---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
STOP THE WAR IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN!
BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
END ALL U.S. AID TO ISRAEL!
U.S. OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST!
TAX THE RICH! FEED THE POOR! MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS, NOT WAR!
www.bauaw.org
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Massive March in Oaxaca
11/06 | Hundreds of thousands of people
filled the streets to demand Gov.'s ouster
By John Gibler
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/11/78891.html
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!VIVA FIDEL! LONG LIVE FIDEL! LONG LIVE THE CUBAN REVOLUTION!
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Brad Will Presente!
See what the world has lost:
"I Really Like the Cops" a song by Brad Will
http://www.friendsofbradwill.org/2006/10/28/i-really-like-the-cops-brad-will/
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SCROLL DOWN TO READ:
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
ARTICLES IN FULL
LINKS AND VERY SHORT STORIES
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EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
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The Middle East Children's Alliance, Speak Out,
Vanguard Public Foundation and KPFA 94.1FM present:
The Bay Area Premiere of Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's
VOICES OF A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
Thursday, November 9, 2006 - 7:30 pm
Berkeley Community Theatre, 1930 Allston Way
Voices of a People's History of the United States
Dramatic Readings Celebrating the Enduring Spirit of Dissent
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COUNTER RECRUITMENT TABLE IN STONESTOWN MALL
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
will be staffing a counter-recruitment table inside
Stonestown Mall during some peak shopping hours.
Our first days in Stonestown:
NOVEMBER 10 (Friday) 4-6pm
NOVEMBER 11 (Saturday) 1-4 pm
NOVEMBER 12 (Sunday) 1-4pm
Our table will be located on the second floor,
opposite the Food Court (near the Nokia display).
Aside from information brochures and leaflets, we'll have
various antiwar trinkets to give to interested shoppers --
with a special focus on youth targeted by recruiters.
So come by, pull up a chair, and help spread the word.
If our effort is successful, we'll continue throughout
the holiday season . . .
Please contact me directly re staffing the Stonestown table.
With sincere thanks for all your efforts
peace!
Peter
Peter Esmonde
AFSC Peace Education Volunteer
peter@esmonde.net
415.250.0533
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CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF CAROLINE LUND
Memorial Meeting for Caroline Lund
Saturday, November 11, 2:00 PM
Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland
Between Telegraph and Broadway
Wheelchair accessible from the entrance at 411 28th St.
Caroline fought for social justice for over forty years, in the socialist
movement, the labor movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement,
the women's movement, as a leader in the Socialist Workers Party,
fighting again the U.S. wars in the Middle East, publishing the rank
and file newsletter "Barking Dog" in the NUMMI auto plant where
she worked -- wherever people were struggling to better their
lives. She died of ALS on October 14.
Join with us to remember Caroline's life and work for social justice.
Speakers:
Malik Miah, editor, Against the Current
John Percy, Democratic Socialist Perspective, Australia
Open Mike
Claudette Begin, Chair
Messages from those unable to attend (which will be available
to be read at the meeting) should be sent to
Alex Chis
achis@igc.org
For more information, email Alex , or call at 510-489-8554.
There will also be a New York Area Memorial Meeting for Caroline
Saturday, November 18, 3:00 PM
Brecht Forum, 451 West St., New York
For more information on the NY meeting,
contact Gus Horowitz: 914-953-0212 or
ghorowitz@snet. net
Alex Chis & Claudette Begin
P.O. Box 2944
Fremont, CA 94536-0944
Phone: 510-489-8554
Email: achis@igc.org
[Caroline Lund, a long time socialist and union activist, died on
October 14, 2006 from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's
Disease. She was 62-years-old. Jennifer Biddle met Caroline in 1995
when they did solidarity work together in San Francisco for striking
Staley workers. They remained good friends and comrades since.]
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México Solidarity Committee Forum
Voices and Images of Resistance;
Organizing for Protest Action on
November 19 or 20 in Defense of
People of Oaxaca and
For Democracy in México
1:00 to 3:00 PM, Sunday
November 12, 2006
The Women's Building
3543 - 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
This meeting will be translated
into English and Spanish.
Program
Two short documentary films
(approximately 30 minutes total):
Oaxaca After the Military Occupation of October 29:
Images of Resistance and Struggle
Video clips compiled and edited by filmmaker Caitlin Manning
The National Democratic Convention
and the Mass Revolt Against the Electoral Fraud in México
A brief film by Caitlin Manning
Organizing Meeting for a November 19 or 20 Protest Action
with a few introductory remarks by
México Solidarity Committee members.
Bring your ideas about how best to organize
for November 19 or 20 in San Francisco.
For more information call 415-864-3537 or
email mexicosolidaritycommittee@yahoo.com
This message sent from the riseup.net
http://riseup.net listserv for the
México Solidarity Committee
San Francisco, California
This message sent from the riseup.net listserv for the
México Solidarity Committee
San Francisco, California
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JROTC IN SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS:
The issue of JROTC in S.F. public schools will be addressed
at the San Francisco Board of Education
Meeting:
Tuesday, November 14th, 7:00 P.M.
(This will be a big meeting. You should show up at 6:00 P.M.)
555 Franklin Street, 1st Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
To get on the speakers list for the Regular Board Meeting call:
415/241-6427
(Call on Monday, the day before the meeting from 8:30 A.M. until 4:00 P.M.
or Tuesday, the day of the meeting from 8:30 A.M. until 3:00 P.M.)
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Outreach Letter for November 14 Board of Education Meeting
Dear Friends:
The San Francisco Unified School District Board is considering
a resolution to phase out the Junior Reserves Officer Training
Corp (JROTC) program over the next year while creating
a community based task force to create a program that retains
many of its popular elements without a military overtone.
(It may be amended to include concern about militarization
of youth.) We are writing to ask your organization or you
to endorse this resolution, to notify the members of the
school board of your support and to come to the board
meeting and testify in favor of the resolution.
We believe that this measure makes sense for the City and
County of San Francisco. Voters voiced their opposition to
military recruiters in the schools by passing Measure I.
While JROTC officials claim that the program is designed
to promote citizenship, Rudy de Leon, Under Secretary of
Defense, testifying before the Military Personnel Subcommittee
House Comm. On Armed Services in March 2000 said, “about 25%
of the graduating high school seniors in School Year 1997 – 98 with
more than two years participation in the JROTC program are
interested in some type of military affiliation. Translating this
to hard recruiting numbers, in FYs 1996 – 10000, about 8,000
new recruits per year entered active duty after completing two
years of JROTC. The proportion of JROTC graduates who enter
the military following completion of high school is roughly
five times greater than the proportion of non-JROTC students.”
In enticing young people to join the military, recruiters make
many promises including specialized training and college.
However, according to their own written policies, a recruiter
has no power to force the military to honor his or her promises.
