---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
!VIVA FIDEL! LONG LIVE FIDEL!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
DEFEND LYNNE STEWART
http://www.lynnestewart.org/
Dear Friends of Lynne Stewart,
We spoke with Lynne a few days ago and learned that two critical
dates had been set in the ongoing legal proceedings that will
determine whether Lynne serves 30 years in prison, as per the
U.S. Probation Department report and recommendation to Judge
John Koeltl, or zero time in prison and probation, the sentence
urged by Lynne's lead sentencing attorney, Liz Fink. The probation
department report was explicit in stating that a 30-year sentence
will serve as a "deterrent" to all those who would violate Bureau
of Prison regulations. In Lynne's case, the "violation" consisted
in the public release of a press statement by her client.
We should add here that government prosecutors, in
a just-released 100-page report also recommended a 30-year
prison sentence. The government's argument centered on their
contention that Lynne's defense effort on behalf of her client,
the, "blind sheik" Omar Abdel Rachman, essentially amounted
to "aiding and abetting terrorism."
We have attached Lynne's brief on the sentencing issue.
Originally scheduled for Monday, September 25, the sentencing
hearing has now been definitively set for Monday, October 16
at 10 AM in the Federal Court House in Manhattan.
There will be a mass rally during the afternoon of October 15
at a time and place to be determined, hopefully at the Riverside
Church in Manhattan the location originally scheduled.
Additionally, Judge Koeltl has set Monday, September 25 as
the date to hear Lynne's National Security Administration motions,
that essentially argue that if the government spied on Lynne's
strategy sessions with her attorneys as she prepared for her trial,
the trial was fundamentally tainted and the guilty verdict obtained
should be dismissed.
You may recall here that a U.S. federal district court in Michigan
recently ruled that the Bush Administration's NSA spying orders
represented a fundamental violation of constitutionally protected
rights, a decision that is on point with regard to Lynne's case.
The reason for the change in the sentencing dates mentioned
above is because government prosecutors asked for and received
additional time to prepare their response to Lynne's NSA motions.
These, and the government's response, will be argued
on September 25, also at the Federal Courthouse at 10 AM.
Lynne has expressed her special thanks for our West Coast fund
raising efforts over the past month or so. During that time
we were able to raise some $5,500 to meet some emergency
expenses for the national Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
due to the extraordinary efforts of a precious few groups
and individuals in the Bay Area.
Another extraordinary contribution possibility has now presented
itself with the exceptional decision last week of the Bay Area Chapter
of the National Lawyers Guild to make available to our West Coast
Lynne Stewart Defense Committee its mailing labels for some
900 NLG members for a fundraising appeal. We will include
in this mailing the excellent pamphlet produced on Lynne's
case by the National Office of the NLG.
We have set Wednesday, September 13 at 6:00 PM, 298 Valencia
Street (at 14th Street) in San Francisco, for the date of this important
mailing at which time we will also discuss future plans for our
efforts here. These include a possible West Coast tour on Lynne's
behalf by Michael Ratner, the Executive Director of the
New York-based, Center for Constitutional Rights.
Your participation at the September 13 Lynne Stewart Defense
Committee meeting and mailing is essential. Funds are urgently
needed as the final stages in the fight over Lynne's sentence
rapidly approach.
Should Lynne receive a zero-term sentence with probation
or something resembling a short prison sentence, her chances
of also receiving bail and being free pending her appeal
to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will be
significantly increased. On the other hand, a long sentence
for Lynne, now 67 years-old, could indeed be a life sentence
with no bail.
Lynne's case is among the worst examples of the terrible state
of civil liberties in the U.S. today. That a proud and courageous
attorney, who did nothing more than valiantly defend her client,
could suffer so grave an injustice is a sure sign that we are
in for even more troubled times. In these difficult days, your
renewed efforts on Lynne's behalf are essential.
In this regard we ask that this letter be distributed as widely
as possible to all appropriate lists and concerned individuals.
Your financial contribution to Lynne's defense can be via
a check payable to either the "Lynne Stewart Defense Committee"
or, for a tax deductible contribution, to the "National Lawyers Guild
Foundation" (with a note in the memo box "for Lynne Stewart's
defense." Mail your checks directly and as quickly as possible to:
The Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
350 Broadway, Suite 700
New York, New York 10013
http://www.lynnestewart.org/
In solidarity,
Jeff Mackler and Larry Felson
for the West Coast Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
"We Who Are About to Die":
Another black political militant is about to be executed who
hasn't been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt -
Save Hasan Shakur/Derrick Frazier !
Write to Texas Governor Rick Perry and ask him to STAY
the execution, pending August 31, 2006 !
Read and send the following petition or a similar one:
Texas Governor Rick Perry
Phone: (512) 463 2000
Fax: (512) 463 1849
Email at http://www.governor.state.tx.us/contact
Hasan Shakur never had a fair trial: On June 28, 2006, the Court
of Criminal Appeals dismissed his claims concerning juror
misconduct. Because of this denial a new execution date has
been set for August 31, 2006. The court did not believe that
the statement from a witness, saying she overheard a female
juror saying he (Mr. Shakur) is dead, while making a slashing
gesture across her neck in the courtroom, was true.
The facts and the claims in this case have not changed
in any way. The most serious claims are:
- Incompetent trial attorney(s)
- All-white jury
- Forced confession
- Lack of physical evidence
- Questionable indictment
- No mitigation evidence presented in punishment phase
- Jurors and victims' family had contact during the trial
Demand justice for Hasan -- call the Governor !
Learn more from the website www.hasanshakur.com
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Justice for Smithfield Workers!
Brutal conditions, crippling injuries, inhumane treatment -
this is what 5500 workers face every day at Smithfield
Packing's processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina.
Send a message to Smithfield's Board of Directors and
demand justice.
Cited by Human Rights Watch, the National Labor Relations
Board, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for creating
an environment of intimidation and fear, Smithfield
Packing has strenuously resisted any attempts
by their workers to organize a union.
On Wednesday, August 30, Justice@Smithfield supporters
from around the country will gather in Richmond
for the Smithfield Foods annual shareholders meeting.
Now's the time for all of us to send a message to Smithfield
demanding dignity, respect, and justice be granted
to all workers.
Sign the petition at:
http://go.care2.com/e/mX4/PV/Emq2
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Target Lebanon: The Untold Story, the fourth installment of Apocalypse
Now: The U.S. and Israeli Master Plan for the Middle East is available on
the program archive of the Taking Aim website:
http://www.takingaim.info
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
We just called to say we're listening
Great little flash film
http://www.newsday.com/media/flash/2006-06/23671673.swf
Lots more at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-walt-handelsman-story,0,6454031.htmlstory
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
A Brief History of Those Who Made Their Point Politely
and Then Went Home by Kevin Higgins
On this day of tear-gas in Seoul
and windows broken at Dickins & Jones,
I can't help wondering why a history
of those, who made their point politely
and then went home, has never been written.
Those who, in the heat of the moment,
never dislodged a policeman's helmet,
never blocked the traffic or held the country to ransom.
Someone should ask them: "Was it all worth it?"
All those proud men and women, who never
had the National Guard sent in against them;
who left everything exactly as they found it,
without adding as much as a scratch to the paintwork;
who no-one bothered asking: "Are you or have you ever been?"
because we all knew damn well they never ever were.
from 'The Boy With No Face' published by Salmon Poetry
(2005) http://www.salmonpoetry.com/theboy.html
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Petition for U.S. Jewish Solidarity with Muslim
and Arab Peoples of the Middle East
http://www.jewishsolidarity.info/petition.php#bottom
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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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TONIGHT!
BREAK THE SIEGE Campaign Event
LIVE FROM PALESTINE AND LEBANON!
Tuesday, August 29, 7 p.m.
Mission Cultural Center
2868 Mission Street,
between 24th and 25th Streets
San Francisco
Come to hear about the the victory of the resistance of the Lebanese
people and discuss how our struggle will continue. Hear eye-witness
reports LIVE via teleconference from Palestine and Lebanon, and
connect with activists who are working to stop the US/Israeli
wars on the people of the Middle East.
Speakers:
Samah Idriss, Editor of the progressive Al-Adab Magazine from
Lebanon and a founder of the new international group, Civilian
Resistance in Lebanon (www.lebanonsolidarity.org).
Khaleda Jarar, Legislator in the Palestinian cabinet and Director
of the Adameer Prisoner support organization, head of the Palestinian
Prisoner club in Palestine.
Rayan El-Amine, Program, Director of the American Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee who is from South Lebanon will speaking
about the history of resistance in Lebanon.
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Urgent call from October 22 Coalition against Police Brutality, SF
PLEASE FORWARD FAR & WIDE
Planning Meeting for
October 22 Coalition
Against Police Brutality
Repression & Criminalization
of a Generation
Thursday August 31st, 7:30 PM
Cafe "La Boheme", Corner of 24th and Mission, SF,
between Mission and Valencia, right by 24th St. Bart Station
What : Steering Committee, first planning meeting, October 22
National Day of Protest, March &Rally in San Francisco (tentatively,
he march will start on the 22nd of October on 24th &Mission,
ending at Dolores Park)
Where: Cafe "La Boheme", Corner of 24th and Mission, SF,
between Mission and Valencia, right by 24th St. Bart Station
When: Thursday August 31st, 7:30 PM
Why: Building a strong Coalition of multicultural Grassroot
Organizations to make this year Oct 22 in San Francisco
the most powerful ever !
How: Already involved are : October 22 Bay Area, Idriss
Stelley Foundation, SF CEDP (Campaign to End the Death
Penalty, ISO (International Socialist Organization, Bay Area),
Bay Area Families of Victims and Survivors of Police brutality,
Code Pink
http://www.october22.org/
GET INVOLVED: To join our mailing list, please write to:
sf1022-talk-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
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Join the National Immigrant March
Labor Day -- September 4, 2006
10:00 a.m. at the Embarcadero, in San Francisco
* March with us to demand:
-- amnesty/legalization for undocumented immigrants
-- immigrant family reunification
-- unconditional citizenship
-- labor rights and living wages for all workers
-- full equality for all immigrants
* Join with us to stop:
-- all of the anti-immigrant bills
-- the militarization of the border
-- the criminalization of immigrant communities
-- the guest worker program
-- the exploitation of hotel & restaurant workers
-- the Redevelopment Agency plan for the bayview
Unesa a la marcha nacional pro-migrante:
Dia del Trabajo 4 de Septiembre, 2006, en San
Francisco
A las 10:00 a.m. en el Embarcadero
* Demandamos:
-- la amnistia/la legalizacion para los y las
migrantes indocumentados
-- la reunificacion de familias migrantes
-- la ciudadania incondicional
-- los derechos laborales y salarios de vida para
todos y todas obreros y obreras
-- la igualdad plena para todos y todas los/las
migrantes
* Demandamos un ALTO a:
-- Todas las propuestas anti-migrante en el Congreso
-- La militarizacion de la frontera
-- La criminalizacion de las comunidades migrantes
-- El programa de trabajadores huespedes
-- El plan de la agencia de re-urbanizacion en el
bayview
-- La explotacion de los trabajadores de hoteles y
restaurantes
regional unity coalition for immigrant rights,
contact: (415) 487-9203; (510) 839-7598; (650)
903-4102
coalicion regional de unidad para los derechos de los
migrantes, contacte: (415) 487-9203; (510) 839-7598;
(650) 903-4102
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Sept 9 Haiti Today. Occupation and Resistance
The Haiti Action Committee presents
Haiti Today: Occupation and Resistance
A panel discussion with
Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste - Haitian political prisoner of conscience
Dr. Paul Farmer - Founder of Partners in Health
Brian Concannon - Founder of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in
Haiti
Members of the Haiti Action Committee delegation to a recent Solidarity
Conference in Haiti
Saturday, September 9, 7:00 PM
St. Joseph the Worker church
1640 Addison Street, Berkeley (between Jefferson and McGee)
Wheelchair accessible/disabled persons should park on Jefferson
Parking is available in the church lot on McGee
Donation of $7-15 requested, no one turned away
Proceeds to benefit Haiti Action Committee and Fr. Jean-Juste's Food
Program in Port-au-Prince
www.haitiaction.net
510-483-7481
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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!
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; Socialist Organizer;
Bay Area United Against War.
*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
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
TWO AMICUS BRIEFS FILED FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL WITH
THE 3RD CIRCUIT FEDERAL APPEALS COURT IN JULY 2006
These pdf files can be found on Michael Schiffmann's web site at:
http://againstthecrimeofsilence.de/english/copy_of_mumia/legalarchive/
The first brief is from the National Lawyers Guild.
The second brief is from the NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund, Inc.
Howard Keylor
For the Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
www.laboractionmumia.org.
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Global Chalk4Peace
Sept 16/17th
OUR STREETS are OUR MEDIA
WE have TOTAL access
We CAN Make THE Difference
ON THE WEEKEND OF SEPTEMBER 16 & 17th Chalk4Peace!
On the pavements and sidewalks of our towns and cities
You are invited to Take Action!
To Participate in this GLOBAL outpouring of public art. Where we make
our personal statements for peace on the pavements and sidewalks of
our cities all over our world.
http://www.infinitepossibility.org/chalk2006/
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
PEOPLE UNITED FOR AN UNCONDITIONAL AND GENERAL AMNESTY
Assembly: 24TH and Mission
When: Saturday, September 16th 2006
Time: 1 pm
For more information call 415-431-9925
We make a call to all the immigrant community to continue our
struggle and celebrate the independence of our countries demanding
a general and unconditional amnesty for all NOW!
All of our liberators, Simon Bolivar, Benito Juarez, San Martin, etc.,
struggled for a big, free American continent without borders. The rich
are the ones who have created borders so they can exploit and deny
us our right to education, health, housing, and jobs. Immigrant
Brothers and Sisters let us unite and celebrate our independence
demanding to be treated as human beings.
AMNESTY FOR ALL NOW!
..................................Spanish.................................
BARRIÓ UNIDO POR UNA
AMNISTIA GENERAL e INCONDICIONAL
¡AMNISTÍA PARA TODOS AHORA!
Asamblea: 24 y Misión
Dia: Sábado, 16 de Septiembre 2006
Hora: 1 PM
Para más información 415-431-9925
Hace un llamado a toda la población emigrante a continuar
nuestra lucha y celebrar la independencia de nuestros países
demandando una amnistía general e incondicional para
todos AHORA.
Todos nuestros libertadores, Simón Bolívar, Benito Juárez,
San Martín, etc. lucharon por una patria americana grande y sin
fronteras. Los ricos son los que han creado fronteras para así
poder explotarnos y negarnos el derecho a la educación salud,
vivienda, y trabajo.
Hermanos emigrantes unámonos y celebremos nuestra
independencia demandando ser tratados como seres humanos.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
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 at the
website below.
Join us in Washington on Sept. 23! Free the Cuban Five!
http://www.freethefive.org/
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IRAN WAR PERIL — EX-CIA MAN’S SF TALK SEPT. 24
The "threat" from Iran: Are mushroom clouds ahead?
Ray McGovern, a CIA analyst for 27 years, addresses
that issue at 12:45 p.m. Sunday, September 24, in the
First Unitarian Universalist Church (Starr King Room),
Franklin and Geary Streets, San Francisco.
McGovern will touch on Iraq too: "How we got in and
how we get out." Last May in Atlanta, national TV
networks showed him accusing Defense Secretary
Rumsfeld of prewar lying about supposed Iraqi weapons
of mass destruction.
McGovern founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals
for Sanity. He served the Central Intelligence Agency
from the Kennedy Administration to that of George H.
W. Bush. Awarded an Intelligence Commendation Medal,
he returned it following the revelations of torture.
There will be a question period until about 2 p.m.
Optional lunch (bring it or buy it) precedes the
program at 12:15. Cosponsors are the church’s World
Community Advocates and the War and Law League (WALL).
Following the program, WALL conducts its biennial
meeting. It is a nonpartisan, all-volunteer, San
Francisco-based group that opposes presidential wars
and aims at the rule of law in U.S. foreign affairs.
Public transit to the Unitarian Church includes
Muni's 47 and 49 bus lines on Van Ness Avenue, one
block east of Franklin, and the 38-Geary bus(which
connects with BART at the Montgomery Street Station).
For further information: (415) 738-8298 or (415)
564-2083; warandlaw@yahoo.com; http://warandlaw.org.
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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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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!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
San Francisco Board of Education Meeting
Tuesday, November 14th, 7PM
555 Franklin Street, 1st Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
415/241-6427
The Board will vote on a resolution to phase out JROTC.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Close the SOA and Change Oppressive U.S. Foreign Policy
Nov. 17-19, 2006 - Converge on Fort Benning, Georgia
People's Movements across the Americas are becoming increasingly more
powerful. Military "solutions" to social problems as supported by
institutions like the School of the Americas were unable to squash their
voices, and the call for justice and accountability is getting louder each
day.
Add your voice to the chorus, demand justice for all the people of the
Americas and engage in nonviolent direct action to close the SOA and
change oppressive U.S. foreign policy.
With former SOA graduates being unmasked in Chile, Argentina, Colombia,
Paraguay, Honduras, and Peru for their crimes against humanity, and with
the blatant similarities between the interrogation methods and torture
methods used at Abu Ghraib and those described in human rights abuse cases
in Latin America, the SOA/WHINSEC must be held accountable!
Visit http://www.soaw.org to learn more about the November Vigil, hotel
and travel information, the November Organizing Packet, and more.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
When Your Soldier Comes Back Home
by Martha Ann Brooks, wife of an OIF Veteran with PTSD
Click here to listen
http://www.broadjam.com/player/playerhosting.asp?play_file=19161_164607
When your soldier comes back home
You will be happy
You want things to be like they were before
But your soldier has been forged through trial by fire
After all he lived through war
Be patient when you see he’s not the same
Your soldier’s changed
When your soldier comes back home
He will be different
He’ll think about those that gave their lives
He might be feelin guilty that he’s living
He will keep that guilt inside
It may show sometimes in things he’ll say and do
Please help him through
Chorus:
War is never over
For the ones who fought side by side
They are bruised and battered
The deepest wounds don’t show outside
You may think that time will heal
There is no healing
The days are like sandbags around him
But ghosts will not be held back by a wall
Bad memories always win
If you love him you must be the one who stays
You must be strong
When your soldier comes back home
Chorus:
War is never over
For the ones who fought side by side
They are bruised and battered
The deepest wounds don’t show outside
Story Behind the Song
Veterans often come home from war to family members
who expect them to pick up where they left off. For the
combat vet, that is not always possible. I wrote this song
in the hope that it will help families and friends of returning
veterans embrace them with understanding.
The song is currently #2 on Neil Young's website.
http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/index.html
SIR! NO SIR!
I urge everyone to get a copy of "Sir! No Sir!" at:
http://www.sirnosir.com/
It is an extremely informative and powerful film
of utmost importance today. I was a participant
in the anti-Vietnam war movement. What a
powerful thing it was to see troops in uniform
leading the march against the war! If you would
like to read more here are two very good
publications:
Out Now!: A Participant's Account of the Movement
in the United States Against the Vietnam War
by Fred Halstead (Hardcover - Jun 1978)
and:
GIs speak out against the war;: The case of the
Ft. Jackson 8; by Fred Halstead (Unknown Binding - 1970).
Both available at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/103-1123166-0136605?search-alias=books&rank=+availability,-proj-total-margin&field-author=Fred%20Halstead
In solidarity,
Bonnie Weinstein
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Endorse the following petition:
Don't Let Idaho Kill Endangered Wolves
Target: Fish and Wildlife Service
Sponsor: Defenders of Wildlife
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/664280276?z00m=99090&z00m=99090<l=1155834550
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
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 Rosenberg 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
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
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."
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
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) LABOR DAY "EXECUTIVE EXCESS" REPORT:
OIL & DEFENSE CEOS POCKET THE SPOILS
PRESS RELEASE FROM UNITED FOR A FAIR ECONOMY
& INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES
Contact: Betsy Leondar-Wright, (617) 423-2148 x113,
(781) 704-4039 (cell)
Embargoed to 12:01 am, Wednesday, August 30, 2006
An embargoed PDF version of the report is now available
to journalists on the web:
Please note the change in the embargo date to August 30.
http://www.faireconomy.org/reports/2006/ExecutiveExcess2006.pdf
2) UAW Local 292 Suspends Democratic Union Elections
by Todd M. Jordan
August 22, 2006
http://futureoftheunion.com/?p=3094
3) Violent Civil Unrest Tightens Hold on a Mexican City
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
August 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/americas/24mexico.html?ref=world
4) Human Rights Group Accuses Israel of War Crimes
By JOHN KIFNER
August 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/middleeast/24lebanon.html?ref=world
5) Fidel Castro recovers free of workload: brother
By Anthony Boadle
Reuters
Tuesday, August 22, 2006; 5:57 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/22/AR200608220
6) "God doesn't belong to the PAN!"
"AMLO deserves a miracle"
"No Pasaran!"
Mexico Approaches the Combustion Point
By JOHN ROSS
COUNTERPUNCH
August 23, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/ross08232006.html
0937_pf.html
7) The following is the text of a letter to Commandante Fidel
Castro from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan
as published in the Final Call Newspaper, Vol 25 No. 45.
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL.
August 14, 2006
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_2874.shtml
8) Who Started Terrorism in the Arab-Israeli Conflict?
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
9) "The World Just Sat By," An Interview with Dahr Jamail
By: Christopher Brown
August 23, 2006
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
10) The Liquid Bomb Hoax: The Larger Implications
James Petras
August 2006
jpetras@binghamton.edu
11) Open Letter to James Petras re his article, "The Liquid Bomb
Hoax: The Larger Implications," by Bonnie Weinstein.
