U.S. HANDS OFF CUBA!
In answer to the New York Times question, "What is Cuba’s political
future and should the U.S. be involved in shaping it?" My answer
to this question is number 483. Walter Lippmann's is number 503, at:
http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=21
483. Bonnie Weinstein:
Hasn't the U.S. government brought enough plunder into this
world yet? And, for how many years have they tried to overturn
the Cuban revolution? Are we, the American people and the
people of the world, going to sit by as this government, in our
name and with our tax dollars, attempts to rule the world with
force and violence as they are currently doing in Afghanistan,
Iraq and financing in Palestine?
And just who is benefiting from this plunder? Not the American
people who are seeing our wages, benefits and working conditions
deteriorate at light-speed! Not the people of Afghanistan, Iraq
and Palestine who are being blown apart! And certainly, the
Cuban people would not benefit from the demolition of their
socialist security network that keeps Cubans from starving and
from homelessness and provides free education and healthcare
to all of its people--even under the economic sanctions and
strangulation of the American embargo against them!
American big business--the wealthiest big American businesses
--are the ones who are profiting off of their powerful, marauding
war machine bringing death and destruction the world over.
It is they who stand to profit more from the domination of Cuba,
Venezuela and the entire world--they are making billions more
in profit off of their plunder and theft of the world's most valuable
resources both material and human--that's what they do; that's
what they care about. That is their only goal!
What we, the American, Afghan, Iraqi, Palestinian, Cuban,
Venezuelan--all hard-working people the world over need to do
--is to organize ourselves in unity and solidarity with each other
an in direct opposition to the U.S. war and profit machine. It is
up to all of us to unite together to stop them. If we don't, the
world will not survive their insatiable greed and quest for
more wealth and power through the use of force and violence
against we, the masses of humanity. This is the well-worn path
taken by the wealthy elite throughout history that we--
the overwhelming majority of humanity--must finally block.
The militarily fortified one-percent of humanity that is the
wealthy elite that rules this government and is attempting
to rule the world will not stop their plunder by themselves--
not even at the risk of all life on the planet--and that is
really what we are up against!
What we must finally realize is, that without our cooperation
and acceptance of their superiority and position above
us based on their ability to accumulate vast amounts
of personal wealth, the wealthy elite have no real power
of their own! Our sheer numbers are our power and strength
over this tiny, vicious and malignant minority currently
planted in the seat of world power.
All of us together are the only force that can unseat them,
topple and finally disarm them! The future of human life
on Earth really is up to us!
Sincerely,
Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War, www.bauaw.org
posted on August 14th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
503. Walter Lippmann:
Thanks for opening up this forum to discussion of US policy
toward Cuba. It’s obvious that our two countries are closely
linked. As Wayne Smith so well described it, it’s that of “The
Closest of Enemies”. That needs to and can change, if the
United States would simply decide to allow Cuba the right
to solve its own problems without further intervention.
Cuba is completely unique on the planet in that it’s the only
country on earth where a military base exists which belongs
to a hostile foreign power which is committed by its national
legislation to the overthrow of the Cuban government.
Not only that, but Washington has propounded a nearly
500-page plan for what should happen to Cuba should
the Cuban government somehow collapse.
As an independent journalist who lives and works in Cuba
for extended periods of time (I’ve been here ten weeks
on this visit), I can assure you that there is nothing going
on here among ordinary Cubans about any kind of “regime
change” in this country. Fidel is essentially out on sick leave
and his brother, as indicated in the island’s constitution,
is minding the store.
When I say nothing going on, I really mean NOTHING.
Naturally, people are concerned about the health of their
president, but they know he has the best doctors on the
island and so ordinary people are simply going on about
their business.
Again, thanks for opening up this important discussion.
Walter Lippmann
Havana, Cuba
posted on August 14th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
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Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone discuss: Apocalypse Now -
The U.S. and Israeli Master Plan for the Middle East.
Also, to be shown for the first time in the Bay Area: "The War
in Lebanon: An Inside View" including harrowing photos
of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila Massacre.
Thursday, August 17 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita
Berkeley, CA,. $10 suggested donation. No one will be
turned away for lack of funds. For more information
call 707.552.9992 or write takingaim@pacbell.net
Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone, producers of the national
radio show "Taking Aim," present a dramatic exposé of the
current wave of U.S. coordinated and Israeli mass slaughter
in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. They discuss
in compelling and heart-rending detail the U.S. and Israeli
murderous agenda, its timetable and the collusion of client
Arab regimes in targeting the peoples of the region.
From Rafah to, Ramallah and Nablus, from Bint Jbail, Tyre,
Sidon and Beirut to Tripoli, from 1947, 1967 to 1982 and
now, an ongoing genocide has been unleashed _ part
of a plan to visit the identical agony on the people
of Syria, Iran, Iraq and the region.
This murderous agenda proceeds under the cover of the false
category of terror for which 9/11 was planned, implemented
and orchestrated by the U.S. ruling class and its Israeli cohorts.
Heralded authors of “The Hidden History of Zionism”,
“Prisoners of Israel” and “Homage to Palestine”, Schoenman
and Shone, reveal through first hand testimony and shocking
visuals the wholesale massacre and mass expulsion that
emptied Palestine of its population in 1948 and was repeated
in an identical operation in Lebanon in 1982.
In 1982-83, Schoenman and Shone lived in the Palestinian
refugee camps as these were reduced to rubble. They
documented the round-up by the Israeli invaders of males
from ages 7 to 70 across Lebanon and took 6,000 affidavits
from the victims_ families. They witnessed and made a photo
record of the mass murder and the mass graves from
Ain El Helweh, Rashidieh, Bourj al Burajneh to Sabra and
Shatila in Beirut.
Schoenman and Shone draw from their experiences in
Palestine and Lebanon, their testimony presented to the
United Nations, Foreign Ministers and to the Nordic Commission
in Oslo, Norway as well as their years of advocacy on behalf
of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.
Ralph Schoenman was Secretary General of the International
Tribunal on U.S. War Crimes in Indochina. He worked with
Malcolm X with respect to the battle for the Congo and has
negotiated the release of political prisoners in many countries.
He was the Executive Director of the Committee in Defense
of the Palestinian and Lebanese Peoples and the Committee
for a Democratic and Secular Palestine. He is the author of
“The Hidden History of Zionism,” “Iraq and Kuwait: A History
Suppressed,” and co-authored with Mya Shone “Prisoners of
Israel (report for the United Nations)” and “Homage to Palestine.”
Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone co-produce “Taking Aim with
Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone” heard weekly on Pacifica’s
WBAI-NY and nationally on the Progressive Radio Network.
Mya Shone is an economist and has a long history as an activist
involved in political, community and labor issues. She worked
closely with Casa Nicaragua and Casa El Salvador during
the struggles taking place in Central America, was the
coordinator of the Tri-County (Santa Barbara, Ventura,
San Luis Obispo) Labor Party chapter and co-coordinator
of the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union
Independence and Democratic Rights. She was the coordinator
of the Committee in Defense of the Palestinian and Lebanese
Peoples and the Committee for a Democratic and Secular Palestine.
Mya Shone was also an award-winning documentary filmmaker
as well as a newscaster at KPFK in Los Angeles. --- The first
two parts of Taking Aim's series on the Middle East, "Apocalypse
Now: The U.S. and Israeli Master Plan for the Middle East" are
available on our website archive http://www.takingaim.info
Part 1: Death and Devastation in Lebanon Part 2: The Meaning
of Qana --- Ben Gurion and the Final Aim: (an excerpt from
"The Hidden History of Zionism" by Ralph Schoenman, available
from Veritas Press --see http://www.takingaim.info
and Amazon.com)
In 1938, David Ben Gurion, who became the first Prime Minister
of the Israeli state, wrote in a letter to his son: "A partial Jewish
State is not the end, but only the beginning. I am certain that we
can not be prevented from settling in the other parts of the
country and the region."
In 1937, he declaimed: "The boundaries of Zionist aspirations
are the concern of the Jewish people and no external factor
will be able to limit them."
In 1938, he was more explicit: "The boundaries of Zionist
aspirations," he told the World Council of Poale Zion in Tel Aviv,
"include southern Lebanon, southern Syria, today's Jordan,
all of Cis-Jordan [the West Bank] and the Sinai."
###
SUPPORT "TAKING AIM":
KPFA RADIO is considering airing the very informative program,
"Taking Aim," produced by Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone. We
encourage everyone who has heard and appreciated this show
to contact KPFA's Tracy Rose and let her know you want the
show to air:
tracyrose@gmail.com
Here's my letter:
In solidarity,
Bonnie Weinstein
Dear Tracy,
The program, "Taking Aim", with Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone
is a one-of-a-kind, powerfully informative program. Schoenman
and Shone are leading experts in the history of the Middle East with
years of experience living in the region. They are both important
reporters for news that the mainstream media tries to hide or
distort. "Taking Aim" would be a very valuable addition to the fine
programing already on KPFA.
More importantly, the information disseminating from this program
and the serious work of Schoenman and Shone, provide invaluable facts
that KPFA listeners need to hear--truth that is told nowhere else.
The more in-depth information that is made available to the general
public--your listeners--from "Taking Aim" will help to further
educate your well-informed audience.
I strongly urge you to add this program to your broadcasts.
In my opinion, "Taking Aim" and the work of Schoenman and Shone
compares well with Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now." I wish it could
be on every day.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War
www.bauaw.org
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Un-silent vigils on Aug 19 to remember Abeer Hamza, the
14-year-old Iraqi girl gang raped and brutally murdered In
March of 2006 by the US military.
Saturday, August 19th, 2006 from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Berkeley, California - Willard Park
@ Telegraph & Derby Street
Hey all,
I just forwarded you all the Not In Our Name national email - but
wanted to write back to say why. You are either an artist, a media
person, a teacher, a courageous resister, a poet, a lawyer,
a revolutionary...
We've all been in the streets to stop this endless war, to put
an end to the brutal occupations of the United States...and
we've all been high on the power of the people, and then
demoralized by our apparent inability to stop the war machine.
The anti-war movement isn't what it needs to be, but we
just can't stop, right? Please join me in LA, Bay Area, New
York on August 19 to call out the injustice of a 14 year old
girl being gang raped by the US military. These guys are
likely to go unpunished. Use your contacts, use your
resources to spread the word. This vigil is being called
for by some young women that have never organized
anything before. It is inspiring. They are courageous.
They would like 5 minutes on your radio show, or an
article in your paper, or your voice on the mic that night,
or your network of friends and connections to spread
the word. Here's the info again.
Thanks,
Maya Jones
Not In Our Name volunteer
510.710.6414
Un-silent vigils on Aug 19 to remember Abeer
Hamza, Iraqi girl brutally murdered
In March of 2006, Abeer Hamza, a 14-year
old Iraqi girl from the village of Mahmudiya,
witnessed the deaths of her father, mother, and
sister, and afterwards was brutally raped, murdered,
and set on fire. Five US soldiers have been charged
with the crime, one of which has already confessed
guilt. The soldiers allegedly pre-planned the attack,
changed into civilian clothing, and then entered
the home of Abeer Hamza.
On August 19th, Abeer Hamza would have turned 15.
On that day, we want to honor her life and remember
her death. In doing so, we hope that some of the horror
she experienced when leaving the earth, will be met
with peace and mourning by those who denounce
such violent crimes. In addition, we hope to draw
awareness to the current protocol of immunity for
Multinational Forces in Iraq. We believe that immunity
nullifies necessary checks and balances in a psychologically
precarious environment, and we support Amnesty
International's request to the UN Security Council to
reassess the granting of immunity to MNF's in Iraq.
We hope that you can join us on Aug 19th, but if you
are unable to attend, please light a candle on that night,
and support our efforts to assist in ending immunity
for MNF's in Iraq by checking out Amnesty International's
statement or our myspace page.
Saturday, August 19th, 2006 from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Los Angeles, California - Macarthur Park
@ 6th & Alvarado Street
New York City, New York - Washington Square Park
@ W. 4th Street & Macdougal
Berkeley, California - Willard Park
@ Telegraph & Derby Street
www.myspace.com/abeerhamza
Another World Is Possible!
http://www.notinourname.net
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Aug 20 SF BayviewCoalition BuildingMark your CalendarEnough
is Enough !END LAW ENFORCEMENT WAR AGAINST BLACK &BROWN !
WHAT: Fundraising Benefit and Cookout, Coalition Building
Justice4BigO, (RIP Oliver Lefiti, Killed by SFPD 6-24-06) Justice4ASA,
(RIP Asa Sullivan, Killed by SFPD 6-6-06) Bayview CEDP
(RIP Tookie Williams/Campaign to End the Death Penalty)
WHEN: Idriss Stelley's B-Day (Killed by SFPD 6-13-01), "E" would
turn 29... Sunday 8-20-06 3 P.M.
WHERE: Children Playground
behind Brett Hart Elementary School, on Gillman, SF.Take Gillman
from 3rd St., going towards Candlestick Park by the Bay
WHY:
Show your love and support to the Families of SFPD innocent victims.
Under impending Capital Punishment Federal Law, 12 Bayview
Brothers might become "Death Eligible" this year. Bayview is only
0,0001% of California, but would become 5,65% of California
death row!
Death row on the street through police Murders of our Black and
Brown Brothers &Sisters and death row in the correctional system
must GO! To volunteer, or more info: please email
iiolmisha@cs.comor call (415) 595-8251
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Distribute flyers in your Hood, Donate Food,
Donate performance (Spoken words, dance, songs), Help on Set
up and clean up crew, Chaperon the Youth at the event for safety,
Disseminate the info on the event through email and Fax blasts,
Invite all your friends! Make banners and signs (Supplies available
at ISF, 4921 3rd Street SF, Be the chef at the grill! Donate paper
plates, napkins, Lend 2 additional bullhorns, forward this Invite
to all your friends and contacts!
ARE YOU WITH US? Black &Brown UNITY!
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San Francisco Board of Education Meeting
Tuesday, August 22, 7:00 P.M.
Irving G. Breyer Board Meeting Room
555 Franklin Street, 1st Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
415/241-6427
San Francisco School board members are likely to vote Tuesday,
August 22 on a resolution to phase out JROTC. If the
proposal is approved, a blue-ribbon panel will be
formed to find and implement a non-military program to
replace JROTC. At present, the resolution has the
support of the majority of school board members.
SEE:
Why queers should oppose JROTC
Guest Opinion
Published 07/27/2006 Bay Area Reporter
by Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca]
http://www.ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op
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Free the Cuban Five!
September 23, 2006
Washington, DC
Breaking News...
On Aug. 9, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its en banc
decision denying a new trial to the Cuban Five. On August 10,
the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, together with
the National Lawyers Guild, sponsored an emergency press
conference in Washington in response to the decision.
A partial transcript to that press conference, in English
and Spanish, is here.
A March on the White House will be held on September 23
to continue to press forward with efforts to free the Five.
We urge all supporters to make every effort to join us on
that march. A public demonstration of support for the Five,
and outrage at their continued imprisonment, has never
been more vital. Details of the march are found below.
Join us in Washington on Sept. 23! Free the Cuban Five!
http://www.freethefive.org/
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Mumia Abu-Jamal Is In Danger
Rally In Oakland To FREE MUMIA!
4 PM Friday September 15th 2006,
Alameda County Courthouse, 12th and Fallon Sts, south side
Mumia Abu-Jamal Is Innocent!
For Labor Action To Free Mumia! End the Racist Death Penalty!
Award-winning journalist and former
Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal has
been on death row for almost a quarter
of a century, for a crime he didn't
commit. The State of Pennsylvania still
wants to execute him, and his case has been
put on a "fast track" to a final resolution.
What may be his last appeal is now
before the 3rd Circuit Court. But we
cannot rely on the courts to free Mumia;
the courts are still refusing to hear
MOUNTAINS of evidence which
conclusively shows his innocence!
In 1995, we mobilized by the thousands
to save Mumia from a date with
death. In 1999, longshore workers
shut down West Coast ports to free Mumia. In
2006, it's time to get back into action to free Mumia!
The victim of a politically motivated
frame-up of monumental proportions,
Mumia is an anti-war, anti-imperialist,
social justice spokesman with the
courage to defy the system from his jail
cell despite a determined conspiracy to
silence him forever. Known as the "Voice
of the Voiceless," Mumia is the
first to point out that his case is just one
among many injustices of this racist,
capitalist system.
Perpetrated by notoriously racist and
corrupt Philadelphia police and
prosecutors, the frame-up of Mumia
Abu-Jamal is supported by leading elements in
both the Democrat and Republican
parties. The US ruling class is so
committed to murdering this "dangerous"
inspirational figure that a resolution--full
of lies about Mumia's case--has been
introduced in Congress to demand that the
city of St Denis, France re-name a street
which was dubbed "Rue Mumia
Abu-Jamal" in a recent ceremony!
In the US, Mumia Abu-Jamal has been
made the "poster boy" for maintaining
the death penalty by the powerful few.
But to the world, Mumia is a hero and
symbol of resistance to racist oppression
and injustice.
All those who are involved in social
justice movements should help
champion his freedom and publicize
actions for his freedom.
Rally initiated by the Labor Action Committee
To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal (LAC),
PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610.
510 763-2347 or LACFreeMumia@aol.com.
Initial endorsers include: The Mobilization
To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal;
Frances Goldin, Mumia's literary agent;
Marsha Feinland, Peace and Freedom Party
candidate*; Todd Chretien, Green Party
candidate*; Robert Irminger, Inland
Boatmen‚s Union, ILWU*; Jack Heyman, ILWU*;
Bob Mandel, exec bd, Oakland Education
Association*; Bill Mandel,37 years on KPFA*;
Workers World Party of SF; Nat
Weinstein; Socialist Viewpoint Magazine;
Cristina Gutierrez; Bario Unido por
una Amnistia General; Fred Hirsch,
Plumbers & Fitters 393*; Jack Ford, past
president Teamsters 921*; Patricia
Maginnis; Emily Maloney.