While many low-income youth and youth of color see the military
as a potential resource for the future, the studies show that
this is not case; fewer than 50% ever utilize the limited college
benefits for veterans.
Currently, the School Board resolution is focused on the
district’s own policy of not contracting with any entity that
discriminates. We know that the U.S. military overtly discriminates
against gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and trans-gendered people.
While the JROTC command indicates that they allow LGBT
students to participate and even assume leadership roles,
these students are denied the specific benefits of participating
in the JROTC program – namely, eligibility for military scholarships
at the academies enrollment in the military at a higher pay-grade
after two or more years of participation in the program and eligibility
for SROTC scholarships because openly LGBT people are not allowed
to serve in the military.
We urge you to support this campaign regardless of your personal
view of the military. In our democracy, the role of the military
is separate from the roles of civil society. The military’s role
is not to educate our children in the public schools. Our public
schools are designed to prepare our children for their roles
as valued members of our community, instilling values of
responsibility, respect, tolerance and leadership.
If you have questions please call us at 415-565-0201 extension
24 for Sandra, 11 for Alan Lessik, and 12 for Stephen McNeil.
Sincerely yours,
Alan Lessik, Regional Director; Stephen McNeil, Peace Education Director;
Sandra Schwartz, Peace Ed. Coordinator; Tony Nguyen, Asian Pacific Director
State ranks second in Army recruits
By Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Californians comprised about 10 percent of the Army's new
soldiers this year, second only to Texas in providing new recruits,
according to newly released figures.
October 16, 2006
http://www.sgvtribu ne.com/news/ ci_4485649
Here are some links to JROTC facts:
Review of the JROTC Curriculum
http://www.afsc. org/youthmil/ militarism- in-schools/ JROTC-review. htm
Making Soldiers - PDF
http://www.afsc. org/youthmil/ militarism- in-schools/ msitps.pdf
Report Says JROTC Benefits Students; Calls for More Funding for Programs
By Julie Blair
September 29, 1999
http://www.jrotc.org/jrotc_benifits.htm
JROTC is a Recruiting Program for Dead-End Military Jobs
http://www.objector.org/jrotc/jrotcrecruits.html
Why Question the Military's JROTC Program?
http://www.objector.org/jrotc/why.html
JROTC Challenging Progressive Ideals of Youth Voice
by Peter Lauterborn, 2006-10-25
http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/JROTC_Challenging_Progressive_Ideals_of_Youth_Voice_3830.html
San Francisco progressives are ablaze with optimism that one
of the most institutionalized sources of militarization—the JROTC
—is now on the verge of being cut out of the City’s public schools.
Students who support the program, however, are feeling betrayed
by the school district and by progressives who had previously
touted the significance of youth voice in all policy making.
The crux of the issues is that the San Francisco Unified
School District (SFUSD) does not offer enough leadership
programs of its own, and does not sufficiently recruit students
to join. This leaves the JROTC as the sole option for youth who
are looking for leadership, self-sufficiency, and better education.
JROTC is a national program run by all branches of the United
States military. Started in 1916 in the mists of World War I,
the program aims at providing leadership opportunities
to high school students while promoting good citizenship
and academic achievement. Students who enroll in JROTC—
which is offered as an elective course—can use the credit
to fulfill physical education requirements and have access
to activities such as camping and social events. The program
also offers a curriculum which covers history, health, civics,
college preparation, and more. These offers are all good
components of a rounded education which we should
be providing
But below the surface of a challenging and fulfilling extra
curricular program, the clear purpose of JROTC is to identify
and recruit students who could serve in the United State
military. Perhaps people forget what JROTC stands for:
Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Right there,
in its name, the purpose of the program is defined.
And in a city which successfully fought the docking
of the USS Iowa battleship at its shore, and formalized
its opposition to the Iraq War at the ballot box, subjecting
high school students to militarization is seen
as a dangerous path to follow.
The resolution, which is to be voted on by the School Board
after the November election, calls for a two-year phase out
of JROTC. A program which would emulate the positive
opportunities offered by the JROTC would then
be designed and implemented.
Contrary to popular belief, the costs of running the JROTC
are not split evenly between the SFUSD and the Federal
Government. According to the SFUSD’s budget analysis,
the District is only reimbursed for 43% of the costs,
of which most is dedicated to salaries. The budget
analysis also concluded that there would be no significant
cost in replacing JROTC with conventional physical
education courses, barring any facility inadequacies.
Proponents of the JROTC phase-out also point to the
military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy towards the
inclusion of gays and lesbians into the armed forces.
They claim that this conflicts with the SFUSD’s policy
to not contract with any agency which discriminates
in any way.
However, student leaders—particularly the SFUSD’s
Student Advisory Council (SAC)—are up in arms over
both the proposed closure and the perception that the
District is not concerned with the will of the students
it serves. “There shouldn’t be a discussion on whether
or not it should stay,” says SAC President and Mission
High senior Alvin Rivera, “The students have voiced
that they wish for it to stay.” The SAC has opposed
any closure of the JROTC program for three years,
and will be discussing the issue at their October 23
meeting. “It serves as a functioning body for the
schools well-being,” he added.
Student support for JRTOC seems to not stem from
the military aspect of the program. Rather, they are
appreciative of being reached out to and brought
into a program which has improved the lives
of many students. While the SFUSD and the City
offer a wide array of programs for students, their
recruiting efforts come nowhere close to the
aggressive recruitment conducted by the military.
A recent graduate of Balboa High School—who
asked not to be named and is personally opposed
to the JROTC—said that many students are indifferent
to the details of the JRTOC, but see the program’s
closure as yet another item within a growing list
of opportunities that are taken away, without their
input and without any replacement.
The fears students have over the loss of the JROTC
program may lie within the belief in the competency
of the SFUSD to sufficiently replace the program.
The SFUSD’s inability to create effective community-
based programs in the past is embarrassing,
and the public has good reason to suspect future
promises.
The SFUSD has not been deaf to the concerns of
students, however. The call for a two-year phase-
out rather than an immediate canceling of the program
would allow most of this year’s sophomores, juniors,
and seniors to complete the program. While the
current and future freshmen classes would not be
allowed into the program—enrollment will be whittled
down each year with no new students being allowed
to enter the program—they all have ample
opportunities to find other programs.
Of course, for this all to work, the SFUSD and the
City must make significant efforts to bring their
programs to the students, rather than expecting
students to go hunt down different programs
themselves.
A major concern is that students who participate
in the JROTC program are not hit hard with the military
recruitment aspect until late in their senior year—right
when questions about paying for college are bubbling
up. What this creates is a disconnect between students
and adults: adults know about the end goals of the JROTC,
and yet students who are in the program don’t see the
recruitment, and then feel marginalized by adults when
recruitment is discussed.
The SFUSD must address the root cause of support for
the JROTC: a lack of other programs that engage youth.
New programs should not just be more physical education
courses, but with a program includes leadership
development, self-sufficiency, and better education.
