judge's decision is still months off, providing
time for an agreement to be reached.
"Emergence from the Chapter 11 process in the U.S.
requires that we make difficult, yet necessary, decisions,"
Delphi's chief executive, Robert S. Miller, said in a statement.
"These actions will result in a stronger company with future
global growth opportunities."
But the U.A.W. reacted angrily to the Delphi move, calling
it "a travesty and a concern for every American."
In a statement, the U.A.W. president, Ron Gettelfinger, and
vice president, Richard Shoemaker, continued, "Delphi's
proposal goes far beyond cutting wages and benefits for
active and retired workers. Delphi's outrageous proposal
would slash the company's U.A.W.-represented hourly work
force by approximately 75 percent, devastating Delphi workers,
their families and their communities."
"In the event the court rejects the U.A.W.-Delphi contract and
Delphi imposes the terms of its last proposal, it appears that
it will be impossible to avoid a long strike," the statement said.
Meanwhile, G.M., which agreed last fall to restore price cuts
it had negotiated with Delphi in order to give its former unit
some breathing room in bankruptcy, said it was disappointed
by its former unit's bid to reject some of its contracts. That is
a common tactic in bankruptcy, as companies try to lower
their costs.
"We disagree with Delphi's approach but we anticipated that
this step might be taken," G.M.'s chief executive, Rick Wagoner,
said in a statement. He added, "G.M. expects Delphi to honor
its public commitments to avoid any disruption to G.M.
operations."
Under their contract, which is essentially the same as the one
covering workers at G.M., members of the U.A.W. are paid
$27 an hour in wages, as part of total compensation, including
pensions, health care and other benefits, of $67 an hour.
Delphi's original offer to the U.A.W., made shortly after
its bankruptcy filing, was for wages as low as $9.50, a move
that sparked outrage among union members.
In its court filing, Delphi said it wanted to impose its last offer,
made a week ago, which was for a $5 an hour cut in wages to
$22 this year, followed by another cut to $16 an hour next year.
Workers would be given $50,000 each to ease the impact
of the cuts.
But the U.A.W. earlier this week rejected the bid , which local
union leaders said workers would undoubtedly vote down.
The offer came a week after Delphi, the U.A.W. and G.M.
agreed on a buyout program offered to all 113,000 G.M.
workers and 13,000 of Delphi's workers. Under the plan,
which would be paid for by G.M., workers could receive
up to $140,000 if they agree to leave.
That, however, may be all that the U.A.W. agrees to. Although
judges encourage labor unions and companies to reach
agreements, rather than have lower rates imposed upon
them, union leaders have said they may not continue
talking with Delphi.
Labor experts say it would be politically impossible for
the U.A.W.'s president, Mr. Gettelfinger, to agree to wage
cuts, because that would set a precedent in even more
critical talks next year with G.M. and Ford.
Delphi has been included in the union's practice of "pattern
bargaining," which essentially calls for the same terms
at each company, and cuts granted there would open
the door for the automakers to demand lower wages
and benefits as well.
Although it has agreed to some modifications, particularly
changes in health care coverage negotiated at G.M. and Ford
last year, the U.A.W. has not granted pay cuts at a major
auto company since it agreed to concessions with Chrysler
Corporation in 1978 as part of its bid for a Congressional
bailout. Those cuts were later restored, however.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
7) A Buy-Off that Looks Like Rosemary's Baby
Live Bait & Ammo # 67
(sos, shotwell)
"Because there's a record of them screwing us."
[Shareholder Lashes Out... Detroit Free Press 3/17/06]
http://www.soldiersofsolidarity.com/id409.html
After nine months in the back room Shoemaker and Gettelfinger
came out with a buy-off that looks like Rosemary's baby.
And they act so proud of it.
Is this what we pay union dues for? To sell our dignity, our
UAW legacy, for a pittance? Isn't it high time we demand a strike
vote and a National Bargaining Council per Article 19 and 20
of the UAW Constitution?
Where the heck is the fight back? Does the International
intend to defend our jobs or not?
After all this time only one thing is perfectly clear: the Shyster
Sisters don't have the cajones to stand up to Wagoner and Miller.
We need a gang of Bull Buckers at the bargaining table to get
the job done right.
"The deal" is intended to reduce GM's liability and
decimate the union. "You can go, you can go, you can go,
the rest of you get screwed to the fence post."
The kiss-off is not a comprehensive, collective bargaining
solution, it's every man for himself and damn the rest. "The
deal" is anti union to the core. Trust yourself, trust your
brothers and sisters, but never trust "the deal" — it was
conceived in fraud and wrapped in deception.
The buy-off is a boondoggle. Like the excitement of the
gambler who doesn't count his losses, the allure of the buy-off
relies on poor math skills and weak impulse control. Before you
decide to take the money and run, add up how much you will
lose over the next thirty years. Make an informed decision, not
an impulsive one. We deserve all the information, not just the
"Highlights". We deserve adequate time to examine all the options.