12) The Czars’ Reefer Madness
By JOHN TIERNEY
AMSTERDAM
August 26, 2006
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/26/opinion/26tierney.html?hp
13) Israeli Airstrike Hits Reuters Vehicle
The white sport utility vehicle was emblazoned with the Reuters
logo and had ''TV'' and ''Press'' written on it in English, Arabic
and Hebrew.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:09 a.m. ET
August 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html
14) Detention Extended for Airliner Bomb Suspect
By CARLOTTA GALL and ISMAIL KHAN
August 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/world/asia/27pakistan.html?ref=world
15) Tribal Leader Killed in Pakistan
By The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/world/asia/27pakistan.html?ref=world
16) Read Between All Those For-Sale Signs
By DAVID LEONHARDT and VIKAS BAJAJ
August 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/weekinreview/27leonhardt.html?ref=business
17) "Every Generation of Arabs Hates Israel More Than the Last"
America's Rottweiler
By URI AVNERY
http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery08262006.html
18) Mexican Court Throws Out Election Fraud Claims
By REUTERS
Filed at 2:18 p.m. ET
August 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-mexico-election-result.html?hp&ex=1156824000&en=6fb32f42857855cd&ei=5094&partner=homepage
19) Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and DAVID LEONHARDT
August 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/28wages.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
20) KIDS AT WAR WITH THE WORLD
[Col. Writ. 8/13/06] Copyright 2006 Mumia Abu-Jamal
21) Behind the facade, a city left to rot
As cafe society blooms in the tourist areas of New Orleans,
poor ex-residents struggle to survive
Julian Borger in New Orleans
Tuesday August 29, 2006
Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1860225,00.html
22) Buyouts at Ford Are No. 1 Topic for Union Leaders Tuesday
By NICK BUNKLEY and MICHELINE MAYNARD
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/business/29ford.html
23) DuPont to Cut Contributions to Pensions
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/business/29dupont.html
24) Have the Lessons of Katrina Been Learned?
A year after Hurricane Katrina, is the federal government
prepared for another national disaster? If not, what does
it need to do to get there?
http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=33
25) Data show one in eight Americans in poverty
By Joanne Morrison
Tue Aug 29, 4:47 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060829/ts_nm/life_usa_poverty_dc&printer=1
26) Downward Mobility
New York Times Editorial
August 30, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/opinion/30wed1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
27) Census Reports Slight Increase in ’05 Incomes
By RICK LYMAN
August 30, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/us/30census.html?hp&ex=1156996800&en=de6cc2b1c1d89d60&ei=5094&partner=homepage
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
1) LABOR DAY "EXECUTIVE EXCESS" REPORT:
OIL & DEFENSE CEOS POCKET THE SPOILS
PRESS RELEASE FROM UNITED FOR A FAIR ECONOMY
& INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES
Contact: Betsy Leondar-Wright, (617) 423-2148 x113,
(781) 704-4039 (cell)
Embargoed to 12:01 am, Wednesday, August 30, 2006
An embargoed PDF version of the report is now available
to journalists on the web:
Please note the change in the embargo date to August 30.
http://www.faireconomy.org/reports/2006/ExecutiveExcess2006.pdf.
CEOs in the defense and oil industries have been able to translate
war and rising oil prices into personal jackpots, according to
a new report from theInstitute for Policy Studies and United for
a Fair Economy, "Executive Excess 2006."
OIL BARONS: With Americans now paying over $3 per gallon,
petroleum profiteers are raking in nearly three times the pay
of CEOs in comparably sized businesses. In 2005, the top
15 U.S. oil CEOs got a 50% raise since 2004. They now average
$32.7 million, compared with $11.6 million for all
CEOs of large U.S. firms.
Executive pay at U.S.-based oil companies also far outpaced
pay at oil companies based outside the United States.
BP and Royal Dutch Shell paid their CEOs only one-eighth
what their U.S. counterparts collected just
$5.6 and $4.1 million in 2005, respectively even though
both companies operate in the same global marketplace
as their U.S.-based competitors.
CEO William Greehey of Valero Energy took home the oil industry's
biggest executive pay rewards in 2005, pocketing $95.2 million.
The average construction worker at an energy company
would have to work 4,279 years to equal what Greehey collected last year.
DEFENSE CONTRACTORS: Since the "War on Terror" began, CEOs
at the top 34 military contractors have enjoyed average paychecks
that are double the compensation they received in the four
years leading up to 9/11.
The new "Executive Excess" report surveys all publicly held U.S.
corporations among the top 100 defense contractors that had a
t least 10 percent of revenues in defense.
These 34 CEOs combined have pocketed almost
a billion dollars since 9/11 enough to employ more than
a million Iraqis for a year to rebuild their country.
In 2005, defense industry CEOs walked off with 44 times
more pay than military generals with 20 years experience,
and 308 times more than Army privates.
United Technologies CEO George David led the pack with over
$200 million in pay since 9/11, despite investigations into the
quality of the company's Black Hawk helicopters.
CEO Jay Gellert of Health Net saw the biggest personal pay
raise after 9/11, a 1,134% leap over the preceding four years.
The company owes its earnings growth to American taxpayers,
who may not realize they pick up a hefty share
of cost overruns in the privatized military health care system.
"Americans across the political spectrum should be outraged
by the sight of executives cashing in on war windfalls,"
says report co-author Sarah Anderson. "Unfortunately,
partisan politics has stopped Congress from
effectively overseeing this war contracting free-for-all."
Since 1990, the overall CEO-worker pay gap in the United
States has grown from 107-to-1 to last year's 411-to-1.
Minimum wage workers have lost 9 percent after inflation
in the same 15 years. If the minimum wage had risen
at the same pace as CEO pay, it would now stand at
$22.61 per hour, over four times the current $5.15.
"Executive Excess 2006" also challenges the current
reform agenda for addressing excessive CEO pay in oil
and defense as well as throughout the American economy.
That agenda, reflected in new SEC rules released at the end
of July, emphasizes requiring corporate boards to fully disclose
all the revenue streams perks and pensions included
that go into contemporary executive pay.
But disclosure alone, notes report co-author Chuck Collins,
won't restore fairness to the nation's executive suites.
"Transparency has been ineffective in curtailing CEO pay," says Collins.
"The root problem is an imbalance of power. We need to give more
clout to other stakeholders, such as requiring shareholder approval
of executive pay and retirement packages, as is now done in Britain."
Authored by Sarah Anderson, John Cavanagh, Chuck Collins,
and Eric Benjamin, and edited by Sam Pizzigati, "Executive
Excess 2006" is the 13th annual CEO pay study by the
Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy.
The Institute for Policy Studies is an independent center
for progressive research and education in Washington, DC.
United for a Fair Economy is a national organization based
in Boston that spotlights growing economic inequality.
An embargoed PDF version of the report is now available
to journalists on the web:
http://www.faireconomy.org/reports/2006/ExecutiveExcess2006.pdf.
Please note the change in the embargo date to August 30.
For hard copies or to set up interviews with the co-authors, call
617-423-2148 x113 or e-mail bleondar-wright@faireconomy.org.
###
Betsy Leondar-Wright
Communications Director, United for a Fair Economy
(617) 423-2148 x113
29 Winter Street
Boston, MA 02108
http://www.FairEconomy.Org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
2) UAW Local 292 Suspends Democratic Union Elections
by Todd M. Jordan
August 22, 2006
http://futureoftheunion.com/?p=3094
President George W. Bush has suspended all U.S. elections in
November in order to save money for the United States of America.
All elected officials including Governors, Mayors, City Council and
Senators will be appointed by the President. What if this was on
the front page of the USA Today? Well, that is what has happened
to the membership of UAW Local 292, but it wasn't the US
government or Bush who made the announcement, it was
our so-called "democratic" union.
The local UAW president and shop chairman with the help
of their caucus has suspended all union elections and will
hand pick people for all union positions at local 292. As those
currently in office transfer to General Motors or take the Special
Attrition Program they will personally select their replacements.
After years of previous betrayals and failures it should come
as no surprise to the membership.
Despite the membership not knowing about the vote ahead
of time over a dozen concerned members were able to
mobilize in a very short period of time and stood strong
against the outright attack on our UAW International Constitution
on August 17, 2006 by the Camp-Anthony caucus. Those who
were lucky to even find out about this vote witnessed this
betrayal firsthand. If they agree or not with the vote, democracy
did in fact die with a 70-15 pass. Let us recognize though,
that quite a few union officials voted more than once. Some
of them voted at the first, second, and even the third shift
meeting so this vote is not completely correct.
Regardless, had the membership been informed it would
have been different results no matter how many times they
voted. But, that was their strategy, to keep you out of the
union hall so the vote would pass. Everyone knows the
vast majority of union meetings consist of only the appointed
and elected officials. The Administration knew about the
motion ahead of time, it was even submitted by one of
their own. There was time to let the membership in the
factory know, if they really wanted them to know. As for
retirees, they were not allowed to vote even though the
administrative branch that represents them is effected.
One retiree who tried to vote against the motion was
quickly verbally abused and removed from the vote
by the Vice President.
Regrettably, the good ol'boys and their old guard denied
any amendment or real discussion from the opposition
by applying even more undemocratic actions to the
situation. Had the membership who posed opposition
to the motion been allowed to speak without union
officials committing parliamentary violations, attacks
and political tricks it would have been different.
It's Not About Democracy, It's About Control And Power
Let us look at the facts without the distortions of career
union politicians controlling the union meeting. Let us
examine the destruction of our democratic right to have
union elections and vote. Let us examine this violation
to our UAW constitution in order to as they say, "save our local".
Is this not a democracy? Do our votes really mean so
little to this caucus in power? Was not the UAW founded
on democracy for all members? What happened to one
member, one voice? Was not the UAW founded on equality
and the right to vote? It's no wonder this administration
caucus worked diligently to fight back our resolution in
May that would give us one member, one vote for all
union positions including appointed and International.
Hell, they want all positions appointed! That much is now
obvious as democracy and solidarity are hollow words
to this administration.
Many of us understand that it is the only way for them
to retain power and place whoever "plays the game",
sucks up and basically does whatever they say just to
get an office. Ah yes, that golden ticket! Ask yourselves
if it is also to keep new hires from getting involved and
opposition from gaining offices. It's undemocratic regardless
of any excuse or reason they present. This situation is exactly
why our UAW constitution was created in the first place.
This rogue leadership destroys our future every second
they can get if it will get them more money or more power.
They say that Region 3 approves of this, but they could
not prove it. So, if they did contact the Region then they
had plenty of extra time to inform ALL the membership
of the vote.
I once had a brother who is inspiring to be an elected union
official tell me a few months ago that, "No matter what,
I stick with my UAW." I wonder what he thinks about his
statement to me today after going against our constitution,
a.k.a. "my UAW". Maybe he really meant to say, I stick with
"whoever is power".
We are told that this undemocratic motion is about the
money. So where was the financial report? How convenient
it was not given out. Can you remember the last time they
missed a financial report at a union meeting? It's a very rare
occasion. Even if it was about money then so be it, democracy
isn't free and it isn't cheap. The price of the democratic right
to vote, the very core of every union member's rights is worth
every penny of our dues money. Any conscious union member
will know that it is not about money, it's about retaining power
and keeping people they don't like from running for a union
position. They are cowards who must break our own constitution
to keep out the people they don't like out of office. This is simply
an easy way to appoint their friends, loyal supporters and family
members. Everything else is smoke and mirrors!
If you think I'm wrong then why did they deny several perfectly
legal amendments including one that would have outlined abuse?
Instead, they simply began refusing to call on us and outright
violated the Robert's Rules of Order several times to get the
motion passed. My favorite tactic of theirs is to talk everyone
to death and drag on and on having various cronies called
on when the tension and dissent starts to hit them. It's a great
way to calm down the room and encourage a submissive
environment. Often people leave because of time constraints.
It's all a shame, it's politics at the expense of the membership.
The motion even though it passed is grounds for appeal since
it violates our constitution. If anyone has 2 or 3 years to waste
go for it but, remember the Public Review Board is appointed
by the UAW international. Go figure.
See, the UAW bureaucracy can spend hundreds of millions to
line their own pockets and make $200 - $300 thousands
a year in salaries with our dues money but, they can't provide
money for basic fundamental union elections. The UAW can
transfer hundreds of millions from our strike fund for
organizing but, they can't provide money to the membership
they already "represent".
Believe their tricky political games, trust in their lies, or see
the truth for what it is, the truth. No matter what you decide,
democracy and our UAW constitution has been broken,
violated and tossed in our faces. No single excuse they
make can cover up this fact. The old saying is, "When
good (wo)men do nothing, evil (wo)men prevail."
Politicians are just that, politicians. It's their desire to stay
in office by any means. It is why politics is "dirty business".
The union is no different than other politics. At local 292 we
have a handful of liars and professional trade union politicians
who know all the tricks and are experts at the game. Everything
else is part of their game. They will always tell you exactly what
you want to hear even if they outright lie to your face. It is the
nature of the beast to lie, cheat, and steal. Truth and integrity
is their worse enemy. It's why they hate, lie about and attack
members who speak out.
Caucus Is Misleading The Membership
Take for example our shop chairman. At this same meeting
when speaking to new hires he said "the membership voted
for the two-tier agreement in 2003." This is a political move
on his part often used on the shop floor to redirect questions
from the facts. See, the truth is we didn't vote on the two-tier
agreement. In fact we voted on a "to be negotiated" possible
memorandum of understanding that wasn't agreed on until
the following year. When the contract in 2003 was presented
there was no information or meetings on the two-tier
memorandum of understanding. In fact, they worked very
hard to slide it in and keep it under the radar. They denied
the membership access to details and when we filed an appeal
the UAW 2 years later responded that all two-tier members are
a "Null Class" which means the constitution of equal pay for
equal work doesn't apply to new hires. You can look it up and
see yourselves.
To make matters worse, General Motors and Delphi votes had
been combined in 2003. What this meant was even if all of the
Delphi membership voted "No" against the two-tier it would
not have mattered because GM workers who were not given
information either out numbered us 2-1 in votes. And let us
not forget the nice sign on bonus and retirement perks they
gave away to help push the contract through. The devil is
in the details.
Or how about this lesson in politics. A joint representative
puts forth a resolution for the UAW Constitutional Convention
that basically states if an elected or appointed official violates
the UAW Constitution they should be removed from office.
This same appointed official and all those who voted for it then
ironically vote to violate our constitution on August 17, 2006
mentioned above. Least we not forget they also voted in 2004
to two-tier our own union hall staff. This administration is
no better than Steve Miller and Delphi.
Do not believe the venomous words from this failed caucus
we have in power at local 292, research the truth yourselves.
When they say you will not get fired if you strike with higher
sinority ask that union official were their solidarity was when
they sacrificed your pay and benefits. Take time and look up
what the UAW did to the Accuride workers in the 1990s or at
Caterpillar. The truth is out there and they can't cover up all
their tracks when people start to fight back.
They had an excuse for everything to stack up the new generation
of pork chopper candidates and isolated new hires all the while
claming to support them. They are a mini-Delphi who only care
about their own retirement and personal gain. The truth will set
you free. Even if you the reader see it now or see it later, you will
see it one day. The administrative caucus and their cronies say
many things about me so you the reader won't listen, they have
for years. One day though, you the reader will look back and you
will see the truth of what really happened at Delphi. They can't
cover up their tracks forever.
Long live real worker solidarity and true union democracy. May
all the fighters of injustices answer their calling and put their
swords to the throat of business unionism.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
3) Violent Civil Unrest Tightens Hold on a Mexican City
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
August 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/americas/24mexico.html?ref=world
OAXACA, Mexico, Aug. 23 — For three months, civil unrest has
gripped this lovely colonial city like a hound with a rabbit, leaving
two people dead, crippling the tourist industry and shuttering schools.
The original cause of the strife — a teachers’ strike for better pay —
has become lost in the escalating violence and the revolutionary
demands of the protesters, who now demand that Gov. Ulises
Ruiz step down.
The teachers’ union has been joined by scores of social organizations,
some of them with leftist philosophies.
They have shut down highways, taken over five radio stations,
burned more than a dozen buses, blocked off the city’s historic
square, seized government offices, destroyed the stage for
an annual cultural fair and barricaded tourists in their hotels.
The state government has lost control of the center of the city,
including its own offices, and is working out of improvised
quarters with cellphones. Though each side has asked for
federal intervention, President Vicente Fox has refused to
send in troops. He has dispatched negotiators from the
Interior and Labor Ministries, who have been unsuccessful
in resolving the conflict.
On the national level, Mexico has been engulfed in a political
crisis since the leftist presidential candidate, Andrés Manuel
López Obrador, narrowly lost the July 2 election, according
to an official tally. He has accused his conservative rival,
Felipe Calderón, of fraud and mounted similar protests
in Mexico City, taking over the central square.
Though the conflict here started well before the election,
it has added to the country’s overall angst, feeding fears that
left-wing groups will use Mr. López Obrador’s movement
to foment unrest, with heavy-handed counterattacks
by people in power.
Governor Ruiz, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party,
which long ruled this state with a iron hand, has accused
local leaders of Mr. López Obrador’s party, the Party
of the Democratic Revolution, of taking part in the
protests, adding yet another layer of politics to the
conflict.
Early on Tuesday, police officers in a convoy that had
been sent to clear blocked streets opened fire on
a radio station that the protesters had seized. In the
gunfire, Lorenzo San Pablo Cervantes, 52, an architect
who worked for the state, was killed, the police said.
It is unclear whether he was a bystander or was
supporting the strikers.
The protesters seized about a dozen radio stations
on Monday afternoon after unidentified gunmen
destroyed the broadcasting equipment of Channel 9,
a public television and radio station the strikers and
their allies commandeered early this month to spread
their version of events, the authorities said.
The state attorney general, Lizbeth Caña, said someone
had fired at the officers from roofs near the station,
starting the gunfight. But witnesses said the police
had opened fire twice without provocation.
“They are the ones who brought arms, and we had
nothing but rocks,” said Manuel Díaz, 40, a teacher,
who was keeping a tense guard on Wednesday with an
ax handle outside the radio station where the shooting
had occurred. “Ruiz talks out of both sides of his mouth.
On the television he calls on us to negotiate. But in the
streets at night, he tries to kill us.”
On Aug. 10, Eleuterio José Jiménez Colmenares, 50, an
auto mechanic and the husband of a teacher, was shot
and killed during a march to support the strike as he
chased youths who had thrown rocks at marchers.
Enrique Rueda Pacheco, the leader of the 70,000-member
teachers’ union, said the deaths, and Mr. Ruiz’s use of
tear gas and riot police in an attempt to dislodge the
protesters from the city center on June 14, had made
it impossible for the teachers to accept anything less
than his resignation. Their demands for more pay are
no longer the primary issue, Mr. Rueda Pacheco said.
“The fundamental problem has been the lack of interest
of the state and federal governments,” he said in an interview.
“They bet the teachers would just go away.”
Miguel Ángel Concha, a spokesman for Governor Ruiz, said
the state lacks the money to meet the teachers’ salary demands.
The teachers had asked for a pay package that would have cost
$150 million, while the state’s final offer in June was about $8.5
million. The teachers also have asked for about a dozen
improvements, including new books and more classrooms,
for a state school system that serves hundreds of thousands
of students.
Mr. Ruiz’s aides acknowledged that the government made
an enormous error on June 14 when it used force, angering
many teachers who were used to an annual strike and
a resulting pay increase. An unconfirmed rumor that
a woman and two children had died in the attack because
of tear gas has become gospel among the protesters,
though no bodies have been found.
Beyond the salary dispute, however, are old political rivalries.
Mr. Ruiz narrowly won election over a leftist candidate in 2004,
and many of the teachers and other protesters view his victory
as illegitimate. They also accuse his police force of at least
35 political killings of civilians, which the government strongly
denies. Finally, Mr. Ruiz vowed to end the yearly teachers’
strikes that previous governors had routinely settled
by granting raises.
Ms. Caña, the attorney general, charges that groups seeking
to overthrow the government have infiltrated the union.
“These people are saying ‘Hit me, so I can denounce you
for hitting me,’ ” she said. “They are generating instability
and chaos.”
On Tuesday night, demonstrators gathered in the Zócalo,
the central square, to watch a documentary made by protesters
on televisions they had set up. The film accuses Mr. Ruiz not
only of killing scores of his political enemies, but of being
a pawn for global capitalism.
Now, the once jewel-like center of Oaxaca is a mess.
Protesters have stolen buses and used pickup trucks
to block streets, along with rocks, barbed wire and ropes.
Graffiti declaring Mr. Ruiz an assassin defaces most of the
buildings. Tents and tarps shelter protesters, who burn tires
and garbage at night, keeping an eye out for the police.
The city’s once-prosperous tourism industry is gasping
for air. More than 1,000 hotel workers have been laid off,
and tourists have canceled reservations well into 2007.
The hotel and motel association estimates that the industry
has lost $150 million in the last three months, not to mention
the embarrassing cancellation of the Guelaguetza
cultural festival here.
“No one has won anything here,” said Fredy Alcántara, the
president of the association. “No one has come out ahead.”
The federal government must intervene, he said, adding,
“We are desperate.”
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
4) Human Rights Group Accuses Israel of War Crimes
By JOHN KIFNER
August 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/middleeast/24lebanon.html?ref=world
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 23 — Amnesty International accused Israel
on Wednesday of war crimes in its monthlong battle with Hezbollah,
saying its bombing campaign amounted to indiscriminate attacks
on Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure and population.
“Many of the violations examined in this report are war crimes that
give rise to individual criminal responsibility,” Amnesty International,
the London-based human rights group, said in a report on the Israeli
campaign. “They include directly attacking civilian objects and carrying
out indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.”
“During more than four weeks of ground and aerial bombardment
by the Israeli armed forces, the country’s infrastructure suffered
destruction on a catastrophic scale,” the report said, contending
this was “an integral part of the military strategy.”
“Israeli forces pounded buildings into the ground,” the report went on,
“reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble and turning villages
and towns into ghost towns as their inhabitants fled the
bombardments.
“Main roads, bridges and petrol stations were blown to bits. Entire
families were killed in airstrikes on their homes or in their vehicles
while fleeing the aerial assaults on their villages. Scores lay buried
beneath the rubble of their houses for weeks, as the Red Cross and
other rescue workers were prevented from accessing the areas
by continuing Israeli strikes.”
Mark Regev, the spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry,
categorically rejected the claim that Israel had “acted outside
international norms or international legality concerning the
rules of war.” Unlike Hezbollah, he said, Israel did not target
the civilian population, nor did it indiscriminately target
Lebanese civilian infrastructure.
He added: “Our job was made very difficult by the fact that
Hezbollah adopted a deliberate policy of positioning itself
inside civilian areas and breaking the first fundamental
distinction under the rules of war, by deliberately
endangering civilians. Under the rules of war, you are
legally entitled to target infrastructure that your enemy
is exploiting for its military campaign.”
Citing a variety of sources, the Amnesty International
report said Israel’s air force had carried out more than
7,000 air attacks, while the navy had fired 2,500 shells.
The human toll, according to Lebanese government statistics,
was estimated at 1,183 deaths, mostly civilians, about
a third of them children; 4,054 wounded; and 970,000
people displaced, out of a population of a little under
four million.
“Statements from the Israeli military officials seem to
confirm that the destruction of the infrastructure was
indeed a goal of the military campaign,” the report said.
It said that “in village after village the pattern was similar:
the streets, especially main streets, were scarred with
artillery craters along their length. In some cases, cluster
bomb impacts were identified.”