Bay Area United Against War endorses this action.
*organization listed for purposes
of identification only. (Endorsers
support FREE MUMIA and the three
slogans listed above. They do not necessarily
agree with any other statement in this
announcement or with any other LAC
statement.)
Endorse the rally! Send your individual
or organizational endorsement by
return email to LACFreeMumia@aol.com,
or write to LAC at PO Box 16222,
Oakland CA 94610. Let us know if you
can help build the rally!
Mumia's legal defense needs funds
in this critical time. Please help!
Make checks payable to: Labor Action
Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, and
send them to: PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of all
contributions received under this appeal
will go directly to Mumia's legal
defense fund. The remainder will
support the work of the LAC.
For more information on Mumia's case,
go to the following web sites:
www.mumia.org,
www.freemumia.org,
www.chicagofreemumia.org,
www.laboractionmumia.org.
- Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
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U.S. Out of Iraq Now! We Are the Majority!
End Colonial Occupation from Iraq,
to Palestine, Haiti, and Everywhere!
October 28 National Day of Action
Locally Coordinated Anti-War Protests from Coast to Coast
Vote With Your Feet … and Your Voices, and Banners, and Signs!
Let Every Politician Feel the Power of the People!
http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7836
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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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This convention is for all peace partners. Please circulate widely.
Reserve you seat today by sending us an email at
samina_faheem@yahoo.com.
Hope to see all of you on August 20th 2006.
Thanks, Samina
American Muslim Voice Foundation
creating a culture of peace, acceptance, mutual respect and harmony
Phone: 650-387-1994
Email: amvoice@amuslimvoice.org
Website: www.amuslimvoice.org
3rd Annual Convention
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Heroes
AMV needs your support urgently
Limited seating. Please purchase your ticket today.
When: Sunday – August 20th, 2006
11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Where: Chandni 5748 Mowry School Road Newark, CA 94560
Ticket price $25.00 (Includes Luncheon)
Special request: Could you please enrich this event
by dressing in your traditional clothing?
We are very grateful for your support and friendship.
Looking forward to see you.The AMV Team
For more information visit www.amuslimvoice.org
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SAVE THE DATE AND JOIN US!!!!!
THIS IS A RESIDENT-LED EFFORT BY SURVIVORS WHO HAVE BEEN
SOME OF THE MOST IMPACTED BY THE KATRINA DISASTER AND
WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE LEAST ASSISTANCE AND RESOURCES
FROM FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ANDTHEIR
AGENCIES. THEY WANT TO KNOW IF YOUR ADVOCACY, ACTIVIST,
OR PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZATION WANTS TO SUPPORTTHIS AND
HAVE ONE OF YOUR MEMBERS PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE ON BEHALF
OF YOUR ORGANIZATION TO PULL THIS OFF THEY WANT OUR
HELP AND SUPPORT!!!
Come Back Home Campaign
Washington, D.C. August 24, 25, and 26, 2006
Baton Rouge, August 27-28, 2006
New Orleans, August 29, 2006
On August 24-26, 2006, Survivors who are still displaced and
scattered all across the U.S. will be traveling to D.C., pitching
tents, and camping out on the federal government to demand
their right to returnhome
On August 27-28, 2006, these Survivors will be traveling to
Baton Rouge, pitching their tents in front of the state capitol,
and putting pressure on the state government of Louisiana
for their right to return home
On August 29, 2006, the anniversary of the Katrina Disaster,
Survivors will make their demands to return home heard
by the city council of New Orleans and camp
out on city hall
We are planning to have at least of 5,000 Katrina survivors
bused into D.C., Baton Rouge, and New Orleans from all across
the U.S. We are focusing our efforts on bringing residents
in from seven states in the Southern Region:
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas,
Georgia, Florida.
We are specifically reaching out to those who are public
housing residents, renters, and home owners that the city,
state and federal government are trying
to keep from returning home We need help with food,
housing, medical providers, logistics, showers/toilets,
entertainment, & advertising
For more info, contact the following organization representatives:
Makani, Praxis Project (202) 234-5921,
info@praxisproject.org
Ishmael, Advancement Project and People's Organizing
Committee (504) 872-9591, poc_information@yahoo.com
Please visit our website: www.peoplesorganizing.org
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October 28 National Day of Action
Locally Coordinated Anti-War Protests from Coast to Coast
Vote With Your Feet … and Your Voices, and Banners, and Signs!
Let Every Politician Feel the Power of the People!
http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7836
http://www.actionsf.org/
http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7869
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End Canada's Occupation of Afghanistan!
Call for action on October 28, 2006
This call for a pan-Canadian day of action, co-signed by the
Canadian Peace Alliance, the Canadian Islamic Congress, the
Canadian Labour Congress and the Montreal coalition Echec
a la Guerre, is being distributed and discussed at the World Peace
Forum now taking place in Vancouver. -SV The Collectif Échec
à la guerre, Canadian Peace Alliance, the Canadian Labour Congress,
and the Canadian Islamic Congress are jointly calling for a pan-
Canadian day of protest this October 28th, 2006, to bring Canadian
troops home from Afghanistan.
On that day, people all across the country will unite to tell
Stephen Harper that we are opposed to
his wholehearted support for Canadian and U.S. militarism.
This October marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion and
occupation of Afghanistan, and the people of that country are
still suffering from the ravages of war. Reconstruction in the
country is at a standstill and the needs of the Afghan people
are not being met. The rule of the new Afghan State, made
up largely of drug running warlords, will not realize the
democratic aspirations of the people there. In fact, according
to Human Rights Watch reports, the human rights record
of those warlords in recent years has not been better than
the Taliban.
We are told that the purpose of this war is to root out terrorism
and protect our societies, yet the heavy-handed approach of
a military occupation trying to impose a US-friendly
government on the Afghan people will force more Afghans
to become part of the resistance movement. It will also
make our societies more -- not less -- likely to see terrorist
attacks.
No discussion on military tactics in the House of Commons
will change that reality. Indeed, violence is increasing with
more attacks on both coalition troops and on Afghan civilians.
While individual Canadian soldiers may have gone to Afghanistan
with the best of intentions, they are operating under the
auspices of a US-led state building project that cares little
or the needs of the Afghan people. US and Canadian interests
rest with the massive $3.2 billion Trans Afghan Pipeline (TAP)
project, which will bring oil from the Caspian region through
southern Afghanistan (where Canada is stationed) and onto the
ports of Pakistan.
It has been no secret that the TAP has dominated US foreign
policy towards Afghanistan for the last decade. Now Canadian
oil and gas corporations have their own interests in the TAP.
Over the last decade, the role of the Canadian Armed Forces
abroad has changed, and Canadian foreign policy has become
a replica of the US empire-building rhetoric. The end result
of this process is now plain to see with the role of our troops
in Southern Afghanistan, with the enormous budget increases
for war expenditures and "security," with the Bush-style speeches
of Stephen Harper, and with the fear campaigns around
"homegrown terrorism" to foster support for those nefarious
changes.
It is this very course that will get young Canadian soldiers killed,
that will endanger our society and consume more and more
of its resources for destruction and death in Afghanistan.
We demand a freeze in defense and security budgets until
an in-depth public discussion is held on those issues across
Canada. The mission in Afghanistan has already cost Canadians
more than $4 billion. That money could have been used to fund
human needs in Canada or abroad. Instead it is being used
to kill civilians in Afghanistan and advance the interests
of corporations.
On October 28th, stand up and be counted.
Canadian Troops Out of Afghanistan Now!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
END ALL U.S. AID TO ISRAEL!
Stop funding Israel's war against Palestine
Complete the form at the website listed below with your information.
Personalize the message text on the right with
your own words, if you wish.
Click the Next Step button to send your letter
to these decision makers:
President George W. Bush
Vice President Richard 'Dick' B. Cheney
Your Senators
Your Representative
Go here to register your outrage:
https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Advocacy?
JServSessionIdr003=cga2p2o6x1.app2a&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=177
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Idriss Stelley Foundation is in critical financial crisis, please help !
ISF is in critical financial crisis, and might be forced to close
its doors in a couple of months due to lack of funds to cover
DSL, SBC and utilities, which is a disaster for our numerous
clients, since the are the only CBO providing direct services
to Victims (as well as extended failies) of police misconduct
for the whole city of SF. Any donation, big or small will help
us stay alive until we obtain our 501-c3 nonprofit Federal
Status! Checks can me made out to
ISF, ( 4921 3rd St , SF CA 94124 ). Please consider to volunteer
or apply for internship to help covering our 24HR Crisis line,
provide one on one couseling and co facilitate our support
groups, M.C a show on SF Village Voice, insure a 2hr block
of time at ISF, moderate one of our 26 websites for ISF clients !
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo9ewi/idrissstelleyfoundation/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/isf23/
Report Police Brutality
24HR Bilingual hotline
(415) 595-8251
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Asa/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Sign the petition to save Bayview Hunters Point: No more Fillmore!
Editorial by Willie Ratcliff,
http://www.sfbayview.com/060706/signthepetition060706.shtml
As urban Black displacement grows, Bayview kicks off referendum
drive to stop Redevelopment by Randy Shaw,
http://www.sfbayview.com/060706/displacement060706.shtml
Hands off Bayview Hunters Point!
An open letter to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
http://www.sfbayview.com/050306/handsoff050306.shtml
Shattering the myth that our community is divided, people –
especially Black people – are lining up to sign, but we need
lots more signature gatherers. Can you commit to a few
hours with a clipboard or to passing petitions among
your co-workers, friends and family? Give us a call at
(415) 671-0789 or an email at editor@sfbayview.com.
Now for what we’re up against: The Bay View newspaper
has been too broke to help finance the petition campaign,
very few contributions have come in and bills are overdue.
So the petition drive needs financial help … and so does
the Bay View newspaper, desperately.
The Bay View has faced many crises in the over 14 years
we’ve published it – eviction, death threats, never enough
money – yet readers have always come through, enabling
us to bounce back, tackle bigger issues and fight harder
than ever. We hate to beg, but WE NEED YOU NOW.
WITHOUT AN IMMEDIATE AND SUBSTANTIAL LOAN, THE
BAY VIEW CANNOT CONTINUE. To discuss a loan, which
we can amply collateralize, please call us at (415) 671-0789;
we’re here 24/7. Tax-deductible contributions to our
nonprofit arm, the Hurricane Relief Information Network,
are also a big help to save the hopes and the lives
of survivors who depend on the Bay View for news and resources.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Appeal for funds:
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
Visit the Dahr Jamail Iraq website http://dahrjamailiraq.com
Request for Support
Dahr Jamail will soon return to the Middle East to continue his
independent reporting. As usual, reporting independently is a costly
enterprise; for example, an average hotel room is $50, a fixer runs $50
per day, and phone/food average $25 per day. Dahr will report from the
Middle East for one month, and thus needs to raise $5,750 in order to
cover his plane ticket and daily operating expenses.
A rare opportunity has arisen for Dahr to cover several stories
regarding the occupation of Iraq, as well as U.S. policy in the region,
which have been entirely absent from mainstream media.
With the need for independent, unfiltered information greater than ever,
your financial support is deeply appreciated. Without donations from
readers, ongoing independent reports from Dahr are simply not possible.
All donations go directly towards covering Dahr's on the ground
operating expenses.
(c)2006 Dahr Jamail.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
New Flash Film
From Young Ava Over At 'Peace Takes Courage'
http://www.peacetakescourage.com/page-blog.htm
http://letter.cf.huffingtonpost.com/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Save the Lebanese Civilians Petition
http://epetitions.net/julywar/index.php
http://donations.tayyar.org/
To The Concerned Citizen of The World:
http://epetitions.net/julywar/index.php
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Legal update on Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case
Excerpts from a letter written by Robert R. Bryan, the lead attorney
for death row political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal.
...On July 20, 2006, we filed the Brief of Appellee and Cross
Appellant, Mumia Abu-Jamal, in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia.
http://www.workers.org/2006/us/mumia-0810/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Today in Palestine!
For up to date information on Israeli's brutal attack on
human rights and freedom in Palestine and Lebanon go to:
http://www.theheadlines.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
For a great car magnet--a black ribbon with the words, "Bring
the troops home now!" written in red, and it also comes in a
lapel pin!--go to:
(Put out by A.N.S.W.E.R.)
https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Ecommerce?store_id=1621
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF ZIONISM
BY RALPH SCHOENMAN
Essential reading for understanding the development of Zionism
and Israel in the service of British and USA imperialism.
The full text of the book can be found for free at:
http://www.marxists.de/middleast/schoenman/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
JOIN THE LYNNE STEWAR DEFENSE
For those of you who don't know who Lynne Stewart is, go to
www.lynnestewart.org and get acquainted with Lynne and her
cause. Lynne is a criminal defense attorney who is being persecuted
for representing people charged with heinous crimes. It is a bedrock
of our legal system that every criminal defendant has a right to a
lawyer. Persecuting Lynne is an attempt to terrorize and intimidate
all criminal defense attorneys in this country so they will stop
representing unpopular people. If this happens, the fascist takeover
of this nation will be complete. We urge you all to go the website,
familiarize yourselves with Lynne and her battle for justice
www.lynnestewart.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO FREE THE CUBAN FIVE
Comité Nacional por la Libertad de los Cinco Cubanos
Who are the Cuban Five?
The Cuban Five are five Cuban men who are in U.S. prison, serving
four life sentences and 75 years collectively, after being wrongly
convicted in U.S. federal court in Miami, on June 8, 2001.
They are Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero,
Fernando González and René González.
The Five were falsely accused by the U.S. government of committing
espionage conspiracy against the United States, and other related
charges.
But the Five pointed out vigorously in their defense that they were
involved in monitoring the actions of Miami-based terrorist groups,
in order to prevent terrorist attacks on their country of Cuba.
The Five’s actions were never directed at the U.S. government.
They never harmed anyone nor ever possessed nor used any
weapons while in the United States.
The Cuban Five’s mission was to stop terrorism
For more than 40 years, anti-Cuba terrorist organizations based
in Miami have engaged in countless terrorist activities against
Cuba, and against anyone who advocates a normalization
of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. More than 3,000 Cubans
have died as a result of these terrorists’ attacks.
Gerardo
Hernández
2 Life Sentences
Antonio
Guerrero
Life Sentence
Ramon
Labañino
Life Sentence
Fernando
González
19 Years
René
González
15 Years
Free The Cuban Five Held Unjustly In The U.S.!
http://www.freethefive.org/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Eyewitness Account from Oaxaca
A website is now being circulated that has up-to-date info
and video that can be downloaded of the police action and
developments in Oaxaca. For those who have not seen it
elsewhere, the website is:
www.mexico.indymedia.org/oaxaca
http://www.mexico.indymedia.org/oaxaca
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
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
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Iraq Body Count
For current totals, see our database page.
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/press/pr13.php
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
The Cost of War
[Over three-hundred-billion so far...bw]
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
"The Democrats always promise to help workers, and the don't!
The Republicans always promise to help business, and the do!"
- Mort Sahl
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
"It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees."
- Emilano Zapata
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Join the Campaign to
Shut Down the Guantanamo Torture Center
Go to:
http://www.shutitdown.org/
to send a letter to Congress and the White House:
Shut Down Guantanamo and all torture centers and prisons.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.ANSWERcoalition.org http://www.actionsf.org
sf@internationalanswer.org
2489 Mission St. Rm. 24
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Great Counter-Recruitment Website
http://notyoursoldier.org/article.php?list=type&type=14
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
DEFEND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS AND
CIVIL RIGHTS!
Last summer the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Shanti Sellz and
Daniel Strauss, both 23-year-old volunteers assisting immigrants
on the border, for medically evacuating 3 people in critical
condition from the Arizona desert.
Criminalization for aiding undocumented immigrants already
exists on the books in the state of Arizona. Daniel and Shanti
are targeted to be its first victims. Their arrest and subsequent
prosecution for providing humanitarian aid could result in
a 15-year prison sentence. Any Congressional compromise
with the Sensenbrenner bill (HR 4437) may include these
harmful criminalization provisions. Fight back NOW!
Help stop the criminalization of undocumented immigrants
and those who support them!
For more information call 415-821- 9683.
For information on the Daniel and Shanti Defense Campaign,
visit www.nomoredeaths.org.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
FYI
According to "Minimum Wage History" at
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html "
"Calculated in real 2005 dollars, the 1968 minimum wage was the
highest at $9.12. "The 8 dollar per hour Whole Foods employees
are being paid $1.12 less than the 1968 minimum wage.
"A federal minimum wage was first set in 1938. The graph shows
both nominal (red) and real (blue) minimum wage values. Nominal
values range from 25 cents per hour in 1938 to the current $5.15/hr.
The greatest percentage jump in the minimum wage was in 1950,
when it nearly doubled. The graph adjusts these wages to 2005
dollars (blue line) to show the real value of the minimum wage.
Calculated in real 2005 dollars, the 1968 minimum wage was the
highest at $9.12. Note how the real dollar minimum wage rises and
falls. This is because it gets periodically adjusted by Congress.
The period 1997-2006, is the longest period during which the
minimum wage has not been adjusted. States have departed from
the federal minimum wage. Washington has the highest minimum
wage in the country at $7.63 as of January 1, 2006. Oregon is next
at $7.50. Cities, too, have set minimum wages. Santa Fe, New
Mexico has a minimum wage of $9.50, which is more than double
the state minimum wage at $4.35."