After nine months of heavy back room breathing there's no reason
to treat the affair like a shotgun wedding.
The companies have complained for months that legacy costs
are the reason for their failure. Now they propose that adding to
the burden of the legacy costs is a solution. They can't have it both
ways. Were they lying in the first place or are they lying in the
second place? Honor and commitment don't mean shit to GM-Delphi.
The devil is in the details not the sales pitch.
Miller's latest proposal belongs in the shredder with the rest
of his threats and deadlines. He didn't even take it seriously.
It looked more like crib notes than a contract.
The Concession Caucus didn't distribute the first two proposals,
but they are floating the third one like a back drop for the buy-offs.
But where is the UAW's counter proposal? Remember how the
Concession Caucus said, "We have a plan,"? Is this it?
A half baked buy-off?
We can expect to hear — "Your plant is going to close! Cut
and run! There's no hope!"
Take it in stride. The chicken dance is a time honored,
concession bargaining tradition.
When Miller petitions the court to void the contract, the clock
will start ticking. If the judge nullifies the contract, the "no strike
clause" will cease to exist. All bets are off then. No contract means
"No Holds Barred." Delphi workers will have the right to take matters
into their own hands on the shop floor. We'll be pushed back to
a situation similar to the 1930's. Without a contract workers have
the right to defend their interests with "concerted activity." Major
disruptions will likely occur. Strike preparations will begin in earnest
with or without a vote. We can tell the Shyster Sisters, "Don't call
us, we'll call you, when we're damn good and ready."
It's self defeating to approve any deal that divides the union.
Two tiers is too many. MIA's are unacceptable. Solidarity isn't
idealistic, it's common sense. If we sell ourselves short with buy
outs, buy downs, or buy offs, the debt will come due with
a vengeance.
Workers' rights are defined by struggle not by contract or
law. You get exactly what you are willing to fight for. Nothing
more. If the Concession Caucus tries to give us the rush job,
Vote NO. If they won't show us anything but the Highlights,
Vote NO. If Miller voids the contract, work to rule and be
prepared to ratchet it up a notch. Delphi workers will have
the opportunity to take solidarity and direct action to a new
level. We may as well empty the arsenal. For most of us it
will be the war to end all wars. Let's leave a legacy we can
be proud of, and ignore the chicken dance.
(sos, shotwell)
SOS PROTESTS DELPHI FRAUD
At the Detroit Economic Club
WHERE DELPHI CEO, STEVE MILLER,
WILL SPEAK ABOUT CORPORATE SQUANDERING OF
PENSION FUNDS, DEFRAUDING INVESTORS, AND
STRIPPING RETIREES OF HEALTH CARE
MONDAY APRIL 3, 2006
12 NOON
500 Temple Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201
Join the Soldiers of Solidarity on the sidewalk at the Masonic
Temple of Detroit. Bring your own signs and toy lawn mowers.
Show support for working families whose livelihoods are
under attack.
FIGHT FRAUD!
DEMAND CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY
DEMAND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, HONESTY, INTEGRITY AND JUSTICE!
NO CONCESSIONS!
www.soldiersofsolidarity.com
www.futureoftheunion.com
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
8) When a Vehicle Serves as Home, Troubles Abide
By IAN URBINA
Last year was the first year on record,
according to an annual study conducted by the National
Low Income Housing Coalition, that a full-time worker
at minimum wage could not afford a one-bedroom
apartment anywhere in the country at average market rates.
April 2, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/us/02cars.html?hp&ex=1143954000&en=7d8aac00df07d8a8&ei=5094&partner=homepage
FAIRFAX, Va. — After being evicted from his apartment last year,
Larry Chaney lived in his car for five months in Erie, Pa. As he
passed the time at local cafes, he always put a ring of old house
keys and several envelopes with bills on the table to give the
impression that he had a home like everyone else.
While Michelle Kennedy was living in her car with her three
children in Belfast, Me., she parked someplace different each
night so no one would notice them, and she instructed the
children to tell anyone who asked that they were "staying
with friends."
Last year, William R. Alford started keeping a car cover over
the station wagon where he sleeps. "I originally just had drapes,
but the condensation on the inside of the windows was a dead
giveaway," said Mr. Alford, who has been homeless here
in Fairfax since May 2005.
As with all homeless people, finding food, warmth and a place
to clean up is a constant struggle. But for those who live
in their cars, remaining inconspicuous is its own challenge,
and though living this way is illegal in most places, experts
and advocates believe it is a growing trend.
"It's most often the working poor who find themselves in this
situation, teetering on the border between the possessed
and the dispossessed," said Kim Hopper, a researcher
on homelessness for the Nathan S. Kline Institute for
Psychiatric Research, which is based in New York.
The number of "mobile homeless," as they are often called,
tends to climb whenever the cost of housing outpaces wages,
Dr. Hopper said. Last year was the first year on record,
according to an annual study conducted by the National
Low Income Housing Coalition, that a full-time worker
at minimum wage could not afford a one-bedroom
apartment anywhere in the country at average market rates.