“Houses were singled out for precision-guided missile
attacks and were destroyed, totally or partially, as a result,”
the report said. “Business premises such as supermarkets
or food stores and auto service stations and petrol stations
were targeted.
“With the electricity cut off and food and other supplies not
coming into the villages, the destruction of supermarkets
and petrol stations played a crucial role in forcing local
residents to leave.”
The Amnesty International report said the widespread
destruction of apartments, houses, electricity and water
services, roads, bridges, factories and ports, in addition
to several statements by Israeli officials, suggested
a policy of punishing the Lebanese government and
the civilian population in an effort to get them to turn
against Hezbollah.
“The evidence strongly suggests that the extensive
destruction of public works, power systems, civilian
homes and industry was a deliberate and integral part
of the military strategy rather than collateral damage,”
the report said.
It also noted a statement from the Israeli military chief
of staff, Lt. Gen Dan Halutz, calling Hezbollah a “cancer”
that Lebanon must get rid of “because if they don’t, their
country will pay a very high price.”
The Amnesty International report came as a number of
international aid and human rights agencies used the
current lull in fighting to assess the damage.
The United Nations Development Program said the attacks
had obliterated most of the progress Lebanon had made
in recovering from the devastation of the civil war years.
“Fifteen years of work have been wiped out in a month,”
Jean Fabre, a spokesman for the organization in Geneva,
told reporters.
Another urgent issue, aid groups say, is the number of
unexploded bomblets from cluster bombs littering the
southern villages. Tekimiti Gilbert, the operations chief
of a United Nations mine removal team, told reporters
in Tyre: “Up to now there are at least 170 cluster bomb
strikes in south Lebanon. It’s a huge problem. There are
obvious dangers with people, children, cars. People are
tripping over these things.”
United Nations officials say at least five children have
been killed by picking up the bomblets scattered about
by the cluster bombs.
Despite the cease-fire, southern Lebanon remained
tense on Wednesday. Three Lebanese soldiers were
killed trying to defuse a rocket that had not exploded.
An Israeli soldier was killed and two others wounded
when, according to the Israeli military, they walked over
a minefield that Israel had previously buried.
The Israeli military also said it had fired artillery rounds
from the disputed territory of Shabaa Farms to the Lebanese
village of Shabaa. There were no reports of casualties.
Greg Myre contributed reporting from Jerusalem for this article.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
5) Fidel Castro recovers free of workload: brother
By Anthony Boadle
Reuters
Tuesday, August 22, 2006; 5:57 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/22/AR200608220
0937_pf.html
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro is relaxing for the
first time in his life as he recovers from intestinal surgery free of
his excessive workload, his older brother, Ramon Castro, said on
Tuesday.
Castro handed over the reins of power to his younger sibling Raul
Castro on July 31 after undergoing emergency surgery to stop
intestinal bleeding attributed by the Cuban authorities to his
workaholic pace.
"He is better. The problem was resolved quickly," Ramon Castro told
Reuters. "He is relaxed, resting."
Ramon Castro, the farmer in the family who has kept out of politics,
said Fidel Castro was enjoying some downtime since ceding the
presidency provisionally to his younger brother.
"He is happy because he is free. For the first time in his life he
has handed over the job to Raul," Ramon Castro said.
Castro's illness has forced him to abandon his legendary pace of
activity that included lengthy speeches, all-night meetings and the
overseeing of most aspects of Cuban government and society.
Details of Castro's illness and the operation he underwent are a
closely guarded state secret and rumors had been rife he might even
have died until Cuba released photographs and video of Castro around
his 80th birthday on August 13.
The images showed the bedridden leader alert and joking with his main
ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
In his first public statement published on Friday, Raul Castro said
the country was absolutely calm, although he added that the armed
forces and tens of thousands of reservists were mobilized in the
crucial hours after the hand-over of power was announced to face the
threat of a U.S. invasion.
Cuba watchers say the transfer of power was done smoothly but it is
not certain whether Fidel Castro will be able to resume full
government functions in one of the world's last communist countries.
'FEELING LIKE A LION'
Asked whether his brother would attend the summit of the Nonaligned
Movement that Cuba will host from September 11 to 16, Ramon Castro,
who will be 82 in October, said, "Sure, he is already feeling like a
lion."
Ramon Castro spoke after lunching with Florida cattleman John Parke
Wright IV, who last year shipped breeding cattle to Cuba under an
exception granted for agriculture in the U.S. embargo imposed on Cuba
shortly after Castro's 1959 revolution.
The Naples, Florida-based businessman whose family sold cattle to
Cuba from the 1850s until the U.S. trade ban, said relations between
U.S. farmers and Cuba "are doing great" but would benefit if the
embargo was lifted fully.
Raul Castro, 75, said on Friday that Cuba was prepared to discuss
improved relations with the United States if Washington agreed not to
interfere in the island.
The administration of President George W. Bush, which has labeled the
hand-over of power from one Castro brother to another as an
unacceptable "dynastic succession," has tightened enforcement of the
sanctions in recent years and stepped up pressure for a transition to
multiparty democracy.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
6) "God doesn't belong to the PAN!"
"AMLO deserves a miracle"
"No Pasaran!"
Mexico Approaches the Combustion Point
By JOHN ROSS
COUNTERPUNCH
August 23, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/ross08232006.html
Mexico City.
The Congress of the country is ringed by two-meter tall grilled metal
barriers soldered together apparently to thwart a suicide car bomb
attack. Behind this metal wall, 3000 vizored, kevlar-wearing robocops --
the Federal Preventative Police (PFP, a police force drawn from the
army) -- and members of the elite Estado Mayor or Presidential military
command, form a second line of defense. Armed with tear gas launchers,
water cannons, and reportedly light tanks, this Praetorian Guard has
been assigned to protect law and order and the institutions of the
republic against left-wing mobs that threaten to storm the Legislative
Palace -- or so the President informs his fellow citizens in repeated
messages transmitted on national television.
No, the President's name is not Pinochet and this military tableau is
not being mounted in the usual banana republic or some African satrap.
This is Mexico, a paragon of democracy (dixit George Bush), Washington'
third trading partner, and the eighth leading petroleum producer on the
planet, seven weeks after the fraud-marred July 2 presidential election
of which, at this writing, no winner has been officially declared. One
of the elite military units assigned to seal off congress is indeed
titled the July 2 brigade.
MEXICO ON A KNIFEBLADE headlines the British Guardian, but the typically
short-term-memory-loss U.S. print media seems to have forgotten about
the imbroglio just south of its borders. Nonetheless, the phone rings
and it's New York telling me they just got a call from their man on the
border and Homeland Security is beefing up its forces around Laredo in
anticipation of upheaval further south. The phone rings again and it's
California telling me they just heard on Air America that U.S. Navy
patrols were being dispatched to safeguard Mexican oil platforms in the
Gulf. The left-wing daily here, La Jornada, runs a citizen-snapped photo
of army convoys arriving carrying soldiers disguised as farmers and
young toughs. Rumors race through the seven mile-long encampment
installed by supporters of leftist presidential challenger Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrador (AMLO) three weeks ago who have tied up big city traffic
and enraged the motorist class here, that PFP robocops will attack
before dawn. The campers stay up all night huddled around bum fires
prepared to defend their tent cities.
The moment reminds many Mexicans of the tense weeks in September and
October 1968 when 12 days before the Olympic Games were to be
inaugurated here, President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz ordered the military to
massacre striking students in a downtown plaza not far from where AMLO's
people are now camped out. 300 were killed in the Plaza of Three
Cultures, their bodies incinerated at Military Camp #1 in western Mexico
City. The Tlatelolco massacre was a watershed in social conflict here
and the similarities are sinister. In fact, Lopez Obrador has taken to
comparing outgoing President Vicente Fox with Diaz Ordaz.
Fox will go to congress September 1 to deliver his final State of the
Union address. The new legislature will be convened the same day. The
country may or may not have a new president by that day. In anticipation
of this show-down, on August 14, newly-elected senators and deputies
from the three parties that comprise AMLO's Coalition for the Good of
All attempted to encamp on the sidewalk in front of the legislative
palace only to be rousted and clobbered bloody by the President's
robocops.
With 160 representatives, the Coalition forms just a quarter of the 628
members of the new congress but they will be a loud minority during
Fox's "Informe". Since the 1988 "presidenciales" were stolen from
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, founder of AMLO's Party of the Democratic
Revolution, PRD legislators have routinely interrupted the president
during this authoritarian ritual in orchestrated outbursts that have
sometimes degenerated into partisan fisticuffs.
The first to challenge the Imperial Presidency was Porfirio Munoz Ledo,
a hoary political warhorse, who in 1988 thrust a finger at President
Miguel De la Madrid, accusing him of overseeing the theft of the
election from Cardenas. Munoz Ledo's J'Accuse stunned the political
class. He was slugged and pummeled by members of De la Madrid's
long-ruling PRI when he tried to escape the chamber. Munoz Ledo now
stands at AMLO's side.
But perhaps the most comical moment in the annals of acting out during
the Informe, came in 1996 when a brash PRI deputy donned a Babe the
Valiant Pig mask and positioned himself directly under the podium from
which President Ernesto Zedillo was addressing the state of the nation,
and wiggled insouciant signs with slogans that said things like 'EAT THE
RICH!" Like Munoz Ledo, Marco Rascon was physically attacked, his mask
ripped off like he was a losing wrestler by a corrupt railroad union
official who in turn was hammer locked by a pseudo-leftist senator, Irma
"La Tigresa" Serrano, a one-time ranchero singer and in fact, the former
very close friend of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz.
This September 1, if martial law is not declared and the new congress
dissolved before it is even installed, the PRD delegation, which will no
doubt be strip-searched by the Estado Mayor for incriminating banners,
is sworn to create a monumental ruckus, shredding the tarnished decorum
of this once-solemn event forever to protest Fox's endorsement of
electoral larceny. Some solons say they may go naked.
But no matter what kind of uproar develops, one can be secure that it
will not be shown on national television as the cameras of Mexico's
two-headed television monstrosity â_" Televisa and TV Azteca â_" will
stay trained on the President as he tries to mouth the stereotypical
clichés that is always the stuff and fluff of this otherwise
stultifying séance. The images of the chaos on the floor of congress
will not be passed along to the Great Unwashed.
There is a reptilian feel to Mexico seven weeks after a discredited
Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) cemented Lopez Obrador into a second
place coffin by awarding the presidency to right-winger Felipe Calderon
by a mere 243,000 votes out of a total 42,000,000 cast. Both Calderon
and IFE czar Luis Carlos Ugalde (Calderon was best man at Ugalde's
wedding) make these little beady reptile eyes as they slither across
national screens.
Those screens have been the scenes of some of the slimiest and most
sordid political intrigue of late. One of the lizard kings who is
fleetingly featured on Televisa primetime is an imprisoned Argentinean
construction tycoon, Carlos Ahumada, who in 2004 conspired with Fox,
Calderon's PAN, and Televisa to frame AMLO on corruption charges and
take him out of the presidential election."El Peje" (for a gar-like fish
from the swamps of Lopez Obrador's native Tabasco) was then leading the
pack by 18 points.
Charged by Lopez Obrador, then the mayor of this megalopolis, with
defrauding Mexico City out of millions, Ahumada had taken his revenge by
filming PRD honchos when they came to his office to pick up boodles of
political cash. Although the filthy lucre was perfectly legal under
Mexico's milquetoast campaign financing laws, the pick-ups looked awful
on national television. AMLO's former personal secretary was caught
stuffing wads of low denomination bills into his suit coat pockets as if
he were on Saturday Night Live.
Ahumada subsequently turned the tapes over to the leprous,
cigar-chomping leader of Fox's PAN party in the Senate, Diego Fernandez
de Cevallos ("El Jefe Diego") who in turn had them delivered to a
green-haired clown, Brozo, who was then reading the morning news on
Televisa. Then the Argentine blackmailer fled to Cuba in a private
plane. Televisa would air the incriminating videos day and night for
months.
Apprehended in Veradero after his lover Robles was shadowed to that
socialist beachfront, Ahumada spilled the beans to Cuban authorities:
Interior Secretary Santiago Creel, who was then AMLO's lead rival for
the presidency, had cooked up the plot with the connivance of reviled
former president Carlos Salinas, Lopez Obrador's most venomous foe, the
then attorney general, and Fox himself, to remove AMLO from the race.
The Mexican government did not ask for extradition and Ahumada's
deportation from Cuba was not seen as a friendly gesture. Within a
month, diplomatic relations between Mexico and Cuba were broken off and
ambassadors summoned home. The construction tycoon has been imprisoned
in Mexico City ever since he was booted out of Cuba and was last heard
from when he had his rogue cop chauffer shoot up the family SUV, a
charade both Fox and Televisa tried to pin on AMLO. Ahumada had
suggested he was about to release two more incriminating videos. These
dubious events took place on June 6, the day of a crucial presidential
debate between AMLO and Calderon.
Then last week, Ahumada abruptly resurfaced, or at least his videotaped
confession to Cuban authorities did. Filmed through prison bars, he lays
out the plot step by step. Yes, he affirms, the deal was fixed up to cut
AMLO's legs out from under him and advance the fortunes of the
right-wing candidate who turned out to be Felipe Calderon and not the
bumbling Creel. The conspiracy backfired badly as his supporters rallied
around him and Lopez Obrador's ratings soared.
The origins of the confession tape, leaked to top-rung reporter Carmen
Aristegui, was obscure. Had Fidel dispatched it from his sick bed to
bolster Lopez Obrador's claims of victory as the PAN and the snake-eyed
Televisa evening anchor Joaquin Lopez Dorriga hissed? The air grew
serpentine with theories. There was even one school that speculated
Calderon himself had been the source in a scheme to distance himself
from Fox (there had always been bad feelings between them) and Creel,
now the leader of the PAN faction in congress.
AMLO advanced a variant of this explanation: the specter of Ahumada had
been resuscitated to divert attention from the evidence of generalized
fraud the Coalition had submitted to the TRIFE and the panel's impending
verdict that Calderon had won the election.
Perhaps the most nagging question in this snakepit of uncertainty is
what happened during the partial recount of less than 10per cent of the
130,000 ballot boxes ordered by the TRIFE to test the legitimacy of the
IFE's results. Although the recount concluded on August 13, the judges
have released no numbers and are not obligated to do so. Their only
responsibility is to certify the validity of the election.
Although AMLO's reps in the counting rooms came up with gobs of evidence
-- violated ballot boxes, stolen or stuffed ballots, altered tally
sheets and other bizarre anomalies -- only the left-wing daily La
Jornada saw fit to mention them. The silence of the Mexican media and
their accomplices in the international press in respect to the Great
Fraud is deafening, although they manage to fill their rags with ample
attacks on Lopez Obrador for tying up Mexico City traffic.
According to AMLO's people, 119,000 ballots in the sample recount cannot
be substantiated in about 3500 casillas, 58,000 more votes were cast
than the number of voters on the voting list. In nearly 4000 other
casillas, 61,000 ballots allocated to election officials cannot be
accounted for. The annulment of the casillas in which these alterations
occurred would put Lopez Obrador in striking distance of Calderon and in
a better world, would obligate the TRIFE to order a total recount.
But given the cheesy state of the Mexican judiciary this is not apt to
happen. One of the judges who will decide the fate of democracy in
Mexico is a former client of El Jefe Diego for whom the PANista senator
won millions from the Mexico City government in a crooked land deal.
Meanwhile, thousands continue to camp out in a hard rain for a third
week on the streets of Mexico City awaiting the court's decision. They
have taken to erecting shrines and altars and are praying for divine
intervention. Hundreds pilgrimage out to the shrine of the Virgin of
Guadalupe, some crawling on their knees, to ask the Brown Madonna to
work her miracle. "God doesn't belong to the PAN!" they chant as they
trudge up the great avenue that leads to the Basilica. "AMLO deserves a
miracle" Esther Ortiz, a 70 year-old great grandmother comments to a
reporter as she kneels to pray before the gilded altar.
At the Metropolitan Cathedral on one flank of the Zocalo, a young
worshipper interrupts Cardinal Norberto Rivera and is quickly hustled
off the premises by his Eminence's bouncers. The following Sunday, the
Cathedral's great doors are under heavy surveillance, and churchgoers
screened for telltale signs of devotion to Lopez Obrador. Hundreds of
AMLO's supporters mill about in front of the ancient temple shouting
"voto por voto" and that Cardinal Rivera is a pederast.
AMLO as demi-god is one motif of this religious pageant being played out
at what was once the heart of the Aztec theocracy, the island of
Tenochtitlan. The ruins of the twin temples of the fierce Aztec war god
Huitzilopochtli and Tlahuac, the god of the rain, are adjacent to the
National Palace against which AMLO's stage is set. Lopez Obrador sleeps
each night in a tent close by.
Many hearts were ripped out smoking on these old stones and fed to such
hungry gods before the Crusaders showed up bearing the body and blood of
Jesus Christ.
AMLO is accused by right-wing "intellectuals" (Enrique Krauze and the
gringo apologist George Grayson) of entertaining a Messiah complex.
Indeed, he is up there every day on the big screen, his craggy features,
salt and pepper hair, raspy voice and defiantly jutted jaw bearing more
of a passable resemblance to a younger George C. Scott rather than The
Crucified One. AMLO's devotees come every evening at seven, shoehorned
between the big tents that fill the Zocalo, rain or shine. Last Monday,
I stood with a few thousand diehards in a biblical downpour, thunder and
lightening shattering the heavens above. "Llueve y llueve y el pueblo no
se mueve" they chanted joyously, "it rains and rains and the people do
not move."
The evolution of these incantations is fascinating. At first, the
standard slogan of "Voto Por Voto, Casilla por Casilla!" was
automatically invoked whenever Lopez Obrador stepped to the microphone.
"You are not alone!" and "Presidente!" had their moment. "Fraude!" is
still popular but in these last days, "No Pasaran!" -- they shall not
pass, the cry of the defenders of Madrid as Franco's fascist hordes
banged on the doors of Madrid, 1936 -- has flourished.
In this context, "No Pasaran!" means "we will not let Felipe Calderon
pass to the presidency." AMLO, who holds out little hope that the TRIFE
will decide in his favor, devotes more time now to organizing the
resistance to the imposition of Calderon upon the Aztec nation. Article
39 of the Mexican constitution, he reminds partisans, grants the people
the right to change their government if that government does not
represent them. To this end, he is summoning a million delegates up to
the Zocalo for a National Democratic Convention on Mexican Independence
Day September 16, a date usually reserved for a major military parade.
Aside from the logistical impossibility of putting a million citizens in
this Tiennemens-sized plaza, how this gargantuan political extravaganza
is going to be financed is cloudy. Right now, it seems like small
children donating their piggy banks is the main mode of fund-raising.
Because AMLO's people distrust the banks, all of which financed
Calderon's vicious TV ad campaign, a giant piggy bank has been raised in
the Zocalo to receive the contributions of the faithful.
Dreaming is also a fundraiser. 10,000 raised their voices in song this
past Sunday as part of a huge chorus assembled under the dome of the
Monument to the Revolution to perform a cantata based on the words of
Martin Luther King and Mohandas Gandhi. This too is a form of civil
resistance, Lopez Obrador commended his followers.
The first National Democratic Convention took place behind rebel lines
in the state of Aguascalientes in 1914 at the apogee of the Mexican
Revolution when the forces of Francisco Villa and his Army of the North
first joined forces with Zapata's Liberating Army of the Southern
Revolution. The second National Democratic Revolution took place 80
years later in 1994, in a clearing in the Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas
when the Zapatista Army of National Liberation wedded itself to the
civil society in an uprising that rocked Mexico all throughout the '90s.
Eclipsed by events, the EZLN and its quixotic spokesperson Subcomandante
Marcos have disappeared from the political map in the wake of the
fraudulent election.
What this third National Democratic Convention is all about is now being
debated in PRD ruling circles and down at the grassroots. Minimally, a
plan of organized resistance that will dog Felipe Calderon for the next
six years, severely hampering his ability to rule will evolve from this
mammoth conclave. The declaration of a government in resistance headed
by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is one consideration. The National
Democratic Convention could also result in the creation of a new party
to replace a worn-out PRD now thoroughly infiltrated by cast-offs from
the PRI.
The Party of the Democratic Revolution has always functioned best as an
opposition party. With notable exceptions (AMLO was one), when the PRD
becomes government, it collapses into corruption, internecine bickering,
and behaves just as arrogantly as the PAN and the PRI. No Pasaran?
Seven weeks after the July 2 electoral debacle, Mexico finds itself at a
dangerously combustible conjunction ("coyuntura") in which the tiny
white elite here is about to impose its will upon a largely brown and
impoverished populous to whom the political parties and process grow
more irrelevant each day. "No Pasaran!" the people cry out but to whom
and what they are alluding to remains to be defined.
John Ross's ZAPATISTAS! Making Another World Possible: Chronicles of
Resistance 2000-2006 will be published by Nation Books this October.
Ross will travel the Left Coast this fall with both ZAPATISTAS! and a
new chapbook of poetry BOMBA! and is still looking for possible venues.
Send suggestions to johnross@igc.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
7) The following is the text of a letter to Commandante Fidel
Castro from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan
as published in the Final Call Newspaper, Vol 25 No. 45.
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL.
August 14, 2006
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_2874.shtml
Commandante Fidel Castro
Leader of the Cuban Revolution
As-Salaam Alaikum. (Peace Be Unto You)
Dear Commandante Castro,
On behalf of my family, the members of the Nation of Islam and
myself, we pray that Allah (God) will grant you a full and speedy
recovery that you may resume your duty to the people of Cuba
and the world. Also, on behalf of my family, the members of the
Nation of Islam and myself, we wish you a happy belated birthday,
and we pray that Allah (God) will bless you with many, many more.
Dear Commandante Castro, the idea of servicing the needs of the
people rather than the idea of gaining material wealth is the essence
of the revolution. This idea of service is the driving force in the
Cuban Revolution that represents the seminal stage of what religious
people of Christianity, Judaism and Islam call the Kingdom of God.
I firmly believe that Allah (God) has chosen you and the Cuban
people to begin this process of servicing human needs, thus
setting the stage for all people of goodwill to emulate this mode
of service to others. Jesus said, "He who would be the greatest
among you let him be your servant." In this regard, you are one
of the greatest leaders to emerge in the 20th Century, setting the
foundation of a true example of service for all who will lead in
the 21st Century.
In closing, you and the revolution you inspired have angered many
people of wealth and status who have enriched themselves at the
expense of the poor. I believe this is why Jesus told the people
of His day: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of
a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God."