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
PRESERVE INTERNET NETWORK NEUTRALITY
Hi,
I can't imagine that you haven't seen this, but if you
haven't, please sign the petition to keep our access.
Everything we do online will be hurt if Congress
passes a radical law next week that gives giant
corporations more control over what we do and see on
the Internet.
Internet providers like AT&T are lobbying Congress
hard to gut Network Neutrality--the Internet's First
Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Right now,
Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which
websites open most easily for you based on which site
pays AT&T more. BarnesandNoble.com doesn't have to
outbid Amazon for the right to work properly on your
computer.
If Net Neutrality is gutted, many sites--including
Google, eBay, and iTunes--must either pay protection
money to companies like AT&T or risk having their
websites process slowly. That why these high-tech
pioneers, plus diverse groups ranging from MoveOn to
Gun Owners of America, are opposing Congress' effort
to gut Internet freedom.
So please! sign this petition telling your member of
Congress to preserve Internet freedom? Click here:
http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet?track_referer=706%
7C1152463-5QFocRE05wmGUuh8yAMSzg
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
NO BORDERS! NO WALLS! NO FENCES! GENERAL AMNESTY FOR ALL!
OUR HOMELAND IS WHERE WE LIVE!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
REPEAL THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT IN 2007!
Check out: 10 EXCELLENT REASONS NOT TO JOIN THE MILITARY
http://www.10reasonsbook.com/
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
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
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) Israel Stages Wide-Ranging Airstrikes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:23 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Lebanon-Israel.html
2) An Audit Sharply Criticizes Iraq’s Bookkeeping
By JAMES GLANZ
August 12, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/world/middleeast/12reconstruct.html?ref=world
3) Bush Aides Foresee Gains on Eavesdropping and Guantánamo
By JIM RUTENBERG
August 12, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/washington/12bush.html
4) Help for the Hardest Part of Prison: Staying Out
By ERIK ECKHOLM
August 12, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/us/12reentry.html?ref=us
5) Paper Prints Castro's Birthday Message
- By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, August 13, 2006
(08-13) 05:42 PDT HAVANA, Cuba (AP) --
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/13/international/i054234D55.DTL
6) SAN FRANCISCO
Rallies over Israel - pro and con
- John Coté, Glen Martin, Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writers
"Lebanese authorities have confirmed at least 741 people dead,
including 649 civilians. In Israel, the government has confirmed
123 deaths, including 85 soldiers."
Sunday, August 13, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/13/BAGTJKHK4B1.DTL
7) Rally Near White House Protests Violence in Mideast
By ROBERT PEAR
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13protest.html?ref=us
8) 3 Egyptian Students Are Arrested in Iowa
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13students.html
9) Panel Suggests Using Inmates in Drug Trials
[Unbelievable!!!...bw]
By IAN URBINA
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/us/13inmates.html?ref=us
10) Planned Medicaid Cuts Cause Rift With States
By ROBERT PEAR
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13medicaid.html?ref=us
11) Before Attack, Confusion Over Clearance for Convoy
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/world/middleeast/13convoy.html
12) Beirut neighbors devastated again
How much more can they tolerate?
- Rana El-Khatib
Sunday, August 13, 2006
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/08/13/ING2HKEPN71.DTL
14) Castro the Conservationist? By Default or Design, Cuba Largely Pristine
Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News
August 4, 2006
Photo Gallery: Live inside Cuba
[This is a great photo spread and quite favorable to life in Cuba...bw]
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/photogalleries/cuba/index.html
Full article:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060804-castro-legacy.html
15) Labor and the Middle East War
New York City Labor Against the War
August 11, 2006
http://www.traprockpeace.org/nyclaw_blog/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaborAgainstWar/
[To endorse the following statement, please send your name, location,
affiliation and title (if any) to nyclaw@comcast.net, or NYCLAW, PO
Box 3620166, PACC, New York, NY 10129]
16) “The Work of Karl Marx and the Challenges
of the Twenty-first Century”
Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, May 3, 2006
A CubaNews translation by Joe Bryak.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
http://www.lajiribilla.co.cu/noticias/n0086.html
Reposted:
http://www.counterpunch.org/alarcon05082006.html
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/156784.php
http://www.walterlippmann.com/alarcon-05-03-2006-e.html
17) Ehren Watada
By Dahr Jamail
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 14 August 2006
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
18) Greenland ice cap may be melting at triple speed
By Kelly Young
The New Scientist
August 10, 2006
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9717-greenland-ice-cap-may-be-
melting-at-triple-speed.html
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
1) Israel Stages Wide-Ranging Airstrikes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:23 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Lebanon-Israel.html
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah
said Saturday that the Islamic militant group will abide by a U.N.
cease-fire resolution but will continue fighting as long as Israeli
troops remained in south Lebanon.
Nasrallah grudgingly accepted the cease-fire plan in a televised
address as the Lebanese Cabinet was in session to vote on whether
to agree to the U.N. resolution. Hezbollah has two ministers
in the government.
''We will not be an obstacle to any (government) decision ...
but our ministers will express reservations about articles that
we consider unjust and unfair,'' he said.
The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution seeking a
''full cessation'' of violence between Israel and Hezbollah on
Friday, offering the region its best chance yet for peace after
a month of fighting that has killed nearly 900 people and
inflamed Mideast tensions.
The resolution, adopted unanimously, authorizes 15,000 U.N.
peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south
Lebanon as Israeli forces that have occupied the area withdraw.
The Shiite cleric said Hezbollah rocket strikes on northern Israel
would end when Israel stopped airstrikes and other attacks
on Lebanese civilians.
Some of the heaviest fighting of the war raged Saturday
as Israel sent an avalanche of military power into Lebanon,
dispatching thousands of troops and columns of armor into
the rocky hills just north of its border.
Nasrallah called continued resistance to the Israel offensive
''our natural right'' and predicted more hard fighting to come.
''We must not make a mistake, not in the resistance, the
government or the people, and believe that the war has
ended. The war has not ended. There have been continued
strikes and continued casualties,'' he said.
''Today nothing has changed and it appears tomorrow
nothing will change,'' he said.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
2) An Audit Sharply Criticizes Iraq’s Bookkeeping
By JAMES GLANZ
August 12, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/world/middleeast/12reconstruct.html?ref=world
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 11 — An audit by the international
accounting firm Ernst & Young portrays Iraq as a country
that cannot keep its books straight, where elementary
accounting errors of up to a billion dollars are routine
and where no one can say how much of the country’s
oil revenues end up in government coffers.
An auditing board sponsored by the United Nations, which
had hired Ernst & Young to carry out the work, posted
a summary of the findings on its Web site late Thursday.
The audit focused on the nearly $22 billion that Iraq
generated in 2005 from oil revenues, which form the
basis for virtually the entire national economy.
But in a country in need of every dollar it can generate
to restore a crumbling infrastructure, pay government
salaries and train its security forces, the auditors found
enormous sums simply deposited in the wrong government
account or counted differently by various official agencies.
The actual oil exports could not be determined accurately
because Iraq still does not have modern equipment
for measuring what its pipelines pour into tankers.
The panel, the International Advisory and Monitoring Board
of the Development Fund for Iraq, was created by the United
Nations to supervise an account dominated by Iraqi oil
revenues but also including interest payments and money
seized from Saddam Hussein’s government.
Referring to the tracking of money from the development
fund, sometimes called the D.F.I., the board said in statement
that “overall control systems are ineffective,” and that the
government’s financial institution suffered from a “lack
of written policies and procedures” and “staff who are not
properly trained to deal with the nature and complexity
of D.F.I. transactions.”
Those transactions are largely overseen by the Central Bank
of Iraq and the Ministry of Finance. Late Friday, the Muslim
Sabbath, a spokesman for the ministry, said that he had no
specific knowledge of the findings. An e-mail message
to Sinan Alshabibi, the governor of the Central Bank, was
not returned.
But Assim Jihad, a spokesman for the Ministry of Oil, raised
the possibility that some of the discrepancies could go
beyond simple accounting errors and instead be related
to the official corruption that many investigators have
found to be endemic in Iraq.
“Any amount that has been spent illegally by any side will
be followed up and reviewed by Iraqi institutions,” he said,
“and it will be brought back.”
When asked about the audit, Elizabeth Colton, a spokeswoman
for the United States Embassy in Iraq, said in a written statement:
“The embassy is working to support the government of Iraq’s
continuing efforts to strengthen its financial institutions and controls.”
The audit found that in 2005, Iraq made nearly $22 billion
by exporting 509,588,308 barrels of oil at an average price
of $43 a barrel.
But even those basic figures were in dispute, the audit found.
Files at the State Oil Marketing Organization, which oversees oil
exports, indicated 845,534 fewer barrels exported than recorded
by production companies in Basra, where the oil goes out to tankers
in the Persian Gulf. The organization’s contracting and bidding
procedures were also in disarray, the audit found.
Once the exports generated revenues, the money was improperly
accounted for again and again, the audit found. In one case,
$211 million was deposited straight into the government
marketing group’s accounts rather than the approved United
Nations account for all Iraqi oil revenues.
In another instance, over $1 billion in oil money ended up
in an accounting netherworld at the Central Bank because
payments to various Iraqi ministries were not recorded when
they were made. Other instances of accounting errors involving
hundreds of millions of dollars appeared to be common.
The findings echoed those of an earlier audit of the 2004 oil revenues,
indicating that few reforms had been made in the interim. “The audit
reports continue to be critical of the financial and accounting control
systems in place,” the board said.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
3) The Political Effects
Bush Aides Foresee Gains on Eavesdropping and Guantánamo
By JIM RUTENBERG
August 12, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/washington/12bush.html
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 11 — White House officials said Friday that
the fallout from the discovery of the British bombing plot could
help the administration advance its agenda in Congress. The officials
cited in particular battles over supervising the program
of eavesdropping without warrants and how to try detainees
held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Taking the White House’s lead, Republicans throughout the country
used the arrests of terror suspects in Britain to go on the offensive
against Democrats for the second day in a row. They accused
Democrats of failing to understand the nature of the terrorist
threat facing the nation.
Aides to House Republican leaders said they believed that
the arrests would help them make their case on other issues
that will allow them to keep the focus on national security,
including the call for tighter control of the border with Mexico.
Democrats promised to engage strongly in the newly energized
debate on national security, saying they would not cede
that ground.
They said they would argue that the White House and the
Republican-led Congress had failed to provide the money
necessary to protect Americans fully from the threat of terrorism
and that President Bush had pursued a foreign policy, especially
through the war in Iraq, that has fueled Islamic radicals
and created more potential terrorists.
The debate intensified as Democrats and Republicans tried
to reposition themselves in an environment that seemed to
shift with the news on Thursday about potentially the strongest
terrorist threat to the West since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Each side accused the other of politicizing the news of the plot.
By the end of the day, it was clear that the midterm elections
had taken a hard turn toward the central questions of safety
on the home front and each party’s approach to battle terrorism.
White House officials said the moment could prove helpful
beyond the realm of politics, saying news of the plot had served
to focus the public on the White House’s campaign against
terrorism at a time attention seemed to be waning.
“Yesterday simply reiterated the importance of the approach
that the administration has taken,” Tony Snow, the White
House press secretary, said at a briefing here.
Mr. Snow continued by listing antiterrorism measures supported
by Mr. Bush, “whether it be with the Patriot Act and the Patriot
Act extension, whether it be with various surveillance techniques,
of which members of Congress have been made aware.”
Insisting on anonymity, a senior administration official in
Washington said news of the plot against airliners would
add momentum to efforts to create military tribunals for
Guantánamo detainees that would strictly limit defendants’
rights.
The administration has argued that such limits are necessary
to protect intelligence sources that might be part of the
case and are also necessary when the crime scene is
a battlefield where evidence may not be easily collected.
The official said the arrests in Britain would also help the
White House secure its compromise with Senator Arlen Specter,
the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, allowing a secret intelligence court
to review the legality of its conducting wiretaps without
warrants on Americans suspected of having ties to terrorists.
Critics argued that the accord, reached after months of White
House resistance to such a review, would leave such an
important question in the hands of a secret court.
Republicans have for months seen the debate over the
program as advantageous in spite of the constitutional
debate, giving the party an opportunity to highlight
its efforts to protect Americans.
Since the plot in Britain was disclosed, Republicans have
been trying to focus attention on the debate and to draw
a sharp distinction with what they characterize as a soft,
overly legalistic approach by Democrats.
“The question all of us should be asking today is how much
longer can we afford Democrat obstruction and opposition
to important national security efforts that will make our
nation and its citizens more secure,” Senator John Cornyn,
Republican of Texas, said in a statement Thursday.
Mr. Cornyn was referring in part to Democratic complaints
about the wiretap program.
In an interview on Friday, a spokesman for Speaker J. Dennis
Hastert of Illinois, Ron Bonjean, said the discovery of the
terrorism plot “helps us push for stronger surveillance
monitoring of terrorist movements.”
Representative Adam B. Schiff, a California Democrat who
is a critic of the wiretapping program, said he did not believe
that the debate would shift much.
“I have no doubt that the administration will use this most
recent terrorist plot as an additional argument for anything
it wants to obtain in the war on terrorism,” Mr. Schiff said.
“But as a practical matter, they’ve never shown why they can’t
constitutionally conduct surveillance in a way that protects
the country.”
In marked contrast with the last two national elections,
Democratic leaders indicated they had no intention of easing
their attacks against the administration over national security
in the face of the terrorism arrests.
Three Democratic leaders in the Senate — Harry Reid of Nevada,
the minority leader; Charles E. Schumer of New York, head
of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee; and Richard J.
Durbin of Illinois — offered a sharp attack on White House
antiterrorism policies. They said the policies, particularly
in Iraq, had made the world more dangerous.
“Yesterday, Bush said we are safer today than we were before
9/11,” Mr. Reid said. “But if one looks around the world today,
he could not be further from the truth.’’
Carl Hulse contributed reporting from Washington for this
article, and Adam Nagourney from New York.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
4) Help for the Hardest Part of Prison: Staying Out
By ERIK ECKHOLM
August 12, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/us/12reentry.html?ref=us
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In April, Debra Harris took her 15-year-old
son along for what she thought was a final visit to her parole officer.
Instead, because of a “dirty urine” test two weeks before, proof
of her relapse to crack use, state troopers led her straight back
to prison for three more months.
Troopers then drove Ms. Harris’s son to the rented home on the
south side of Providence where her boyfriend was suddenly left
to tend to three of her children. Ms. Harris had forgotten to pay the
gas bill, so service was cut and they lived through her sentence
without a stove, surviving on fast food and microwave items.
Such jolting events are part of the fabric of life in South Providence,
as some women and many more men cycle repeatedly through
the state’s prisons. As the country confronts record and recurring
incarcerations, the search for solutions is focusing increasingly on
neighborhoods like it, fragile places in nearly every city where the
churning of people through prison is intensely concentrated.
Rhode Island is among the states beginning to make progress
in easing offenders’ re-entry to society with the goal of bringing
the revolving door to a halt, or at least slowing it. But sometimes
it can be hard to see much of a difference.
The 1980’s and 90’s were an era of get-tough, no-frills punishment;
inmate populations climbed to record levels while education
and training withered. Prisoners with little chance of getting
a job and histories of substance abuse were sent home without
help.
Now a countertrend is gathering force, part of an unfolding
transformation in the way the criminal justice system deals
with repeat offenders. After punishment has been meted out
and time has been served, political leaders, police officers,
corrections officials, churches and community groups are
working together to offer so-called re-entry programs,
many modest in scope but remarkable nonetheless.
Inmates now meet with planners before their release to
explore housing, drug treatment and job possibilities.
Once the inmates are back outside, churches and community
groups have been enlisted to take them by the hand and
walk them through the transition home.
“What we’re witnessing is a great turning of the wheel
in corrections policy,” said Ashbel T. Wall II, the Rhode
Island corrections director.
The flood of more than 600,000 inmates emerging from
the nation’s prisons each year, and the dismal fact that
more than half of those will return, plays out relentlessly
here, as elsewhere, keeping already troubled families
in emotional and financial turmoil. Even with the new
programs, the odds against staying straight are formidable.
“There’s a lot starting to happen,” said Sol Rodriguez,
director of the Family Life Center, established in South
Providence in 2003 to help returning prisoners and their
families. “But this is still a very poor community, and people
are coming back into already overburdened neighborhoods.”
In South Providence, where many families share aging two-
story wood houses on deceptively quiet streets, nearly one
in four male residents, and half of all black men, are under
the supervision of the State Corrections Department —
in prison, on parole or, by far the most common, on probation,
Mr. Wall said.
Eight miles away, the state prison complex is an almost
palpable presence. Of some 3,500 inmates released each
year, one-fourth return to a core zone of South Providence
of just 3.3 square miles with 39,000 residents, most
of whom are Hispanic or black.
“One day somebody is just missing in action,” said Rev.
Jeffery A. Williams, pastor of the 800-member Cathedral
of Life Christian Assembly in South Providence. “The father
gets a three- or five-year sentence, and the family structure
disintegrates. Mothers try to survive on state aid or work
multiple jobs, and you see kids practically raising themselves,
which perpetuates the problem.”
The strains on families take many forms. Not far from the
Harris household, Alberto Reyes, 27, a forklift operator,
was put on probation last winter for burglary. But in March,
Mr. Reyes failed to meet his parole officer and was sent
to prison for three and a half months. Without his help,
his girlfriend, who makes just $280 a week as a nurse’s
aide, was left in desperate straits, he acknowledged, and
had to rely on charity to get summer clothes for their baby.