In 2001, officials in Lynnwood, Wash., a suburb of Seattle,
passed an ordinance imposing penalties of 90 days in jail
or fines of up to $1,000 against people caught living
in their cars.
Peter Van Giesen, a code enforcement officer for the town,
said that up to 20 cars a night were found with people
parking near a park where there were complaints
of people using the bushes as a restroom.
"Most of these people were trying to find work,"
Mr. Van Giesen said.
Living inside their last major possession, the mobile
homeless have often just fallen on hard times, advocates
and social workers say, and since they are more likely
to view their situation as temporary, they are also more
inclined to keep it secret.
Though the average duration of homelessness is four
months, it tends to be shorter for the mobile homeless,
experts say.
"You spend a lot of effort just trying to pass," said Ms. Kennedy,
a former Senate page who wrote a book, "Without a Net: Middle
Class and Homeless (with Kids) in America" (Viking Adult, 2005),
about her experiences being homeless for several months in
1997 after her marriage fell apart. But residing — and hiding
— in plain sight takes guile, and that starts with deciding
where to park.
In cities, steep streets with no sidewalks, no overlooking
windows and adjacent to woods are ideal because they have
the least foot traffic and offer the easiest ability to enter and
exit the car unnoticed, according to many who have been
through the experience.
The best location is one sparse enough to avoid nosy
onlookers but populated enough that the car does not
stand out, they say, near enough to walk to a restroom
but far enough to avoid passers-by. Parking lots of big-box
retailers are a popular choice. If free, hospital parking lots
are also an option. Guards often take pity when told that
you are waiting to visit a sick spouse, many say.
Finding a place to shower can take ingenuity.
"The key is to be smart about when you enter and leave the
building," said Randy Brown, who for the last three months
while living in his car has been sneaking onto a college
campus near where he waits tables in Fredericksburg, Va.,
and using a shower that security guards do not realize
is publicly accessible.
Like several others interviewed, Mr. Chaney said that
when he lost his trucking business after Hurricane Katrina
and was evicted from his home, he was lucky enough
to have already paid for a yearlong gym membership.
"That was probably the most important thing I had for
keeping up appearances," said Mr. Chaney, who moved
to Pennsylvania to be near his son, who was in college there.
Mr. Chaney said that while he looked for work, he did
not reveal his situation to his son, who was going to school
on a basketball scholarship, because he did not want
to become a distraction.
While pride is usually the motivation for not telling friends
or family, worries about the law and harassment are more
often the reason people give for keeping their situation
hidden. Safety is also a concern, advocates say, since
homeless people are frequently targets for crime and
physical abuse.
"A lot of what people do to keep the secret sounds paranoid,
and some of it probably is," said Michele Wakin, who wrote
her doctoral dissertation about people living in their vehicles
in California and who is now a professor of sociology
at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts. "But when
you're trying to be discreet and you're spending a lot
of time in one area, little things get noticed."
People often develop severe back problems because they
resist reclining their seat while sleeping, Ms. Wakin said.
If questioned, they wanted to be able to tell the police
that they were just napping, she added. People also built
elaborate compartments in their cars, she said,
to hide bedding.
Mr. Alford said he had learned to move slowly to avoid
attracting attention by rocking the car when he was inside.
When he has a lot of items to take from his car to the
library where he spends much of his time, he makes
several trips rather than load his arms and seem like
a "bag lady," he said.
"It might seem crazy, but the stakes are pretty high
in the suburbs when it comes to staying invisible because
it's supposed to be sanitized out here," said Mr. Alford,
who works occasionally as a Web developer. "People call
911 in the city to report seeing a homeless person, and
the cops laugh. Out here, the cops are out the door
in no time when that call comes in."
Experts say there are 2.1 million to 3.5 million homeless
people nationally. Ms. Wakin said that the vigilance required
to live in a car was one reason there tended to be fewer
people who are drug addicted or mentally disabled
living in their cars, compared with those living
on street grates.
"Keeping the car in working order with the license,
registration up to date, figuring out an address where
offices can send things, and all the while trying to stay
off the radar of police and neighbors becomes like
a full-time job," Ms. Wakin said.
For some, secrecy can be an obstacle to needed services.
Richard Pyne, who was evicted from his home after losing
his job at a factory in North Philadelphia, said he did not
seek help because he feared losing custody of his
17-year-old daughter, Kristinlyn, who was living
in their car with his wife, Suzanne, and him.
Last April, a social worker noticed the family asleep
in the car at a park, and after explaining their rights,
the worker persuaded them to move into a shelter.
The strain of constantly finding a place to wash up and
the stress of avoiding detection became unbearable,
Mr. Pyne said, adding, "You have no idea how exhausting
it gets to survive like this."