And without the militaristic mindset of the JROTC.
ACCREDITED
Army Junior ROTC Program
Mission Statement:
https://gateway.usarmyjrotc.com/http://portal.usarmyjrotc.com/jrotc/dt
To Motivate Young People to Be Better Citizens
The JROTC program intends to teach cadets to:
Appreciate the ethical values and principles that
underlie good citizenship.
Develop leadership potential, while living
and working cooperatively with others.
Be able to think logically and to communicate
effectively with others, both orally and in writing.
Appreciate the importance of physical fitness
in maintaining good health.
Understand the importance of high school graduation
for a successful future, and learn about college
and other advanced educations and employment
opportunities.
Develop mental management abilities.
Become familiar with military history as it relates to America's
culture, and understand the history, purpose, and structure
of the military services.
Develop the skills necessary to work effectively as a member of a team.
Candidates sound off on JROTC
Board of Education race
by Roger Brigham
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=1220
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Support Korean General Strike with Solidarity Action at Korean
Consulate in SF
November 15, 2006 @ 12:00 Noon
3500 Clay St/Laurel St.
San Francisco
- Free Jailed Trade Unionists and Drop Criminal Charges Against Union
Leaders and Activists
- Eliminate Repressive Anti-Labor Legislation "9-11 Deal"
- Stop Gender Discrimination Against Korean Women Workers
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) will launch a General
Strike on November 15. In conjunction with this strike, the KCTU is
calling on the international community to coordinate a series of
actions and events to support their struggle.
Korean workers are fighting against massive repression and jailing of
trade unionists. The government is seeking to destroy the Korean
Government Employees Union (KGEU) and the Korean Federation of
Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU). There will be actions
worldwide to demand justice for Korean workers.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Support the solidarity picket and rally at the Korean Consulate in
San Francisco on November 15, 2006 at 12:00 noon. Get your local or
organization to send a representative.
Send a protest letter to President Roh Moo Hyun at the Blue House:
82-2-770-1690 (Fax) or e-mail at president [at] cwd.go.kr Copies
should be sent to the Minister of Labour, Minister Lee Sang-Soo at
82-2-504-6708, 82-2-507-4755 (Fax) or e-mail at m_molab [at]
molab.go.kr. And sent to the Minister of General Administration and
Home Affairs, Minister Lee Yong-Sup at 82-2-2100-4001(Fax)
Please send copies to the KCTU at 82-2-2635-1134(Fax) or e-mail at
inter [at] kctu.org
If you have any questions or need more information, please contact:
Lee Changgeun
International Director
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
Tel.: +82-2-2670-9234 Fax: +82-2-2635-1134
E-mail: inter [at] kctu.org
Web-site : http://kctu.org
2nd Fl. Daeyoung Bld., 139 Youngdeungpo-2-ga,
Youngdeungpo-ku,
Seoul 150-032 Korea
Endorsed by San Francisco Labor Council, Transport Workers Solidarity
Committee, Labor Video Project, Open World Conference, and others.
For More information and to Endorse call (415) 867-0628 or email
lvpsf [at] labornet.org
OWC - Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union
Independence & Democratic Rights, c/o S.F. Labor Council,
1188 Franklin St., #203, San Francisco, CA 94109.
Phone: (415) 641-8616 Fax: (415) 440-9297.
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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.
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ANTI-CORPORATION FILM FESTIVAL!
December 1 thru 3, 2006 (Friday thru Sunday!)
Victoria Theatre, Mission District
2961 16th St @ Mission St (across from the BART station)
** GREAT FILMS ** ACTIVISM ** SPEAKERS ** PARTIES ** DISCUSSION **
$5 per film or $40 all weekend pass - Students and activists
$10 per film or $75 all weekend pass - General admission
Your ticket price is a donation to cover our costs.
Films such as Century of the Self and The Corporation will
be shown, complemented by new cutting-edge films about
corporate power such as The Forest for the Trees, a documentary
about the legal case of Judy Bari made by the daughter of Bari's
attorney. The final program will be announced in November.
Speakers on Saturday night will begin at 7:00 pm and offer
further insight into the films, corporations, and the structure
of our economy as a whole. In addition, there will be a festival
after-party on the evening of Sunday, December 3 with
refreshments and entertainment.
CounterCorp is an anti-corporate nonprofit organization
accepting no corporate donations. All of your donations
go to exposing the truth about corporations and finding
Alternatives to corporate ownership of our communities.
If you would like to support us, please visit
www.countercorp.org/countercorp-support.htm
and click on "Donate Now." Every little bit helps. Thank you!
Built in 1908 as a vaudeville house, the 500-seat Victoria
Theatre is the oldest theater currently operation in San Francisco.
We thought this would be a perfect setting to begin to dream
beyond the memes of timed obsolescence and creative destruction
that corporations have injected into our societies, to a time before
the corporate agenda prevailed above all else. For directions
and info, please visit www.victoriatheatre.org.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Volunteering both before and/or during
the festival will earn you a FREE PASS to all films and parties!
Please contact volunteers@countercorp.org!
www.countercorp.org -for more info!
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Drums Across America for Peace
December 16, 2006 simultaneously across
the country at 11:00 to 11:30 A.M. PST
For More Information contact:
Marilyn Sjaastad
541-344-8088
Jade Screen Clinic
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MARCH 17, 2007 GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION ON THE 4TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE WAR!
DEMONSTRATIONS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.; LOS ANGELES;
SAN FRANCISCO; SEATTLE; CHICAGO AND OTHER CITIES AND
TOWNS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD. THE
A.N.S.W.E.R. COALITION URGES EVERYONE IN THE ANTIWAR
MOVEMENT TO COME TOGETHER IN UNITY AGAINST THE
CRIMINAL ACTIONS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
http://www.pephost. org/site/ PageServer? pagename= ANS_homepage
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May Day 2007
National Mobilization to Support Immigrant Workers!
Web: http://www.MayDay2007.net
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
e-mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
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GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
TAX FACT SHEET
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/901006_taxpolicy.pdf
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A Look at the Numbers: How the Rich Get Richer
Clara Jeffery (May/June 2006 Issue
IN 1985, THE FORBES 400 were worth $221 billion combined.
Today, they re worth $1.13 trillion more than the GDP of Canada.
THERE'VE BEEN FEW new additions to the Forbes 400.
The median household income
has also stagnated at around $44,000.
AMONG THE FORBES 400 who gave to a 2004 presidential
campaign, 72% gave to Bush.
IN 2005, there were 9 million American millionaires,
a 62% increase since 2002.
IN 2005, 25.7 million Americans received food stamps,
a 49% increase since 2000.
ONLY ESTATES worth more than $1.5 million are taxed.
That's less than 1% of all estates
http://www.motherjones.com/cgi-bin/print_article.pl?url=http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2006/05/perks_of_privilege.html
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Do You Want to Stop PREVENT War with Iran?