Erick Betancourt, 26, spent 2 years in prison for dealing
crack and will be on probation for the next 10 years,
leaving him vulnerable to confinement for any mistake.
“Everybody you bump into is on probation or parole,”
said Mr. Betancourt, who has landed a job counseling
youths in the streets.
“You’re not supposed to hang out with others on probation,”
he said. “So you want to go back with your old friends, but
that can be dangerous, because if the police stop you, that
could be a violation.”
For Cerue Williams, 61, the repeated jailing of her 34-year-
old son on drug and probation violations is causing financial
burdens and social isolation. Laid off from her job engraving
school rings, Ms. Williams is scraping by as she cares for her
son’s teenage daughter.
Ms. Williams lives in a neat, rent-subsidized house, but she
never talks with her neighbors. “I keep this inside, it’s
embarrassing,” she said. “Nobody visits me, and I don’t
visit nobody.”
South Providence is cut off from the city’s downtown and
prosperous east side by an Interstate highway. Young men
drive with their seats folded far back, their faces concealed
behind the doorjamb — a fashion and a mock protective
measure.
Parts of the area are gentrifying, and a Hispanic influx has
brought small shops to the avenues. In abandoned jewelry
factories, vacant lots and a few low-rise housing projects,
roaming teenagers stir trouble with drugs, but the community’s
woes are mostly hidden inside wooden multifamily homes.
Tyrone McKinney, 45, has been in prison 9 or 10 times since
1979 — he is not sure at this point — on charges ranging
from shoplifting to attempted murder.
The last time Mr. McKinney was released, in January, he said,
“they gave me a bus token, and I went out into the belly
of the beast with no job, nowhere to go.”
Drifting through homes of South Providence, he resumed
using drugs and stealing and was back in prison by April,
for six months. He spoke in the prison gym, where he has
bulked up over the years.
As a condition of his discharge this fall he must go into
a residential drug treatment program, where he will also
get help applying for benefits like food stamps and finding
work and a longer-term home.
“The goal now is to see if you can rehabilitate lives instead
of just locking them up,” said Gov. Donald L. Carcieri,
a Republican, using words that once may have seemed
politically risky. Mr. Carcieri has directed state agencies
involved with education, drugs, mental health, housing
and other issues to work with current and former prisoners.
Following an example set by Connecticut, Rhode Island
has pledged to reinvest any savings from reduced prison
populations in new aid for departing inmates.
Mayor David N. Cicilline of Providence has assembled
a re-entry council, bringing together the police chief,
religious leaders, businessmen and other community
leaders. The council seeks to offer aid to every offender
returning to the most affected neighborhoods, like South
Providence.
In Washington, in another sign of the shifting national
mood, the Second Chance Act, a bill to increase federal
financing for re-entry programs, is moving through
Congress with strong bipartisan support and the
endorsement of the White House.
With its joining of public agencies and community groups,
Rhode Island is part of a movement that is taking hold
in dozens of states, said Debbie A. Mukamal, director
of the Prisoner Reentry Institute at the John Jay College
of Criminal Justice in New York.
Yet in Rhode Island, as elsewhere, money and facilities,
especially to support people once they return to the
community, have not caught up with the new goals.
Inside the prison, offenders have more access to education,
skills training and counseling. But many who are approved
for parole must still spend extra months behind bars,
waiting for drug treatment beds to open up. Those with
no homes to return to face a severe shortage of transitional
housing.
“Discharge planning doesn’t always mean a lot because
there are still so few services out here,” said Ms. Rodriguez,
of the Family Life Center.
Most days, recently freed inmates drop into the center
to check job notices, join counseling sessions or enroll
in G.E.D. classes. The center is also, with the aid of the
Corporation for Supportive Housing, a national nonprofit
group, developing 25 units of permanent housing for
troubled former offenders, and it successfully lobbied
the state to stop barring former drug offenders from
receiving food stamps.
Two weeks after his release, Mr. Reyes, the convicted
burglar, was scouring job listings at the Family Life
Center. “I have to get a job soon or I might have to go
back to jail,” he said, noting that employment was
a condition of his release. Like many other former
prisoners, he cannot live with his girlfriend and son
because she is in public housing that bans felons,
so he is staying with his mother.
Social services are vital, but nothing can substitute
for personal will, said Ms. Harris, 47, the mother who
returned to prison after a parole violation. Before
that, she had been imprisoned three times over
the years for shoplifting.
She was released on parole again on July 26 with
an ankle bracelet to ensure that she stayed inside
her home except when explicitly permitted to leave.
“I lost too much over the years,” she said the day
after her release, in the two-story home with a small
backyard she cherishes but cannot sit in now without
permission. She held a grandson as teenagers raced
in and out, and she awaited the return of two younger
children, who had moved in with their father during
her months away.
“I knew this time that I didn’t want to lose all this,”
she said, referring to her house, her children and
her boyfriend, Victor, who stuck with her.
In prison, she started a 12-step program. Now, as
a condition of her freedom, she must attend
a three-hour recovery meeting at least three times
a week. She has also been given a job, as an assistant
to a church leader.
Ms. Harris fingered the black plastic bracelet with
a transmitter on her ankle and said, “In some ways
I feel like I’m back in the same old spot.”
But the bracelet also offered a strange comfort.
“It kind of keeps my life structured for now,” she said,
noting that she saw a drug transaction through her
front window her first evening home.
“It’s crazy out there,” she said.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
5) Paper Prints Castro's Birthday Message
- By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, August 13, 2006
(08-13) 05:42 PDT HAVANA, Cuba (AP) --
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/13/international/i054234D55.DTL
On his 80th birthday, Fidel Castro cautioned Cubans on Sunday
that he faced a long recovery from surgery and advised them
to prepare for "adverse news," but he urged them to stay optimistic.
As the Communist Youth newspaper published the first photographs
of the Cuban leader since illness forced him to step aside
as president two weeks ago, Castro said his health had improved,
but warned that risks remain.
"I feel very happy," said a statement attributed to Castro in the
Juventud Rebelde newspaper. "For all those who care about my
health, I promise to fight for it."
In the photos appearing in the online edition of Juventud Rebelde,
Castro wears a red and white Adidas warm-up suit, looks a bit
tired but is sitting up straight, his eyes alert.
One picture is a close shot of the leader posing with his fist
under his chin and in two he is talking on the telephone.
The fourth photograph shows Castro sitting in a chair in front
of a bed with a white spread in what appears to be a home,
holding up a special supplement published as an homage
to him on his 80th birthday in the Saturday edition of Granma,
the Communist Party newspaper.
It was impossible to confirm the authenticity of the photographs,
which were credited to Estudios Revolucion, a division of Castro's
personal support group that collects historic documents and
images. But there was no reason to doubt they were real.
Juventud Rebelde also published a handwritten note by Castro
to five Cuban men who were convicted of working in the United
States as unregistered foreign agents and last week were denied
a new trail by a federal appeals court.
"Rene, Antonio, Gerardo, Fernando, Ramon: We will triumph
over the monstrous injustice!" read the note in Castro's typical
scrawl. It was signed: "Fidel. August 13, 2006 12:39 a.m."
In his statement, Castro said his stability has "considerably
improved" but added: "To affirm that the recovery period will
take a short time and that there is no risk would be absolutely
incorrect."
"I ask you all to be optimistic, and at the same time to be ready
to face any adverse news," it added.
"To the people of Cuba, infinite gratitude for your loving support.
The country is marching on and will continue marching on
perfectly well."
On Saturday, Granma said Castro was walking and talking again,
and even working a bit. It was the most optimistic report yet
since intestinal surgery forced him to temporarily turn over
presidential powers to his younger brother, Defense Minister
Raul Castro.
Castro's close friend and political ally, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, said Saturday that he would visit the Cuban leader.
"Tomorrow I will be with Fidel celebrating his 80th birthday,"
Chavez said at a news conference in Caracas after declaring
his candidacy for re-election in December.
"I'll take him a nice gift, a good cake, and we'll be celebrating
the 80 years of this great figure of America and our history."
Chavez also visited Castro in October 2004, two weeks after
a fall that shattered the Cuban leader's kneecap and broke
his right arm. A picture of the pair on the front page of
Granma was the first image published of Castro after the
accident.
Saturday's article in Granma — though brief — was the most
detailed statement that Cuba's government has issued since
Castro announced July 31 that he was temporarily ceding
his powers to his brother, No. 2 in the government.
South Florida's Cuban exile community used the newspaper
report to criticize the island's government.
"Sadly, Granma's optimism of Fidel Castro's health is in sharp
contrast to political prisoners who are rotting in Cuban
prisons for simply disagreeing (with him)," said Alfredo
Mesa, spokesman for the Cuban American National Foundation.
"Dead or alive, change in Cuba must come now. The era of Fidel
Castro must end."
Despite the optimistic assessment of Castro's progress, few
believed he would make a public appearance on his birthday.
No official events were announced for Sunday.
In ceding his powers, Castro blamed an unspecified intestinal
problem brought on by a heavy work schedule. He recently
traveled to Argentina for a summit of the trade group Mercosur
and gave two long speeches in eastern Cuba on July 26, the last
time he was seen in public.
Associated Press writer Natalie Obiko Pearson in Caracas,
Venezuela, contributed to this report.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
6) SAN FRANCISCO
Rallies over Israel - pro and con
- John Coté, Glen Martin, Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writers
"Lebanese authorities have confirmed at least 741 people dead,
including 649 civilians. In Israel, the government has confirmed
123 deaths, including 85 soldiers."
Sunday, August 13, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/13/BAGTJKHK4B1.DTL
Thousands of largely calm but noisy demonstrators rallied Saturday
in San Francisco to protest Israel's military actions against Lebanon
and Palestinian territories, while a smaller group staged a counter-
protest.
Police arrested a demonstrator in a melee that started when
a woman tried to burn an Israeli flag in the Civic Center after
a midday march through downtown.
Police used batons to subdue the brief skirmish after tensions
flared between demonstrators and counter-protesters, who were
on opposite sides of Polk Street, separated by metal barricades
and dozens of police officers.
The two groups exchanged insults and gestures periodically
throughout the rallies. When the woman started to set the Israeli
flag on fire, police in riot helmets rushed toward her and then
other demonstrators joined the fracas, resulting in the arrest
of one man, who police hauled from the crowd shirtless, blood
trickling from a cut on his forehead. Police did not respond
to messages requesting his identification.
The protest was one of several rallies Saturday around the
country, including in Los Angeles and at the White House.
The San Francisco protest began at the Civic Center at 11 a. m.
and featured speeches denouncing U.S. and Israeli policy.
Protesters chanted, "Long live Lebanon. Long live Hezbollah,"
during a march down Market Street to Fourth Street before
heading back for a second rally.
"A lot of children are dying in Lebanon," said Sabine Antonios,
33, of Berkeley, as she breastfed her 9-month-old son,
Sebastian, at the rally.
"We have to pass a message along that there are a lot people
against what's going on," said Antonios, who is half Lebanese
and has family in the war-ravaged country. "My dream come
true would be to have war crime charges brought against Israel
and the Bush administration. But I don't think it's all of
a sudden going to happen because of (the protest)."
The counter-protest, which attracted a few hundred people,
was organized by the San Francisco Voice for Israel. Founded
in 2004, the group's mission is to counter "anti-Israel hate
speech on the streets of the Bay Area," said a spokesman.
"These people are advocating for my death," said counter-
protester Ron Feldman of San Francisco. "It's not a political
question. It's not about different sides of an issue. It's about
freedom from tyranny."
Hilda Kessler, 74, of Berkeley, said she wished she still didn't
have to go to protests. "By now you'd hope Israel would be
accepted by the Arab world and we'd all live in peace. ... It's
just a postage stamp of a country. It needs friends."
The protest drew an eclectic mix ranging from pacifist groups
to socialist political parties to immigrant rights and women's
organizations. Initiated by the ANSWER coalition, the National
Council of Arab Americans and the Muslim American Society's
Freedom Foundation, the rally also supported the Palestinian
"right of return" to land that is now Israel, and money for jobs
and education.
Protesters -- ranging from women with head scarves and full
black robes to students in T-shirts and tattoos to couples pushing
children in strollers -- filled three city blocks, marching under
Palestinian and Lebanese flags, a blue peace banner featuring
a white dove and the purple standard of the Gabriela Network,
an organization to empower Filipinas in the United States.
"I think war is an enemy of everybody and solves nothing,"
said Eleanor Ohman, 87, of San Francisco, a member of the
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. "I wish
the president, instead of saying, 'God bless America,' would
say, 'God bless the world.' "
Other protesters were more militant. Two young men with black
-and-white head scarves covering their faces stood above the
crowd clinging to a light pole. One waved a Palestinian flag
emblazoned with a red fist and letters dripping with blood
reading, "Free Palestine." The other held aloft a photo of Hassan
Nasrallah, leader of the militant group Hezbollah, viewed
by many in the Middle East as freedom fighters but considered
a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
Saturday's protest comes a day after the U.N. Security Council
unanimously agreed to a measure calling for a full cessation
of hostilities and withdrawal of Israeli troops. The Israeli Cabinet
is to consider the resolution at a meeting today, but on Saturday
sent troops and armor pouring into south Lebanon, possibly
in a final military push.
The latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began when
Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers July 12. Israel
then launched an attack on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, where
Palestinian militants had earlier kidnapped another Israeli soldier.
Lebanese authorities have confirmed at least 741 people dead,
including 649 civilians. In Israel, the government has confirmed
123 deaths, including 85 soldiers.
Israel has been criticized for being "disproportionate" in its
response to Hezbollah's attack. The government and its supporters
say they've been responding to a much greater regional threat,
in which Hezbollah is being fueled by Iran and Syria.
In Washington, D.C., speakers in Lafayette Park energized the
mostly Muslim crowd with chants and speeches condemning
Israeli involvement in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories,
U.S. support for Israel and U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Dina Tawamsy, 32, an engineer, was among more than 1,000
people marching in downtown Los Angeles.
"I hope that we will stop the aggression against Lebanon, the
killing of innocent civilians," Tawamsy said. "I don't believe the
kidnapping of two soldiers should lead to the destruction of
the infrastructure of a whole country."
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila and wire services contributed
to this story.
E-mail the writers at jcote@sfchronicle.com,
glenmartin@sfchronicle.com and carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
7) Rally Near White House Protests Violence in Mideast
By ROBERT PEAR
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13protest.html?ref=us
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 — Thousands of people rallied near the White
House on Saturday to protest what they described as Israeli
aggression in Lebanon and the United States’ unwavering
support for Israel.
The diverse crowd included many Arab-Americans and Muslims,
college students and families, as well as veterans of prior
demonstrations against the war in Iraq.
“We want to know why our tax money is going to support war
crimes,’’ said Mounzer Sleiman, vice chairman of the National
Council of Arab-Americans, one of more than 15 speakers who
addressed the protesters gathered in Lafayette Park, across
from the White House, under a cloudless sky.
The crowd erupted periodically in chants, “Israel out of Lebanon
now” and “Free, free Palestine.’’
Dr. Khalil A. Katato of West Bloomfield, Mich., an oncologist
who came to Washington by bus with his wife and five children,
said, “We are protesting U.S. support of Israeli aggression on
the Palestinian and Lebanese people.’’
His wife, Daad Katato, said she made the trip to protest the war
in Iraq, and to show sympathy for children killed or injured
during Israel’s military operations in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
The criticism of Israel at Saturday’s rally contrasted with the
sentiment in Congress, where support for Israel is overwhelming
and bipartisan. By a vote of 410 to 8, the House last month
expressed “strong support’’ for Israel and condemned
Hezbollah and Hamas for armed attacks on Israeli territory.
The Senate approved a similar resolution by voice vote.
President Bush was at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., winding
up a 10-day vacation. He was due back at the White House
on Sunday.
At the rally on Saturday, the prevailing sentiments were
expressed in signs held aloft by marchers: “Occupation
is a crime — Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine.” “Stop Israeli terrorism.”
“No justice, no peace.’’
Brian Becker, national coordinator of a coalition called Act Now
to Stop War and End Racism, a sponsor of the rally, asserted
that President Bush had given Israel a green light to crush
Hezbollah in Lebanon, then “sent cluster bombs to the Israeli
Defense Forces to kill Lebanese children.’’ Israel has asked
the Bush administration to speed delivery of rockets armed
with cluster munitions, which could be used to strike Hezbollah
missile sites in Lebanon, and a senior American official said
this week that the request was likely to be approved.
Several speakers at the rally criticized Mr. Bush for mentioning
the religious background of those arrested this week in a plot
to blow up airplanes flying from Britain to the United States.
Mr. Bush said the plot showed that “this nation is at war
with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy
those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation.’’
Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society
Freedom Foundation, said Mr. Bush owed Muslims an apology.
“There is no Islamic fascism,’’ Mr. Bray said. “There is no
doctrine of fascism in Islam.’’
Esam Omesh, president of the Muslim American Society,
said, “We all stand united against the violence and the killing
in the holy land.’’
Ramsey Clark, the former attorney general, drew cheers when
he said, “We have a solemn obligation to impeach President
Bush.’’ Mr. Clark, who has served on the defense team for
Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, also advocated
the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Two students from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. —
Ali Khan, 28, a Pakistani-American, and his wife, Afnan Khan, 22,
who was born in the United States to Iraqi parents — were less
strident. They said they were protesting the death of civilians,
especially Lebanese children.
“They are all innocent,’’ Mr. Khan said.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
8) 3 Egyptian Students Are Arrested in Iowa
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13students.html
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (AP) — Nine of the 11 Egyptian exchange
students who recently entered the United States and failed to
appear at their college program in Montana were in custody after
three were arrested on Friday in Des Moines, officials said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tracked the three
students from New York to San Francisco to Des Moines. They
were arrested without incident on administrative immigration
violations.