Please remember what I said to you in our last meeting, that
there is no such thing as death for Fidel Castro, for you are an
idea whose time has arrived; and that idea is deep in the souls
of most of the Cuban people and now in the hearts of many
throughout the world. This idea will continue to grow and
you will continue to grow with it from beyond the grave.
May Allah (God) continue to shower His Blessings on you
and those who help you in the service of others.
Sincerely, and with much love and great respect,
I Am Your Brother and Servant,
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan
Servant to the Lost-Found
Nation of Islam in the West
HMLF/sm
See also:
FinalCall.com News Web Presentation:
March 27, 2006 Press Conference in Havana, Cuba (Video)
http://www.finalcall.com/absolutenl/t.aspx?n=37&l=66
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
8) Who Started Terrorism in the Arab-Israeli Conflict?
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Bombs in Cafes: first used by Zionists in Palestine
on March 17th, 1937 in Jaffa.
Bombs on Buses: first used by Zionists in Palestine
Aug. 20th-Sep. 26, 1937.
Bombs in Market Places: first used by Zionists
on July 6th, 1938 in Haifa.
Bombing of Hotels: first used by Zionists
on July 22nd, 1946 in Jerusalem.
Bombing of Foreign Embassies: first used by Zionists
on October 1st, 1946 in Rome (against the British).
Mining of Ambulances: First used by Zionists
on October 31st, 1946 in Petah Tikvah.
Letter Bombs: first used by Zionists in June 1947
against British targets in UK.
(for documentation, consult The Arab Women's Information
Committee and The Institute for Palestine Studies, Who Are
the Terrorists? Aspects of Zionist and Israeli Terrorism,
(Beirut: Insitute for Palestine Studies, 1972).
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
9) "The World Just Sat By," An Interview with Dahr Jamail
By: Christopher Brown
August 23, 2006
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
/Dahr Jamail is an award-winning, independent journalist who reported
live from Baghdad for eight months beginning in 2003. He is considered
one of the best sources on the War in Iraq. Recently, he returned to The
Middle East, to Syria. While in Damascus, the conflict between Israel
and Hizbollah began. Jamail left immediately for Beirut and sent daily
dispatches from his Iraq-dispatches website. I received the chance to
speak to Jamail about what he saw during this 34-day conflict in the
middle East./
*Christopher Brown:* Dahr Jamail, it seems that in the media, this whole
conflict’s narrative started when Hizbollah captured two Israeli
soldiers and killed several others, when in fact this was not the case.
Can you speak about this?
*Dahr Jamail:* Yes it’s very clear and it’s quite well documented that
there were meetings between Cheney and Netenyahu out in California over
a year in advance of this. Also, other documented truth we could look to
would be The Project for the New American Century (PNAC). Anyone can get
online, go to that website and read their plans for the Middle East and
it states very clearly there as well as in another document called a
clean break, a similar document to the PNAC where they talk about
redrawing the lines in the Middle East and how they are going to go
about it. Iraq is the first step, the next step will be Lebanon; and
then the next step Iran, and then after that Syria. It is mentioned and
well documented in those sources that Israel would be going into Lebanon.
Now also other things we could look at is this is simply what occurred
by the Hizbollah’s operation in early July, as the pretext is simply a
fabrication. Because in reality these types of skirmishes on the border
between Israel and Hizbollah, were a regular occurrence. Hizbollah had
fired rockets into Israel; they had attacked Israeli troops before. So
why did they wait for this particular time to launch this massive
collective punishment war of aggression against Lebanon? There are
several factors that all point really clearly that this was a policy
that they were waiting to enact and simply waiting for the right pretext
to justify what they did.
*CB:* As the conflict mounted in the region, we here in the West
received information in regards to Israeli suffering by rockets fired by
Hizbollah and interviews with many innocent Israelis who had to hide out
in bomb shelters. But only rarely did we get any first hand accounts
about innocent Lebanese victims and they’re troubles. Could you speak
more on the corporate media’s lack of fairness and accuracy regarding
this conflict?
*DJ:* Yes that is a really good point. The media coverage of this war of
aggression by Israel against Lebanon, I would say, is almost as bad as
the media coverage that is happening in Palestine, in Gaza, and the West
Bank. Where it’s so incredibly biased. I would go so far as to say that
the coverage of this war was even worse than the corporate media
coverage that I’d seen of the US invasion of Iraq. It is off the charts
in terms of its bias and omissions in things along those lines and we
can cite example after example. For example, all the assumptions, the
heavily biased assumptions, Western corporate media makes that Hizbollah
is a terrorist organization. Well, they’re only referred to as a
terrorist organization by the US, Israel, and the UK. Whereas in all of
the Middle East, including in Lebanon, a country where they have their
base, they are seen as a legitimate political party, a grassroots
organization that employs over a quarter of a million people fully
engaged in infrastructure projects like hospitals, schools and social
welfare programs.
And now after the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, Hizbollah enjoys
over 90% support from the people of Lebanon, which is really off the
charts compared to the number prior to this invasion, which was around
40 or 50%. That means that now, and this of course is not being
broadcast in the corporate media, Hizbollah is enjoying the majority
support of the Christians, The Druze, and Sunni Arabs. Whereas prior to
this there was only a minority support from these groups.
Then we can just look at the coverage of the casualties; I bring up
Hizbollah being referred to as a terrorist organization over and over in
the corporate media. When we simply look at the statistics. We have over
1,300 Lebanese killed by the Israeli war of aggression, over 90% of
those civilians. And then we look at the other side where roughly 150
Israelis died over 50% of those were soldiers. So just looking at that
statistic alone, whose is the terrorist organization, or more
specifically who is the terrorist state?
And now, throughout the Middle East, Israel is being seen as the
terrorist state rather than Hizbollah being in any way as a terrorist
organization. And now, even in Lebanon, Hizbollah is being seen as the
rightful defenders of Lebanon against Israeli aggression. And this is
being underscored again with Israel breaking the ceasefire agreement by
the UN when they launched a commando raid into the Bekka Valley, which
was fought off by Hizbollah. Israel lost at least one soldier.
But, nevertheless, Israel, once again, broke the truce agreement; the UN
resolution that they initially had been quite happy with; a resolution
that even prompted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to call President
Bush, after the UN resolution was penned up and backed by the US, and
thank him for keeping Israeli interests in mind.
But that clearly wasn’t good enough for Israel. We’ve seen time and time
again Israel doesn’t have any regard for international law. And how is
this being portrayed in the coverage? Where is the talk of war crimes?
Where is the talk of the Geneva Conventions being broken time and time
again by Israel when they’ve hit civilians; they’ve hit medical
infrastructure, they’ve hit the ambulances and really don’t even try to
hide this. Where is that in the coverage of this conflict?
*CB:* You mentioned the casualties of the Lebanese people. Although
Hizbollah controls the South, Israel’s bombing campaign extended far
into the North of the country as well. Could you talk about what you saw
on the ground while covering this conflict?
*DJ:* Yes. There are two really important points. The first is; this
wasn’t just an attack on Southern Lebanon and Southern Beirut where
Hizbollah is known to have the majority of its support, but it was the
collective punishment of the entire country. Really, something that just
amazed me in Lebanon watching the entire country being bombed into
pre-industry while the World just sat by and the UN and European
countries just sat and watched and really didn’t do anything to stop
them from carrying out this war crime.
We’re talking about the Northern Border being hit; the city of Byblos
being hit which is a predominately Christian city; the cities up in the
mountains, which are the Christian and Druze areas of Lebanon being hit
repeatedly; over 70 bridges being bombed; over 80 roads being bombed;
milk factories, pharmaceutical plants, paper factories all being bombed;
total collective punishment. Where all of Lebanon’s ports as well as
airports were bombed, electrical structure all of this being bombed.
Every one of these a violation of the Geneva Convention, and every one
of these fits the definition of collective punishment.
And then if we look at the targeting, the deliberate targeting, of
civilians I was really horrified to see pretty quickly, from reporting
from Lebanon, that this deliberate targeting of civilians and medical
infrastructure, it wasn’t something that was happening here and there. I
quickly saw that this was a pattern: The pattern was that people would
try to huddle in their homes from Israeli bombs, and if they were lucky
enough not to have their homes bombed, Israeli warplanes were leafleting
villages telling people to leave. Then when they got in they’re cars to
leave; while flying white surrender flags, holding pillowcases or sheets
out the windows so as not too be bombed, they were being hit.
And then when the Lebanese red cross or the Lebanese Civil Defense
ambulances tried to reach these people, they were being bombed. And then
often times, secondary ambulances were sent help the first ambulances
that were hit, they to were being bombed, this is something that I can
speak to after interviewing people in Qana the day after the massacre
there that killed 37 children and 24 other adults, who were very much
elderly people.
That attack occurred at 1am, and the Lebanese Red Cross, from the nearby
city of Tyre, who tried to reach them, got the first call at 5am and
dispatched two ambulances, they were nearly bombed and had to turn back.
So they waited until about 7am and tried again, and they were nearly
bombed again and were kept away from Qana and had to turn back.
And they weren’t allowed to reach Qana until 9am. So because of them
being kept away, which were the exact words used by the Red Cross people
that I interviewed; people who were in those ambulances who said; 'We
were kept away by the Israeli military. And if we had been allowed to
reach there when we first received the call, maybe we could have saved
the lives of a few more people.’
And this was the type of story I ran into repeatedly from those
civilians and Red Cross workers. They felt they were being attacked
deliberately, civilians home were being destroyed; they were outraged;
'Why are they hitting civilians? If they want to attack Hizbollah, okay.
But why are they hitting civilians?’ and this is what I was hearing the
entire time I was there.
*CB:* The US and Israel constantly stated that Syria and Iran needed to
stop sending weapons to Hizbollah. And the corporate media picked up
this refrain. But there was no mention from any Western country, or
Middle Eastern country for the US to stop sending munitions to Israel.
What are your thoughts on this?
*DJ:* This double standard and this bias, and I would go so far as to
call it this hypocritical racism, I think this falls under the
"coverage" of this war; why weren’t media outlets asking the question;
'Well if Israel and the US are accusing Iran and Syria of supplying
Hizbollah, then what position are they in to do so?’
They are the ones who are supplying Israel with their fighter jets.
Israel has the second largest fleet of F-16s on the planet second only
behind the US. Israel has been the single largest recipient of US
foreign aid since the early 1970s every single year. Right now, they are
receiving over 2 billion dollars, and possible over 3 billion dollars
every single year, either in grants, direct aid, or military hardware in
the form of: F-16s, cluster bombs, jet fuel, tanks, laser guided
weapons, white phosphorus weapons, all this was used very extensively in
Southern Lebanon, and sometimes even in Southern Beirut.
The hypocrisy is really hard to understand. No media outlets in the
West, none of the major ones that I know of, have ever criticized the US
for supplying this unbridled financial, political and economic support
for Israel. While certainly Hizbollah is using rockets from Iran, and is
probably getting other aid from Syria as well. But the bottom line is
that Israel is getting direct military aid unquestioned from the US as
well as helpful political and diplomatic aid from the EU by their
silence. And none of this is ever questioned.
*CB:* You speak about the silence that permeated World leaders and their
governments had about Israel’s onslaught upon the Lebanese people. Why
was it that the folks in Congress here in the US condoned Israel’s right
to defend itself but never spoke of Lebanon having the same right after
it became clear that this was not about rescuing two soldiers, but more
about bombing all of Lebanon?
Where was the outcry of the disproportionate use of force from Congress
concerning Israel actions?
*DJ:* Well I think this is when we have to look squarely at the fact
that the US government and most of the US media is so heavily influenced
by Jewish lobby groups like AIPAC. And it’s long past time that people
in this country look squarely at this and see that their politicians are
essentially owned by these Jewish lobby groups. This is not my opinion,
this is fact.
Anyone can get online, do a little bit of research and pull up US
politicians and which lobby groups they’re taking campaign contributions
from and I challenge anyone to find more than a handful of politicians,
and I mean single digits, who have not taken some aid from Jewish lobby
groups. And we are talking about Republicans and Democrats alike.
Everyone is being financed by them and therefore everyone is beholden to
them and the lobbyists pull the right strings the politicians move in
the right direction.
And those directions are in complete compliance with whatever the wishes
of the State of Israel might be at the time. And that’s why, during the
first week of this war in Lebanon, that there was something like a
moment of silence in the US Congress. Where all the politicians stood up
and had a moment of silence for poor little Israel. Poor little Israel,
the only nuclear power in the Middle East; poor little Israel, with the
fourth most powerful army in the World, only second to that
technologically the United States it’s supplier, its Grandparent if you
will, as far as military support.
And this is the problem: that we have a government that will not act in
the best interests of the United States. They act, instead in this
entangled relationship of: What are the best interests of the State of
Israel? And that trumps anything else, even following international law;
even following the best policy for the United States, as opposed to
what’s the best policy for Israel. And if the United States gets
entangled in this mess and loses standing in the eyes of the World
powers by its unbridled alliance for Israel, then that’s okay.
And that is what is going on and that is where light has to be shown and
has to be criticized heavily and we need massive reform there. And of
course the calls that will come out will be: 'well that’s anti-Semitic,
that’s anti-Israel.’ Well, we just need to be prepared for that, those
will come.
And it’s not anti-Semitic because in reality this alliance of violence
is detrimental to both the security of the US and Israel. This policy
we’re watching is complete insanity and at the end of the day it is
really going to jeopardize the existence of the State of Israel, not
Iran, not Lebanon, not Hizbollah, not Hamas but this lunatic policy of
this unbridled, this complete disregard for international law, this in
the end is going to jeopardize the existence to the State of Israel far
more than any perceived threat that could exist. And any US politician
that doesn’t agree with that, and act appropriately, and make
appropriate changes, they probably shouldn’t be in office.
*CB:* At the beginning of the war, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
Defense Minister Amir Peretz enjoyed approval ratings in the 90s from
the Israeli public. But since it’s conclusion, those ratings have
dropped to below 50% for both men.
Reserve soldiers sent a letter to Olmert questioning the purpose of this
war. Other soldiers acknowledge that Hizbollah resistance fighters
fought bravely in the face of superior fire power.
Faced, with very low approval ratings and an upcoming mid term election
in November, President Bush claimed victory for the State of Israel. Is
the US public buying any of this, or is Bush and Co., merely grasping at
straws?
*DJ:* Well, we have to look at the actions and what happens on the
ground as opposed to rhetoric and the propaganda coming out of the US
and Israeli governments, especially regarding this situation. And if we
simply look at the facts; Israel stated goals for this war against
Lebanon were:
1. To pressure the Lebanese people and the Lebanese government to turn
against Hizbollah. To disarm them and push them away from the border
with Israel. That was one stated goal. Clearly a dismal failure over 90%
of the Lebanese and most of the Lebanese government support Hizbollah
now more than ever before. And certainly have no intention of disarming
them or moving them away from the border with Israel.
2. To disarm Hizbollah and that, of course, did not happen and the UN
appears unlikely to make strides in that direction and that of course
means that most people in Lebanon don’t want Hizbollah to disarm either.
This is probably the only thing keeping Israel from occupying Southern
Lebanon at this point.
3. To have they’re prisoners released. And they are no closer to having
that happen then they were before they started dropping bombs over
Lebanon from North to South and East to West.
If anyone is stupid enough to look at those killed by each side as an
indication of who won, that is really going to be misleading. Because
clearly Israel killed over 1,000 civilians in Lebanon as if that is some
sort of a victory. But if we look at that statistic, over 50% of the
people that Hizbollah killed in South Lebanon were Israeli combat
soldiers, not civilians. I think that is the more important statistic.
And really the most important indicator we should probably look at is
perception in the Middle East and around the World as to who won this.
And I think that one of the solid indicators of who people think won
this is what was cited in the Israeli press; less than 50% of Israelis
approve of the job Olmert is doing where less than two weeks ago his
approval rating was around 90%.
That shows that even the people of Israel are very much aware of the
fact that Israel lost this war; they did not come close to achieving
their directive; and instead they have turned everyone in the Middle
East against them; they have shown the true face of Israel; that it’s a
State that is willing to sponsor terrorism to kill civilians on a
massive scale, and still not achieve it’s goals.
And in fact now, I feel that Israel and they’re own security are in much
greater danger now than they were before conflict. This myth of Israel
having this all-powerful undefeatable military is gone. Just like what
happened to the US in Iraq. Where a few thousand people with
Kalishnakovs and RPGs can bog down the most powerful military on the
planet and are winning that war; well the same thing happened in Israel.
At the height of their ground invasion, the last 24 hours of their
ground invasion into Southern Lebanon, they lost 40 troops in 24 hours.
And they did leave Lebanon with they’re tail between their legs. And it
really just shows that this shock and awe air campaign is really useless
in a guerrilla war. They can drop tens of thousands of bombs on Southern
Lebanon and they still can’t get in there and hold one city, even six
miles into the country.
So it’s really shown they’re military is not capable of protecting their
own civilians; they are not successful at waging an invasion against
another country; and now at the end of all of it, Israeli citizens feel
that less secure now then they did before this ever occurred. And I
think that that should be the strongest indicator, especially when we
look at the stated goals of Israel at the beginning of this war.
*CB:* Currently there is a fragile cease-fire in place. Is it your
opinions that this will hold or what do you feel is in store for the future?
*DJ:* I don’t think this cease-fire will hold because of what we have
spoke of Israel encroaching into Lebanon again. At a time of they’re own
choosing and completely unprovoked. We can talk about that present
tense. Already this cease-fire has failed and at any time Israel
might…maybe even as we speak…they could be breaking this cease-fire
agreement again. And I think that’s why it will fail.
Because Israel has complete disregard for UN resolutions. We only have
to look them breeching, I’m not sure how many, UN resolutions regarding
what’s going on in the occupied territories. We need to remember that
the first one to break this cease-fire was Israel and they’re may come a
point when Hizbollah does respond and then the corporate media will
begin to place the blame squarely on Lebanon’s shoulders.
I’m going to use a crude analogy to get my point across; I use to play
basketball and I was always taught that if you ever get fouled, don’t
foul you’re opponent back.
Because the one who responds is usually the one who is going to get
caught. And I think it’s kind of the same thing here. It is critical
that Hizbollah not respond if they can at all avoid it. Because the
media is so biased and the international community is so biased; if they
do respond we could have another repeat of what we just saw now and
probably something much worse and more sustained. Because I really don’t
see Israel leaving this aside and not doing anything. They will continue
to provoke until Hizbollah responds and then we will again see an all
out war.
(c)2006 Dahr Jamail.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
10) The Liquid Bomb Hoax: The Larger Implications
James Petras
August 2006
jpetras@binghamton.edu
The charges leveled by the British, US and Pakistani regimes that
they uncovered a major bomb plot directed against 9 US airlines
is based on the flimsiest of evidence, which would be thrown out
of any court, worthy of its name.
An analysis of the current state of the investigation raises
a series of questions regarding the governments' claims of
a bomb plot concocted by 24 Brits of Pakistani origin.
The arrests were followed by the search for evidence, as the
August 12, 2006 Financial Times states: "The police set about
the mammoth task of gathering evidence of the alleged terrorist
bomb plot yesterday" (FT August 12/13 2006). In other words, the
arrests and charges took place without sufficient evidence –
a peculiar method of operation – which reverses normal investigatory
procedures in which arrests follow the "monumental task of gathering
evidence". If the arrests were made without prior accumulation
of evidence – what were the bases of the arrests?
The government search of financial records and transfers turned
up no money trail despite the freezing of accounts. The police search
revealed limited amounts of savings, as one would expect from young
workers, students and employees from low-income immigrant families.
The British government, backed by Washington, claimed that the Pakistani
government's arrest of two British-Pakistanis provided "critical evidence"
in uncovering the plot and identifying the alleged terrorist. No Western
judicial hearing would accept evidence procured by the Pakistani
intelligence services that are notorious for their use of torture in
extracting 'confessions'. The Pakistani dictatorship's evidence is
based on a supposed encounter between a relative of one of the
suspects and an Al Queda operative on the Afghan border. According
to the Pakistani police, the Al Queda agent provided the relative and
thus the accused with the bomb-making information and operative
instructions. The transmission of bomb-making information does
not require a trip half-way around the world, least of all to a frontier
under military siege by US led forces on one side and the Pakistani
military on the other. Moreover it is extremely dubious that Al Queda
agents in the mountains of Afghanistan have any detailed knowledge
of specific British airline security, procedures or conditions of
operations in London. Lacking substantive evidence, Pakistani
intelligence and their British counterparts touched all the propaganda
buttons: A clandestine meeting with Al Queda, bomb-making information
exchanges on the Pakistani-Afghan border, Pakistani-Brits with Islamic
friends, family and terrorist connections in England…
US intelligence claimed and London repeated that sums of money had
been wired from Pakistan to allow the plotters to buy airline tickets.
Yet air tickets were found in only one residence (and the airline and
itinerary were not stated by the police). None of the other suspects
possessed plane tickets and some did not even have passports.
In other words, the most preliminary moves in the so-called bomb
plot had not been taken by the accused. No terrorist plot to bomb
airplanes exists when the alleged conspirators are lacking travel
funds, documents and tickets. It is not credible to argue that the
alleged conspirators depended on instructions from distant handlers
ignorant of the basic ground level conditions.
Initially the British and US authorities claimed that the explosive
device was a 'liquid bomb' – yet no liquid or non-liquid bomb was
discovered on the premises or persons of any of the accused. Nor has
any evidence been produced as to the capability of any of the suspects
in making, moving or detonating the 'liquid bomb' – a very volatile
solution if handled by unskilled operatives. No evidence has been
presented on the nature of the specific liquid bomb question, or
any spoken discussion or written documents about the liquid bomb,
which would implicate any of the suspects. No bottle, liquid or
chemical formula has been found among any of the suspects.
Nor have any of the ingredients that go into making the 'liquid bomb'
been uncovered. Nor has any evidence been presented as to where
the liquid was supposed to come from (the source) or whether it was
purchased locally or overseas.
When the liquid bomb story was ridiculed into obscurity, British
Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Peter Clark claimed that, "bomb
making equipment including chemicals and electric components
had been found" (BBC News 8/21/2006).
Once again there is no mention of what "electronic components"
and "chemicals" were found, in whose home or office and if they might
be related to non-bomb making activities. Were these so-called new
bomb-making items owned by a specific person or group of persons,
and if so were they known by the parties implicated to be part of
a bombing plot. Moreover, when and why have the authorities
switched from the liquid bombs to identifying old fashion electronic
detonators? Is there any evidence – documents or taped discussions
that link these electronic detonators and chemicals with the specific
plot to 'blow up 9 US bound airliners?'