Dear Friend,
Every day, pundits and military experts debate on TV when, how and where
war with Iran will occur. Can the nuclear program be destroyed? Will the
Iranian government retaliate in Iraq or use the oil weapon? Will it take
three or five days of bombing? Will the US bomb Iran with "tactical"
nuclear weapons?
Few discuss the human suffering that yet another war in the Middle East
will bring about. Few discuss the thousands and thousands of innocent
Iranian and American lives that will be lost. Few think ahead and ask
themselves what war will do to the cause of democracy in Iran or to
America's global standing.
Some dismiss the entire discussion and choose to believe that war simply
cannot happen. The US is overstretched, the task is too difficult, and
the world is against it, they say.
They are probably right, but these factors don't make war unlikely. They
just make a successful war unlikely.
At the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), we are not going to
wait and see what happens.
We are actively working to stop the war and we need your help!
Working with a coalition of peace and security organizations in
Washington DC, NIAC is adding a crucial dimension to this debate - the
voice of the Iranian-American community.
Through our US-Iran Media Resource Program
http://niacouncil.c.topica.com/maafjioabumkFbIfQs8eafpLV5/
http://niacouncil.c.topica.com/maafjioabumkFbIfQs8eafpLV5/ , we help
the media ask the right questions and bring attention to the human side
of this issue.
Through the LegWatch program
http://niacouncil.c.topica.com/maafjioabummRbIfQs8eafpLV5/
http://niacouncil.c.topica.com/maafjioabummRbIfQs8eafpLV5/ ,
we are building opposition to the war on Capitol Hill. We spell out the likely
consequences of war and the concerns of the Iranian-American community
on Hill panels
http://niacouncil.c.topica.com/maafjioabumkGbIfQs8eafpLV5/
http://niacouncil.c.topica.com/maafjioabumkGbIfQs8eafpLV5/
and in direct meetings with lawmakers. We recently helped more than a dozen
Members of Congress - both Republican and Democrats - send a strong
message against war to the White House
http://niacouncil.c.topica.com/maafjioabumkHbIfQs8eafpLV5/
http://niacouncil.c.topica.com/maafjioabumkHbIfQs8eafpLV5/
But more is needed, and we need your help!
If you don't wish to see Iran turn into yet another Iraq, please make a
contribution online or send in a check to:
NIAC
2801 M St NW
Washington DC 20007
Make the check out to NIAC and mark it "NO WAR."
ALL donations are welcome, both big and small. And just so you know,
your donations make a huge difference. Before you leave the office
today, please make a contribution to stop the war.
Sincerely,
Trita Parsi
President of NIAC
U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW)
www.uslaboragainstwar.org
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/
Email: info@uslaboragainstwar.org
PMB 153
1718 "M" Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Voicemail: 202/521-5265
Co-convenors: Gene Bruskin, Maria Guillen, Fred Mason,
Bob Muehlenkamp, and Nancy Wohlforth
Michael Eisenscher, National Organizer & Website Coordinator
Virginia Rodino, Organizer
Adrienne Nicosia, Administrative Staff
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Enforce the Roadless Rule for National Forests
Target: Michael Johanns, Secretary, USDA
Sponsor: Earthjustice
We, the Undersigned, endorse the following petition:
This past September, Earthjustice scored a huge victory for our roadless
national forests when a federal district court ordered the reinstatement
of the Roadless Rule.
The Roadless Rule protects roadless forest areas from road-building
and most logging. This is bad news for the timber, mining, and oil
& gas industries ... And so they're putting pressure on their friends
in the Bush Administration to challenge the victory.
Roadless area logging tends to target irreplaceable old growth forests.
Many of these majestic trees have stood for hundreds of years.
By targeting old-growth, the timber companies are destroying
natural treasures that cannot be replaced in our lifetime.
The future of nearly 50 million acres of wild, national forests
and grasslands hangs in the balance. Tell the secretary of the
USDA, Michael Johanns, to protect our roadless areas by enforcing
the Roadless Rule. The minute a road is cut through a forest, that
forest is precluded from being considered a "wilderness area," and
thus will not be covered by any of the Wilderness Area protections
afforded by Congress.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/112283692?z00m=6687205&z00m=6687205<l=1162406255
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Mumia Abu-Jamal - Reply brief, U.S. Court of Appeals (Please Circulate)
Dear Friends:
On October 23, 2006, the Fourth-Step Reply Brief of Appellee and
Cross-Appellant, Mumia Abu-Jamal was submitted to the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia. (Abu-Jamal v. Horn,
U.S. Ct. of Appeals Nos. 01-9014, 02-9001.)
Oral argument will likely be scheduled during the coming months.
I will advise when a hearing date is set.
The attached brief is of enormous consequence since it goes
to the essence of our client's right to a fair trial, due process
of law, and equal protection of the law, guaranteed by the Fifth,
Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The issues include:
Whether Mr. Abu-Jamal was denied the right to due process
of law and a fair trial because of the prosecutor’s “appeal-after
-appeal” argument which encouraged the jury to disregard the
presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt, and err
on the side of guilt.
Whether the prosecution’s exclusion of African Americans
from sitting on the jury violated Mr. Abu-Jamal’s right
to due process and equal protection of the law,
in contravention of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986).
Whether Mr. Abu-Jamal was denied due process and equal
protection of the law during a post-conviction hearing
because of the bias and racism of Judge Albert F. Sabo,
who was overheard during the trial commenting that
he was “going to help'em fry the nigger."
That the federal court is hearing issues which concern
Mr. Abu-Jamal's right to a fair trial is a great milestone
in this struggle for human rights. This is the first time
that any court has made a ruling in nearly a quarter
of a century that could lead to a new trial and freedom.
Nevertheless, our client remains on Pennsylvania's death
row and in great danger.
Mr. Abu-Jamal, the "voice of the voiceless," is a powerful
symbol in the international campaign against the death
penalty and for political prisoners everywhere. The goal
of Professor Judith L. Ritter, associate counsel, and
I is to see that the many wrongs which have occurred
in this case are righted, and that at the conclusion
of a new trial our client is freed.
Your concern is appreciated
With best wishes,
Robert R. Bryan
Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
2088 Union Street, Suite 4
San Francisco, California 94123
Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *---------*---------*
Antiwar Web Site Created by Troops
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A small group of active-duty military members opposed to the war
have created a Web site intended to collect thousands of signatures
of other service members. People can submit their name, rank and
duty station if they support statements denouncing the American
invasion. “Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price,”
the Web site, appealforredress.org, says. “It is time for U.S. troops
to come home.” The electronic grievances will be passed along
to members of Congress, according to the Web site. Jonathan
Hutto, a Navy seaman based in Norfolk, Va., who set up the Web
site a month ago, said the group had collected 118 names and
was trying to verify that they were legitimate service members.