The three were Ahmed Refaat Saad El Moghazi El Laket, 19;
Mohamed Ibrahim El Sayed El Moghazy, 20; and Moustafa Wagdy
Moustafa El Gafary, 18.
The students were to attend a monthlong program at Montana
State University in Bozeman. A group of 17 students arrived
in New York on July 29. Six reported to Bozeman on time.
After Montana State repeatedly tried to contact the missing
students, it notified officials at the Department of Homeland
Security and registered the Egyptians as no-shows in a system
to track foreign students that was developed after
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
None of the students are considered a terrorism risk. Immigration
officials said the last two Egyptian students were still being sought.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
9) Panel Suggests Using Inmates in Drug Trials
[Unbelievable!!!...bw]
By IAN URBINA
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/us/13inmates.html?ref=us
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 7 — An influential federal panel of medical
advisers has recommended that the government loosen regulations
that severely limit the testing of pharmaceuticals on prison inmates,
a practice that was all but stopped three decades ago after
revelations of abuse.
The proposed change includes provisions intended to prevent
problems that plagued earlier programs. Nevertheless, it has
dredged up a painful history of medical mistreatment and incited
debate among prison rights advocates and researchers about
whether prisoners can truly make uncoerced decisions, given
the environment they live in.
Supporters of such programs cite the possibility of benefit
to prison populations, and the potential for contributing
to the greater good.
Until the early 1970’s, about 90 percent of all pharmaceutical
products were tested on prison inmates, federal officials say.
But such research diminished sharply in 1974 after revelations
of abuse at prisons like Holmesburg here, where inmates were
paid hundreds of dollars a month to test items as varied
as dandruff treatments and dioxin, and where they were exposed
to radioactive, hallucinogenic and carcinogenic chemicals.
In addition to addressing the abuses at Holmesburg, the
regulations were a reaction to revelations in 1972 surrounding
what the government called the Tuskegee Study of Untreated
Syphilis in the Negro Male, which was begun in the 1930’s and
lasted 40 years. In it, several hundred mostly illiterate men
with syphilis in rural Alabama were left untreated, even after
a cure was discovered, so that researchers could study the
disease.
“What happened at Holmesburg was just as gruesome as
Tuskegee, but at Holmesburg it happened smack dab in the
middle of a major city, not in some backwoods in Alabama,”
said Allen M. Hornblum, an urban studies professor at Temple
University and the author of “Acres of Skin,” a 1998 book
about the Holmesburg research. “It just goes to show how
prisons are truly distinct institutions where the walls don’t
just serve to keep inmates in, they also serve to keep public
eyes out.”
Critics also doubt the merits of pharmaceutical testing on
prisoners who often lack basic health care.
Alvin Bronstein, a Washington lawyer who helped found the
National Prison Project, an American Civil Liberties Union
program, said he did not believe that altering the regulations
risked a return to the days of Holmesburg.
“With the help of external review boards that would include
a prisoner advocate,” Mr. Bronstein said, “I do believe that
the potential benefits of biomedical research outweigh the
potential risks.”
Holmesburg closed in 1995 but was partly reopened in July
to help ease overcrowding at other prisons.
Under current regulations, passed in 1978, prisoners can
participate in federally financed biomedical research if the
experiment poses no more than “minimal” risks to the
subjects. But a report formally presented to federal officials
on Aug. 1 by the Institute of Medicine of the National
Academy of Sciences advised that experiments with greater
risks be permitted if they had the potential to benefit prisoners.
As an added precaution, the report suggested that all studies
be subject to an independent review.
“The current regulations are entirely outdated and restrictive,
and prisoners are being arbitrarily excluded from research that
can help them,” said Ernest D. Prentice, a University
of Nebraska genetics professor and the chairman of
a Health and Human Services Department committee that
requested the study. Mr. Prentice said the regulation revision
process would begin at the committee’s next meeting, on Nov. 2.
The discussion comes as the biomedical industry is facing
a shortage of testing subjects. In the last two years, several
pain medications, including Vioxx and Bextra, have been pulled
off the market because early testing did not include large
enough numbers of patients to catch dangerous problems.
And the committee’s report comes against the backdrop of
a prison population that has more than quadrupled, to about
2.3 million, over the last 30 years and that disproportionately
suffers from H.I.V. and hepatitis C, diseases that some
researchers say could be better controlled if new research
were permitted in prisons.
For Leodus Jones, a former prisoner, the report has opened
old wounds. “This moves us back in a very bad direction,”
said Mr. Jones, who participated in the experiments
at Holmesburg in 1966 and after his release played
a pivotal role in lobbying to get the regulations passed.
In one experiment, Mr. Jones’s skin changed color, and
he developed rashes on his back and legs where he said
lotions had been tested.
“The doctors told me at the time that something was
seriously wrong,” said Mr. Jones, who added that he had
never signed a consent form. He reached a $40,000
settlement in 1986 with the City of Philadelphia after
he sued.
“I never had these rashes before,” he said, “but I’ve had
them ever since.”
The Institute of Medicine report was initiated in 2004 when
the Health and Human Services Department asked the
institute to look into the issue. The report said prisoners
should be allowed to take part in federally financed clinical
trials so long as the trials were in the later and less dangerous
phase of Food and Drug Administration approval. It also
recommended that at least half the subjects in such trials
be nonprisoners, making it more difficult to test products
that might scare off volunteers.
Dr. A. Bernard Ackerman, a New York dermatologist who
worked at Holmesburg during the 1960’s trials as a second-
year resident from the University of Pennsylvania, said he
remained skeptical. “I saw it firsthand,” Dr. Ackerman said.
“What started as scientific research became pure business,
and no amount of regulations can prevent that from
happening again.”
Others cite similar concerns over the financial stake in
such research.
“It strikes me as pretty ridiculous to start talking about
prisoners getting access to cutting-edge research and
medications when they can’t even get penicillin and high-
blood-pressure pills,” said Paul Wright, editor of Prison
Legal News, an independent monthly review. “I have to
imagine there are larger financial motivations here.”
The demand for human test subjects has grown so much
that the so-called contract research industry has emerged
in the past decade to recruit volunteers for pharmaceutical
trials. The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development,
a Boston policy and economic research group at Tufts
University, estimated that contract research revenue grew
to $7 billion in 2005, up from $1 billion in 1995.
But researchers at the Institute of Medicine said their sole
focus was to see if prisoners could benefit by changing
the regulations.
The pharmaceutical industry says it was not involved.
Jeff Trewitt, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of America, a drug industry trade group,
said that his organization had no role in prompting the
study and that it had not had a chance to review the findings.
Dr. Albert M. Kligman, who directed the experiments
at Holmesburg and is now an emeritus professor of
dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical
School, said the regulations should never have been
written in the first place.
“My view is that shutting the prison experiments down
was a big mistake,” Dr. Kligman said.
While confirming that he used radioactive materials,
hallucinogenic drugs and carcinogenic materials on
prisoners, Dr. Kligman said that they were always
administered in extremely low doses and that the
benefits to the public were overwhelming.
He cited breakthroughs like Retin A, a popular anti-
acne drug, and ingredients for most of the creams
used to treat poison ivy. “I’m on the medical ethics
committee at Penn,” he said, “and I still don’t see there
having been anything wrong with what we were doing.”
From 1951 to 1974, several federal agencies and more
than 30 companies used Holmesburg for experiments,
mostly under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania,
which had built laboratories at the prison. After the
revelations about Holmesburg, it soon became clear
that other universities and prisons in other states were
involved in similar abuses.
In October 2000, nearly 300 former inmates sued the
University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Kligman, Dow Chemical
and Johnson & Johnson for injuries they said occurred
during the experiments at Holmesburg, but the suit
was dismissed because the statute of limitations had
expired.
“When they put the chemicals on me, my hands swelled
up like eight-ounce boxing gloves, and they’ve never
gone back to normal,” said Edward Anthony, 62, a former
inmate who took part in Holmesburg experiments
in 1964. “We’re still pushing the lawsuit because the
medical bills are still coming in for a lot of us.”
Daniel S. Murphy, a professor of criminal justice at
Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., who was
imprisoned for five years in the 1990’s for growing
marijuana, said that loosening the regulations would
be a mistake.
“Free and informed consent becomes pretty questionable
when prisoners don’t hold the keys to their own cells,”
Professor Murphy said, “and in many cases they can’t
read, yet they are signing a document that it practically
takes a law degree to understand.”
During the Holmesburg experiments, inmates could
earn up to $1,500 a month by participating. The only
other jobs were at the commissary or in the shoe and
shirt factory, where wages were usually about 15 cents
to 25 cents a day, Professor Hornblum of Temple said.
On the issue of compensation for inmates, the report
raised concern about “undue inducements to participate
in research in order to gain access to medical care
or other benefits they would not normally have.”
It called for “adequate protections” to avoid “attempts
to coerce or manipulate participation.’’
The report also expressed worry about the absence
of regulation over experiments that do not receive
federal money. Lawrence O. Gostin, the chairman
of the panel that conducted the study and a professor
of law and public health at Georgetown University,
said he hoped to change that.
Even with current regulations, oversight of such research
has been difficult. In 2000, several universities were
reprimanded for using federal money and conducting
several hundred projects on prisoners without fully
reporting the projects to the appropriate authorities.
Professor Gostin said the report called for tightening
some existing regulations by advising that all research
involving prisoners be subject to uniform federal
oversight, even if no federal funds are involved.
The report also said protections should extend not
just to prisoners behind bars but also to those on
parole or on probation.
Professor Murphy, who testified to the panel as the
report was being written, praised those proposed
precautions before adding, “They’re also the parts
of the report that faced the strongest resistance from
federal officials, and I fear they’re most likely the parts
that will end up getting cut as these recommendations
become new regulations.”
Barclay Walsh contributed research for this article.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
10) Planned Medicaid Cuts Cause Rift With States
By ROBERT PEAR
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13medicaid.html?ref=us
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 — The White House is clashing with
governors of both parties over a plan to cut Medicaid payments
to hospitals and nursing homes that care for millions
of low-income people.
The White House says the changes are needed to ensure the
“fiscal integrity” of Medicaid and to curb “excessive payments”
to health care providers.
But the plan faces growing opposition. The National Governors
Association said it “would impose a huge financial burden
on states,” already struggling with explosive growth in health costs.
More than 330 members of Congress, including 103 Republicans,
have objected to the plan. A letter signed by 82 House Republicans
says it “would seriously disrupt financing of Medicaid programs
around the country.” A bipartisan group of 50 senators recently
urged President Bush to scrap the proposed rules, which were
set forth in his 2007 budget and could be issued before
the end of this year.
Medicaid finances health care for more than 50 million low-income
people, with money provided by the federal government and the states.
Under the White House plan, the federal government would reduce
Medicaid payments to many public hospitals and nursing homes
by redefining allowable costs. It would also limit the states’ ability
to finance their share of Medicaid by imposing taxes on health
care providers. About two-thirds of the states have such taxes.
The federal government pays at least 50 percent of Medicaid
costs in each state and more than 70 percent in the poorest
states. Bush administration officials say states have used
creative bookkeeping and accounting gimmicks to obtain
large amounts of federal Medicaid money without paying
their share. Moreover, they contend, some states have
improperly recycled federal money to claim additional
federal Medicaid money.
“States have managed to draw down more federal Medicaid
dollars with fewer state dollars,” said Dennis G. Smith,
director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations.
State and local officials, members of Congress, hospitals,
nursing homes and advocates for poor people make several
arguments. First, they say, Mr. Bush is doing by regulation
what he unsuccessfully asked Congress to do by legislation
in the last two years. Second, they say, prior administrations
and the Bush administration itself approved many
of the state taxes that would be deemed improper
under the new rules.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a Republican,
said, “The administration is attempting to reverse decades
of federal Medicaid policy through the regulatory process,”
less than a year after “Congress rejected these misguided cuts.”
In Missouri, Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, said the change
“could mean a loss of more than $84.9 million” for his state.
That, he said, would “jeopardize the continuity of care for
Medicaid recipients” and set back efforts to improve care in
nursing homes.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut, a Republican, protested the
White House plan in a letter to Mr. Bush. She said the effects
would be “disastrous” in states like Connecticut, which relies
on fees collected from nursing homes to help pay its share
of Medicaid costs.
Democratic governors, including Janet Napolitano of Arizona,
Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania and Kathleen Sebelius
of Kansas, also denounced the White House plan. Ms. Sebelius
said the cuts would make it much more difficult for health
care providers like the University of Kansas Hospital to serve
Medicaid recipients and people without insurance.
The cuts contemplated by the White House would not reduce
the cost of care. But state officials said the changes would put
pressure on states to reduce Medicaid benefits, restrict
eligibility or lower payments to health care providers.
Medicaid is one of the largest, fastest-growing items
in state budgets. To pay their share of the costs, states
often rely on general revenue from sales and income taxes.
But many also levy special taxes on hospitals, nursing homes
and other health care providers. In many cases, providers
willingly pay such taxes because the revenue shores
up Medicaid and can be used by states to obtain federal
matching payments.
Under current rules, a state can impose a tax equal
to 6 percent of the revenue of a hospital or nursing home.
The administration wants to lower the allowable tax rate
to 3 percent. The federal government would reduce its
Medicaid payment to any state that levied taxes above that.
Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human
services, said this change would “remove incentives for
states to shift the responsibility to fund their share of the
Medicaid program to health care providers.” Hospitals and
nursing homes, he said, should welcome the change
because it would reduce their taxes.
But Thomas P. Nickels, senior vice president of the American
Hospital Association, and Bruce A. Yarwood, president of the
American Health Care Association, a trade group for nursing
homes, said the plan was simply a way to cut Medicaid.
“If provider taxes are cut, the Medicaid program will be
reduced, and that will harm beneficiaries,” Mr. Nickels said.
“We do not see a political will, at the federal or state level,
to supplant provider taxes with other types of revenue.”
In February, Mr. Bush signed a bill that gave states power
to revamp Medicaid by altering eligibility and benefits.
That measure is expected to cut the growth of federal
Medicaid spending by $4.9 billion over five years.
The White House estimates that the new rules will save
the federal government even more: $12.2 billion over
five years.
The administration said it needed to impose stricter limits
on Medicaid payments to public hospitals and nursing
homes because such payments far exceeded “the actual
cost of services” in many states.
The changes may seem technical. But Marvin R. O’Quinn,
president of Jackson Health System in Miami, said they
would directly and adversely affect patients.
Dr. Bruce A. Chernof, director of the Los Angeles County
Department of Health Services, said the cuts would
“reduce access to services in a county where 33 percent
of residents are uninsured.” The county’s five public
hospitals operate trauma centers and burn treatment
units for all patients, not just Medicaid recipients, he said.
The effects are magnified by the way Medicaid is financed.
For each dollar that a state loses in provider tax revenue,
the federal government will reduce its contributions —
by $1 in California and Connecticut, and by $3 in a poor
state like Mississippi.
The White House said Mr. Bush would also adopt stricter
policies on Medicaid payments for rehabilitation
and school-based health services.
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11) Before Attack, Confusion Over Clearance for Convoy
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
August 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/world/middleeast/13convoy.html
HASBAYA, Lebanon, Aug. 12 — The cars set off down the narrow
mountain road a few hours before sunset. They were trying to leave
villages the Israeli Army occupied two days before, moving with
what they thought was permission to pass.
But then the missiles came. Shortly after nightfall, Israeli aircraft
fired into the convoy, containing more than a thousand Lebanese
villagers. The military said in a statement that it had received
a request for the convoy to move, but had denied it. It said
it had suspected that cars in the area contained Hezbollah
guerrillas carrying weapons, and only later discovered that
the cars were part of the refugee convoy.
Six people were killed and more than 30 were wounded,
according to witnesses and Red Cross officials. Among
the dead were a Lebanese soldier, a baker, a Red Cross
worker and the wife of a mayor of one of the villages.
What followed was a scene of panic under a large yellow
moon. Drivers switched off their headlights, afraid of being
shot, and frantically began turning around on the narrow road,
which runs between two mountains near the winemaking village
of Kefraya. An ambulance worker driving with the convoy was
killed trying to get to the wounded, and it was an hour before
nearby emergency workers could get in to pick up the bodies.
“We saw the light and the sound of the bomb,” said Ronitte
Daher, a newspaper reporter from the village of Qlayah, who
was traveling in the convoy with her sister. “I got out of the
car and heard voices of people crying and shouting.”
She did not know what to do, and switched off her lights.
Someone shouted to get out of the car and run for cover.
Other cars were driving in reverse. She turned her car around.
“When I was turning, I saw a dead body,” she said. “I know
that man. I saw his children crying and shouting, ‘Please
help us! Please help us!’ ”
Israeli planes have been striking Lebanese civilians since
the beginning of the war, hitting a truckload of fleeing
farmers, a Lebanese photographer and a village during
a funeral. Even so, Friday’s strike still came as a shock:
the convoy was more than 500 cars long and included
a town mayor, an entire Lebanese Army unit and its
own ambulance.
The Israeli military said it had banned the movement
of cars south of the Litani River, though the convoy
was hit well north of it.
Crowding may have been part of the problem. The villagers
had been waiting in Merj ’Uyun, a few miles south of here,
since early Friday. Many had not been out of their houses
since the Israelis came late last week, and they were
desperate to leave.
Finally, around 4 p.m., they piled behind each other in
a long bumper-to-bumper line and began moving out.
The road was a mess, torn with large craters, and it took
more than two hours to move several miles, according
to the mayor of Merj ’Uyun , Fuad Hamra, who was in the
convoy.