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
9) Chirac Offers Labor Law Compromise; Protesters Reject It
By CRAIG S. SMITH
April 1, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/world/europe/01france.html
PARIS, March 31 — Seeking to defuse a growing revolt that has
paralyzed his government, President Jacques Chirac offered
a compromise on Friday, saying in a nationwide address that
he would soften a divisive new labor law and calling on student
and trade union leaders to begin constructive talks.
His offer was swiftly rejected, and after the speech several
thousand young people spilled into the streets in a spontaneous
march that wound its way through central Paris. The protesters,
who first tried to approach Élysée Palace, eventually made their
way to the Sorbonne, in the Latin Quarter, where they were
dispersed by police officers firing tear gas.
In his speech, Mr. Chirac was adamant that he would carry
out the new law, which will create job contracts giving employers
the right to fire workers 25 and under without cause during
a trial period on the job. "The Parliament, the country's elected
officials, have passed the law," he said. "In a democracy,
that has a meaning and must be respected."
Mr. Chirac nonetheless asked for two modifications to the
law: that the trial period be reduced to one year from two
and that people fired under the law be told the reason.
He said the law would not go into effect until those
changes were made.
He decried the recent violence that has marred nationwide
demonstrations, saying, "It is time to unwind this situation
by being fair and reasonable according to the national interest."
By vowing to put the law into effect, Mr. Chirac defied
not only his political opposition but also a majority of his
citizens and even a growing slice of his own party, many
of whose members had called on him to wait until some
accommodation could be reached with the unions that
are most strongly against it.
Opposition leaders were quick to dismiss Mr. Chirac's offer.
"The president remains stuck on that invitation for dialogue
that has no chance of success," Bernard Thibault, leader
of France's largest union federation, the C.G.T., told LCI
television.
François Hollande, leader of the opposition Socialist Party,
said Mr. Chirac was "not on a path to appeasement."
Student and union leaders have insisted that the government
withdraw the law before there can be any negotiations.
"It's a mockery to implement the law and discuss it afterward,"
said Jean-Claude Mailly, secretary general of Force Ouvrière,
one of the country's five major union federations. The unions
have called new protests and strikes for Tuesday.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin pushed the law through
Parliament in February, setting off nationwide protests.
It was upheld Thursday by the Constitutional Council.
In approving the law with changes, Mr. Chirac is apparently
hoping that he can quell the protest movement and revive
Mr. de Villepin's flagging political fortunes. Had the president
withdrawn the law, many analysts say, Mr. de Villepin would
have had to step down.
Mr. Chirac is widely believed to favor Mr. de Villepin as his
potential successor in next year's presidential election, but
the current crisis has seriously hurt the prime minister's
chances. Mr. de Villepin has never held elective office —
Mr. Chirac has appointed him to almost all of the various
government posts he has held — and with his approval
rating at a meager 29 percent, his presidential prospects
seem dim unless he can turn the debacle into a victory.
When Mr. de Villepin became prime minister, he vowed
to lower the country's chronic high unemployment.
That promise became more urgent after civil unrest
swept France in the fall and high joblessness among
French-Arab and French-African youth was cited as
a principal reason for the violence.
Faced with strong competition for the party's presidential
nomination from Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who has
positioned himself as a man of change in a moribund
administration, Mr. de Villepin pushed his labor law
through a reticent Parliament. He has defended the
move by saying the problems facing France's youth are
so dire that he needed to act quickly.
The effort was lost on university students, who saw the
law as an invitation for employers to further exploit the
country's job-hungry young people. The unions quickly
declared solidarity with the students, eager to restore their
waning reputation as an effective defender of workers'
rights. As the protest movement gathered steam it was
joined even by the disenfranchised working-class youths
who were behind the vandalism and arson in November.
Since then, Mr. de Villepin's supporters, including some
in his own party, have been sidling away from him.
Mr. Sarkozy's supporters, meanwhile, are fretting that
Mr. de Villepin has given bold change a bad name.
By carrying out the law, Mr. Chirac is inviting more protests
at a point when the student movement has strong momentum.
Students were already massing Friday before Mr. Chirac
spoke, obstructing roads and railways for a second day
in a row. Dozens of high school students blocked traffic
in the Place de la Bastille, the symbolic heart of the French
Revolution, some singing "La Marseillaise," the national
anthem, which dates to the Revolution.
Dozens even briefly occupied the Jacques Chirac Museum
in the president's home base of Sarran in southcentral France.
Students said they kept in touch with a national network
through Internet instant messages and cellphone text
messages. "There's coordination between the high schools
from north, south and eastern Paris," said Ségolène Avice,
a student outside Lycée Jules Ferry here.
The government may get some relief in the middle of April,
when high schools and universities have a two-week spring
break. Union members with children, who by law have
a minimum of five weeks of vacation a year, typically
go away for at least one week of the break.
No one argues that the unemployment rate, at 9.6 percent
one of the highest in Europe, needs to come down.
For people under 25 the rate is 22.2 percent. But the
debate over Mr. Villepin's law is only part of the reason
the protest movement has gathered so much steam.