October 25, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/washington/25brfs-005.html
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Judge Orders Release of Abu Ghraib Child Rape Photos
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2006-10-23 20:54. Evidence
By Greg Mitchell, http://www.editorandpublisher.com
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/14864
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Profound new assault on freedom of speech and assembly:
Manhattan: New Rules for Parade Permits
By AL BAKER
After recent court rulings found the Police Department's
parade regulations too vague, the department is moving
to require parade permits for groups of 10 or more
bicyclists or pedestrians who plan to travel more than
two city blocks without complying with traffic laws.
It is also pushing to require permits for groups of 30
or more bicyclists or pedestrians who obey traffic laws.
The new rules are expected to be unveiled in a public
notice today. The department will discuss them at
a hearing on Nov. 27. Norman Siegel, a lawyer whose
clients include bicyclists, said the new rules
"raise serious civil liberties issues."
October 18, 2006
http://www.nytimes. com/2006/ 10/18/nyregion/ 18mbrfs-002. html
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Soul-Sick Nation: An Astrologer's View of America
Jessica Murray
Format: Paperback (6x9)
ISBN 1425971253
Price: $ 13.95
About the Book
Astrology and geopolitics may seem strange bedfellows, but
Soul-Sick Nation puts the two together to provide a perspective
as extraordinary as the times we are living in. Using the principles
of ancient wisdom to make sense of the current global situation,
this book invites us to look at the USA from the biggest possible
picture: that of cosmic meaning. With a rare blend of compassion,
humor and fearless taboo-busting, Soul-Sick Nation reveals
America's noble potential without sentiment and diagnoses
its neuroses without delusion, shedding new light on troubling
issues that the pundits and culture wars inflame but leave
painfully unresolved: the WTC bombings, the war in Iraq,
Islamic jihad, media propaganda, consumerism and the
American Dream.
In her interpretation of the birth chart of the entity born
July 4, 1776, Murray offers an in-depth analysis of America's
essential destiny--uncovering , chapter by chapter, the greater
purpose motivating this group soul. She shows how this
purpose has been distorted, and how it can be re-embraced
in the decades to come. She decodes current astrological
transits that express the key themes the USA must learn
in this period of millennial crisis—including that of the
responsibility of power—spelling out the profound lessons
the nation will face in the next few years.
Combining the rigor of a political theorist with the vision
of a master astrologer, this keenly intelligent book elucidates
the meaning of an epoch in distress, and proposes a path
towards healing—of the country and of its individual citizens.
Murray explains how each of us can come to terms with this
moment in history and arrive at a response that is unique
and creative. This book will leave you revitalized, shorn
of illusions and full of hope.
About the Author
"Jessica Murray's Soul-Sick Nation raises the symbol-system
of astrology to the level of a finely-honed tool for the critical
work of social insight and commentary. Her unflinching,
in-depth analysis answers a crying need of our time. Murray's
application of laser beam-lucid common sense analysis
to the mire of illusions we've sunken into as a nation is
a courageous step in the right direction... Just breathtaking! "
--Raye Robertson, author of Culture, Media and the Collective Mind
" Jessica Murray,..a choice-centered, psychospiritually- oriented
astrologer.. . has quietly made a real difference in the lives of her
clients, one at a time. In "Soul Sick Nation," she applies exactly those
same skills to understanding America as a whole. Starting from
the premise that the United States is currently a troubled adolescent,
she applies an unflinching gaze to reach an ultimately compassionate
conclusion about how we can heal ourselves and grow up."
- Steven Forrest, author of The Inner Sky and The Changing Sky
http://www.authorho use.com/BookStor e/ItemDetail~ bookid~41780. aspx
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Shop for a Donation at Al-Awda!
Interested in furthering your knowledge about Palestine
and its people?
Want to help make the Palestinian Right to Return a reality?
Looking for ways to show your support for Palestine and
Palestinian refugees?
Why not shop for a donation at Al-Awda
http://al-awda. org/shop. html
and help support a great organization and cause!!
Al-Awda offers a variety of educational materials including interesting
and unique books on everything from oral histories, photo books
on Palestinian refugees, to autobiographies, narratives, political
analysis, and culture. We also have historical maps of Palestine
(in Arabic and English), educational films, flags of various sizes,
and colorful greeting cards created by Palestinian children.
You can also show your support for a Free Palestine, and wear with
pride, great looking T-shirts, pendants, and a variety of Palestine pins.
Shop for a Donation at Al-Awda!
Visit http://al-awda. org/shop. html for these great items, and more!
The Educational Supplies Division
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail: info@al-awda. org
WWW: http://al-awda. org
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC), is a broad-
based, non-partisan, democratic, and charitable organization of
grassroots activists and students committed to comprehensive public
education about the rights of all Palestinian refugees to return to their
homes and lands of origin, and to full restitution for all their confiscated
and destroyed property in accordance with the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, International law and the numerous United Nations
Resolutions upholding such rights (see FactSheet). Al-Awda, PRRC
is a not for profit tax-exempt educational and charitable 501(c)(3)
organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the
United States of America. Under IRS guidelines, your donations
to Al-Awda, PRRC are tax-deductible.
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Before You Enlist
Excellent flash film that should be shown to all students.
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=ZFsaGv6cefw
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
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
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
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://againstthecr imeofsilence. 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.laboractionmumi a.org.
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
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.thepetit ionsite.com/ takeaction/ 664280276?
z00m=99090&z00m= 99090<l= 1155834550
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
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/ idrissstelleyfou ndation/
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/isf23/
Report Police Brutality
24HR Bilingual hotline
(415) 595-8251
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/Justice4As a/
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Appeal for funds:
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
Visit the Dahr Jamail Iraq website http://dahrjamailir aq.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.
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
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.theheadl ines.org
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Oklahoma U's First African-American Speaker
Dear Representative Johnson:
Congratulations on your bill for creating an
African-American Centennial Plaza near the
Capitol.
I have a suggestion for including an important
moment in Oklahoma African-American
history in the displays.
The first African-American speaker at the
University of Oklahoma was Paul Boutelle,
in 1967.
He is still alive but has changed his name
to Kwame Somburu. I believe it would be
very appropriate also to invite Mr. Somburu
to attend the dedication ceremony for
this plaza. I correspond with him by email.
Here is a 1967 Sooner magazine article about his appearance:
http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/sooner/articles/p25-27_1967v40n2_OCR.pdf
Sincerely,
Mike Wright
Norman
329-6688
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Interesting web site with many flash films. The site is managed
by veteran James Starowicz, USN '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In-Country
'70-'71 Member: Veterans For Peace as well as other Veterans
and Pro-Peace Groups. Also Activist in other Area's, Questioning
Policies that only Benefit the Few, supporting Policies that Benefit
the Many and Move Us Forward as a Better Nation and World!