As soon as the cars were hit, all within about three minutes
of one another, drivers farther back began hearing about
it on their cellphones and many simply stopped in the dark.
Some cars parked in areas that looked safe. Others, like
Ms. Daher, drove to Jib Janine, a nearby town. Shortly after
the attack, clumps of cars were idling in two parking lots
south of Jib Jenine. People stood outside in the bright
moonlight.
Ms. Daher stayed in the home of a family she had never
met. They gave her water.
“I saw some people,” she said. “I asked it’s safe here?
They said, yes, come.”
Ms. Daher, a reporter for Nahar Newspaper, one of Lebanon’s
main newspapers, said that she tried to take photographs
of the soldiers from the window of her house on Thursday,
but that soldiers shot at the house when they saw her.
“They asked people not to look out the windows,” she
said, speaking by telephone from Beirut, where she finally
arrived Saturday afternoon.
She described a frozen town, in which Israeli soldiers
and Lebanese civilians were terrified of one another.
“They are afraid of any movement in the houses, so we
tried to keep calm,” she said. Israelis, according to Mr. Hamra
and other residents, had destroyed some houses in the villages
they occupied late last week, and residents did not feel safe
inside their homes.
“They bombed some houses,” she said. “We don’t know why.”
Residents were similarly baffled about the convoy. The Israelis
have warned several days ago that they would strike anyone
driving south of the Litani River, and reiterated that warning
the statement they released Saturday about the mistaken strike.
But the convoy was hit far north of the river, after the convoy
had passed out of active fighting.
“Something went wrong,” Mr. Hamra said by telephone from
Beirut. “We were promised that we would have the clearance
from Israelis and the road would be cleared. Neither happened.”
“Probably the clearance wasn’t cleared enough.”
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
13) Beirut neighbors devastated again
How much more can they tolerate?
- Rana El-Khatib
Sunday, August 13, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/08/13/ING2HKEPN71.DTL
In my once-delightful Beirut neighborhood, everyone's life has
irrevocably changed. It is as if we inhabit a different planet than
we did a month ago.
Upstairs, my neighbor's 84-year-old father lost his home in the
lovely, southern Lebanese city of Bint Jbeil. A broken man, he sits
in his daughter's apartment and says, "Four times I've had to
rebuild my home. I don't have the years or the strength to rebuild
another." His memories and life's possessions were pulverized by
a bomb dropped from an American-made, Israeli-piloted F-16.
Across the hall, our neighbor has taken in her mother, sister,
brother and their families. Her mother and brother have also
lost their homes, flattened by Israeli bombs.
Some people are transfixed with worry and uncertainty. My friend's
weekend escape used to be to an exquisite home in the southern
village of Tibneen. There, I had experienced the unmatched
hospitality of the southern Lebanese. I had enjoyed mouth-watering
traditional dishes under the shade of their lovingly tended trees.
The air was fresh, the sky big and the graciousness of our hosts
humbling.
Because they cannot visit, my friend's family does not know
if the home is gone. Her mother stoically declared, "A house
can be rebuilt..." And, if necessary, they will rebuild -- stone
for stone, plant for plant, tile by tile. They will again invite guests
to sit under the shade of the trees they planted and share, once
more, the richness of their heritage and land. But they, too, have
had to rebuild their lives more than once -- their house, like
countless others, the target of Israeli bombs from previous attacks.
Stepping out in Beirut on a recent evening to visit my uncle
in his usually quaint urban neighborhood, I was faced with
a surreal sight. The street was transformed by an endless
stream of new, bewildered and uncomfortable faces -- refugees
from the southern suburbs of the city that have been devastated
by a rain of destruction from the sky.
Six children approached us, arms linked together. The oldest,
about 8, blurted out "Give us money to buy candy?" They looked
disheveled and hungry. "Where are you staying?" my mother
asked. "In the school" they responded, pointing to the school
just around the corner.
As my mother gave them each a little money, I noticed just
how much my uncle's charming neighborhood had changed
in a span of three weeks. There were unkempt youngsters
everywhere. Parents stood idle in the streets -- the same
mothers and fathers who, under normal circumstances, would
have been preparing dinner for their families in their own homes.
Then I looked at my uncle's stone fence and on it I saw a tiny,
emaciated, gray-and-white kitten. It could barely stand; hunger
and fatigue ravaged the tiny creature as it looked out helplessly
at the world from its perch. That skinny kitten seemed
to represent the desperation of all of Lebanon.
Everyone in Lebanon has a heartbreaking story to tell. Entire
families have been murdered -- mother, father and five
children; mother and four children; a woman in her ninth
month of pregnancy who died when an Israeli bomb
landed on her car on the way to the hospital to give birth.
An old man, left in a wheelchair by a nurse fleeing danger,
was found dead by his frantic daughter, who came to their
town with the Red Cross to get him to safety but arrived
too late. My co-worker's aunt, daughter and granddaughter
were buried under the rubble of their home and no one
could pull them out for two days because of the intense,
relentless Israeli bombing.
Close to 1 million Lebanese, almost one-fourth of the
population, have been uprooted from their homes.
An estimated 1,000 innocent civilians are dead. We have
rebuilt before, but even the most resilient of people have
a threshold for how much injustice -- how many lost homes,
lost limbs and lost family members -- they can tolerate.
Israel can bury Lebanon again with its military arsenal.
But while doing so, is there not a part of Israel that dies
a little, too?
Rana El-Khatib is a Palestinian-Lebanese poet and writer
who lives in Beirut. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com.
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14) Castro the Conservationist? By Default or Design,
Cuba Largely Pristine
Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News
August 4, 2006
Photo Gallery: Live inside Cuba
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/photogalleries/cuba/index.html
Full article:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060804-castro-legacy.html
Will Cuban President Fidel Castro be remembered primarily as a man of
the people, an authoritarian tyrant—or a conservationist?
Castro handed power to his brother last week to undergo emergency
intestinal surgery. His health remains uncertain, fueling rampant
speculation about his legacy.
Some experts say his environmental policies may be among his greatest
achievements.
Though Cuba is economically destitute, it has the richest biodiversity
in the Caribbean. Resorts blanket many of its neighbors, but Cuba
remains largely undeveloped, with large tracts of untouched rain forest
and unspoiled reefs (map of Cuba).
The country has signed numerous international conservation treaties and
set aside vast areas of land for government protection.
But others say Cuba's economic underdevelopment has played just as large
a role.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union—its main financial
benefactor—Cuba has had to rely mostly on its own limited resources. It
has embraced organic farming and low-energy agriculture because it can't
afford to do anything else.
And once Castro is gone, the experts say, a boom in tourism and foreign
investment could destroy Cuba's pristine landscapes.
Eco-Legacy
"I think the Cuban government can take a substantial amount of credit
for landscape, flora, and fauna preservation," said Jennifer Gebelein, a
professor at Florida International University in Miami who studies
environmental issues in Cuba.
More than 20 percent of Cuba's land is under some form of government
protection. The island's wetlands have been largely shielded from
pesticide runoff that has destroyed similar areas in other countries.
And since Castro seized power in 1959, logging has slowed significantly.
Forest cover has increased from 14 percent in 1956 to about 21 percent
today.
In addition, the more than 4,000 smaller islands surrounding the main
island are important refuges for endangered species. The coastline and
mangrove archipelagos are breeding grounds for some 750 species of fish
and 3,000 other marine organisms. "Because Cuba's tourist industry has
not developed quickly in regard to reef exploitation, the reefs have
been spared the fate of Florida's reefs, for example," Gebelein said.
At about 1.5 million acres (600,000 hectares), the Ciénaga de Zapata
Biosphere Reserve is Cuba's largest protected area and has been
designated a "Wetland of International Importance" by the Ramsas
Convention on Wetlands in 1971.
"The Zapata Swamp is the Caribbean's largest and most important
wetland," said Jim Barborak, who is based in San Pedro, Costa Rica, and
heads the protected areas and conservation corridors program for
Conservation International.
Jewel of the Caribbean
Originally, Cuba was in the Pacific Ocean, not the Caribbean Sea.
Continental drift slowly brought the island into the Caribbean some 100
million years ago, and an astonishing variety of life emerged.
"Cuba has tremendous biological diversity," Barborak said. "The levels
of plant endemism—unique species limited to Cuba—is particularly high,
especially in highland ecosystems in eastern Cuba."
More than half of Cuba's plants and animals, and more than 80 percent of
its reptiles and amphibians, are unique to the island.
Endemic birds include the Cuban trogon, the Cuban tody, and the Cuban
pygmy owl. The world's smallest bird, the bee hummingbird—which weighs
less than a U.S. penny—is found there.
"Important populations of many North American migratory birds, whose
declining populations require international action to conserve both
breeding and wintering grounds, spend much of the year in Cuba,"
Barborak said.
Cuba is only one of two nations with a primitive mammal known as a
solenodon, a foot-long (0.3-meter-long) shrewlike creature.
The island also has a great diversity of giant lizards, crocodiles, and
tortoises.
Intellectual Infrastructure
A key player in Cuba's green movement has been Guillermo García Frías,
one of five original "comandantes" of the 1959 Cuban revolution.
A nature lover with strong ties to Castro, García has pushed for a
strong environmental ethic for a generation of scientists and government
officials.
"Comandante García's enthusiasm for nature conservation has been
critical to the successful development of a conservation infrastructure
in Cuba," said Mary Pearl, president of the Wildlife Trust in New York
City.
Cubans are leaders in biological research, with thousands of graduates
from the country's ten universities and institutes devoted to work in
ecology.
"The country has the best intellectual infrastructure for wildlife
conservation in the Caribbean," Pearl said.
Students in every department at the University of Havana, for example,
have had the opportunity to share a bonding experience by living in an
impoverished fishing village while working to protect marine turtles.
"As a result, many of Cuba's leaders in all spheres have had a common
experience reconciling poverty alleviation and nature conservation,"
Pearl said. "It is not surprising that this has left a legacy of concern
for nature, despite the country's economic challenges."
Embargo Woes
But Cuba has earned its green credentials partly by default.
Isolated in part because of the U.S. trade embargo against the island,
Cuba has been excluded from much of the economic globalization that has
taken its toll on the environment in many other parts of the world.
"The healthy status of much of the wetlands and forests of Cuba is due
not to political influence as much as the lack of foreign exchange with
which to make the investments to convert lands and introduce
petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers," Pearl said.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Cuban factories and
agricultural fields have sat dormant. The island has had to become
self-sufficient, turning to low-energy organic farming.
It has had to scrap most of its fishing fleet because it can't afford to
maintain the ships.
Population pressure has also been a nonissue, with many Cubans fleeing
the country for economic and political reasons.
However, Conservation International's Barborak says it would be wrong to
think Cuba's environmental success is simply due to its economic
underdevelopment.
"If this were true, then Haiti could be expected to be a verdant
ecological paradise, instead of being the most environmentally
devastated country in the region, with just a tiny fraction of its
forest cover intact," he said.
"Cuba's stable population, high literacy rate, clear land-tenure system,
large cadre of well-trained conservationists, and relatively strong
enforcement of laws and regulations are certainly all associated with
its conservation achievements."
So what will happen if Castro's regime falls and a new, democratic
government takes root?
Conservationists and others say they are worried that the pressure to
develop the island will increase and Cuba's rich biodiversity will suffer.
Barborak said he is concerned that "environmental carpetbaggers and
scalawags will come out of the woodwork in Cuba if there is turbulent
regime change.
"One could foresee a flood of extractive industries jockeying for access
to mineral and oil leases," he said.
"A huge wave of extraction of unique and endemic plants and animals
could occur to feed the international wildlife market. And a speculative
tourism and real estate boom could turn much of the coastline into a
tacky wasteland in short order."
"If foreign investments take a much firmer hold, more hotels will be
built and more people will descend on the reefs," added Gebelein, the
Florida International University professor.
"If the Cuban government does not have a swift policy framework to deal
with the huge influx of tourists, investors, and foreign government
interests, a new exploitative paradigm will be the beginning of the end
for some of the last pristine territories in the Caribbean."
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
15) Labor and the Middle East War
New York City Labor Against the War
August 11, 2006
http://www.traprockpeace.org/nyclaw_blog/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaborAgainstWar/
[To endorse the following statement, please send your name, location,
affiliation and title (if any) to nyclaw@comcast.net, or NYCLAW, PO
Box 3620166, PACC, New York, NY 10129]
For weeks, Israel has turned Lebanon into a killing ground,
slaughtering and maiming thousands of people, destroying the civilian
infrastructure, and turning a quarter of the population into refugees
in their own land. At the same time, it continues to brutalize
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel's crimes are carried out with U.S.-made F-16s, Apache
helicopters, and cluster bombs. These high-tech lethal weapons are
part of $5 billion that Israel gets each year from the United States,
courtesy of the Republican and Democratic parties, with enthusiastic
support from Neo-cons and right-wing Christian fundamentalists.
The U.S. does not arm Israel to "promote democracy" or for
"self-defense." Even Zionist historians now admit that Israel's
origins are rooted in dispossession of the Palestinian people -- whose
labor then built the Israeli economy -- through an unrelenting
campaign of ethnic cleansing: exile, squalid refugee camps,
imprisonment, torture and murder.
Since the 1970s, Israel has also pursued territorial expansion by
repeatedly invading and devastating Lebanon, as exemplified by the
slaughter of thousands of Palestinian refugees at Sabra and Shatilla
in 1982. That occupation lasted until 2000, when Hezbollah forced
Israel to withdraw.
Since then, Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians, taken
thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese political prisoners, and tried
to strangle the democratically-elected government of Hamas. When
Hamas and Hezbollah responded by capturing a few Israeli soldiers,
Israel unleashed a new, bloody, long-planned attack on Lebanon; only
then did Hezbollah respond by firing crude rockets at Israel.
Behind its empty platitudes, the U.S. government supports this Israeli
racism and state terrorism because, along with dictatorships in Egypt
and Saudi Arabia, it is a cornerstone of U.S. domination over the
world's most important oil-producing region.
Now, with the Iraq war in shambles, the U.S.-Israel partnership seeks
to break Lebanese and Palestinian resistance, while recklessly
provoking confrontations with Syria and Iran. The U.N. has done
nothing to stop this war of empire -- what Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice sickeningly calls "birth pangs of a new Middle East."
It is not surprising, therefore, that Hezbollah has won tremendous
support in and beyond the Arab world, even amongst those who question
some aspects of its ideology or tactics. For this spiraling cycle of
oppression and resistance evokes Iraq, Afghanistan, Soweto, Vietnam,
Algeria, the Warsaw Ghetto, or David and Goliath.
Horrified by the images from Palestine and Lebanon, international
labor has strongly denounced Israel's attacks.
On July 10, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
urgently called for sanctions and boycotts against the "apartheid
Israel state," which it branded worse than the former racist regime in
South Africa.
On July 31, the General Union of Oil Employees in Iraq issued an
"appeal to all the honorable and free people of the world to
demonstrate and protest about what is happening to Lebanon."
On August 5, major British trade unions supported a massive London
protest against Israel's attacks. Even before the current escalation,
several labor bodies in Britain, Canada and elsewhere called for
divestment from Israel.
In the United States, however, nearly all labor bodies either support
Israel or say nothing at all.
State employee retirement plans and union pension funds invest
hundreds of millions of dollars in State of Israel Bonds. In April
2002, while Israel butchered hundreds of Palestinian refugees in
Jenin, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney spoke at a "National Solidarity
Rally for Israel." The American Federation of Teachers has
specifically embraced Israel's new assaults.
In the antiwar movement, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), which
consistently segregates the Palestinian cause, has organized no mass
response. U.S. Labor Against the War, which promotes union
resolutions against the war in Iraq, remains disturbingly silent.
Fortunately, growing protests have been organized by the Arab-Muslim
community, people of color, anti-Zionist Jews, and other activists who
recognize that Lebanon and Palestine are inseparable from Iraq and
Afghanistan.
New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW) is part of this
grassroots movement, and with Al-Awda New York, The Palestine Right to
Return Coalition, a cosponsor of Labor for Palestine
NYCLAW believes that the labor and antiwar movements in the United
States have a special obligation to speak out and demand:
1. End the U.S.-Israel war against the Palestinian and Lebanese people.
2. No aid for Israel.
3. Boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
4. End Israeli occupation, and fully implement the Palestinian right
of return.
5. Out Now from Iraq and Afghanistan -- No timetables, redeployment,
advisors, or air-war.
[BAUAW endorses this statement...bw]
NYCLAW Co-Conveners (other affiliations listed for identification only):
Larry Adams Former President, NPMHU Local 300
Michael Letwin Former President, UAW Local 2325/Assn. of Legal Aid
Attorneys
Brenda Stokely Former President, AFSCME DC 1707; Co-Chair, Million
Worker March
http://www.traprockpeace.org/nyclaw_blog/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaborAgainstWar/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
16) “The Work of Karl Marx and the Challenges
of the Twenty-first Century”
Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, May 3, 2006
A CubaNews translation by Joe Bryak.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
http://www.lajiribilla.co.cu/noticias/n0086.html
Reposted:
http://www.counterpunch.org/alarcon05082006.html
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/156784.php
http://www.walterlippmann.com/alarcon-05-03-2006-e.html
"Let us remember that he said that it was not enough that
the idea clamored to be made reality, but that it was also
necessary that reality shout out to be made into idea."
-- Franz Mehring
I will not attempt to delineate here the ample and rich
intellectual production of Karl Marx, his deep analysis
of capitalism or the principal events of his era, nor will
I touch upon his exemplary life as a social fighter and
revolutionary leader. I know that these themes
are familiar to you all.