Instead of providing relevant facts clearing up basic questions
of names, dates, weapons, and travel dates, Commissioner Clark gives
the press a laundry list of items which could be found in millions of homes
and the large number of buildings searched (69 so far). If stair climbing
earns promotions, Clark should be nominated for a Knightship.
According to Clark the police discovered more than 400 computers,
200 mobile telephones, 8,000 computer media items (items as catastrophic
as memory sticks, CDs and DVDs); police removed 6,000 gigabytes
of data from the seized computers (150 from each computer) and
a few video recordings. One presumes, in the absence of any qualitative
data demonstrating that the suspects were in fact preparing bombs
in order to destroy 9 US airliners, that Commissioner Clark is seeking
public sympathy for his minion's enormous capacity to lift and remove
electronic equipment from one site to another in up to 69 buildings.
This is a notable achievement if we are talking about a moving company
and not a high powered police investigation of an event of 'catastrophic
consequences'.
Some of the suspects were arrested because they have traveled to
Pakistan at the beginning of the school year holidays. British and US
authorities forget to mention that tens of thousands of Pakistani
ex-pats return to visit family at precisely that time of year.
The wise guys on Wall Street and The City of London never took the
liquid bomb plot seriously: At no point did the Market respond,
nose-dive, crash or panic. The announced plot to bomb airlines
was ignored by all Big Players on the US and London stock markets.
In fact, petrol prices dropped slightly. In contrast to 9/11 and the
Madrid and London bombings (to which this plot is compared) the
stock market 'makers' were not impressed by the governments' claims
of a 'major catastrophe'. George Bush or Tony Blair, who were
informed and discussed the 'liquid bomb plot' several days
beforehand, didn't even skip a day of their vacations, in response
to the catastrophic threat.
And each and every claim and piece of 'evidence' put forth by the
police and the Blair and Bush security authorities runs a cropper.
Some of the alleged suspects are released, and new equally paltry
'evidence' is breathlessly presented: two tape recordings of 'martyr
messages' were found in the computer of one suspect, which, we
are told, foretold a planned terrorist attack. The Clark team claimed
with great aplomb that they found one or a few martyr videotapes,
without clarifying the fact that the videos were not made by the
suspects but viewed by them. Many people the world over pay
homage to suicide martyrs to a great variety of political causes.
Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan visits a shrine dedicated to World
War Two military dead – including Kamikaze suicide pilots,
defying Chinese and Korean protests. Millions of US citizens and
politicians pay homage to the war heroes in Arlington cemetery
each year, some of whom deliberately sacrificed their lives in order
to defend their comrades, their flag and the justice of their cause.
It should be of no surprise that Asians, Muslims and others should
collect videos of anti-Israeli or anti-occupation martyrs. In none
of the above cases where people honor martyrs is there any police
attempt to link the reverent observer with future suicide bomb
plots – except if they are Muslims. Hero worship of fallen fighters
is a normal everyday phenomenon – and is certainly no evidence
that the idolaters are engaged in murderous activity.
A 'martyr message' is neither a plot, conspiracy or action – it is
only an _expression of free speech – one might add, 'internal
speech' (between the speaker and his computer) which might at
some future time become public speech. Are we to make private
dialogue a terrorist offense?
As the legal time limit expires on the holding of suspects without
charges, the British authorities released two suspects, charged
eleven and eleven others continue to be held without charges,
probably because there is no basis for proceeding further.
As the number of accused plotters thin out in England, Clark
and company have deflected attention to a world-wide plot
with links to Spain, Italy, the Middle East and elsewhere.
Apparently the logic here is that a wider net compensates
for the large holes. In the case at hand, of the eleven who
have been remanded to trial, only eight have been charged
with conspiracy to prepare acts of terrorism; the other three
are accused of 'not disclosing information' (or being
informers…of what?) and 'possessing articles useful to
a person preparing acts of terrorism' (BBC News 8/21/06).
Since no bombs have been found and no plans of action have
been revealed, we are left with the vague charge of 'conspiracy',
which can mean a hostile private discussion directed against
US and British subjects by several like-thinking individuals.
The reason that it appears that ideas and not actions are in
question is because the police have not turned up any
weapons or specific measures to enter into the locus of
attack (air tickets to board planes, passports and so on).
How can suspects be charged with failing to disclose information,
when the police lack any concrete information pertaining
to the alleged bomb plot. The fact that the police are further
diluting their charges against three more plotters is indicative
of the flimsy basis of their original arrests and public claims.
To charge a 17 year-old boy with 'possessing articles useful
to a person preparing acts of terrorism' is so open-ended as
to be laughable: Did the article have other uses for the boy
or for his family (like a box cutter). Did he 'possess' written
articles because they were informative or fascinating to
a young person?" Since he still possessed the article, he had
not passed these articles to any person making bombs. Did
he know of any specific plans to make bombs or any bomb-
makers? The charges could implicate anyone possessing and
reading a good spy novel or science fiction thriller in which
bomb making is discussed. The eleven have already pleaded
innocent; the trial will begin in due time. The government and
mass media have already convicted the accused in the electronic
and print media. Panic has been sown. Fear and hysterical
anger is present in the long security lines at airports and train
stations…Asian men quietly saying prayers are being pulled
off of airplanes and planes diverted or airports evacuated.
The bomb plot hoax has caused enormous losses (in the
hundreds of millions of dollars) to the airlines, business people,
oil companies, duty free shops, tourist agencies, resorts and
hotels, not to speak of the tremendous inconvenience and
health related problems of millions of stranded and stressed
travelers. The restrictions on lap top computers, travel bags,
accessories, special foods and liquid medicines have added
to the 'costs' of traveling.
Clearly the decision to cook up the phony bomb plot was
not motivated by economic interests, but domestic political
reasons. The Blair administration, already highly unpopular
for supporting Bush's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was under
attack for his unconditional support for Israel's invasion of
Lebanon, his refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire and
his unstinting support for Bush's servility to US Zionist lobbies.
Even within the Labor party over a hundred backbenchers were
speaking out against his policies, while even junior cabinet
ministers such as Prescott stated that Boss Bush's foreign
policy smelled of the barnyard. Bush was not yet cornered
by his colleagues in the same way as Blair, but unpopularity
was threatening to lead his Republican party to congressional
defeat and possible loss of a majority of seats.
According to top security officials in England, Bush and Blair
were 'knowledgeable' about the investigation into a possible
'liquid bomb' plot. We know that Blair gave the go-ahead for
the arrests, even as the authorities must have told him they
lacked the evidence and at best it was premature. Some reports
from British police insiders claim that the Bush Administration
pushed Blair for early arrests and the announcement of the
'liquid bomb' plot. Security officials then launched a massive,
all-out 'terror propaganda' campaign designed to capture the
attention and support of the public with the total support
of the mass media. The security-mass media campaign
served its objective – Bush's popularity increased, Blair
avoided censure and both continued on their vacations.
The bomb plot political ploy fits the previous political pattern
of sacrificing capitalist economic interests to serve domestic
political and ideological positions. Foreign policy failures lead
to domestic political crimes, just as domestic policy crises lead
to aggressive military expansion.
The criminal frame-up of young Muslim-South Asian British
citizens by the British security officials was specifically designed
to cover up for the failed Anglo-American invasion of Iraq and
the Anglo-American backing for Israel's destructive but failed
invasion of Lebanon. Blair's 'liquid bombers' plot' sacrificed
a multiplicity of British capitalist interests in order to retain
political offices and stave off an unceremonious early exit
from power. The costs of failed militarism are borne by
citizens and businesses.
In an analogous fashion Bush and his Zioncon and other
militarists exploited the events of 9/11 to pursue a militarist
multi-war strategy in Southwest Asia and the Middle East.
With time and scientific research, the official version of the
events of 9/11 have come under serious questioning – both
regarding the collapse of one of the towers in New York, as
well as the explosions in the Pentagon. The events of 9/11
and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq sacrificed major US
economic interests: Losses in New York, tourism, airline
industry and massive physical destruction; losses in terms
of a major increase in oil prices and instability, increasing
the costs to US, European and Asian consumers and industries.
Likewise the Israeli military invasion of Gaza and Lebanon,
backed by the US and Great Britain, were economically costly
destroying property, investments and markets, while raising
the level of mass anti-imperial opposition.
In other words, the politics of US, British and Israeli (and by
extension World Zionist) militarism has been at the expense
of strategic sectors of the civilian economy. These losses to key
economic sectors require the civilian-militarists to resort to
domestic political crimes (phony bomb plots and frame-up
trials) to distract the public from their costly and failed policies
and to tighten political control. On both counts, the civilian
militarists and the Zioncons are losing ground. The 'liquid
bomb' plot is unraveling, Israel is in turmoil, the Zioncons
are preaching to the converted, and the US is, as always,
the United States: The Democratic civilian militarist are
capitalizing on the failures of their incumbent colleagues.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
11) Open Letter to James Petras re his article, "The Liquid Bomb
Hoax: The Larger Implications," by Bonnie Weinstein.
Dear James,
In your article, "The Liquid Bomb Hoax: The Larger Implications,"
you stated at the end:
"In other words, the politics of US, British and Israeli (and by
extension World Zionist) militarism has been at the expense
of strategic sectors of the civilian economy."
But in an interview in March 1995 entitled, "Jesse Helms: Setting
the Record Straight" that appeared in the Middle East Quarterly,
Helms said, "I have long believed that if the United States is going
to give money to Israel, it should be paid out of the Department
of Defense budget. My question is this: If Israel did not exist,
what would U.S. defense costs in the Middle East be? Israel is
at least the equivalent of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Middle East.
Without Israel promoting its and America's common interests,
we would be badly off indeed."
(Jesse Helms was the senior senator from North Carolina and
the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time.)
http://www.meforum.org/article/244
I quote this because I think it is crucial to be crystal clear about
"the cart and the horse." Your statement implies that it's World
Zionist Militarism that has control over the U.S., and not the
other way around. Capitalism is a game of power and control
and the one with the biggest gun wins. Or at least that's the
plan and the purpose of the most powerful military force the
world has ever seen--the U.S. Military! That's why all the wealth
produced by the toiling masses of working people--citizen and
non-citizen alike--gouged out of wages and collected in taxes--
is being funneled into military and defense spending and only
the spare change is left over for all other social services and
societal needs.
The whole world is against Israel. They would be an easy target
but for the U.S. It is exactly the U.S. capitalist, imperialist interests
that Israel is designed and maintained to protect AND expand
on--U.S. Capital wants to control the whole Middle East as they
already do much of the world and its resources already.
Unfortunately, many Jewish people have been taken in by the
whole thing. Many Jewish people alive today do not know that
Jews were turned away from U.S. and European soil at the time
they were most in need of escaping fascist extermination. They
do not know that Jewish people, in their desperation, were,
in essence, coerced into going to Palestine--they had no other
choice and the Zionists played into their desperation and the U.S.
funded the whole thing.
The wealthy U.S. elite had plans, yes indeed. We are in danger
now of falling further backwards toward barbarism by blaming
a scapegoat, i.e., all Jewish people, for the crisis the world faces
today. That is why the U.S. Government even bothers to maintain
their "independence" from Israel as if it isn't in control of the
whole dynamic. Anti-Semitism is, so to speak, the U.S. elite's
"failsafe." They can step in, if necessary, and blame "World
Zionist Militarism" for the strife then officially and openly
take the helm of domination of all of the Middle East.
That is what capitalism is. It is the political, economic and
military mechanism for the ultimate domination of the
wealthiest over the masses of poor across the globe. They
rule by force of violence and they own and control not only
the bulk of the wealth and resources, they also own the most
powerful weapons of mass destruction the world has ever seen
--they are world-killers and will stop at nothing to preserve
their place of wealth, power and domination. But, and this is
a big "but", they would have no power at all if their games
of racism, sexism, classism, religious and ethnic bigotry--
all their tools to divide and conquer--didn't work.
But today, we, the masses are divided and conquered--worker
has been turned against worker. The capitalists actually
maintain a united front amongst themselves and against
we, the people of the world. They make laws that tax the
poor and reward the wealthy and we,the working people,
foot the bill.
That is why it is so crucial to expose the real root of the
problem--capitalism--not Zionism. Zionism is just another
capitalist tool of divide and conquer. And, clearly, the U.S.
capitalist regime is at the helm of world capitalism today and
they are overwhelmingly Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Born
Again rich white males--the 1948 birth of the illegal state
of Zionist Israel would not even exist without them and their
coffers and their ultimate goals.
We, the people, are only as strong as our weakest link and
our firm realization that an injury to one of us is an injury
to all. We all have common interests. We have a right to the
pursuit of happiness--to live a life of freedom, with liberty,
equality, democracy and justice for all.
End all U.S. Aid to Israel! U.S. Out of the Middle East! Stop
the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine! Bring
all the troops home now!
Money for human needs and justice for all.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Weinstein, www.bauaw.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
12) The Czars’ Reefer Madness
By JOHN TIERNEY
AMSTERDAM
August 26, 2006
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/26/opinion/26tierney.html?hp
Arjan Roskam, the creator of the award-winning marijuana blend
named “Arjan’s Haze,” has dozens of pictures of celebrity visitors
on the wall of his coffee shop in Amsterdam. He’s got Eminem,
Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys, Mike Tyson — but so far, unfortunately,
not a single White House drug czar.
The czars have preferred to criticize from afar. In the past, they’ve
called Dutch drug policy “an unmitigated disaster,” bemoaning
Amsterdam’s “stoned zombies” and its streets cluttered with
“junkies.” Anti-pot passion has only increased in the Bush
administration, which has made it a priority to combat marijuana.
More than half a million Americans are arrested annually for
possessing it. The Bush administration can’t even abide it being
used for medical purposes by the terminally ill. Why risk having
any of it fall into the hands of young people who could turn
into potheads, crack addicts and junkies?
But if America’s drug warriors came here, they would learn
something even if they didn’t sample any of the dozens of
varieties of marijuana sold legally in specially licensed coffee
shops. They could see that the patrons puffing on joints generally
don’t look any more zombielike than the crowd at an American
bar — or, for that matter, a Congressional subcommittee
listening to a lecture on the evils of marijuana.
And if they talked to Peter Cohen, a Dutch researcher who has
been studying drug use for a quarter-century, they would
discover something even more disorienting. Even though
marijuana has been widely available since the 1970’s, enough
to corrupt a couple of generations, the Netherlands has
not succumbed to reefer madness.
The Dutch generally use drugs less than Americans do,
according to national surveys in both countries (and these
surveys might understate Americans’ drug usage, since
respondents are less likely to admit illegal behavior). More
Americans than Dutch reported having tried marijuana,
cocaine and heroin. Among teenagers who’d tried marijuana,
Americans were more likely to be regular users.
In a comparison of Amsterdam with another liberal port city,
San Francisco, Cohen and other researchers found that
people in San Francisco were nearly twice as likely to have
tried marijuana. Cohen isn’t sure exactly what cultural and
economic factors account for the different usage patterns
in America and the Netherlands, but he’s confident he can
rule out one explanation.
“Drug policy is irrelevant,” says Cohen, the former director
of the Center for Drug Research at the University of Amsterdam.
It’s quite logical, he says, to theorize that outlawing drugs
would have an impact, but experience shows otherwise, both
in America and in some European countries with stricter laws
than the Netherlands but no less drug use.
The good news about drugs, Cohen says, is that the differences
among countries aren’t all that important — levels of addiction
are generally low in America as well as in Europe. The bad news
is that the occasional drug fad get hyped into a crisis that leads
to bad laws.
“Prohibition does not reduce drug use, but it does have other
impacts,” he says. “It takes up an enormous amount of police
time and generates large possibilities for criminal income.”
In the Netherlands, that income goes instead to coffee-shop
owners and to the government, which exacts heavy taxes.
It also imposes strict regulations on what goes on in the coffee
shop, including who can be served (no minors) and how much
can be sold (five grams to a customer). Any unruly behavior
or public disturbances can quickly close down a shop.
To avoid problems at the Green House, Roskam has closed-
circuit cameras and a staff that urges novices to stick with small
doses, and to protect their lungs by taking hits from a vaporizer.
Unlike street buyers in America, customers know exactly what
strength they’re getting, which is especially useful for the hundreds
of people with multiple sclerosis and other ailments who use
his marijuana medicinally.
Roskam sneers at the street products in the United States,
which he considers overpriced and badly blended. But he
acknowledges there’s one feature in the American market
he can’t compete with.
“Drugs are just less interesting here,” he said. “One of my best
friends here never smoked cannabis, never wanted to even try
my products. Then when she was 32 she went to America
on holiday and smoked for the first time. I asked her why,
and she said: ‘It was more fun over there. It was illegal.’ ”
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
13) Israeli Airstrike Hits Reuters Vehicle
The white sport utility vehicle was emblazoned with the Reuters
logo and had ''TV'' and ''Press'' written on it in English, Arabic
and Hebrew.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:09 a.m. ET
August 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israeli aircraft fired two missiles early
Sunday at an armored car belonging to the Reuters news agency,
wounding five people, including two cameramen, Palestinian
witnesses and hospital officials said.
The Israeli army said it did not realize the car's passengers were
journalists and only attacked because the vehicle was driving
in a suspicious manner near Israeli troops in the middle of
a combat zone.
Two Hamas militants were killed in separate airstrikes,
officials said.
The airstrike on the journalists' car came as Israeli soldiers backed
by two dozen tanks, two bulldozers, helicopters and drone planes
moved into an area just inside the Gaza Strip near the Karni
crossing, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said.
The army said the troops were searching for explosives planted
by Palestinian militants alongside the border fence and for tunnels
under the border. After the operation began, groups of militants
repeatedly gathered to try to attack the soldiers, the army
and witnesses said.
The Reuters cameraman, Fadel Shama'a, 23, and Sabah Hamida, 25,
who worked for a local television company, had the doors open
and were about to get out of the armored vehicle in the nearby
Shajaiyeh neighborhood to film the raid when it was struck
by the missiles, according to Shamas Odeh, chief of Reuters
TV in Gaza.
The cameramen, along with three bystanders, were injured with
shrapnel wounds and all five were to undergo surgery, hospital
officials said.
The front seats of the car were covered in blood and shrapnel
had ripped up much of the inside of the vehicle. One of the
bulletproof windows was completely destroyed.
The white sport utility vehicle was emblazoned with the Reuters
logo and had ''TV'' and ''Press'' written on it in English, Arabic
and Hebrew.
''This is a cold-blooded crime,'' said Mohammed Dawdi, head
of the local journalists union.
Capt. Noa Meir, an army spokeswoman, said the vehicle was
the only one in the combat area, was driving suspiciously and
came near Israeli forces during the nighttime raid.
''That's why it was targeted. It was seen as a threat,'' she said.
''There were no clear TV marks (on the car). At least we didn't
see one.''
''It's unfortunate when journalists get hurt, but that is not
the intention,'' Meir added.
However, the area was an active battlefield and the reporters
should not have been there, she said, adding that three Hamas
militants attacked soldiers from the same spot 10 minutes
after the airstrike.
During the raid early Sunday, aircraft repeatedly fired missiles
into fields where Palestinian militants were gathering on the
edge of Shajaiyeh. Rescue officials said one Hamas militant
was killed, and Hamas reported the death of a second.
Ambulance drivers reported coming under fire from Israeli
helicopters as they tried to retrieve the body of the first militant
killed. The army said it was checking the report.
The army also told residents in three nearby buildings to
evacuate their houses as bulldozers cleared land near the
border, witnesses said. Soldiers also took over some rooftops
and searched several houses, they said.
Israel has stepped up raids and airstrikes in Gaza over the
past two months as part of a wide-scale offensive that began
after Hamas-linked militants captured an Israeli soldier
in a cross-border raid.
In the West Bank, Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen traded
heavy fire during a standoff at a fugitives' hideout Saturday,
and doctors said a 16-year-old Palestinian was killed.
Twenty Palestinians were wounded in the clashes in the West
Bank city of Nablus, the doctors said.
The Nablus standoff began early Saturday when troops
surrounded a four-story apartment building where the army
said two Palestinian fugitives were hiding. Troops called on
the fugitives to surrender, but by mid-afternoon, they were
still inside the building.
The army brought in bulldozers which started chipping away
at the walls of the building and destroyed a water tank. At one
point, the building came under heavy automatic fire by the army.
The troops also fired at a neighboring house, where gunmen
were seen shooting at the force.
Bulldozers and army vehicles driving through the neighborhood
were showered with stones.
The residents of the building were ordered to leave and some
were questioned, the witnesses said. Troops also searched
neighboring buildings, witnesses said, and soldiers carrying
guns were seen moving between houses.The neighborhood
appeared deserted and heavy gunshots were exchanged.
The army said Palestinians fired at the troops and in two cases
also hurled explosive devices.
The wanted militants belong to the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an
offshoot of Fatah. They are believed to be explosive experts.
Late Saturday, the army pulled out of Nablus without arresting anyone.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
14) Detention Extended for Airliner Bomb Suspect
By CARLOTTA GALL and ISMAIL KHAN
August 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/world/asia/27pakistan.html?ref=world
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 26 — The detention of Rashid Rauf,
who authorities here say is a key figure in the London airliner
bombing plot, has been extended for 14 days, a senior Pakistani
government official said Saturday.
Mr. Rauf, who holds Pakistani and British citizenship, was
arrested Aug. 9 in Bahawalpur, in southern Pakistan, and
was moved soon after to Rawalpindi, just south of the capital,
where the police, military and intelligence services have headquarters.
He is being held on charges of possession of forged documents and
an additional charge but none relating to terrorism.
He was taken before a magistrate at the airport police station in
Rawalpindi and ordered detained for two weeks, according to an
intelligence official in Islamabad. That official said Mr. Rauf may
also be charged with making threats over the telephone, or another
offense not related to terrorism.
The senior government official, who spoke on condition that he
not be identified, said that on Friday Mr. Rauf was ordered to
be held for a second two-week period.
On Wednesday, the British authorities said they had not asked
that Mr. Rauf be extradited, but on Saturday, the government
official said that the request had been made, and that the process
could take four to five weeks.
The interior minister, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, said his agency
had not received an extradition request from the country’s Foreign
Ministry. A spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, Tasneem Aslam,
said Saturday that she was unaware of the request for extradition.
Pakistan does not have an extradition treaty with Britain, but
Ms. Aslam said the mutual legal assistance accord between Pakistan
and Britain might allow a handover. The senior government official
said Mr. Rauf had been instrumental in sending money to the plotters
in London. He said the money had been sent through South Africa.
Pakistani officials have repeatedly said that the bomb plot had
global connections and that a third country was involved.