Politics: Registered Independent
http://imagineaworldof.blogspot.com/
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
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://takingaim. info/hhz/ index.htm
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
JOIN THE LYNNE STEWAR DEFENSE - THE CASE IS NOT OVER!
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.freethef ive.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.indymedi a.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.iraqbody count.net/ press/pr13. php
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
The Cost of War
[Over three-hundred- billion so far...bw]
http://nationalprio rities.org/ index.php? optionfiltered=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.shutitdo wn.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.ANSWERco alition.org http://www.actionsf .org
sf@internationalans wer.org
2489 Mission St. Rm. 24
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Great Counter-Recruitment Website
http://notyoursoldi er.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.10reason sbook.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.usconsti tution.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) Army Recruiters Accused of Misleading
Students to Get Them to Enlist
Colonel Says Incidents Are the Exception, Not the Rule
November 3, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2626032&page=1
2) Detainees’ Access to Lawyers Is Security Risk, C.I.A. Says
By SCOTT SHANE
November 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/us/05cia.html
3) Many Oppose Death Penalty for Hussein
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
November 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/world/middleeast/07saddam.html
4) Appeals Court Weighs Prisoners’ Right to Fight Detention
By NEIL A. LEWIS
November 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/washington/07habeas.html?ref=us
5) Big Bonuses Seen Again for Wall St.
By JENNY ANDERSON
On Wall Street, the rich keep getting richer.
November 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/business/07wall.html?ref=business
6) Northern Gaza Hospital Diary
Report by Dr. Mona Elfarra
Published: 07/11/06
Sunday 5 Nov
Stories from Beit Hanoun
Monday 8am
7) A Look at the Numbers: How the Rich Get Richer
How the rich get richer.
Clara Jeffery
May/June 2006 Issue
http://www.motherjones.com/cgi-bin/print_article.pl?url=http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2006/05/perks_of_privilege.html
8) Video, Oaxaca- A Victory in The Streets- 11/2/06
From: Anna Kunkin
anna1baila@yahoo.com
Sent: Nov 6, 2006 12:05 AM
[Incredibly powerful video...bw]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf6H_sxCx3k
9) Saddam Verdict Could Tear Iraqis Apart
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
10) IOF Kill a Palestinian Child and Injure 7 Others, including
a Girl, in a Failed Extra-judicial Execution Attempt
Ref: 116/2006
Date: 06 November 2006
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2006/123-2006.htm
11) Board has plan to oust ROTC from S.F. schools
Members want to cut program over 'Don't ask, Don't tell'
- Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/23/MNGIOJ0G7P1.DTL
Plus: Letter to the Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle in response from:
Dan Kelly, M.D., San Francisco Board of Education
Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War, www.bauaw.org
12) Cuban gay soap cracks a legacy of hate
The huge success of a gay soap opera suggests
Cuban society has begun to accept homosexuality.
BY MIAMI HERALD STAFF
cuba@MiamiHerald.com
MIAMI HERALD
Posted on Mon, Nov. 06, 2006
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/americas/15939853.htm
13) Protecting Neither Facilities nor People
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily
*BAGHDAD, Nov 7 (IPS) - The Facilities Protection Service (FPS) created
after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has become the principal set of death
squads in Iraq, senior leaders say.*
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
14) JROTC off Our Campuses!
Eric Blanc, a recent graduate from Lowell High, writes about
the current struggle to kick out JROTC from San Francisco schools.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Army Recruiters Accused of Misleading
Students to Get Them to Enlist
Colonel Says Incidents Are the Exception, Not the Rule
November 3, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2626032&page=1
Nov. 3, 2006 — - An ABC News undercover investigation showed
Army recruiters telling students that the war in Iraq was over,
in an effort to get them to enlist.
ABC News and New York affiliate WABC equipped students with
hidden video cameras before they visited 10 Army recruitment
offices in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
"Nobody is going over to Iraq anymore?" one student asks
a recruiter.
"No, we're bringing people back," he replies.
"We're not at war. War ended a long time ago," another
recruiter says.
Last year, the Army suspended recruiting nationwide to
retrain recruiters following hundreds of allegations
of improprieties.
One Colorado student taped a recruiting session posing
as a drug-addicted dropout.
"You mean I'm not going to get in trouble?" the student asked.
The recruiters told him no, and helped him cheat to sign up.
During the ABC News sessions, some recruiters told our students
if they enlisted, there would be little chance they'd to go Iraq.
But Col. Robert Manning, who is in charge of U.S. Army
recruiting for the entire Northeast, said that new recruits
were likely to go to Iraq.
"I would not disagree with that," Manning said. "We are
a nation and Army at war still."
Manning looked at the ABC News video of his recruiters.
"It's hard to believe some of things they are telling prospective
applicants," Manning said. "I still believe that this is the exception
more than the norm. … I've visited many stations myself, and
I know that we have many wonderful Americans serving in uniform
as recruiters."
Yet ABC News found one recruiter who even claimed if you
didn't like the Army, you could just quit.
"It's called a 'Failure to Adapt' discharge," the recruiter said.
"It's an entry-level discharge so it won't affect anything on
your record. It'll just be like it never happened."
Manning, however, disagrees with the ease the recruiter
describes.
"I would believe it's not as easy as he would lead you
to believe it is," he said.
Sue Niederer, whose son, Seth, joined the Army in 2002,
said she was all too familiar with recruiters' lies.
"They need to do anything they possibly can to get
recruits," Niederer said.
Seth was sent to Iraq and was killed by a roadside bomb.
Niederer said she was not surprised by what ABC News
had found. She believes it's still a widespread problem.
She said that recruiters told Seth he wouldn't be put into combat.
"Ninety percent [are] going to be putting their lives on the line
for our country," she said. "Tell them the truth. That's all.
Just tell them the truth."
Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) Detainees’ Access to Lawyers Is Security Risk, C.I.A. Says
By SCOTT SHANE
November 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/us/05cia.html
The Central Intelligence Agency and the Justice Department have
told a federal court that permitting lawyers access to high-level
Qaeda suspects without tighter secrecy procedures could damage
national security by revealing harsh “alternative interrogation
methods” used in secret C.I.A. prisons overseas.
But lawyers for the suspects say the government’s insistence
on secrecy is an effort to “conceal illegal conduct,” including
the torture of the 14 accused Qaeda suspects who were moved
from C.I.A. custody to the military’s detention camp at Guantánamo
Bay, Cuba, in September.
The legal battle is taking shape in the case of a legal petition
filed in United States District Court in Washington on behalf
of Majid Khan, a 26-year-old Pakistani man who spent five
years living in the United States. Intelligence officials have
accused Mr. Khan of working with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,
the chief planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,
to research how to blow up gasoline stations and poison
reservoirs in the United States. Mr. Khan’s lawyers and family
deny the accusations and assert that if he confessed to such
crimes, he did so falsely under harsh interrogation tactics
that amounted to torture.