Most jobs in France are defined by contract, and even before
the proposed law, employers could choose from 18 types
of contract when hiring employees. As it stands, few young
people get anything more than a short-term contract for
their first few jobs, and employers are adept at shuffling
employees and contracts to avoid giving anyone under
25 a coveted "undetermined duration" contract, which
provides the fullest job protection.
So even with a shorter trial period, the new employment
contract will make little practical difference to young people,
who already face an array of temporary contracts.
"This thing, from the beginning, is a story that doesn't hold
any water," said Dominique Reynié, a political scientist
at the Paris Institute for Political Studies, also known
as Sciences Po. "It's a very small thing, and it isn't really
this issue that we are fighting today."
Underlying the current debate is a far deeper frustration
with what many people see as a government that is out
of touch with the people and unable to address fundamental
flaws in the country's economic and political system.
Ariane Bernard and Maia de la Baume contributed
reporting for this article.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
10) Car Parts Maker Moves to Break Its Union Deals
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
April 1, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/business/01delphi.html?hp&ex=1143954000&en=1e4a4430347b4cf6&ei=5094&partner=homepage
DETROIT, March 31 — Delphi, the nation's biggest auto parts maker,
on Friday asked a federal judge for permission to throw out some
of its labor agreements, a move that could cost 20,000 union workers
their jobs and leave thousands of others with less than half their
current wages.
Delphi, which is operating in bankruptcy, wants the judge's
permission to impose sharply lower wages and benefits
on six unions, setting up a confrontation that its largest
union, the United Automobile Workers, said could lead
to a lengthy strike.
A strike could also cripple General Motors, which spun off
Delphi in 1999 and remains its biggest customer. And any
harm to G.M. could eviscerate the U.A.W.'s own influence
as one of the nation's most socially progressive and powerful
unions, while accelerating the slide of the American auto industry.
Delphi said it would close or sell all but 8 of its 29 plants
in the United States and cut 28,500 positions around the
world. Beyond the 20,000 of its 33,100 hourly jobs in the
United States that Delphi plans to cut, another 8,500 salaried
jobs worldwide are to be eliminated.
"I took this job thinking this was my future," said Tracey
Huffman, 37, staring blankly down at a table at Jamins, a pool
hall next to the U.A.W. Local 651 hall on the east side of Flint,
Mich. "Now I don't know. It's like starting all over again."
Ms. Huffman, who is scheduled to be laid off temporarily
at the end of April, now fears that her layoff could become
permanent. Any decision by the judge, however, is expected
to be weeks or even months away.
The confrontation promises to become even more fierce
in coming months, as G.M. tries to extricate itself from
its worst financial crisis in over a decade, and the U.A.W. f
ights Delphi over the deep wage cuts that it wants to impose.
All sides could be losers. A strike by the U.A.W. could send
G.M. into bankruptcy alongside its former parts unit, a fate
that would be an even bigger debacle for the union and the
industry than Delphi's bankruptcy has proved to be.
And unless a judge rejects Delphi's effort to abrogate its
contract, the U.A.W. faces the prospect that it can no longer
give its workers the security it has fought for years to
provide, leaving the union's president, Ron Gettelfinger,
distressed.
Already, some workers at the Delphi East plant in Flint
left their plant in tears Friday, after learning that it
was among 21 that would close. In 1998, a seven-week
strike at that plant and another in Flint, nearly crippled G.M.
"I have to put my faith in the union," said Judy Steyer, 36,
who dabbed her eyes as she walked on her lunch break.
Wearing a black sweatshirt embroidered with the U.A.W.
crest, Mrs. Steyer continued: "I've been through one strike.
It was tough then, and it'll be tough if we go on strike now."
David L. Gregory, professor of labor law at St. John's
University in New York, said, "This is really for all practical
purposes a frontal challenge to the reason for existence
of the U.A.W."
The tangle comes as the American industry already faces
stiff competition from Asian and European companies,
which have wrested market share in automobiles and
auto parts from their American rivals.
G.M., which lost $10.8 billion last year, is struggling
to reverse a slide that has deepened under its chief
executive, Rick Wagoner, while Delphi is one of half
a dozen major American parts suppliers that have been
forced to seek Chapter 11 protection.
G.M. has already stepped up several times to help Delphi,
most recently last week, when it agreed to pay for bailouts
covering 13,000 Delphi workers, in addition to 113,000
of its own, and to take 5,000 Delphi workers back to G.M.
On Friday, Delphi said it hoped that many of the workers
who will lose their jobs will have a "soft landing" because
of the G.M. program.
This is going on, Professor Gregory said, while companies
like Toyota, which is expected to earn $16 billion for the
year ended Friday, are prospering and even building plants
across the Midwest and South that are employing tens
of thousands of Americans.
"The 20th century was the century of General Motors and
America," Professor Gregory said. "The 21st century
is going to be the century of Toyota and Asia."