Pakistani officials have also said that a person connected
to Al Qaeda and based in Afghanistan was the mastermind
of the plot, and that Mr. Rauf had met with him. Afghan
officials have rejected that possibility, saying there is
no Qaeda base there.
Mr. Rauf was under surveillance for five to six weeks before
his arrest, the senior government official said, and his movements
were closely watched in the final week.
He made several calls to the suspected London plotters a week
before his arrest, which, the official said, prompted the Pakistani
law enforcement agencies to move in.
Twelve people in Britain have since been charged with offenses
related to terrorism.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
15) Tribal Leader Killed in Pakistan
By The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/world/asia/27pakistan.html?ref=world
Pakistani security forces killed a tribal leader, Nawab Akbar Khan
Bugti, 79, Pakistan’s information minister, Muhammad Ali Durrani,
said late Saturday.
The minister said that the forces had also killed two
of Mr. Bugti’s grandsons.
The men were leading an armed rebellion against the central
government in their native province of Baluchistan.
Government forces have been fighting Mr. Bugti and his followers,
who are demanding greater rights for the Baluch people, since
last year and forced Mr. Bugti to flee his ancestral homeland
and hide in the mountains six months ago.
Carlotta Gall reported from Islamabad, Pakistan, for this article,
and Ismail Khan from Peshawar, Pakistan. Salman Masood
contributed reporting from Islamabad.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
16) Read Between All Those For-Sale Signs
By DAVID LEONHARDT and VIKAS BAJAJ
August 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/weekinreview/27leonhardt.html?ref=business
REAL bubbles pop. They are fully formed one moment and gone
the next. Financial bubbles rarely meet with such a definitive end,
which has always been the biggest problem with the metaphor.
They let out their air in unpredictable bursts, and it’s usually
impossible to figure out whether they have finished deflating
or are just starting to.
Still, the latest housing numbers seem like they could be
a turning point. A real estate crash might not be the most
likely outcome, but it certainly seems legitimate to think
about what one would look like.
The number of building permits being issued is falling at
a rate usually seen only in recessions. In July, 11 percent
fewer existing homes were sold than were sold a year earlier;
22 percent fewer new houses were sold. After the new-house
data was released last week, Capital Economics, a consulting
firm, wrote an e-mail message to its clients that began, “New
day, same depressing housing market story.”
The fate of the housing market will influence whether the
economy will merely slow over the next year, as the Federal
Reserve forecasts, or fall into a recession for the first time
since early 2001. Lehman Brothers, the investment bank,
said Friday that “for-sale” signs had replaced gas-price signs
as the most important indicator of potential trouble.
The collapse of most bubbles does not have a single obvious
starting point, like a bad corporate earnings report or an
interest-rate rise. Instead, the psychology of buyers and
sellers shifts, slowly at first and then sometimes in a cascade.
“It’s always mystified people about why these things turn,”
said Robert J. Shiller, a Yale economist and author of “Irrational
Exuberance,” a history of speculation. “People want something
concrete.”
There seem to be three major paths that housing could follow
over the next year: a soft landing, the start of a long slump,
or a crash. A soft landing is the one predicted — and preferred
— by most economists on Wall Street and at the Fed. A long
slump is what many past real estate booms turned into. A crash
is the outcome that a small group of analysts say is the only
possible ending for the biggest housing boom of all.
Their prediction looks better than it did a few weeks ago, but
even they aren’t sure whether this is the beginning of the end
or another false turning point. “The funny thing about bubbles,”
Mr. Shiller said, “is that you never know when they’re over.”
For a crash to happen, prices would have to decline significantly
in some once-hot markets. So far, as sales have slowed and the
number of houses on the market has soared, many owners have
chosen to sit tight. If they were instead to decide that selling
later would be even worse than selling now, this could change
quickly.
The doomsayers’ strongest argument may be that too few
families can afford prices in some metropolitan areas. In Las Vegas,
Los Angeles and Miami, prices have almost doubled since 2003,
and they have risen about 50 percent in New York and San Francisco,
the National Association of Realtors says.
Jumps of this magnitude have little precedent. To afford homes,
some buyers, especially in California, have resorted to aggressive
mortgages, like those that allow artificially low payments in the
early years. In effect, families seem to be buying houses they
cannot afford, in the hope that their incomes or property values
will rise significantly. “Prices just shot up too much,” said
Robert T. McGee, chief economist at U.S. Trust, an investment
firm based in New York. The firm has forecast a soft landing for
housing, he said, but “as time goes by that starts to look like
wishful thinking.”
If prices do decline, some of the first victims would be families
in a financial bind that are unable to rescue themselves by
refinancing their mortgage. Foreclosures would then rise,
damaging banks and increasing the number of homes for sale.
Even homeowners not in danger of losing their home — an
overwhelming majority, certainly — might respond to falling
prices by cutting spending, particularly if they had been
counting on their home’s value to serve as a retirement
account. That could force job cuts in a wide range of industries.
Already, the housing slowdown has begun damaging the
job market. Builders, mortgage lenders and real estate agencies
have stopped adding to payrolls. Defined broadly, the real
estate sector has accounted for 44 percent of jobs created
since 2000 and employs more than one in 10 American
workers, according to Moody’s Economy.com.
Perhaps the biggest reason to be skeptical about a real estate
crash is that the country has not really suffered through one
before. Not since the Depression has the combined value of
residential real estate fallen over the course of a full year.
Homes seem to be much less vulnerable to crashes than
other assets, because people rarely sell them in a panic.
But earlier booms have been followed by modest price declines
in some cities that turned into long periods in which increases
trailed inflation. After peaking in much of California and the
Northeast in the late 1980’s, house values fell during the
recession of 1990-91 and then drifted for years, often rising
more slowly than the price of milk.
In inflation-adjusted terms, prices in the New York and
Washington areas did not return to their late-80’s peak until
2002. In Boston, it didn’t happen until 2000, and in San
Francisco, 1999.
It isn’t hard to imagine a similar chain of events over the next
decade. Based on futures contracts traded on the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange, investors expect the median house price
in Los Angeles, New York and some other regions to fall about
5 percent in the next year, which would be similar to the decline
that started the 90’s slump.
From there, prices might start rising again, but at a slow enough
pace that incomes would eventually catch up. Families that now
need an exotic mortgage to buy a house in Los Angeles could
eventually afford one the old-fashioned way.
Interest rates could play a role in a long slump, too. They have
been falling for much of the last decade, helping push house
prices higher by allowing buyers to afford bigger mortgages.
Most economists expect rates to remain lower than they were
a generation ago but not to return to the extremely low levels
of a few years ago, making big swings in house prices, in either
direction, unlikely.
Christopher J. Mayer, director of the Paul Milstein Center for
Real Estate at Columbia University, argues that the recent drop
in sales does not suggest that a larger bust is coming. “So far
we have only seen people asking pie-in-the-sky asking prices
and not getting them,” said Mr. Mayer, who expects housing
to continue slowing but not enough to create a recession.
He believes that the boom in house prices was largely a result
of the appeal of “superstar cities” like New York and San Francisco
that are unlikely to lose their allure. In the much of the rest of the
country, prices are not unusually high, considering the relatively
low interest rates.
Moreover, few borrowers are falling behind on their mortgage
payments, and the economy looks fairly healthy outside of housing.
So if prices start falling, new buyers may jump into the market and
prevent any extended slump. “The fundamentals of real estate
are solid, still,” said James Gillespie, chief executive of Coldwell
Banker, the real estate company.
Which is it, then — a brief pause, or a big correction?
“Either argument is very compelling. I can debate myself on it,”
said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “That’s
why there’s a great deal of uncertainty.”
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
17) "Every Generation of Arabs Hates Israel More Than the Last"
America's Rottweiler
By URI AVNERY
http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery08262006.html
In his latest speech, which infuriated so many people, Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad uttered a sentence that deserves
attention: "Every new Arab generation hates Israel more than
the previous one."
Of all that has been said about the Second Lebanon War, these
are perhaps the most important words.
The main product of this war is hatred. The pictures of death
and destruction in Lebanon entered every Arab home, indeed
every Muslim home, from Indonesia to Morocco, from Yemen
to the Muslim ghettos in London and Berlin. Not for an hour,
not for a day, but for 33 successive days - day after day,
hour after hour. The mangled bodies of babies, the women
weeping over the ruins of their homes, Israeli children
writing "greetings" on shells about to be fired at villages,
Ehud Olmert blabbering about "the most moral army
in the world" while the screen showed a heap of bodies.
Israelis ignored these sights, indeed they were scarcely
shown on our TV. Of course, we could see them on Aljazeera
and some Western channels, but Israelis were much too busy
with the damage wrought in our Northern towns. Feelings
of pity and empathy for non-Jews have been blunted here
a long time ago.
But it is a terrible mistake to ignore this result of the war.
It is far more important than the stationing of a few thousand
European troops along our border, with the kind consent
of Hizbullah. It may still be bothering generations of Israelis,
when the names Olmert and Halutz have long been forgotten,
and when even Nasrallah no longer remember the name
Amir Peretz.
* * *
IN ORDER for the significance of Assad's words to become
clear, they have to be viewed in a historical context.
The whole Zionist enterprise has been compared to the
transplantation of an organ into the body of a human being.
The natural immunity system rises up against the foreign
implant, the body mobilizes all its power to reject it. The
doctors use a heavy dosage of medicines in order to
overcome the rejection. That can go on for a long time,
sometimes until the eventual death of the body itself,
including the transplant.
(Of course, this analogy, like any other, should be treated
cautiously. An analogy can help in understanding things,
but no more than that.)
The Zionist movement has planted a foreign body in this
country, which was then a part of the Arab-Muslim space.
The inhabitants of the country, and the entire Arab region,
rejected the Zionist entity. Meanwhile, the Jewish settlement
has taken roots and become an authentic new nation rooted
in the country. Its defensive power against the rejection has
grown. This struggle has been going on for 125 years,
becoming more violent from generation to generation.
The last war was yet another episode.
* * *
WHAT IS our historic objective in this confrontation?
A fool will say: to stand up to the rejection with a growing
dosage of medicaments, provided by America and World
Jewry. The greatest fools will add: There is no solution.
This situation will last forever. There is nothing to be
done about it but to defend ourselves in war after war
after war. And the next war is already knocking
on the door.
The wise will say: our objective is to cause the body
to accept the transplant as one of its organs, so that
the immune system will no longer treat us as an enemy
that must be removed at any price. And if this is the aim,
it must become the main axis of our efforts. Meaning:
each of our actions must be judged according to
a simple criterion: does it serve this aim or obstruct it?
According to this criterion, the Second Lebanon
War was a disaster.
* * *
FIFTY NINE years ago, two months before the outbreak
of our War of Independence, I published a booklet entitled
"War or Peace in the Semitic Region". Its opening words were:
"When our Zionist fathers decided to set up a 'safe haven'
in Palestine, they had a choice between two ways:
"They could appear in West Asia as a European conqueror,
who sees himself as a bridge-head of the 'white' race and
a master of the 'natives', like the Spanish Conquistadores
and the Anglo-Saxon colonists in America. That is what
the Crusaders did in Palestine.
"The second way was to consider themselves as an Asian
nation returning to its home - a nation that sees itself as an
heir to the political and cultural heritage of the Semitic
race, and which is prepared to join the peoples of the
Semitic region in their war of liberation from European
exploitation."
As is well known, the State of Israel, which was established
a few months later, chose the first way. It gave its hand
to colonial France, tried to help Britain to return to the
Suez Canal and, since 1967, has become the little sister
of the United States.
That was not inevitable. On the contrary, in the course
of years there have been a growing number of indications
that the immune system of the Arab-Muslim body is starting
to incorporate the transplant - as a human body accepts the
organ of a close relative - and is ready to accept us. Such
an indication was the visit of Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem.
Such was the peace treaty signed with us by King Hussein,
a descendent of the Prophet. And, most importantly,
the historic decision of Yasser Arafat, the leader of the
Palestinian people, to make peace with Israel.
But after every huge step forward, there came an Israeli
step backward. It is as if the transplant rejects the body's
acceptance of it. As if it has become so accustomed
to being rejected, that it does all it can to induce the
body to reject it even more.
It is against this background that one should weigh the
words spoken by Assad Jr., a member of the new Arab
generation, at the end of the recent war.
* * *
AFTER EVERY single one of the war aims put forward
by our government had evaporated, one after the other,
another reason was brought up: this war was a part
of the "clash of civilizations", the great campaign of the
Western world and its lofty values against the barbarian
darkness of the Islamic world.
That reminds one, of course, of the words written 110 years
ago by the father of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, in the
founding document of the Zionist movement: "In Palestinewe
shall constitute for Europe a part of the wall against Asia, and
serve as the vanguard of civilization against barbarism."
Without knowing, Olmert almost repeated this formula
in his justification of his war, in order to please President Bush.
It happens from time to time in the United States that somebody
invents an empty but easily digested slogan, which then
dominates the public discourse for some time. It seems that
the more stupid the slogan is, the better its chances of becoming
the guiding light for academia and the media - until another
slogan appears and supersedes it. The latest example is the
slogan "Clash of Civilizations", coined by Samuel P. Huntington
in 1993 (taking over from the "End of History").
What clash of ideas is there between Muslim Indonesia and
Christian Chile? What eternal struggle between Poland and
Morocco? What is it that unifies Malaysia and Kosovo, two
Muslim nations? Or two Christian nations like Sweden and
Ethiopia?
In what way are the ideas of the West more sublime than
those of the East? The Jews that fled the flames of the
auto-da-fe of the Christian Inquisition in Spain were received
with open arms by the Muslim Ottoman Empire. The most
cultured of European nations democratically elected Adolf
Hitler as its leader and perpetrated the Holocaust, without
the Pope raising his voice in protest.
In what way are the spiritual values of the United States,
today's Empire of the West, superior to those of India and
China, the rising stars of the East? Huntington himself was
compelled to admit: "The West won the world not by the
superiority of its ideas or values or religion, but rather by
its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners
often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do." In the West,
too, women won the vote only in the 20th century, and slavery
was abolished there only in the second half of the 19th.
And in the leading nation of the West, fundamentalism
is now also raising its head.
What interest, for goodness sake, have we in volunteering
to be a political and military vanguard of the West in this
imagined clash?
* * *
THE TRUTH is, of course, that this entire story of the clash
of civilizations is nothing but an ideological cover for
something that has no connection with ideas and values:
the determination of the United States to dominate the
world's resources, and especially oil.
The Second Lebanon War is considered by many as
a "War by Proxy". That's to say: Hizbullah is the Dobermann
of Iran, we are the Rottweiler of America. Hizbullah gets money,
rockets and support from the Islamic Republic, we get money,
cluster bombs and support from the United States of America.
That is certainly exaggerated. Hizbullah is an authentic
Lebanese movement, deeply rooted in the Shiite community.
The Israeli government has its own interests (the occupied
territories) that do not depend on America. But there is no
doubt that there is much truth in the argument that this
was also a war by substitutes.
The US is fighting against Iran, because Iran has a key role
in the region where the most important oil reserves in the
world are located. Not only does Iran itself sit on huge oil
deposits, but through its revolutionary Islamic ideology
it also menaces American control over the near-by oil
countries. The declining resource oil becomes more and
more essential in the modern economy. He who controls
the oil controls the world.
The US would viciously attack Iran even it were peopled
with pigmies devoted to the religion of the Dalai Lama.
There is a shocking similarity between George W. Bush
and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, The one has personal
conversations with Jesus, the other has a line to Allah.
But the name of the game is domination.
What interest do we have to get involved in this struggle?
What interest do we have in being regarded - accurately -
as the servants of the greatest enemy of the Muslim world
in general and the Arab world in particular?
We want to live here in 100 years, in 500 years. Our most
basic national interests demand that we extend our hands
to the Arab nations that accept us, and act together with
them for the rehabilitation of this region. That was true
59 years ago, and that will be true 59 years hence.
Little politicians like Olmert, Peretz and Halutz are unable
to think in these terms. They can hardly see as far as the end
of their noses. But where are the intellectuals, who should
be more far-sighted?
Bashar al-Assad may not be one of the world's Great Thinkers.
But his remark should certainly give us pause for thought.
Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush
Shalom. He is one of the writers featured in The Other Israel:
Voices of Dissent and Refusal. He is also a contributor
to CounterPunch's hot new book The Politics of Anti-Semitism.
He can be reached at: avnery@counterpunch.org.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
18) Mexican Court Throws Out Election Fraud Claims
By REUTERS
Filed at 2:18 p.m. ET
August 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-mexico-election-result.html?hp&ex=1156824000&en=6fb32f42857855cd&ei=5094&partner=homepage
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's top electoral court threw
out leftists' allegations of massive fraud in last month's presidential
election on Monday, handing almost certain victory to conservative
candidate Felipe Calderon.
The seven judges voted unanimously to reject most of the legal
complaints by left-wing candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,
who said he was robbed of victory in the July 2 vote.
His supporters have paralyzed Mexico City with protests this
month and he has vowed to make Mexico ungovernable if the
court declares Calderon the winner of the country's most bitterly
contested election in modern history.
The initial result showed Calderon, a former energy minister from
the ruling National Action Party, won the election by just
0.58 of a percentage point or 244,000 votes,
The judges fell short of formally naming Calderon the winner
but they said there were only marginal changes to the original
results after recounts and annulments at some of the most
fiercely contested polling stations.
``Based on the annulments that were deemed necessary,
all the parties lost a considerable amount of votes but that
did not affect the results,'' judge Jose Luna said.
The judges, whose rulings are final and can not be appealed,
must declare a president-elect by September 6.
The Mexican peso firmed 0.85 percent to 10.88 per dollar
as investors were convinced that pro-business Calderon
will now take over from President Vicente Fox on December 1.
The election split Mexico between left and right and is the
most serious challenge to its democracy since Fox's election
victory six years ago ended seven decades of one-party rule.
Lopez Obrador says there were serious irregularities at more
than half the polling stations. He has demanded a full recount
of all 41 million votes cast and has launched street protests
that have shut down central Mexico City.
If Calderon's victory is confirmed by the court, Lopez
Obrador says he will either lead a civil resistance movement
against his rival or set up some kind of parallel government.
``CORRUPT''
``The damned judges are corrupt. They are stealing the
election from us,'' said Josefina Mondragon, 55, a housewife
who was one of a small group of protesters outside the court.
The court annulled results from scores of polling stations
after a partial recount earlier this month because of
irregularities but there was no sign of huge fraud,
the judges said.
``We can tell people that today their votes were worth
something and that they are definitive,'' said another judge,
Fernando Ojesto, adding that the court would in coming
days rule on the election's validity and give a final vote count.
Lopez Obrador insists he won the election and that a court
ruling in favor of Calderon would merely complete the fraud.
``It would be an abuse of the people's rights, a rupture of
the constitutional order and a coup d'etat, which is offensive
to millions of Mexicans,'' he told supporters on Sunday
in Mexico City's central Zocalo square, where they have
been camping overnight in a sit-in for almost a month.
But attendance at his mass rallies has dropped in the last
two weeks and a campaign of blockading highways, government
buildings and foreign banks appears to be losing steam.
Calderon, who campaigned on pro-business policies and
would be an ally of the United States, was confident the
court would declare him winner.
``We are sure that the only thing that will come out
of these legal challenges is that Felipe Calderon won
the presidency legitimately,'' said top aide Juan Camilo
Mourino.
The leftist, who has vowed to overhaul economic policies
to put the poor first, insists he will not give up. Some
50 supporters marched through the Zocalo with a fake
coffin, marked ``Democracy''
The electoral court this month ordered a recount at just
9 percent of the polling stations. It failed to end the dispute
as Lopez Obrador says the exercise proved many ballot
boxes were tampered with. He says almost 200,000 votes
disappeared from some or were discovered in others.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
19) Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and DAVID LEONHARDT
August 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/28wages.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
With the economy beginning to slow, the current expansion has
a chance to become the first sustained period of economic growth
since World War II that fails to offer a prolonged increase in real
wages for most workers.
That situation is adding to fears among Republicans that the
economy will hurt vulnerable incumbents in this year’s midterm
elections even though overall growth has been healthy for much
of the last five years.
The median hourly wage for American workers has declined
2 percent since 2003, after factoring in inflation. The drop
has been especially notable, economists say, because productivity
— the amount that an average worker produces in an hour and
the basic wellspring of a nation’s living standards — has risen
steadily over the same period.
As a result, wages and salaries now make up the lowest share
of the nation’s gross domestic product since the government
began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits have
climbed to their highest share since the 1960’s. UBS, the
investment bank, recently described the current period as
“the golden era of profitability.”
Until the last year, stagnating wages were somewhat offset
by the rising value of benefits, especially health insurance,
which caused overall compensation for most Americans to
continue increasing. Since last summer, however, the value
of workers’ benefits has also failed to keep pace with inflation,
according to government data.
At the very top of the income spectrum, many workers have
continued to receive raises that outpace inflation, and the
gains have been large enough to keep average income and
consumer spending rising.
In a speech on Friday, Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve
chairman, did not specifically discuss wages, but he warned
that the unequal distribution of the economy’s spoils could
derail the trade liberalization of recent decades. Because
recent economic changes “threaten the livelihoods of some
workers and the profits of some firms,” Mr. Bernanke said,
policy makers must try “to ensure that the benefits of global
economic integration are sufficiently widely shared.”
Political analysts are divided over how much the wage trends
will help Democrats this fall in their effort to take control
of the House and, in a bigger stretch, the Senate. Some see
parallels to watershed political years like 1980, 1992 and
1994, when wage growth fell behind inflation, party
alignments shifted and dozens of incumbents were thrown
out of office.
“It’s a dangerous time for any party to have control of the
federal government — the presidency, the Senate and the
House,” said Charles Cook, who publishes a nonpartisan
political newsletter. “It all feeds into ‘it’s a time for
a change’ sentiment. It’s a highly combustible mixture.”
But others say that war in Iraq and terrorism, not the
economy, will dominate the campaign and that Democrats
have yet to offer an economic vision that appeals to voters.
“National economic policies are more clearly in focus
in presidential campaigns,” said Richard T. Curtin, director
of the University of Michigan’s consumer surveys. “When
you’re electing your local House members, you don’t
debate that on those issues as much.”
Moreover, polls show that Americans are less dissatisfied
with the economy than they were in the early 1980’s or
early 90’s. Rising house and stock values have lifted the
net worth of many families over the last few years, and
interest rates remain fairly low.
But polls show that Americans disapprove of President Bush’s
handling of the economy by wide margins and that anxiety
about the future is growing. Earlier this month, the University
of Michigan reported that consumer confidence had fallen
sharply in recent months, with people’s expectations for
the future now as downbeat as they were in 1992 and 1993,
when the job market had not yet recovered from a recession.