The dispute underscores the complications of the Bush administration’s
decision two months ago to acknowledge that the 14 terrorism
suspects were held in secret for years.
Mr. Khan’s petition may also test a provision of the Military
Commissions Act, signed by President Bush last month, which
bars accused “enemy combatants” like Mr. Khan from challenging
their imprisonment using habeas corpus petitions filed in United
States courts.
Kathleen Blomquist, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said
procedures currently in effect at Guantánamo were adequate only
for handling information classified as secret, while information
regarding the former C.I.A. detainees was classified as top secret.
“Nobody is trying to keep Khan from speaking with his attorney,”
Ms. Blomquist said. “Rather, the government is asking that the
protective order governing the information the detainee shares
with his counsel be appropriately tailored to accommodate
a higher security level.”
But officials acknowledge that devising new procedures with
tighter secrecy is likely to take months. Mr. Khan’s attorney,
Gitanjali S. Gutierrez of the Center for Constitutional Rights,
a New York-based advocacy group that represents many
Guantánamo prisoners, said in court papers filed Friday that
existing rules were adequate to handle top secret information
and that the government’s real motive was to cover up its
“embarrassing and illegal” treatment of detainees like Mr. Khan.
“The government should not be allowed to torture someone
and use that as a justification to keep that information from the
American public,” Ms. Gutierrez said in a telephone interview
yesterday.
Ms. Gutierrez, who has traveled 10 times to Guantánamo since
2003 to visit clients, said that before filing the petition she
consulted Majid Khan’s wife, Rabia Khan, who lives in Pakistan.
She said she had no direct evidence of the interrogation procedures
used on Mr. Khan, but some suspected terrorists have been subjected
to prolonged sleep deprivation, exposure to cold and a technique that
simulates drowning.
The Justice Department and C.I.A. raised their objections in documents
filed Oct. 26 with Judge Reggie B. Walton. The court filings were first
reported by The Washington Post on its Web site on Friday night.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Many Oppose Death Penalty for Hussein
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
November 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/world/middleeast/07saddam.html
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 6 — European politicians
on Monday spoke out against the death sentence for Saddam
Hussein. Arab officials and commentators derided what they
said was a flawed and politicized trial, while for the first time
broadly acknowledging Mr. Hussein’s crimes.
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, speaking to reporters
on Monday, said he opposed the death penalty for Mr. Hussein,
joining several other European leaders and European Union
officials who announced their opposition to the sentence.
When pressed by reporters, Mr. Blair spoke of his longstanding
opposition to capital punishment. He said he did not intend
to protest the sentence, and condemned Mr. Hussein’s brutality.
European leaders insisted that the viciousness of the actions
of which Mr. Hussein was found guilty had not changed their
view that state-sponsored killing was wrong. Some warned
that executing Mr. Hussein would only worsen the sectarian
bloodshed in Iraq.
The Associated Press quoted Terry Davis, secretary general
of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, as saying:
“A country ravaged by violence and death does not need more
violence, and especially not a state-orchestrated execution.
Saddam Hussein is a criminal and should not be allowed
to become a martyr.”
Amnesty International said Sunday that it “deplored” Mr. Hussein’s
sentence, describing the proceedings as “deeply flawed and unfair.”
In the Arab world, many dismissed the verdict as a product
of an unfair trial, decrying the lack of control of the proceedings
by the judges, the seeming contradictions in procedures
and the generally politicized nature of the proceedings.
Most of those who commented on the subject said the
decision to impose the death penalty would not stem
the wave of violence gripping Iraq.
“You’ll hear a lot of moderates say it’s great Saddam got
what he deserves, but unfortunately it was through a trial
that was regrettable,” said Ayman Safadi, the editor of the
Jordanian daily newspaper Al Ghad. “People see Saddam
himself as irrelevant. This trial was not about Saddam;
it was about Iraq itself.”
Analysts said the timing of the verdict, just two days before
the United States midterm elections, underscored the politically
charged nature of the proceedings.
“His sentencing now is a deliberate attempt to boost the
Republicans in the U.S.,” said Imad Shueibi, president
of the Data and Strategic Studies Center, a privately financed
research organization in Damascus, Syria. “They’re expecting
big losses in the upcoming elections, and they figure maybe
this sentence might give an illusion of some success.
But of course only the naïve will believe that.”
But for many, the trial missed an opportunity to send messages
to other dictators and to teach valuable lessons.
“There’s no way to celebrate,” said Muhammed al-Ameer, the
political editor at the Saudi daily newspaper Al Riyadh. “No one
doubts that Saddam committed human rights abuses, but the
trial was so flawed that it put things in question. It just keeps
sounding like a step taken by the Republicans to help them.”
Perhaps the most dramatic shift was in how many viewed
Mr. Hussein. Previously, few in the region had been willing
to address directly the issue of whether he might be guilty
of crimes against his people, with many people lionizing the
former dictator. Most of those interviewed on Sunday and
Monday said they believed he was guilty, but they also said
that the flaws in his trial offset his guilt.
“People used to see Saddam as a fearless, defiant leader, but
then he appeared in handcuffs and his image was shattered,”
said Saleh Qallab, a columnist with the Jordanian government-
backed newspaper Al Rai. “Nobody can sympathize with a weak
figure; that change is not political, but psychological.”
Makram Mohamed Ahmed, a columnist with the Egyptian government-
backed Al Ahram newspaper, said, “He was a burden to his nation
and a burden to the entire Arab world and he might have truly
deserved this fate, if only the court’s legitimacy was not in question.”
Most of all, Mr. Ahmed said, the verdict has failed to send
a message to other Arab leaders to loosen their grip and make
needed changes. “I don’t think any of the Arab leaders will come
to think that this can happen again,” he said. “The Bush’s
administration is losing its popularity and the Democrats
may get a majority in the Congressional elections.”
Suha Maayeh contributed reporting from Amman, Jordan.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) Appeals Court Weighs Prisoners’ Right to Fight Detention
By NEIL A. LEWIS
November 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/washington/07habeas.html?ref=us
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 — The Bush administration’s successful effort
to have Congress eliminate the right of Guantánamo prisoners
to challenge their detentions before federal judges is now moving
toward what may be an epic battle in the courts.
And while lawsuits on the topic are spread across the judiciary,
the principal battleground, legal experts say, is the federal appeals
court in Washington. That court has been considering for three
years whether the hundreds of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay,
Cuba, have the right of habeas corpus — that is, the ability
to ask a federal judge to review the reasons for their detention.
But the law passed by Congress last month eliminating the habeas
right supersedes almost all of the arguments that have gone
before and is now the focus of the legal confrontation, government
and civil liberties lawyers agree. In a ruling last June, the Supreme
Court had said that an earlier measure did not eliminate habeas
lawsuits that were already in the courts. However, in October,
the administration used more explicit language, saying the new
law retroactively blocked federal courts from entertaining habeas
lawsuits by Guantánamo detainees.