While similar actions have occurred in the steel and airline
industries, Delphi's move was the first time that a major
player in the automobile industry had sought to void its
labor contracts, setting the stage for a precedent-setting
court ruling later this year.
Delphi plans to eliminate 21 factories in Michigan, New
Jersey, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama and elsewhere.
"Emergence from the Chapter 11 process in the U.S. requires
that we make difficult, yet necessary, decisions," Delphi's
chief executive, Robert S. Miller, said in a statement Friday.
"These actions will result in a stronger company with future
global growth opportunities."
Once Delphi is finished with its restructuring, it will have
a much more streamlined product line than the current
wide array of components — from air-conditioning systems
to steering gear to cruise controls — that it inherited from G.M.
Under Delphi's contract, which is essentially the same as the
one covering workers at G.M., members of the U.A.W. are paid
nearly $28 an hour in wages. Their total compensation, including
pensions, health care and other benefits, is an average $78.63
an hour, Delphi said in court documents, a figure it said was
three and a half times that at competing parts suppliers.
That number, however, struck analysts and union officials as
too high; they generally estimate total costs to be about $67.
In its court filing, Delphi said it wanted to impose its last offer,
which it made a week ago. That was for a $5-an-hour wage
cut this year, to $22, followed by another cut next year to
$16.50 an hour. To ease the pain, workers would be given
$50,000 each, presumably provided by G.M.
If workers do not accept that deal — or if G.M. does not come
up with the money — Delphi said it would impose a unilateral
cut in wages to $12.50 an hour.
Though less than half what they make now, that is still more
than Delphi's original offer to the U.A.W., made shortly after
its bankruptcy filing, for wages as low as $9.50, a proposal
that ignited outrage among union members.
The U.A.W. earlier this week rejected essentially the same
proposal Delphi now wants a judge to approve, saying its
members would surely vote it down. If those terms are imposed
on the union, "it appears that it will be impossible to avoid
a long strike," U.A.W. officials said.
Robert Betts, president of U.A.W. Local 2151 in Coopersville,
Mich., home to one of the plants that Delphi intends to close,
said the issue went beyond the parts maker.
"This is turning from a restructuring of a business into a basic
struggle for workers' rights," he said. "Essentially what they
want you to be is a very poorly paid indentured servant."
He added: "If we accept too low of a wage, it will affect
workers everywhere."
Knowing the ramifications, bankruptcy court judges
encourage labor unions and companies to reach agreements,
rather than have lower rates imposed upon them. A hearing
in the Delphi case is set for May 9, and the situation may not
be resolved for weeks after that, allowing plenty of time
to reach a deal — if the parties talk.
A number of unions in the airline industry have reached
agreements with bankrupt companies in the last few years.
The U.A.W., however, has never been in this position with
such a large company. And labor experts said it would be
politically impossible for Mr. Gettelfinger to agree to all
of Delphi's demands, because that would set a precedent
for even more critical talks next year with G.M. and Ford.
Delphi has been included in the union's practice of "pattern
bargaining," which essentially calls for the same terms
at each company. Cuts granted at Delphi would open
the door for the automakers to demand lower wages
and benefits as well.
Although it has agreed to some modifications, particularly
changes in health care coverage negotiated at G.M. and
Ford last year, the U.A.W. has not granted pay cuts at
a major auto company since it agreed to concessions with
Chrysler in 1979 as part of its bid for a Congressional
bailout. Those cuts were later restored.
Given that a strike is its only — and most lethal — weapon,
Mr. Gettelfinger has to appear as if he is ready to
wield it, experts said.
"There's always a lot of posturing," Ms. Steyer, the Flint
auto worker, said. "It's like two big dogs. You growl,
and I'll growl back."
But people in the union and in the auto industry who are
acquainted with his thinking said Mr. Gettelfinger was loath
to call a broad strike at Delphi, knowing it could lead
to a bankruptcy at G.M. and an even bigger morass
for the union.
That would not prevent him from strategic strikes, at
a plant or two, if he felt it was necessary to send
a message to Delphi, these people said.
Mr. Gettelfinger's reluctance to inflame the situation
is a reason the U.A.W. has not conducted strike votes
at any local unions, a formality that occurs before any
walkout.
Quentin Garland, a 32-year veteran at the Flint plant who
assembles cruise control mechanisms, said he understood
the union's quandary. "A strike at this point doesn't help
anyone," Mr. Garland, 51, said.
But Sue Gosner, 50, said she did not plan to wait around
to see if that happened. She recently reached the 30-year
mark that will allow her to retire with a $35,000 check
from G.M.
"It's just been such an emotional roller coaster for so long
now," Ms. Gosner said. "People just go in there and
do the best they can do. That's all we can do."