“Some people who aren’t partisans say, ‘Yes, the economy’s
pretty good, so why are people so agitated and anxious?’ ”
said Frank Luntz, a Republican campaign consultant. “The
answer is they don’t feel it in their weekly paychecks.”
But Mr. Luntz predicted that the economic mood would not
do significant damage to Republicans this fall because voters
blamed corporate America, not the government, for their
problems.
Economists offer various reasons for the stagnation of wages.
Although the economy continues to add jobs, global trade,
immigration, layoffs and technology — as well as the
insecurity caused by them — appear to have eroded
workers’ bargaining power.
Trade unions are much weaker than they once were, while
the buying power of the minimum wage is at a 50-year low.
And health care is far more expensive than it was a decade
ago, causing companies to spend more on benefits at the
expense of wages.
Together, these forces have caused a growing share
of the economy to go to companies instead of workers’
paychecks. In the first quarter of 2006, wages and salaries
represented 45 percent of gross domestic product, down
from almost 50 percent in the first quarter of 2001 and
a record 53.6 percent in the first quarter of 1970,
according to the Commerce Department. Each percentage
point now equals about $132 billion.
Total employee compensation — wages plus benefits —
has fared a little better. Its share was briefly lower than
its current level of 56.1 percent in the mid-1990’s and
otherwise has not been so low since 1966.
Over the last year, the value of employee benefits has
risen only 3.4 percent, while inflation has exceeded
4 percent, according to the Labor Department.
In Europe and Japan, the profit share of economic output
is also at or near record levels, noted Larry Hatheway,
chief economist for UBS Investment Bank, who said that
this highlighted the pressures of globalization on wages.
Many Americans, be they apparel workers or software
programmers, are facing more comptition from China
and India.
In another recent report on the boom in profits, economists
at Goldman Sachs wrote, “The most important contributor
to higher profit margins over the past five years has been
a decline in labor’s share of national income.” Low interest
rates and the moderate cost of capital goods, like computers,
have also played a role, though economists note that
an economic slowdown could hurt profits in coming months.
For most of the last century, wages and productivity —
the key measure of the economy’s efficiency — have risen
together, increasing rapidly through the 1950’s and 60’s
and far more slowly in the 1970’s and 80’s.
But in recent years, the productivity gains have continued
while the pay increases have not kept up. Worker productivity
rose 16.6 percent from 2000 to 2005, while total compensation
for the median worker rose 7.2 percent, according to Labor
Department statistics analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute,
a liberal research group. Benefits accounted for most of
the increase.
“If I had to sum it up,” said Jared Bernstein, a senior economist
at the institute, “it comes down to bargaining power and the
lack of ability of many in the work force to claim their fair
share of growth.”
Nominal wages have accelerated in the last year, but the
spike in oil costs has eaten up the gains. Now the job market
appears to be weakening, after a protracted series of interest-
rate increases by the Federal Reserve.
Unless these trends reverse, the current expansion may lack
even an extended period of modest wage growth like one
that occurred in the mid-1980’s.
The most recent recession ended in late 2001. Hourly wages
continued to rise in 2002 and peaked in early 2003, largely
on the lingering strength of the 1990’s boom.
Average family income, adjusted for inflation, has continued
to advance at a good clip, a fact Mr. Bush has cited when
speaking about the economy. But these gains are a result
mainly of increases at the top of the income spectrum that
pull up the overall numbers. Even for workers at the 90th
percentile of earners — making about $80,000 a year —
inflation has outpaced their pay increases over the last
three years, according to the Labor Department.
“There are two economies out there,” Mr. Cook, the political
analyst, said. “One has been just white hot, going great guns.
Those are the people who have benefited from globalization,
technology, greater productivity and higher corporate earnings.
“And then there’s the working stiffs,’’ he added, “who just
don’t feel like they’re getting ahead despite the fact that
they’re working very hard. And there are a lot more people
in that group than the other group.”
In 2004, the top 1 percent of earners — a group that includes
many chief executives — received 11.2 percent of all wage
income, up from 8.7 percent a decade earlier and less than
6 percent three decades ago, according to Emmanuel Saez
and Thomas Piketty, economists who analyzed the tax data.
With the midterm campaign expected to heat up after Labor
Day, Democrats are saying that they will help workers by
making health care more affordable and lifting the minimum
wage. Democrats have criticized Republicans for passing
tax cuts mainly benefiting high-income families at a time
when most families are failing to keep up.
Republicans counter that the tax cuts passed during Mr. Bush’s
first term helped lifted the economy out of recession. Unless
the cuts are extended, a move many Democrats oppose,
the economy will suffer, and so will wages, Republicans say.
But in a sign that Republicans may be growing concerned
about the public’s mood, the new Treasury secretary, Henry
M. Paulson Jr., adopted a somewhat different tone from
Mr. Bush in his first major speech, delivered early this month.
“Many aren’t seeing significant increases in their take-home
pay,” Mr. Paulson said. “Their increases in wages are being
eaten up by high energy prices and rising health care costs,
among others.”
At the same time, he said that the Bush administration was
not responsible for the situation, pointing out that inequality
had been increasing for many years. “It is neither fair
nor useful,” Mr. Paulson said, “to blame any political party.”
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20) KIDS AT WAR WITH THE WORLD
[Col. Writ. 8/13/06] Copyright 2006 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Across the nation, from coast to coast, from border to border, we find
youngsters engaged in urban, neighborhood wars, often with bystanders
the collateral damages of warfare between regional gangs, or,
increasingly, drug clans, battling for turf.
I've been asked by several readers to address the issue, but, 'til now,
I've hesitated, for I too, have wondered what to say. So, I've thought;
I've studied; I've meditated on how these brief words could work some
spark of change in our beleaguered communities.
It's not easy being a youth in a nation that worships youth, but doesn't
really like young people. That trouble more than doubles when it comes
to Black youth, who are seen as perpetual problems, to be profiled,
tracked, boot-camped, and imprisoned, almost from birth.
Unlike most old heads, I've not forgotten my youth, but often look back
to it, to see, to sense, to taste, to smell, what being young meant. I
hope it gives me some insight into the problems, and challenges faced by
young folks.
Believe it or not, I actually feel quite lucky that I was young during
the time of social movements like the Black Panther Party, where I was
constantly surrounded by older brothers and sisters who taught me, loved
me, and cared for me.
To be young and alive today is to not have that resource available.
San Francisco's brilliant Black poet, Marvin X, writes movingly about
the plight of youth alienation from the community, in his recent
collection of essays, *In the Crazy House Called America* (Cherokee,
Ca.: Black Bird Press, 2006):
"I am mortified at my own pain and that of my many comrades, men and
women, who are attempting to deal with out-of-control children,
especially and mostly young males. Some of these males have broken down
their parents emotionally, have terrified them physically, and
overwhelming the parents with psychopathic behavior, such as rage and
the inclination and determination to engage in criminal activity.
"These youth are so inclined to the criminal life that even when they
suffer multiple wounds from gunshots, they are emboldened rather than
humbled, believing their survival is a sign and badge of invincibility.
"As parents, we wonder what we did wrong, although some of us know we
weren't there when our sons and daughters needed us most. Some of us
may have been busy with 'revolution,' as if revolution is apart from
saving our children. Of course such thinking is clearly a form of
mental derangement, at the very least a grand delusion and thus we
suffer trauma when our children confront us with their abominable
behavior, and we are overwhelmed in seeking a solution. We send the
children into exile back East or down South, we let the criminal justice
system work its hand, we attend their funerals, but most of all, we know
not what to do but pray. But no mystery god will answer our prayers --
often and usually, things go from bad to worse -- even death does not
end our pain, for there is no closure, never, ever." [p. 14]
The words of Marvin X could very well be our words, for they reflect a
deep, bitter truth, whether we are in Harlem or Houston, San Francisco
or Baltimore.
I'm convinced that organization, something that truly, and authentically
engages youth, is the only thing that can break through the madness that
currently pervades youth consciousness.
No external force can, or will, reach them with anything positive enough
to turn their faces to the light.
Everyday, millions of them imbibe psychic poison that convinces them
that they are nothing, but prison fodder, or cannon fodder for pointless
imperial wars.
Only Black mass movements, of conscious youth, and energetic elders,
can touch them, and transform them into a social force for the
continuing freedom struggle.
As has been said too often, 'Only we can save ourselves.'
Partly, in this era of declining industry, we can see the economic basis
that forces such alienation.
But we know it is more than that.
All young people want to belong to something greater than themselves;
that's the deep, psychological impetus that leads some to gang life.
We must build something worthy of them, again.
That is our challenge. That is our duty. That is our only way out of
this dark tunnel of self-destruction.
And, lest we trip, no solution looks remotely like these hellholes,
which is itself, a part of the problem.
Copyright 2006 Mumia Abu-Jamal
!VIVA FIDEL! LONG LIVE FIDEL!
[Col. Writ. 8/10/06] Copyright 2006 Mumia Abu-Jamal
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21) Behind the facade, a city left to rot
As cafe society blooms in the tourist areas of New Orleans,
poor ex-residents struggle to survive
Julian Borger in New Orleans
Tuesday August 29, 2006
Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1860225,00.html
The late-night bars and jazz clubs are open in the French Quarter,
as are the cafes in the elegant Garden District. One year after the
worst natural disaster in US history, New Orleans is gamely giving
the impression that the good times are rolling again.
But a couple of miles to the north or east, the Cajun bravura falls
away like a cheap carnival mask, the streets fall quiet and the
Crescent City becomes a dead zone.
Hurricane Katrina left behind less than half of New Orleans.
The storm killed 1,500 people and scattered the rest. Out
of a pre-hurricane population of 450,000, so far just over
200,000 have returned to build their lives, according to
independent estimates. The others have either found better
options elsewhere or are waiting in trailers for government
reconstruction assistance and a development plan that has
so far failed to materialise.
"Does it look like they're doing something here?" asked John
Washington, looking up and down his street in the Lower
Ninth ward, a poor black district in New Orleans east.
As far as the eye could see on the eve of Katrina's anniversary,
there were the rotting shells of his neighbours' houses.
The summer air hung heavy with the sour taste of mould
and decay.
"They got the money. I don't know why they're not turning
it loose," Mr Washington said.
He was one of a handful of returnees trying to go it alone,
gutting his family property before it succumbed to rot. He
was stacking up salvaged pictures when a framed painting
of Jesus fell, shattering the glass and further darkening his
mood. He picked it up and flung it back in the house, shards
and all.
In the Lower Nine, as the district is known, and the low-lying
suburbs on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, streets
of crumpled houses and desolate shops have sat abandoned
since the flood walls broke when Katrina crashed into the
Gulf Coast a year ago today. Mississippi and Alabama were
hit too but they did not lose an entire city and have bounced
back quicker.
In some areas of New Orleans the only signs of life are the
occasional Humvee full of national guardsmen - summoned
in June to help control gang violence - and fluttering placards
promising "We tear down houses" or "Houses gutted $1,600
or less".
The Lower Nine has been the worst hit. Other districts
were further below sea level, but none were poorer.
Old wooden "shotgun" houses - long buildings one storey
high and one room wide - were thrown off the cinder blocks
they had been jacked up on (as a futile precaution against
flooding), and crushed by the floodwaters that burst through
the broken levees on the nearby industrial canal. "Cars were
floating by. Houses were floating down the street," said
Mr Washington, who sat out the storm in a room above his
stepmother's church, the Queen Esther Spiritual Divine temple,
before swimming to safety when the waters began to recede.
"I heard people screaming, howling for help."
Many, perhaps most, of the city's dead came from the Lower
Nine. They were the least likely to hear the warnings and many
did not have cars to escape in. The bodies were washed away
with the floodwaters or left to rot in attics. Their names
are recorded in black felt tip on white flags that cover
a lawn in the Metairie cemetery a few miles away. Nearly
half the flags are blank, representing bodies that have yet
to be claimed or identified.
All the dead will be remembered today at a number
of ceremonies that have drawn politicians from Washington
keen to point fingers of retrospective blame or salvage their
reputations. George Bush will be one of the latter.
Two weeks after the flood, with much of the city still under water,
Mr Bush stood in Jackson Square and announced a visionary
manifesto for reconstruction, promising "this great city will
rise again" adding even more ambitiously: "We will build
higher and better."
Twelve months on, the people of New Orleans are asking
who he meant by "we". Federal money has yet to reach the
streets. Not long after the Jackson Square speech, the president
pulled the plug on a congressional reconstruction bill aimed
at buying up flood-damaged properties, consolidating them,
and selling them to developers to redesign the city. It was replaced
by a less ambitious and much cheaper plan. The White House,
reporters were told, did not want to get into the "real estate"
business.
Nor did any other branch of government. The city's mayor,
Ray Nagin, toyed with the idea of consolidating the city on
a smaller "footprint" and turning low lying areas, such as the
Lower Nine, into green space. Faced with a difficult re-election
campaign Mr Nagin dropped the idea and declared the market
should decide New Orleans' fate.
Planning is a dirty word among Lower Nine residents. Only
200 of the area's 14,400 pre-storm population have come
back but at a meeting over the weekend, local civic leaders
were shouted down when they presented a plan that would
turn much of the empty space into parkland. "Where's my
house on your plan?" asked a heckler, who declined to give
his name. "Give people the money and let them rebuild.
They're Americans. They can do it on their own."
A city planner told him there would be no money until
there was a plan, but the crowd was suspicious. Most people
interviewed in the district believed the floodwall had been
dynamited under the cover of the storm by white developers.
"For years they wanted this land. Now they figured out they
got an opportunity to get it from us," said Henry Irvin,
a 70-year-old stalwart of the Lower Nine.
Katrina broke other levees last year, flooding all-white
neighbourhoods, but the conspiracy theory is rooted in history.
The levees around the district were dynamited in 1927
by whites trying to drive out other groups - an act that left
generations of deep distrust. "They dynamited it in '65 and
in 2005 too," Mr Irvin insisted. "There were loud noises that
night that people heard that could only be explosives."
As for today's government he said: "They can all kiss my ass.
I'll do my own house." That spirit is powering neighbourhood
self-help groups but also creating a snaggle-toothed cityscape.
It is unlikely to produce a sustainable community, but rebuilding
is an act of faith.
"Did they give up in 1776?" Mr Irvin asked, summoning up the
memory of America's war of independence. "Did they say: 'This
is hard so let's go back to England ... I put my trust in God,
and I've got a Browning 12-gauge shotgun too."
How the disaster happened
Sunday August 28
9.30am Mandatory evacuation ordered in New Orleans.
10,000 people huddle in city's Superdome.
Monday 29
3am Canal floodwalls begin to breach.
6.10am Eye of Hurricane Katrina makes landfall at Buras,
on Louisiana-Mississippi border; 135mph winds destroy
the small town completely.
8.14am New Orleans Industrial Canal breached,
flooding the Lower Ninth Ward instantly.
9am Two holes open in Superdome's roof.
10.30am George Bush declares emergency in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama.
5pm 1,000 survivors are taken to the New Orleans convention
centre and left with no food or water. Up to 20,000 gather
there overnight.
Tuesday 30
7am President Bush decides to end his six-week vacation early.
10am Looting across New Orleans.
Wednesday 31
2pm First evacuation begins, from the Superdome , where the
crowd has reached 26,000, with a similar number in the
convention centre. Another 4,000 gather on the I-10 motorway
flyover.
7pm Martial law in New Orleans.
Thursday September 1
2am First evacuees arrive in Houston, Texas.
6.12am Bush tells ABC television: "I don't think anybody
anticipated the breach of the levees."
Friday 2
9am National guard takes control of the convention centre
and fans out around the streets to stop looting.
Saturday 3
12 noon Evacuation of convention centre begins.
5.47pm Evacuation of Superdome is completed
9.50pm Convention centre emptied
[It has stuck out to me the reference to looting as if human beings
in the situation they were in are looting when they take food and the
supplies they need for survival. That is not looting. Even if some did
take some "luxury" items as well. It also ignores the blatant racism
that took place in the U.S. media that portrayed white people taking
food and supplies as "trying to survive and feed their children" while
Black people were "looting." I saw it myself time and again on the
news. Even Oprah Winfrey interviewed a Black man who had "looted"
air mattresses and rafts from Wallmart and saved over two hundred
people himself. Oprah asked him if he stole the stuff. He said, "Yes,
Oprah! I "looted them all!" And the audience cheered the hero!
The mass media also didn't show the Cops themselves taking what
they would from jewelry stores, etc. They literally "helped themselves"
to whatever they came across. They simply chalked it up to those
"looters."....bw]
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
22) Buyouts at Ford Are No. 1 Topic for Union Leaders Tuesday
By NICK BUNKLEY and MICHELINE MAYNARD
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/business/29ford.html
DETROIT, Aug. 28 — Local union leaders at the Ford Motor Company
are scheduled to meet here Tuesday to discuss a possible expansion
of the employee buyout program as well as other moves the
company may take to accelerate its turnaround effort.
The meeting of leaders of the United Automobile Workers union
locals comes about three weeks before Ford, which lost about
$1.5 billion in the first half of the year, is expected to detail
its amended “Way Forward” reorganizing plan.
The automaker, whose sales were eclipsed in July for the first
time by the Japanese rival Toyota, recently announced substantial
cuts in production in the third and fourth quarters.
Analysts now expect Ford to offer buyouts to many or all of its
hourly employees, mirroring a similar program at General
Motors. Nearly 35,000 employees, almost a third of G.M.’s
unionized work force, accepted the offers, which included
cash payouts of as much as $140,000.
Ford has said it plans to cut 30,000 jobs, or about a third
of its work force in North America, by 2012 and close
14 plants. But it has a work force that is, on average,
younger than G.M.’s, and some analysts have said Ford
will need to offer a better deal than G.M. to garner the
same type of response.
Ford has already offered buyouts to workers at some plants
that are slated to close; only a few thousand people have
accepted.
Local union leaders have started warning their members
about the possibility that Ford will eliminate shifts or close
plants sooner than planned. Ford has called reports about
its intentions speculative, and a company spokeswoman
declined to comment on Tuesday’s U.A.W. meeting.
The U.A.W. Ford council is expected to hear from Bob King,
the union’s newly named vice president for negotiating with
Ford, and other union leaders about developments at the
automaker and how a possible expansion of the buyouts
could affect their members.
“We’re concerned — very concerned,” said Lloyd Mahaffey,
director of U.A.W. Region 2B, which covers Ohio, where Ford
has 10 plants that make a variety of components. Ford has
already announced that it will close its transmission plant
in Batavia, Ohio.
Speaking at a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Mr. Mahaffey said
union officials had not yet received details of the expanded
Way Forward program, so he was not able to say whether
various reports about the company’s plans were correct.
“I don’t assume anything,” Mr. Mahaffey said.
Gov. Robert Taft of Ohio said he was “very concerned” about
Ford’s future. He said that he had been in touch with company
officials, but that Ford had not given the state any information
about its factories there.
Nick Bunkley reported from Detroit for this article and Micheline
Maynard from Toledo, Ohio.
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23) DuPont to Cut Contributions to Pensions
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/business/29dupont.html
The DuPont Company said yesterday that it would cut
its contribution to workers’ pensions by two-thirds
after 2007, part of a growing move by American
companies away from traditional defined-benefit plans.
The company said it would enhance its savings and
investment plan for employees, making a contribution
of 3 percent of each employee’s pay beginning in
January 2008 and matching the first 6 percent that
each employee contributes.
DuPont said it would continue its defined-benefit pension
program for current employees, but after 2007 it would
reduce its contribution to one-third of its current level.
At that time, new hires will not be eligible to participate
in the pension and retirement plan and will not receive
company subsidies for retiree health care and life insurance.
DuPont said the changes did not affect current United
States retirees, former employees with vested benefits
or current employees who retire before Jan. 1, 2008.
DuPont, based in Wilmington, Del., said the changes
would have little effect on 2006 earnings, but it expected
them to improve earnings by about 3 cents a share in 2007
and by about 5 cents a share beginning in 2008.
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24) Have the Lessons of Katrina Been Learned?
A year after Hurricane Katrina, is the federal government
prepared for another national disaster? If not, what does
it need to do to get there?
http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=33
272. Bonnie Weinstein:
Basic human kindness would dictate that whatever
aid that was necessary to help people rebuild their
lives after a natural disaster would be provided
by the wealthiest nation on earth.
We have masses of unemployed–skilled
and unskilled–who could be given on-the-job
training for a massive rebuilding project anytime
there is a natural or any kind of disaster. Guided by
human cooperation and kindness, we could pledge
to improve conditions for everyone–improve protection
of the levy’s; build stronger homes; use the opportunity
to revamp the whole infrastructure to make it a better
place for those very same people to live; and give
them good jobs; good benefits and a way to live free,
happy and productive lives in the process.
Unfortunately, this government and the wealthiest
people on earth who control it don’t trade in human
kindness. Their bottom line is the uninterrupted
accumulation of capital and resources and, ultimately,
their continued control over their ability to accumulate
ever more wealth and power, at the expense of
everyone else.
Their philosophy is each man, woman and child for
him or her self! Survival of the fittest! The fittest
being determined by the amount of personal wealth
and power one can accumulate–even when it’s
handed to you at birth on a golden platter–then
it is assumed that the family genes have already
proven the worthiness of their preferred position!
Simply put we have a system built on the private
accumulation of capital and the advantages it brings
to its owners, i.e., the ultimate control over the life and
death of the planet itself through control over the
most ultimate weapons of mass destruction ever devised
before–wealth brings power, power controls government
and enslaves its people. That is what governments are
for. That’s what its armies are for. That is what our
army has and is being used for. That is what the National Guard
in New Orleans were there for–not to rescue people!
Ironically, it’s we the people, who produce the wealth that
capital confiscates. It is we who are really the fittest to rule.
By rights of our hard labor that created this wealth,
it is we who can honestly claim it for our own–and we must
if we are to survive. Only we can ensure that this wealth
will be spent for human kindness instead of for war,
occupations, executions and death.
We, the people who produce, build, calculate, invent,
bake, design, manufacture, create, maintain, teach, do–all of us
acting together democratically and in solidarity with one
another the world over, and in the interests of all of humanity
and all life on this planet–we, the masses of people rationally,
freely and democratically planning together how to use
the vast wealth we can produce–we are the fittest force
of all to rule the world!
Socialism, freedom, democracy and human kindness
–or barbarism. The choice is up to us.