I propose, if you allow me, to separate Marx from Marxism.
With that I allude to the necessity of thinking of Marx
as Marx, rather than from any of the versions of Marxism,
to imagine him declaring the challenges of the twenty-first
century, separating what is essential of his work from what
others made of his work. Instead of embarking on the endless
succession of reviews of his thinking that goes along with
those who have claimed him as their own, as well as with
those who have tried unsuccessfully to bury him, it is
necessary to rescue his fundamental legacy, that which
makes him transcend his era to be [with us] here and now
in the struggle for human emancipation.
I take as a starting point the warning, not always heeded,
of Rosa Luxemburg: "The work Capital of Marx, like all his
ideology, is not gospel in which we are given Revealed Truth,
set in stone and eternal, but an endless flow of suggestions
to keep working on with intelligence, in order to continue
researching and struggling for truth."
To take his work, on top of any other consideration, as
a source of inspiration and guide for those who, like he,
want not only to explain the world but, more than anything,
transform it, fighting until achieving socialism.
We are not trying to find in his texts data that may seem
useful to the analysis of contemporary reality, of capitalism
as it is today, something which he didn't try to do nor would
have been able to propose doing.
Our obligation is to arm ourselves with all of his ideology
and from that build a theory and practice that corresponds
with that reality and helps to transform it.
There is probably no higher nor more urgent priority for
socialists than this: to define a strategic conception and
precisely delineate the tactics and methods of struggle
adequate for confronting the capitalism that exists now.
The theoretical tools at our disposal need to be sharpened
for their efficient employment in this era that presents new
challenges for the revolutionary movement.
These notes do not have any other aim than contributing
to the discussion of that crucial theme and obviously lack
any pretension of exhausting it. They have been edited
having in mind that which from the great unfinished text
declared Rosa Luxembourg:
"Incomplete as they are, these two volumes enclose values
infinitely more precious than any definitive and perfect truth,
the spur for the labor of thought and that critical analysis
and judgment of ideas, which is what is most genuine
in the theory that Karl Marx has left to us."
Another indispensable observation: The necessity of
elaborating a revolutionary theory that brings victory
confronted with what has been called neo-liberal globalization
has absolutely nothing to do with a supposed liquidation
of Marxism and much less with the imaginary disappearance
of class struggle, which some intended to convert in immoveable
dogmas in rushed texts that inundated the planet at the beginnings
of the last decade of the twentieth century.
The collapse of the USSR and the bankruptcy of the so-called
"real socialism" gave way for a triumphalist operation skillfully
launched by the main centers of imperialism which, nevertheless,
could hardly hide their essentially defensive character with
its apparently total and definitive victory, capitalism, in reality,
entered a new phase that could be terminal, in which its
contradictions and limitations are manifested with a frank
crudeness and in which arise new, unsuspected possibilities
for revolutionary action.
That paradox perhaps may explain the short duration of that
triumphalism in the academic level. Few today repeat that
nonsense about the "end of history." Not even Fukuyama
does it, more busy these days in criticizing the failure
of the policies of Bush which are, nevertheless, much due
to his own laborious and wordy work. The present crisis
within the U.S. neoconservative movement suggests that
not a few question now if they were the true winners
of the Cold War.
Self-critical reflection is called for on our side as well.
We should admit our own errors, especially those that
served as fertile ground for the bourgeois manipulation
of the destruction of the Soviet model. This is not the
time for profound analysis of the failure of an experience
that now belongs to historians. But it is inevitable that
we underline here something that led to the defeat
and to its advantageous use by the enemy.
That project--independently of Lenin and of the creative
spirit that animated the first years of the Bolshevik revolution
--reduced Marxism to a determinist and mechanist school
of thought, transformed research into dogma, thought into
propaganda, until the point of confining it to a condition of
terminal hardening of the arteries. It constructed a simplified
"science" that thought it had demonstrated that socialism
would inevitably come about, by itself, as an unavoidable
consequence of a predetermined history and that that socialism
would continue its march, also uncontestable, according
to laws and rules codified in a strange ritual. Socialism,
therefore, was inevitable and invincible; with it one would truly
arrive to the end of history. Not any socialism, but that one
in particular, that which, with admirable struggle, Lenin
and the Bolsheviks tried to achieve, whose enormous
meaning no one will be able to tear out of the memory
of the proletariat but which was a specific project--that
is to say, a human work, with virtues and defects, glories
and shadows, a result of immense sacrifice of a concrete
people in circumstances and conditions likewise concrete--
and not the outcome of a predestined and universal idea.
The conversion of the Soviet experience into a paradigm
for those who in other places fought their own anti-
capitalist battles, and the imperative obligation of defending
it from its inflamed and powerful enemies, led to the
subordination of a great part of the revolutionary movement
to the policies and interests of the USSR, which did not always
correspond to those of other peoples. The Cold War and the
division of the world into two blocks of antagonistic states
that threatened each other with mutual nuclear annihilation,
reduced to a minimum the capacity of critical thought
and reinforced dogmatism.
In honor of the truth one must render homage to the numberless
men and women who sacrificed their lives, the greater part
in total anonymity, and died heroically in any corner of the
planet defending the land of the Soviets, its policies and its
application in its own native soil, as wrong as it may have been
in more than a few cases. For them, respect and admiration.
But what is being considered now is recognizing the very
harmful consequences of that tendency.
The tendency to blindly "tail" thoroughly penetrated many
organizations and individuals, and they couldn't react rationally
when the system that supported their faith collapsed. They had
lived convinced that they were part of an unbeatable force,
owners and administrators of truths scientifically demonstrated,
and they marched in an enthusiastic procession in which, curiously,
the founder did not march, having declared, with all naturalness,
"I am not a Marxist."
The myth destroyed, old dogmatists were incapable of appreciating
the new possibilities in the revolutionary movement, the spaces
heretofore nonexistent that were necessary to explore with audacity
and creativity. There were those who, in unsurpassed acrobatics,
joined the "conquerors," converting treason into their new religion.
But there is a growing number of those who do not conform,
are unsatisfied and rebel. All the rhetoric about U.S. hegemony
falls to pieces with its bogging down in Iraq, the undeniable
contradictions and limitations of its economy, the awakening
of masses that were supposed to be asleep there, and the corruption
and moral fissure that undermine its political system.
Their associates in Europe are in the same boat. Accustomed
as well to the "bloc" discipline and "tailism," they don't arrive
at the knowledge of the depth of the insurmountable crisis
of that which it was, but no longer is, omnipotent boss.
In Latin America and in other parts of the Third World,
meanwhile, radical processes are affirmed and plans are
put forth that seek to eliminate, or at least reduce,
imperialist domination.
For the first time, anti-capitalist malaise is manifested,
simultaneously and everywhere, in advanced countries and
in those left behind and is not limited to the proletariat and
other exploited sectors. This is not only expressed today
in the struggles that we could call "classics"--between classes
and nations that are exploited and exploiters--but in those that
are added, at times with more vigor, those that demand the
preservation of the environment, or work for the rights
of women and discriminated people and those excluded
because of gender, ethnicity or religion.
A diverse group, multicolor, in which there is no shortage
of contradictions and paradoxes grows in front of the dominant
system. It is not yet the rainbow that announces the end of the
storm. Spontaneity characterizes it; it needs articulation and
coherence that need to be stimulated without sectarianism,
without being carried away with wildness. The great challenge
of revolutionaries, of communists, is to define our part,
the place that we should occupy in this battle.
For that we need a theory.
In that sense one must return to the well known but forgotten
definition of Lenin: "A correct revolutionary theory is only formed
in a definitive manner in close connection with practical
experience in a movement that is truly mass and truly
revolutionary."
That theory, on a world scale, does not exist in fact, to serve
as a guide in the struggle to substitute the present order and
transform it in the direction toward socialism. That theory has
to be formed and its definitive formation has to take place
in constant interrelation with practice, in a process in which
both form an inseparable whole. But we are not speaking
of just any practice but that of a movement that is both "truly
mass and truly revolutionary."
When can a movement be defined as truly a mass movement
and when does it acquire the quality of being truly revolutionary?
The answers will not be found in a research laboratory, nor will they
erupt from academic debate. Revolutionaries themselves will have to
create them, men and women of flesh and blood, acting from the
masses, building their movement and trying to make it ever more
revolutionary. The entire life of the genial Bolshevik leader can be
described in that commitment. A persistent legend attributes
to the author of Capital the saying "Man [sic] thinks as he lives,"
which more than a few militants still repeat, without warning
of the mistake nor of its paralyzing effects. The relation between
man and his surroundings is of decisive importance for ethics
and politics and in order to understand the Eleventh Thesis on
Feuerbach. To transform the world the key is in the Third Thesis.
Let's remember the statements of Marx:
"The materialist theory that men are product of circumstances
and of education, and that, therefore, changed men are
a product of different circumstances and of a modified
education, forgets that it is men, precisely, who make
circumstances chanage and that even the educator needs
to be educated. This leads, then, inevitably, to the division
of society in two parts, one of which is on top of society
(this, for example, in Robert Owen)
"The coincidence of the modification of circumstances and
of human activity can only be conceived and understood
rationally as revolutionary practice."
In the Second Declaration of Havana, Cubans proclaimed
that "the duty of every revolutionary is to make revolution."
To make it means to create a new world in spite of the
obstacles and limitations that circumstances impose,
in a ceaseless battle in which both man and reality
will go on transforming each other reciprocally.
...
"A certain form of socialism will emerge inevitably
from the also inevitable decay of capitalism"
-- Joseph A. Schumpeter
The prediction that I just cited has been the object of implacable
denunciation on the part of bourgeois thinkers. In 1942
it was difficult to see the fall of capitalism as something
inevitable. Its author, nevertheless, did not cease believing
in it until the end.
Eight years afterward, just before dying, he said: "Marx was
wrong in his diagnosis of how capitalist society would fall;
but he was not wrong in the prediction that finally it would fall."
In 1950 U.S. capitalism reached the zenith of its hegemony.
It was the only nuclear power, it hadn't suffered the devastation
that the world war had wreaked on the other developed countries,
it dominated Western Europe and Latin America economically
and politically, it possessed a superiority in science and
technology.
At the middle of the last century the world was quite different
from what it is today. By a route that they probably did not
foresee we are now nearer the fulfillment of the prophecy
in which, paradoxically, both the author of Capital and his
tenacious Austro-North American critic coincided.
The protagonist has changed, the subject of history, man.
The world population has grown in an exponential manner
since the days of the publication of the Communist Manifesto
and it continues doing so. Man traveled through tens of thousands
of years to arrive at the first billion. It took a century to triple the
double of that figure. Each 25 years is added to that figure
a quantity similar to that which represented the whole planet
when Karl Marx was born. At a similar rhythm the natural
resources of the earth is exhausted and animal and vegetable
species are annihilated forever. Man is the only being that
has dedicated himself with so much fury and efficiency
to destroy life.
Irreversible climactic changes, forests transformed into deserts,
poisoned waters, unbreathable air, irremediably degraded soils,
astounding conglomerations of human beings in uninhabitable
and always growing urban clogs are distressing worries
that compose a reality not known before.
Beyond ideologies the people continue discovering that which
is obvious. In 1992, at the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro,
governments and civil society put ourselves in agreement that
in order to save the earth it was necessary "to change the bosses
of production and of consumption," words subscribed to by many,
including Bush senior. They were words, certainly. But they imply
explicit recognition although in the text of a document, of the
necessity of the radical transformation of the relations between
men and between them and nature.
The subject, besides, inevitably moves. Population grows
exponentially but it doesn't do so equally in all parts of the world.
In the so-called developed countries it is frozen and even
tends to shrink. In the rest, in that part of the world that was
baptized as the Third, they are more, ever many more--
in spite of early death, misery, hunger--and also those who
in an unstoppable spiral, are displaced toward the enclaves
of opulence.
The Third World penetrates the First. The latter needs the
former and at the same time rejects it. In Europe and North
America appears an undesirable protagonist, a mute guest
that demands its rights. While here we carry out this important
collective reflection animated by the example of a truly creative
and humanist thinker and try to find the paths toward a better
world, the U.S. Congress continues discussing what to do with
those who number at least 11 million people--that is, the
Cuban population--the so-called undocumented, searching
for formulas that allow them to continue to be exploited while
access to that society is closed.
The migratory phenomenon will be maintained and will gain
in size along with capitalism, with its present characteristics,
as it is expanded through the whole world. Capitalism cannot
stop it, just as it is neither capable of abandoning those
characteristics and much less transform itself into another
thing.
The Central Intelligence Agency of the United States has
prognosticated that, as a consequence of that phenomenon,
very soon deep changes will have been produced in the cultures
of several European countries. The struggle for the rights
of immigrants and against discrimination expressed in public
demonstrations that mobilized millions of people and in the
historic May Day protest--a date that never before had been
expressed in this way in the United States--brings to the
forefront a political force that now cannot be easily ignored.
The presence of millions of people discriminated against
and lacking civil and political rights raises an essential
question that goes to the very roots of the political system
that the West has attempted to set as an obligatory model
for all. There is an increasingly growing number of those
who work hard there, pay their taxes, die in their wars, but
cannot vote nor be elected. In today's Rome the participation
of the citizens is reduced while the mass of those excluded
is constantly growing, the modern "barbarians." In this very
building, recently, professor Robert Dahl--prominent
apologist for the archetypical capitalist--recognized
in such marginalization the principal lack of contemporary
liberal democracy.
The end of that exclusion, the struggle for democracy,
specifically including the democratization of Western societies,
should be a priority for those who wish to transform the world.
This is yet more urgent if we perceive the other face of the
migratory phenomenon together with it grows, in parallel,
racial hatred, xenophobia, which feeds fascist tendencies
today present in an obvious manner in those societies.
The migratory problem reflects, thus, an aspect of capitalism
today that it is also worthwhile reflecting on. While the emigrants
are humiliated and super exploited in the countries where they
end up, there they are used also as instruments for the
oppression of the local workers. Being used as the
international reserve army, stripped of rights, and until
now not organized, they serve to lower wages, are forced
to accept conditions that, as Bush the lesser likes to say,
U.S. workers do not accept.
To free the immigrants from their exploitation becomes,
therefore, essential for the emancipation of the workers
in the developed countries. To forge a union between both
exploited sectors, in an area that has had advances that
are still insufficient but whose importance cannot be
underestimated, is today a task that cannot be postponed.
To rescue the role of the labor union, true bulwark of civil
society and to guarantee the rights of all workers, without
exceptions, to organize oneself is an indispensable response
to a capitalism that ever more openly casts off its "liberal"
mask and demonstrates the perverse face of tyranny.
Fascism must be stopped. It is necessary to prevent it from
being able to gather its own victims into a senseless opposition.
Never again should a Nixon be able to mobilize construction
workers against the youth who, in the seventies of the last
century, rebelled against the war in Vietnam. It is possible
to unite them. We saw them united, in Seattle, both opposing
neo-liberal globalization.
One must help them to converge, and it is possible to propose
this to them, and it is a crucial aspect of the world today and
in the struggle to change it.
The poor try to emigrate to the rich world to escape poverty.
The rich, meanwhile, try to place their capital in the poor
countries in order to increase their profits with the misery
of others and inevitably worsen the conditions of work and
of life for workers in the developed countries. Few in the
United States and Europe would identify themselves as members
of a worker aristocracy, beneficiary of the dropping of crumbs
coming from the colonies. Today they are seen as those defeated
by a system that, among other things, depends ever more on
"outsourcing" and the maquila and that imposes everywhere
the dogma of the omnipotent market and "free trade."
To forge convergence, to later on reach unity between the
exploited people of the First and Third World, is now not
only possible but necessary. But it is not enough to work
for unity between all the proletariat of the world, of the
First and Third World, of the South and of the North.
Antifascist is essential for democracy, peace and life.
To fight to create new models, to forge alliances where
possible or meanwhile promote points or moments of
coincidence between the diverse forces that today,
for the most varied motives, are out of step with the
world as it is, should constitute the principal guide
for revolutionaries.
To struggle so that the antiwar and anti-globalization
movements flow into the same great stream and that
all those discriminated against, all the marginalized
be included is the main duty of revolutionaries today.
It is the way to create a better world. It is the road to
take in advancing toward socialism. To achieve socialism
in this century there must be "heroic creation," a creation
that is authentic, independent, and therefore diverse
and unique.
Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada is Cuba's Vice President
and President of its National Assembly.
Translation by Joe Bryak for CubaNews.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
17) Ehren Watada
By Dahr Jamail
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 14 August 2006
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
On Saturday night, I was lucky enough to be at the Veterans for Peace
National Convention. For that night, Lt. Ehren Watada was able to give
the following speech, which I've just received permission to post here.
The speech was met with a powerful, standing ovation from the vets
who've been there.
Lt. Ehren Watada, for those who don't already know, became the first
commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to the unlawful war
and occupation in Iraq. While doing this on June 22, 2006, Watada said,
"As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as
well, I must refuse that order."
Just as Watada took the stage and began to speak, over 50 members of
Iraq Veterans Against the War filed in behind him. Watada, surprised by
this and obviously taken aback by the symbolic act, turned back to the
audience, took some deep breaths, then gave this speech:
"Thank you everyone. Thank you all for your tremendous support. How
honored and delighted I am to be in the same room with you tonight. I am
deeply humbled by being in the company of such wonderful speakers.
"You are all true American patriots. Although long since out of
uniform, you continue to fight for the very same principles you once
swore to uphold and defend. No one knows the devastation and suffering
of war more than veterans - which is why we should always be the first
to prevent it.