Jeremy W. Peters contributed reporting from Flint, Mich.,
for this article.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
LINKS ONLY
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A sea of people as far as the eye could see:
Blacks and immigrants call for unity!
by Nunu Kidane
http://www.sfbayview.com/032906/aseaofpeople032906.shtml
FOCUS | Immigration Debate Awakens Latino Youth
US immigration reform sparks political activism among Latino youth in
California who see plans of criminalization as an attack on their
identity.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040106Z.shtml
U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group to make Caribbean deployment
MIAMI, Fla. – A U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group will deploy from
the U.S. east coast to the Caribbean Sea to conduct Operation
Partnership of the Americas from early April through late May 2006.
March 27, 2006
[This is a U.S. show of force against Venezuela and Cuba...bw]
http://www.southcom.mil/pa/Media/Releases/PR060327%20POA.pdf
French Law Is Affirmed as Protests Snarl Traffic
By CRAIG S. SMITH
March 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/world/europe/31france.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fS%2fSmith%2c%20Craig%20S%2e&oref=slogin
Army Cannot Deploy Soldier Applying For Conscientious
Objector Status, Federal Judge Rules
March 20, 2006 -- A federal district court has ordered the U.S.
Army not to deploy to Afghanistan a soldier who has a pending
application for Conscientious Objector (C.O.) status.
http://www.nyclu.org/martin_co_pr_032006.html
Slum Ecology
inequity Intensifies the Earths Natural Forces
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SEBASTIÃO SALGADO/ AMAZONAS/ CONTACT PRESS IMAGES
http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/06-2om/Davis.html
The Tyranny Of Israel Over America
James Petras
January 27, 2006
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19999
The mass expulsion of Israeli spies was a response to Israel's
failure to co-operate in preventing the massacre of thousands of
people in New York on September 11, 2001.
Agent Orange Victims Gather to Seek Justice
by Reuters
March 28, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0328-04.htm
PTSD stalks veterans, civilians
BY JOHN HALE
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
http://www.courierpub.com/articles/2006/03/27/capitalweekly/local_news/1stress.txt
Dahr Jamail | An "Alliance" of Violence
Dahr Jamail writes: A disturbing trend noticeable in Iraq for quite
some time now is that each aggressive Israeli military operation in the
occupied territories results in a corresponding increase in the number of
attacks on US forces in Iraq. One of the first instances of this was
the assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in March 2004 and
the reaction it set off across Shia and Sunni, ultimately spiraling into
the siege and devastation of Fallujah.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032906J.shtml
Britain rocked by biggest strike since 1926
By Pam Woods - shop steward Unison Islington (personal capacity)
Wednesday, 29 March 2006
http://www.marxist.com/britain-biggest-strike-since-1926.htm
Greece: New general strike - the working class in revolt
By Stamatis Karayannopoulos
editor of Marxistiki Foni
Tuesday, 28 March 2006
http://www.marxist.com/greece-new-general-strike280306.htm
French workers and youth mobilise on
a scale never seen since 1968
By Greg Oxley in Paris
Tuesday, 28 March 2006
http://www.marxist.com/french-workers-youth-mobilise1968.htm
G.A.O. Sees Loss in Oil Royalties of at Least $20 Billion
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
March 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/29/business/29leases.html?pagewanted=all
At G.M.'s Helm or Going Under?
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
March 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/29/business/29auto.html?pagewanted=all
Protests choke French cities
By Meg Bortin and Katrin Bennhold
International Herald Tribune
PARIS Hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets
of cities across France on Tuesday in the biggest show of force
to date against Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and his
new labor law targeting youth.
The police said that 450,000 people turned out nationwide, not
counting Paris, where hundreds of thousands more people marched
in a colorful, mainly peaceful demonstration marked by early
incidents of violence.
One of the country's largest unions, the CGT, put the nationwide
figure at 3 million, a turnout that the CGT secretary general,
Bernard Thibault, hailed as "historic."
TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/28/news/france.php
Riding High on a Tide of Oil
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Some of the biggest international oil companies plan to sink 100
billion Canadian dollars ($85.5 billion) over the next decade into
developing the gooey oil sands that are at the heart of Alberta's
growing wealth and political influence. The oil sands have
transformed Alberta into the epicenter of a new energy-based
Canadian economy that promises to be even more crucial
to the United States.
March 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/business/28alberta.html
Big Oil's Big Windfall
New York Times Editorial
March 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/opinion/28tue1.html?hp
DiFi, Incorporated
The Democrats' Daddy Warbucks
By JOSHUA FRANK
March 27, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/frank03272006.html
Purple Heart recipient forced to repay signing bonus (Updated w/Poll)
by Pacific John
Fri Mar 24, 2006 at 03:58:20 PM PDT
Iraq War veteran who received Purple Heart says Army is making
him repay money
When Fontana resident and 2001 Fontana A.B. Miller High School
graduate Kevin Stonestreet joined the U.S. Army in the summer of
2001 as a member of the infantry, he was given a $20,000 bonus
to be paid out over his six-year enlistment.
However, when Stonestreet was honorably discharged from the
Army in 2005, he found out he needed to repay $3,800 of that
bonus because he did not complete his six years.