In solidarity with human kindness,
Bonnie Weinstein, San Francisco
posted on August 29th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
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25) Data show one in eight Americans in poverty
By Joanne Morrison
Tue Aug 29, 4:47 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060829/ts_nm/life_usa_poverty_dc&printer=1
In the world's biggest economy, one in eight Americans and almost
one in four blacks lived in poverty last year, the U.S. Census Bureau
said on Tuesday, both ratios virtually unchanged from 2004.
The survey also showed 15.9 percent of the population, or 46.6
million, had no health insurance, up from 15.6 percent in 2004
and an increase for a fifth consecutive year, even as the economy
grew at a 3.2 percent clip.
It was the first year since President George W. Bush took office in
2001 that the poverty rate did not increase. As in past years, the
figures showed poverty especially concentrated among blacks
and Hispanics.
In all, some 37 million Americans, or 12.6 percent, lived below
the poverty line, defined as having an annual income around
$10,000 for an individual or $20,000 for a family of four. The
total showed a decrease of 90,000 from the 2004 figure, which
Census Bureau officials said was "statistically insignificant."
The last time poverty declined was in 2000, the final year of Bill
Clinton's presidency, when it fell to 11.3 percent.
The stagnant poverty picture drew attention from Democrats
and others who said not enough is being done to help the
nation's poor.
"Far too many American families who work hard and play by
the rules still wind up living in poverty," said Rep. George Miller
(news, bio, voting record) of California, the top Democrat on the
House Education and Workforce Committee.
Around a quarter of blacks and 21.8 percent of Hispanics were
living in poverty. Among whites, the rate edged down to
8.3 percent from 8.7 percent in 2004.
"Among African Americans the problem correlates primarily
to the inner-city and single mothers," said Michael Tanner
of CATO Institute, a free-market think tank in Washington.
He noted that blacks also suffer disproportionately from poor
education and lower quality jobs.
Black median income, at $30,858, was only 61 percent
of the median for whites.
Some 17.6 percent of children under 18 and one in five
of those under 6 were in poverty, higher than for any
other age group.
Still, real median household income rose by 1.1 percent to
$46,326 from $45,817 -- its first increase since 1999.
This was taken as a positive move by Republicans and
administration officials.
"While we still have challenges ahead, our ability to bounce
back is a testament to the strong work ethic of the American
people, the resiliency of our economy, and pro-growth
economic policies, including tax relief," said Office of
Management and Budget Director Rob Portman.
The figures contained wide regional variations, ranging
from a median household income of $61,672 in New
Jersey to $32,938 for Mississippi.
Major cities with the highest proportions of poor people
included Cleveland with 32.4 percent and Detroit with 31.4
percent under the poverty line.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
26) Downward Mobility
New York Times Editorial
August 30, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/opinion/30wed1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
If you’re still harboring the notion that the economy is “good,”
prepare to be disabused.
Even the best number from yesterday’s Census Bureau report for
2005 is bad news for most Americans. It shows that median income
rose 1.1 percent last year, to $46,326, the first increase since
it peaked in 1999. But the entire increase is attributable to the
23 million households headed by someone over age 65. So the
gain is likely from investment income and Social Security,
not wages and salaries.
For the other 91 million households, the median dropped, by half
a percent, or $275. Incomes for the under-65 crowd were hurt by
a decline in wages and salaries among full-time working men for
the second year in a row, and among full-time working women
for the third straight year. In all, median income for the under-65
group was $2,000 lower in 2005 than in 2001, when the last
recession bottomed out.
Despite the Bush-era expansion, the number of Americans living
in poverty in 2005 — 37 million — was the same as in 2004.
This is the first time the number has not risen since 2000. But
the share of the population now in poverty — 12.6 percent —
is still higher than at the trough of the last recession, when it was
11.7 percent. And among the poor, 43 percent were living below
half the poverty line in 2005 — $7,800 for a family of three.
That’s the highest percentage of people in “deep poverty” since
the government started keeping track of those numbers in 1975.
As for the uninsured, their ranks grew in 2005 by 1.3 million people,
to a record 46.6 million, or 15.9 percent. That’s also worse than the
recession year 2001, reflecting the rising costs of health coverage
and a dearth of initiatives to help families and companies cope with
the burden. For the first time since 1998, the percentage of
uninsured children increased in 2005.
The Census findings are yet another indication that growth alone
is not the answer to the economic and social ills of poverty, income
inequality and lack of insurance. Economic growth was strong in
2005, and productivity growth was impressive. What have been
missing are government policies that help to ensure that the
benefits of growth are broadly shared — like strong support
for public education, a progressive income tax, affordable health
care, a higher minimum wage and other labor protections.
President Bush is unlikely to push for those changes, wed as
he is to tax cuts that mainly benefit the wealthy. But the economic
agenda for the next president couldn’t be clearer.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
27) Census Reports Slight Increase in ’05 Incomes
By RICK LYMAN
August 30, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/us/30census.html?hp&ex=1156996800&en=de6cc2b1c1d89d60&ei=5094&partner=homepage
The nation’s median household income rose slightly faster than
inflation last year for the first time in six years, the Census Bureau
reported yesterday.
The rise, however, had little to do with bigger paychecks — in fact,
both men and women earned less in 2005 than 2004. Rather,
census officials said, more family members were taking jobs
to make ends meet, and some people made more money from
investments and other sources beyond wages.
The glimmer of improvement came after years in which the
economy slogged through the bursting of the 1990’s stock
market boom, a brief economic downturn, the aftershocks
from the 2001 terrorist attacks, a series of corporate scandals
and growing evidence of a deepening divide between rich and poor.
While the economy has been strong by most statistical measures
for the past several years, its benefits have not translated into
improvements in the standard of living for many people. In
New York, the proportion of city residents living below the
poverty level has not changed in the last five years.
Nationally, the small uptick in median household income reported
yesterday, 1.1 percent, was not enough to offset a longer-term drop
in median household income — the annual income at which half
of the country’s households make more and half make less.
That figure fell 5.9 percent between the 2000 census and 2005,
to $46,242 from $49,133, according to an analysis of the data
conducted for The New York Times by the sociology department
of Queens College. The difference was so sharp, in part, because
the 2000 census measured 1999 income, which was at the height
of the dot-com bubble.
Still, census officials were upbeat at a news conference while
announcing the new data, also pointing out that the number
and percentage of those living below the poverty line held steady
in 2005 after four consecutive annual increases.
The White House seized on the positive numbers, which had been
in short supply in previous recent census reports.
“Unemployment is low, wages are rising, and there are more jobs
in America today than at any other time in history,” said Rob
Portman, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
“While we still have challenges ahead, our ability to bounce
back is a testament to the strong work ethic of the American
people, the resiliency of our economy and pro-growth economic
policies, including tax relief.”
Within hours of the data’s release, political partisans on both sides
were parsing it for advantage in the upcoming midterm elections,
what with both houses of Congress in play and voters’ assessments
of the nation’s economic health likely to play a role in the outcome.
“Today’s census report confirms that most working families have
not been able to make much economic progress in the last year,
and they still have not made up the ground lost since President
Bush took office,” said Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the
ranking Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee.
Republicans responded in kind.
“While many Democrats have jumped on the opportunity to point
out some statistics today, we can’t forget that the economy remains
strong,” said Carolyn Weyforth, spokeswoman for the Senate Republican
leader, Bill Frist. “Yes, there are some disconcerting numbers that
Senator Frist feels that Congress must continue to address, but
by no means do these numbers mean that the economy is anything
but strong and continuing to grow.”
The new data also showed continuing erosion in the percentage
of Americans covered by health insurance. In 2005, an estimated
46.6 million people had no coverage, up 1.3 million since 2004
and increasing the percentage of Americans without health coverage
from 15.6 percent of the population to 15.9 percent.
After recent decreases in the numbers of children without health
insurance, this year’s data found that their numbers grew between
2004 and 2005, rising from 10.8 percent of those under 18 to 11.2
percent.
The 5.9 percent drop in median household income since 1999 was
not shared equally around the country. In Michigan, median household
income fell 11.9 percent between 1999 and 2005. In North Carolina,
it was 11.2 percent, in Utah 10.4 percent and in Indiana 9.5 percent.
But in some states, the impact was not nearly so great: a drop of 2.5
percent in New York, 2.4 percent in South Dakota and 1.9 percent
in New Hampshire. In the District of Columbia and six states —
Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota and Virginia —
the change was so small that it fell within the survey’s margin
of error.
David Johnson, chief of the housing and household economic
statistics division, also noted some persistent signs that Americans
from different income groups were not sharing equally in the
country’s recent economic good fortune.
He pointed out that slightly more than half of the nation’s income
was going to the top 20 percent of wage earners at the same time
that the number living in poverty remained essentially unchanged,
at about 37 million people.
“That could represent an increase in inequality,” Mr. Johnson said.
In fact, the Queens College study found that — at least between
the two years studied, 1999 and 2005 — there was less economic
disparity across the country. In 1999, at the height of the dot-com
bubble, those in the top 20 percent in income made 19 times
more than those in the bottom 20 percent, while in 2005 that
gap had fallen to 14.8 times as much.
In 2005, the poor accounted for 12.6 percent of the population,
roughly the same as in 2004. The only racial group that saw any
improvement in their poverty rate over the year was non-Hispanic
whites, a group that had 8.7 percent below the poverty line
in 2004 and 8.3 percent in 2005.
And advocates for the poor pointed out that, although the numbers
living below the poverty line held steady between 2004 and 2005,
there has been a sharp increase in those living in extreme poverty.
The average person living in poverty actually earned $3,236 less
than the poverty line — $19,971 for a household of four — in 2005,
the highest such gap ever measured by the Census Bureau, said
Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities, a liberal research group. And 43 percent of the
poor earned less than half of the poverty limit, Mr. Greenstein
said, again the highest such percentage ever recorded.
“This is further evidence that the nation’s economic recovery has
had very limited reach, with many low- and medium-income
families not sharing in the game,” he said.
The new census data also helped paint a picture of those living
at the top and bottom of the nation’s income ladder in 2005.
Those in the top fifth in income were overwhelmingly more likely
to live in metropolitan areas than rural ones, 90.8 percent to
9.2 percent. But within those metro areas, they were significantly
more likely to be found in the suburbs, with 29.3 percent living
within the dominant city limits and 61.5 percent living outside.
Wealthy Americans were also much more likely to be part of
a married couple living in a single-family household (79 percent
of those in the top fifth), to be a non-Hispanic white (81.2 percent)
and to have two or more wage earners in the household (76.3 percent).
Meanwhile, those living in the bottom fifth in income could be found
in disproportionate numbers in rural areas (21.2 percent of this
group lived outside metro areas compared with 9.2 percent
of the wealthiest) and to live in non-family households
(59 percent of the poor compared with 12.5 percent
of the wealthy).
A study of the data by the Carsey Institute at the University
of New Hampshire found that children in rural areas were particularly
hard hit, with the percentage living in poverty in 41 states higher
in 2005 than it was five years before.
Blacks made up 20.6 percent of those living in the bottom fifth,
compared with 5.8 percent of those in the top fifth. Hispanics
were 13.4 percent of the bottom group and 5.9 percent of the top one.
Helena Andrews contributed reporting for this article.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
LINKS ONLY
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
Education Dept. Shared Student Data With F.B.I.
By JONATHAN D. GLATER
September 1, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/washington/01educ.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
"Walking, We Ask Questions"
The Other Campaign in Spanish Harlem
By RJ Maccani
The Other Journalism with the Other Campaign on the Other Side
August 31, 2006
http://www.narconews.com/Issue42/article2037.html
Winning Arab hearts and minds
by Dima Khatib, Latin America Correspondent
Aljazeera.Net
Friday 18 August 2006 8:18 AM GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0393C044-9D53-43FB-9B2F-3F15DF88AF91.htm
Israeli Police Capture Palestinian at British Embassy
By STEVEN ERLANGER
JERUSALEM, Aug. 31 — Israeli police armed with assault rifles
ended a bizarre six-hour standoff tonight at the British Embassy
in Tel Aviv, arresting a Palestinian who had scaled a wall into
the embassy parking lot. The man, identified as Nadim Injaz,
threatened to commit suicide and demanded political asylum
in Britain, saying he was afraid that Palestinian militants would
kill him if he returned to the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israeli television said Mr. Injaz had once been an informer
for the Israeli domestic security service, Shin Beth, but that he
had been denied permission to live in Israel. He apparently has
been living illegally in Israel anyway, rather than return to the
Palestinian territories and, he feared, risk being murdered
as a collaborator.
August 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/world/middleeast/31cnd-mideast.html?hp&ex=1157083200&en=1e9e65b0a8ceba6f&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Bush Says Iraq War Is Part of a Larger Fight
By DAVID STOUT
President Bush began a new drive today to rally the American
people behind him on the Iraq war and national security, declaring
that the United States must stay the course in Iraq because it is
a battleground in an epic struggle between democracy and tyranny.
August 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/washington/31cnd-bush.html?hp&ex=1157083200&en=c78660b7dd5ce413&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Mexico: mass protest against electoral fraud acquires
insurrectionary proportions
By Erik Demeester
Wednesday, 30 August 2006
http://www.marxist.com/mexico-protest-electoral-fraud-revolution.htm
Caracas golf clubs in a hole as city bids to build homes on greens
Mayor seeks compulsory purchase of elite courses
Capital needs 1m houses but opposition cries foul
Duncan Campbell
Guardian
Thursday August 31, 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329565045-111259,00.html
Resisting Racism, Opportunism and Profiteering
Detroit Teachers Strike Again
By RICH GIBSON
August 29, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/gibson08292006.html
HURRICANE EXPERT THREATENED FOR PRE-KATRINA WARNINGS
A Greg Palast special investigation for Democracy Now!
Monday, August 28. From New Orleans.
http://www.gregpalast.com/mailing/link.php?URL=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kZW1vY3JhY3lub3cub3JnLw%3D%3D&Name=&EncryptedMemberID=NTAyNjQ%3D&CampaignID=29&CampaignStatisticsID=21&Demo=0&Email=kwald@california.com
`HUD' Sham Acts Out Katrina Housing Anger
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0829-03.htm
U.S. States Widen Scope for Executions
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0829-04.htm
An Interview with Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Slonsky
The Crimes Katrina Exposed
By ALAN MAASS
August 30, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/maass08302006.html
The Worst Kind of Terror
Murder on Rucarb Street
By ELIZA ERNSHIRE
Ramallah.
August 29, Pre-dawn.
http://www.counterpunch.org/ernshire08302006.html
Rumsfeld Says War Critics Haven’t Learned Lessons of History
By DAVID S. CLOUD
SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 29 — Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
said Tuesday that critics of the war in Iraq and the campaign against
terror groups “seem not to have learned history’s lessons,” and
he alluded to those in the 1930’s who advocated appeasing
Nazi Germany. [UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE!...BW]
August 30, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/washington/30rumsfeld.html
Britain Charges 3 More Suspects With Plotting to Bomb Airplanes
By ALAN COWELL
August 30, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/world/europe/30britain.html
US accused of bid to oust Chávez with secret funds
Millions of dollars given to opposition, claim critics
Venezuelan groups' details hidden from list
Duncan Campbell
Wednesday August 30, 2006
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,1860867,00.html
Pat Rasmussen | Cascades' Reddened Forests Signal Threat to Humans
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082906EA.shtml
Engineers Race to Steal Nature's Secrets
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082906EB.shtml
Counties Eye Nuke Plants, Utilities Eye Government Handouts
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082906EC.shtml
California Assembly Approves Universal Health Care
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082906HA.shtml
Americans Without Health Benefits May Have Set Record in 2005
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082906HB.shtml
FOCUS | Gonzales Goes to Baghdad Selling "Rule of Law"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/083006Z.shtml
VIDEO | Katrina Survivors Visit Camp Casey
A Film by Geoffrey Millard and Scott Galindez
http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm
Blistering Drought Ravages Farmland on Plains
By MONICA DAVEY
MITCHELL, S.D. — With parts of South Dakota at its epicenter,
a severe drought has slowly sizzled a large swath of the Plains States,
leaving farmers and ranchers with conditions that they compare
to those of the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s.
August 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/us/29drought.html?ref=us
Details Emerge in British Terror Case
By DON VAN NATTA Jr., ELAINE SCIOLINO and STEPHEN GREY
[This article should be called, "UN-Details Emerge in British Terror
Case." Read it for yourself...bw]
August 28, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/world/europe/28plot.html
Iraqi Soldiers Refuse to Go to Baghdad, Defying Order
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 — A group of Iraqi soldiers recently refused
to go to Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, to help restore order there, a senior
American military officer said Monday.
August 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/world/middleeast/29military.html
Stocks Lower on Consumer Confidence Data
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street pulled back Tuesday after disappointing
consumer confidence numbers erased investors' optimism as oil
prices hovered at their lowest levels since April.
Filed at 1:13 p.m. ET
August 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Wall-Street.html
Sleek? Well, No. Complex? Yes, Indeed.
By ERICA GOODE
It is a good thing the manatee has thick skin.
August 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/science/29mana.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin
Lockheed Says F-35 Could Fly Pilotless
Pentagon Demand for Drones Grows
By Renae Merle, Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 16, 2006; Page D01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/15/AR2006081501288.html?referrer=emailarticle
Environmental Disaster Emerges in the Mediterranean
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0828-01.htm
California Senate Approves Hemp Farming
Hemp "bears no more resemblance to marijuana than a poodle bears to a
wolf," said Sen. Tom McClintock, a Republican. "You would die from smoke
inhalation before you would get high."
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732174.php
Soldiers' Families Question Rumsfeld on Deployment
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082706A.shtml
You wouldn’t catch me dead in Iraq
Scores of American troops are deserting — even from the front
line in Iraq. But where have they gone? And why isn’t the US Army
after them? Peter Laufer tracked down four of the deserters
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2099-2318643,00.html
Freedom in a Cage Consider the Uighurs
He compensates for lack of brain with compassion.
Consider Mr. Bush's treatment of the Uighurs.
By CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI
August 24, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/brauchli08242006.html
Sunni Arab Lawmaker, Freed by Captors in Iraq, Describes Her Ordeal
By DAMIEN CAVE and QAIS MIZHER
August 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/world/middleeast/27iraq.html?ref=world
Kidnapped Journalists Freed in Gaza Strip
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:44 a.m. ET
August 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Gaza-Journalists.html?hp&ex=1156737600&en=cc5d91ca4d840a97&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Whispers of Mergers Set Off Suspicious Trading
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
August 27, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/business/27deals.html?hp&ex=1156737600&en=9c5156d4bce3dcb9&ei=5094&partner=homepage
FOCUS | NATO Pilots Accused of Killing Afghan Children
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082606X.shtml
Norman Solomon | The Mythical End to the Politics of Fear
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082406A.shtml
CIA Veteran Offers Grim Assessment of "War on Terror"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082406B.shtml
Veteran Protests against Iraq War
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0822-01.htm
VIDEO | Dahr Jamail on Iraq and Lebanon
A Film by Geoffrey Millard and Sari Gelzer
http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm
VIDEO | Keith Olbermann: Terror and Politics in America
http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm
No Diplomacy: Bush Ensured Iran Offer Would Be Rejected
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0823-03.htm
Lebanon's Month-Old Oil Slick Blankets Mediterranean Floor
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0823-06.htm
Dirty Water Deals Cheat the Poor
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0823-02.htm
Number of U.S. Troops in Iraq Climbs
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0823-01.htm
Amnesty Urges UN to Probe Israel Strategy
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0823-04.htm
Environmental, Consumer Groups in U.S. Asks Judge
for Nationwide Suspension of Drug Crop Permits
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0823-09.htm
INTERVIEW: Chomsky on Lebanon and Iran (August 2006)
Written by Jim O. Madison
Thursday, 24 August 2006
In an interview posted Aug. 16 on the CounterPunch web site,
Noam Chomsky spoke extensively about Lebanon, but also
about Iran.[1] -- "[T]o the outside world," Chomky noted,
"it sounds a bit odd, to put it mildly, for the U.S. and Israel
to be warning of the 'Iranian threat' when they and they alone
are issuing threats to launch an attack, threats that are
immediate and credible, and in serious violation of
international law, and are preparing very openly for such
an attack. Whatever one thinks of Iran, no such charge
can be made in their case. It is also apparent to the world,
if not to the U.S. and Israel, that Iran has not invaded any
other countries, something that the U.S. and Israel have
done regularly." -- Asked about what will come next
in the Middle East, Chomsky replies: "I do not know
of anyone foolhardy enough to predict."
http://www.counterpunch.org/chomsky08162006.html
Africa Adds to Miserable Ranks of Child Workers
By MICHAEL WINES
August 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/africa/24zambia.html?ref=world
Afghanistan Descends Into Chaos Once Again
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082206A.shtml
Bush Fulfills Few Promises to Gulf Coast
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0821-06.htm
CIA's Secret UK Bank Trawl May Be Illegal
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0821-01.htm
Unexploded Cluster Bombs Prompt Fear and Fury in Returning Refugees
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0821-02.htm
New Orleans Summer 2006
http://www.peoplesorganizing.org/summer_volunteer.html
Behind Bush's Rhetoric on Iraq: · Democracy · Oil
August 21, 2006
http://www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=1339
Radioactive Leak Reaches Nuclear Plant's Groundwater
At San Onofre, the cancer-causing tritium isn't known to infect
drinking water, but experts are checking.
By Seema Mehta and Dave McKibben
Times Staff Writer
August 18, 2006
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-radioactive18aug18,0,3580491.story?track=mostviewed-sectionfront
Iraq war first hard look at women's level of combat post-traumatic
stress disorder
- Donna St. George, Washington Post
Sunday, August 20, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/20/MNGK9KLV8L1.DTL&feed=rss.news
Cannabis Cafes Get Nudge to Fringes of a Dutch City
By MARLISE SIMONS
August 20, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/europe/20dutch.html
Top Police Spar in London Over Muslims as ‘Victims’
Roughly 90 percent of the 30,000-plus Metropolitan Police force
is made up of white officers, but the number of nonwhite officers
in training is about 17 percent.
By ALAN COWELL
August 20, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/europe/20britain.html
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I know this if off topic but I'm looking into starting my own weblog and was curious what all is needed to get setup? I'm assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I'm not very internet smart so I'm not 100% certain. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Appreciate it
Here is my web page: memory stick psp
That's backed by 1 GB of memory accompanies 12 GB of available storage. The idea behind using laser to remove unwanted body hair, unlike waxing where the pain is to use" fly-ash," which fleshlight is used in offices, homes etc. Every time I hear about a Hollywood remake of one of the effects associated with the energy of Spirit or the Divine, God, etc. Older kids with later bedtimes may even be able to help restore certain types of corrupted and truncated files, but can he rollerblade or pull off Vibram shoes?
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