'I wasn't entirely sure what to say tonight. I thought as a leader in
general I should speak to motivate. Now I know that this isn't the
military and surely there are many out there who outranked me at one
point or another - and yes, I'm just a Lieutenant. And yet, I feel as
though we are all citizens of this great country and what I have to say
is not a matter of authority - but from one citizen to another. We have
all seen this war tear apart our country over the past three years. It
seems as though nothing we've done, from vigils to protests to letters
to Congress, have had any effect in persuading the powers that be.
Tonight I will speak to you on my ideas for a change of strategy. I am
here tonight because I took a leap of faith. My action is not the first
and it certainly will not be the last. Yet, on behalf of those who
follow, I require your help - your sacrifice - and that of countless
other Americans. I may fail. We may fail. But nothing we have tried has
worked so far. It is time for change and the change starts with all of us.
"I stand before you today, not as an expert - not as one who pretends
to have all the answers. I am simply an American and a servant of the
American people. My humble opinions today are just that. I realize that
you may not agree with everything I have to say. However, I did not
choose to be a leader for popularity. I did it to serve and make better
the soldiers of this country. And I swore to carry out this charge
honorably under the rule of law.
"Today, I speak with you about a radical idea. It is one born from the
very concept of the American soldier (or service member). It became
instrumental in ending the Vietnam War - but it has been long since
forgotten. The idea is this: that to stop an illegal and unjust war, the
soldiers can choose to stop fighting it.
"Now it is not an easy task for the soldier. For he or she must be
aware that they are being used for ill-gain. They must hold themselves
responsible for individual action. They must remember duty to the
Constitution and the people supersedes the ideologies of their
leadership. The soldier must be willing to face ostracism by their
peers, worry over the survival of their families, and of course the loss
of personal freedom. They must know that resisting an authoritarian
government at home is equally important to fighting a foreign aggressor
on the battlefield. Finally, those wearing the uniform must know beyond
any shadow of a doubt that by refusing immoral and illegal orders they
will be supported by the people not with mere words but by action.
"The American soldier must rise above the socialization that tells them
authority should always be obeyed without question. Rank should be
respected but never blindly followed. Awareness of the history of
atrocities and destruction committed in the name of America - either
through direct military intervention or by proxy war - is crucial. They
must realize that this is a war not out of self-defense but by choice,
for profit and imperialistic domination. WMD, ties to Al Qaeda, and ties
to 9/11 never existed and never will. The soldier must know that our
narrowly and questionably elected officials intentionally manipulated
the evidence presented to Congress, the public, and the world to make
the case for war. They must know that neither Congress nor this
administration has the authority to violate the prohibition against
pre-emptive war - an American law that still stands today. This same
administration uses us for rampant violations of time-tested laws
banning torture and degradation of prisoners of war. Though the American
soldier wants to do right, the illegitimacy of the occupation itself,
the policies of this administration, and rules of engagement of
desperate field commanders will ultimately force them to be party to war
crimes. They must know some of these facts, if not all, in order to act.
"Mark Twain once remarked, "Each man must for himself alone decide what
is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't.
You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is
to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to
your country …" By this, each and every American soldier, marine,
airman, and sailor is responsible for their choices and their actions.
The freedom to choose is only one that we can deny ourselves.
"The oath we take swears allegiance not to one man but to a document of
principles and laws designed to protect the people. Enlisting in the
military does not relinquish one's right to seek the truth - neither
does it excuse one from rational thought nor the ability to distinguish
between right and wrong. "I was only following orders" is never an excuse.
"The Nuremburg Trials showed America and the world that citizenry as
well as soldiers have the unrelinquishable obligation to refuse
complicity in war crimes perpetrated by their government. Widespread
torture and inhumane treatment of detainees is a war crime. A war of
aggression born through an unofficial policy of prevention is a crime
against the peace. An occupation violating the very essence of
international humanitarian law and sovereignty is a crime against
humanity. These crimes are funded by our tax dollars. Should citizens
choose to remain silent through self-imposed ignorance or choice, it
makes them as culpable as the soldier in these crimes.
"The Constitution is no mere document - neither is it old, out-dated,
or irrelevant. It is the embodiment of all that Americans hold dear:
truth, justice, and equality for all. It is the formula for a government
of the people and by the people. It is a government that is transparent
and accountable to whom they serve. It dictates a system of checks and
balances and separation of powers to prevent the evil that is tyranny.
"As strong as the Constitution is, it is not foolproof. It does not
fully take into account the frailty of human nature. Profit, greed, and
hunger for power can corrupt individuals as much as they can corrupt
institutions. The founders of the Constitution could not have imagined
how money would infect our political system. Neither could they believe
a standing army would be used for profit and manifest destiny. Like any
common dictatorship, soldiers would be ordered to commit acts of such
heinous nature as to be deemed most ungentlemanly and unbecoming that of
a free country.
"The American soldier is not a mercenary. He or she does not simply
fight wars for payment. Indeed, the state of the American soldier is
worse than that of a mercenary. For a soldier-for-hire can walk away if
they are disgusted by their employer's actions. Instead, especially when
it comes to war, American soldiers become indentured servants whether
they volunteer out of patriotism or are drafted through economic
desperation. Does it matter what the soldier believes is morally right?
If this is a war of necessity, why force men and women to fight? When it
comes to a war of ideology, the lines between right and wrong are
blurred. How tragic it is when the term Catch-22 defines the modern
American military.
"Aside from the reality of indentured servitude, the American soldier
in theory is much nobler. Soldier or officer, when we swear our oath it
is first and foremost to the Constitution and its protectorate, the
people. If soldiers realized this war is contrary to what the
Constitution extols - if they stood up and threw their weapons down - no
President could ever initiate a war of choice again. When we say, "…
Against all enemies foreign and domestic," what if elected leaders
became the enemy? Whose orders do we follow? The answer is the
conscience that lies in each soldier, each American, and each human
being. Our duty to the Constitution is an obligation, not a choice.
"The military, and especially the Army, is an institution of fraternity
and close-knit camaraderie. Peer pressure exists to ensure cohesiveness
but it stamps out individualism and individual thought. The idea of
brotherhood is difficult to pull away from if the alternative is
loneliness and isolation. If we want soldiers to choose the right but
difficult path - they must know beyond any shadow of a doubt that they
will be supported by Americans. To support the troops who resist, you
must make your voices heard. If they see thousands supporting me, they
will know. I have heard your support, as has Suzanne Swift, and Ricky
Clousing - but many others have not. Increasingly, more soldiers are
questioning what they are being asked to do. Yet, the majority lack
awareness to the truth that is buried beneath the headlines. Many more
see no alternative but to obey. We must show open-minded soldiers a
choice and we must give them courage to act.
"Three weeks ago, Sgt. Hernandez from the 172nd Stryker Brigade was
killed, leaving behind a wife and two children. In an interview, his
wife said he sacrificed his life so that his family could survive. I'm
sure Sgt. Hernandez cherished the camaraderie of his brothers, but given
a choice, I doubt he would put himself in a position to leave his family
husbandless and fatherless. Yet that's the point, you see. People like
Sgt. Hernandez don't have a choice. The choices are to fight in Iraq or
let your family starve. Many soldiers don't refuse this war en mass
because, like all of us,, they value their families over their own lives
and perhaps their conscience. Who would willingly spend years in prison
for principle and morality while denying their family sustenance?
"I tell this to you because you must know that to stop this war, for
the soldiers to stop fighting it, they must have the unconditional
support of the people. I have seen this support with my own eyes. For me
it was a leap of faith. For other soldiers, they do not have that
luxury. They must know it and you must show it to them. Convince them
that no matter how long they sit in prison, no matter how long this
country takes to right itself, their families will have a roof over
their heads, food in their stomachs, opportunities and education. This
is a daunting task. It requires the sacrifice of all of us. Why must
Canadians feed and house our fellow Americans who have chosen to do the
right thing? We should be the ones taking care of our own. Are we that
powerless - are we that unwilling to risk something for those who can
truly end this war? How do you support the troops but not the war? By
supporting those who can truly stop it; let them know that resistance to
participate in an illegal war is not futile and not without a future.
"I have broken no law but the code of silence and unquestioning
loyalty. If I am guilty of any crime, it is that I learned too much and
cared too deeply for the meaningless loss of my fellow soldiers and my
fellow human beings. If I am to be punished it should be for following
the rule of law over the immoral orders of one man. If I am to be
punished it should be for not acting sooner. Martin Luther King Jr. once
said, "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this
period … was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the
appalling silence of the good people.
"Now, I'm not a hero. I am a leader of men who said enough is enough.
Those who called for war prior to the invasion compared diplomacy with
Saddam to the compromises made with Hitler. I say, we compromise now by
allowing a government that uses war as the first option instead of the
last to act with impunity. Many have said this about the World Trade
Towers, "Never Again." I agree. Never again will we allow those who
threaten our way of life to reign free - be they terrorists or elected
officials. The time to fight back is now - the time to stand up and be
counted is today.
"I'll end with one more Martin Luther King Jr. quote:
'One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and
who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the
conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing
the highest respect for law.'
Thank you and bless you all."
The only thing Watada said that I would disagree with is that he claimed
that he is not a hero. He is a leader, yet again, by taking this stance.
And he may never know how many lives he has already touched.
Today, it is up to the anti-war movement to make sure his leadership
touches as many soldiers' lives in Iraq as possible. Watada is making
his stand. He needs continued support.
As he said, if more American soldiers in Iraq know that they, along with
their families, will be supported if they stand up against this illegal
occupation, countless more will follow, and this repulsive war will end.
(c)2006 Dahr Jamail.
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18) Greenland ice cap may be melting at triple speed
By Kelly Young
The New Scientist
August 10, 2006
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9717-greenland-ice-cap-may-be-
melting-at-triple-speed.html
The world's second largest ice cap may be melting three times faster
than indicated by previous measurements, according to newly released
gravity data collected by satellites.
The Greenland Ice Sheet shrank at a rate of about 239 cubic
kilometres per year from April 2002 to November 2005, a team from the
University of Texas at Austin, US, found. In the last 18 months of
the measurements, ice melting has appeared to accelerate,
particularly in southeastern Greenland.
"This is a good study which confirms that indeed the Greenland ice
sheet is losing a large amount of mass and that the mass loss is
increasing with time," says Eric Rignot, from NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California, US, who led a separate study that
reached a similar conclusion earlier in 2006 (See Greenland's
glaciers are speeding to the ocean). His team used satellites to
measure the velocity of glacier movement and calculate net ice loss.
Yet another technique, which uses a laser to measure the altitude of
the surface, determined that the ice sheet was losing about 80 cubic
kilometres of ice annually between 1997 and 2003. The newer
measurements suggest the ice loss is three times that.
"Acceleration of ice mass loss over Greenland, if confirmed, would be
consistent with proposed increased global warming in recent years,
and would indicate additional polar ice sheet contributions to global
sea level rise," write the University of Texas researchers in the
journal Science.
Identical twins
The satellites that provided the new data are results the Gravity
Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) pair. These identical US and
German satellites fly 220 kilometres from one another. They use a
microwave ranging system and Global Positioning System to measure
precisely the distance between one another. Tiny changes in that
distance reflect changes in the Earth's gravity field, which in turn
is a measure of the density of part of the Earth.
"The gravity data are spectacular in providing precise information
about what is happening to the ice sheets," says NASA climatologist
James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in
New York, US. "They provide the net effect of mass change, due to
both melting and snowfall changes. It confirms our expectation that
the warming climate will cause Greenland ice to shrink."
Based on the glaciology of the region, Rignot says he does not think
that the north-eastern part of Greenland's ice cap has lost as much
ice as the Texas team suggests - 74 cubic kilometres annually.
Other factors could account for the discrepancy, acknowledges Clark
Wilson, one of the University of Texas team. For instance, scientists
do not fully understand the ocean tides in the Arctic Ocean, and
there are not a lot of weather stations to monitor air pressure
there. GRACE only measures changes in gravity due to changing mass -
it cannot tell if that results from changes in air, water, rock or
ice.
So to find changes due to ice loss alone, the researchers have to
subtract the estimated contribution of water and air. If that is not
well known, it results in higher uncertainties in the interpretation.
"We're hoping as time goes on, we'll have improved tide models,
improved atmospheric pressure estimates and also better ways to use
the GRACE data themselves," Wilson told New Scientist.
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Tracing a Trail of Destruction: Report from Lebanon, August 13, 2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The wounds of war were evident shortly after we crossed
the Syria-Lebanon border at 1130 in the morning on August 12. At Haissa,
about three kilometers from the Dabboussiyeh border crossing, we come
across the ruins of a bridge hit by Israeli war planes just the day
before. Villagers tell us 12 people were killed and 10 wounded, all
civilians.
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732058.php
An Interview with Dr. Ismail Zayid, President of the Canadian Palestinian Association
Israel‚s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from 1947 to the
present has caused monumental devastation to the exiled, those hundreds of
thousands who were forced from their homes and never allowed to return.
Dr. Ismail Zayid‚s family suffered this unspeakable horror in 1967 when
their village of Beit Nuba was erased from the face of the earth by
Israeli bulldozers.
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732055.php
Filipinos oppose U.S. Israeli Aggression
The U.S. imperialists and their Zionist executioners are mistaken in
thinking that the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples are easy prey for they
are anything but easy pushovers. Puppet Arroyo is also mistaken in
thinking that the Filipino people will allow her to get away with her own
US-propped war of terror against them. Like the valiant resistance in
Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, the world will eventually see the Filipino
people rise up to oust their tyrant from power.
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732054.php
Rogue Israeli State Protested at White House Rally
What are people of conscience suppose to do in response to the
unspeakable acts of barbarism being perpetrated daily by Israel? In
America, they can still go out on the streets and protest. This is what
happened on Sat., Aug. 12, 2006, in Washington, D.C. A rally at Lafayette
Park, near the White House, organized by Arab-Americans, protested the
relentless terror bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon by the
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). (includes JPEG image)
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732053.php
FOCUS | Seymour M. Hersh: Watching Lebanon
According to Seymour Hersh, President Bush and
Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced,
current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a
successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah's heavily
fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in
Lebanon could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude
to a potential American pre-emptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear
installations, some of which are also buried deep underground.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081306Y.shtml
Robert Fisk: As the 6am ceasefire takes effect... the real war begins
Published: 14 August 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1219037.ece
WARFARE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Antiwar Camp in Israel Comes Out of Bunker
The decision to expand the ground offensive galvanizes a dormant, wary
peace movement.
By Laura King
Times Staff Writer
August 11, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-izpeace11aug11,0,6106699.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Robert Fisk: Hizbollah's iron discipline is match for military machine
Published: 11 August 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1218405.ece
90 Miles and Light-Years Away
New York Times Editorial
August 10, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/opinion/10thu2.html
"Toxic environment" making kids fat, study claims:
Unhealthy, addictive food is behind today's obesity
epidemic, a scientist says.
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060811_toxicdiet.htm
‘None of the Above’ Stricken From Ballot
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 13, 2006
NASHVILLE, Aug. 12 (AP) — A man running for governor and
the United States Senate does not have the right to use his
middle name, None of the Above, on the November ballot,
a court ruled Friday.
The candidate, David Gatchell, filed a lawsuit in Davidson County
Chancery Court after the State Election Commission voted to bar
his middle name from the ballot. The court handles lawsuits
against state agencies.
Chancellor Carol McCoy also ruled that Mr. Gatchell’s effort
to add an issue-oriented notification on the ballot was against
state law. And Ms. McCoy said the state had no constitutional
requirement to place candidates’ full names on ballots.
Mr. Gatchell, who changed his middle name from Leroy, said
he would appeal. He argued that several state candidates, like
Walt Combat Ward and Carl Twofeathers Whitaker, had been
allowed to include their nicknames on ballots, and that his
middle name was widely known.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13tennessee.html
Bush Proposes Retroactive War Crime Protection
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006A.shtml
The Bush administration
drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would retroactively
protect policymakers from possible criminal charges for authorizing any
humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees, according to lawyers who
have seen the proposal. The move by the administration is the latest
effort to deal with treatment of those taken into custody in the war on
terror.
Hizballah: A Primer
Lara Deeb
July 31, 2006, 11 pages
(Lara Deeb, a cultural anthropologist, is assistant professor
of women’s studies at the University of California-Irvine. She
is author of An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety
in Shi’i Lebanon.)
Hizballah, the Lebanese Shi’i movement whose militia is
fighting the Israeli army in south Lebanon, has been cast
misleadingly in much media coverage of the ongoing war.
Much more than a militia, the movement is also a political
party that is a powerful actor in Lebanese politics and
a provider of important social services. Not a creature
of Iranian and Syrian sponsorship, Hizballah arose
to battle Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon from
1982-2000 and, more broadly, to advocate for Lebanon’s
historically disenfranchised Shi’i Muslim community.
While it has many political opponents in Lebanon,
Hizballah is very much of Lebanon -- a fact that Israel’s
military campaign is highlighting.
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero073106.html
Feeding Ourselves: Organic Urban Gardens in Caracas, Venezuela
Written by April M. Howard
Thursday, 10 August 2006
http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/869/
FOCUS | Baghdad Morgue Tallies 1,815 Bodies in July
Figures compiled by the city morgue indicated Wednesday that the
number of killings in the Iraqi capital reached a new high last month,
and the US military said a new effort to bring security to Baghdad
will succeed only if Iraqis "want it to work." The Baghdad morgue
took in 1,815 bodies during July, according to the facility's assistant
manager, Abdul Razzaq al-Obeidi. The previous month's tally was
1,595. Obeidi estimated that as many as 90 percent of the total
died violent deaths.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006Z.shtml
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