But Stonestreet, who is now 23, said he was kicked out of the
Army because he was diagnosed with post traumatic stress
disorder, anxiety and depression from serving in Iraq.
In addition, Stonestreet, who was awarded the Purple Heart and
was considered for the Bronze Star for bravery in combat,
said the amount he was to pay back was originally $6,000,
but the government repossessed his final paycheck of $2,200.
"They were nice enough to take out the $170 for my child
support," Stonestreet said, laughingly.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/24/175820/239
Who Is Killing New Orleans?
by Mike Davis
Published on Friday, March 24, 2006
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060410/davis
THE RICH:
Why Be a Billionaire? – 9.7k
Deconstructing Forbes' annual list.
By Michael Kinsley
Posted Friday, March 24, 2006, at 6:08 AM ET
http://www.slate.com/id/2138564/nav/tap1/
Prince Ahlwaleed bin Talal Alsaud has a 317-room (but who's counting?)
palace in Riyadh that cost $130 million. Suppose you own five of these, and
every 10 years you tear them all down and rebuild from scratch. Even if you
add maintenance, air conditioning, and condo fees, you have to struggle to
hit $100 million a year. Put one of them on your own private island. The
most expensive island Forbes could find for sale was listed at $39.7
million. But when they see you coming they're going to up that to $40 mil,
aren't they? So what! Buy a new one every year. Fly there in your private
plane. Forbes strangely doesn't say how much a private plane costs, but
says you can charter a plane to the Bahamas for $40,000. So, leave all your
houses and your island and do that every weekend. It adds up to under $2.1
million. Check into a nice hotel. Use the minibar. Another million or so,
depending on whether you go for the chips or the nuts...This raises the
interesting question: If winning is what the money is all about, wouldn't,
say, half as much money be just as much winning—as long as everybody
else in the game had half as much money as well? If Icahn is right, a stiff
tax on billionaires ought to have no negative effect at all, as long as it is
applied to all billionaires equally. I'm not advocating such a tax. I am,
though, suggesting that the exquisite sensitivity to the incentives of
rich people that has been the dominant force in tax policy since 1980
may be overwrought.
Michael Kinsley is Slate's founding editor.
full: http://www.slate.com/id/2138564/nav/tap1/
AND THE POOR:
RELATIVELY DEPRIVED – 27.7k
by JOHN CASSIDY
How poor is poor?
Issue of 2006-04-03
Posted 2006-03-27
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060403fa_fact
Consider a hypothetical single mother with two teen-age sons living in New
Orleans' Ninth Ward, a neighborhood with poor schools, high rates of crime
and unemployment, and few opportunities for social advancement. The mother
works four days a week in a local supermarket, where she makes eight
dollars an hour. Her sons do odd jobs, earning a few hundred dollars a
month, which they have used to buy stereo equipment, a DVD player, and a
Nintendo. The family lives in public housing, and it qualifies for food
stamps and Medicaid. Under the Earned Income Tax Credit program, the mother
would receive roughly four thousand dollars from the federal government
each year. Compared with the destitute in Africa and Asia, this family is
unimaginably rich. Compared with a poor American family of thirty years
ago, it may be slightly better off. Compared with a typical two-income
family in the suburbs, it is poor....The conservative case against a relative
-poverty line asserts that since some people will always earn less than
others the relative-poverty rate will never go down. Fortunately, this
isn’t necessarily true. If incomes were distributed more equally, fewer
families would earn less than half the median income. Therefore,
the way to reduce relative poverty is to reduce income inequality—
perhaps by increasing the minimum wage and raising taxes on the
rich. Between 1979 and 2000, the inflation-adjusted earnings of
the poorest fifth of Americans increased just nine per cent; the
earnings of the middle fifth rose fifteen per cent; and the earnings
of the top fifth climbed sixty-eight per cent.
full: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060403fa_fact
Legislation & Politics
Key to Immigration Reform: Fairness
March 27, 2006
http://blog.aflcio.org/
The Demonization And Death Of Slobodan Milosevic
by Louis Proyect
March 27, 2006
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/lproy35.html
Senate Panel Backs Protection of Groups That Aid Immigrants
By JOHN O'NEIL
and JOHN HOLUSHA
March 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/national/27cnd-immig.html?hp&ex=1143522000&en=ad0f089e26191399&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Groundswell of Protests Back Illegal Immigrants
By NINA BERNSTEIN
March 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/national/27immig.html
Bush Was Set on Path to War, Memo by British Adviser Says
By DON VAN NATTA Jr.
March 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/international/europe/27memo.html?hp&ex=1143522000&en=1a8220fd45b2aca0&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Cuba and Human Rights, official statement
Statement from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs
24 March 2006
http://www.cuba-solidarity.org/news.asp?ItemID=705
A Poverty Line That's Out of Date and Out of Favor
By ANNA BERNASEK
March 12, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/business/yourmoney/12view.html?pagewanted=all
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