The three-judge appeals court panel will have to decide whether
the pending lawsuits brought by the 430 or so remaining detainees
at Guantánamo should be thrown out, as the Bush administration
has argued, or whether the new law is unconstitutional, as civil
liberties groups have contended.
Whatever resolution is reached by the three appellate judges —
David B. Sentelle and A. Raymond Randolph, both appointees
of Republican presidents, and Judith W. Rogers, appointed by
a Democrat — it will almost certainly end up before the Supreme
Court. A decision could come from the appeals court before
the end of the year.
Lawyers for the detainees said in a recent brief that despite the
wording of the new law, Congress could not take away the right
to bring such habeas corpus lawsuits because that would violate
the Constitution.
Their brief notes that the Constitution provides that Congress
may suspend the right only in cases of rebellion or invasion,
as President Abraham Lincoln did during the Civil War. Congress
may provide a substitute, but only one that is equivalent
to a full-blown habeas action, the lawyers said in their brief.
Justice Department officials said they would argue that the law
is constitutional when they issue their formal reply in a brief
due next Monday.
David B. Rivkin Jr., a White House counsel in the administration
of the first President Bush, said he believed the department would
emphasize that the new law provided an adequate substitute
method for a detainee to challenge his confinement.
A proceeding held for each prisoner at Guantánamo, called
a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, is presumed to provide
a legally sufficient justification for detention, under the new
law. That proceeding, in which three military officers decide
if a prisoner is rightfully deemed to be an unlawful enemy
combatant, may be appealed directly to the Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Mr. Rivkin, an authority on national security law who supports
the administration, said the law did not suspend habeas corpus
but instead provided a new way for it to be exercised.
“The government is saying, ‘Look, we’re not denying anyone’s
chance to get habeas,’ ” he said. “We’re just providing
a different way.”
Mr. Rivkin said the judges on the appeals court panel should
be especially receptive to the idea that the process is fair
because the law provides for that very court to hear any
appeals from the military tribunals.
But the detainees’ lawyers have argued that the law provides
for only a limited review of the military tribunals by the appeals
court. Under the new law, they said, the appeals court may
not look behind the record of the military tribunal, and the
judges, in effect, are required to accept all of the military’s
assertions.
Similar objections to the law are contained in a brief filed
by seven former federal judges, who were appointed by
both Democratic and Republican administrations. The judges
say in their brief that the law has “one specific and fundamental
flaw,” namely that the military tribunals may accept evidence
obtained by torture. The judges said the limited review for the
appeals court in the new law “cannot remove the stain of torture
because the court, at least according to the government, cannot
alter or expand the record created by the military.”
They said that “no habeas court would permit detentions based
on evidence obtained in this manner.”
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) Big Bonuses Seen Again for Wall St.
By JENNY ANDERSON
On Wall Street, the rich keep getting richer.
November 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/business/07wall.html?ref=business
On Wall Street, the rich keep getting richer.
For a fourth consecutive year, year-end bonuses are forecast
to be highly lucrative, with the payouts rising 10 percent to 15
percent from 2005, according to Alan Johnson Associates,
a leading executive compensation consultant.
Investment bankers, who give advice to corporations, are expected
to experience the biggest percentage jump, about 20 percent
to 25 percent this year, from 2005.
But it will again be the traders, who make investment bets
for their firms, and those who operate in the complex world
of structured products and derivatives that will take home the
biggest checks this year, with top-end estimates in the range
of $40 million to $50 million, Wall Street executives say.
“Traders are making more than bankers and that will probably
continue for one more year,” said Alan Johnson, the managing
director of the consultant firm. “Then it will be a horse race.”
Of course, the $50 million trader is the exception, not the rule.
The year-end bonus, which makes up most of a Wall Street
professional’s compensation, can vary widely.
The average managing director at a top Wall Street bank is
expected to take home a bonus of $1.7 million this year, up
from about $1.2 million last year. The range of managing director
total compensation, according to Mr. Johnson, is $1.7 million to
$2.3 million. While those may seem stately sums to many,
it puts those executives back where they started before the
technology bubble burst and their pay tumbled nearly 50 percent.
Then there are the rainmakers. Senior investment banking
executives say top bankers can expect bonuses of $20 million
to $25 million. Financial sponsors, the bankers who cater
to the private equity funds that have driven much of the
frenzied merger activity this year, have had a strong year
in particular.
Globally, more than $3.2 trillion worth of mergers and acquisitions
have been announced in 2006, compared with $2.4 trillion in 2005,
according to Dealogic. Buyouts represented 17 percent of the dollar
total for 2006, compared with 12 percent last year. Other investment
banking areas that have been strong include health care, financial
institutions and energy and power.
Traders, in comparison, can make extraordinary sums because they
use the bank’s capital to make bets, allowing them to take big risks
that either result in big rewards or gigantic headaches. Traders can
make 5 percent to 10 percent of what they earn. For example,
a trader who makes $500 million for the bank might take home
$50 million.
Wall Street is evolving from a business focused entirely on clients —
corporations, institutions and individuals — to one that generates
money betting its own capital (proprietary trading) along with
the business of advising and trading for clients.
The banks are being buoyed by a number of factors, including
abundant global liquidity — capital available to be invested —
and tremendous international growth, focused in large part on
India and China, but also extending to the Middle East, Eastern
Europe and Russia. For the first nine months of 2006, Goldman
Sachs and Morgan Stanley earned more in profits than they did
in all of 2005, according to their financial statements.
And if a rising tide lifts all boats, Wall Street’s booming fortunes
are producing more yachts.
The average securities salary is now 5.1 times the average salary
paid in other industries, up from 2.5 times in 1990 and 4.3 times
in 2003, according to a recent report released by the New York
state comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi. The securities industry accounted
for only 4.7 percent of jobs in New York City in 2005, but 20.6
percent of the wages.
First-year associates, those just out of business school, can expect
a range of $200,000 to $270,000 in total compensation — base pay,
bonus and long-term compensation — while a first-year analyst, just
out of college, can expect to make $105,000 to $145,000. Guarantees
— contracts which promise to pay bankers a fixed amount for
a certain number of years — are back, but only one- and two-
year contracts, Mr. Johnson said. At the height of the technology
boom, three-year guarantees were commonplace.
But life in the middle might be getting tougher, according
to Mr. Johnson. Associates and vice presidents were in high demand
in 2003 because the markets came roaring back to life before staffing
on the Street was adequate. Now, however, demand seems to be
weighted toward the ends rather than the middle.
“We are seeing a lot of demand at the top and a lot at the bottom,
but not as much in the middle,” Mr. Johnson said. “With technology,
you don’t need as much in the middle.”
Wall Street managers say they are feeling less of a threat from hedge
funds. While top talent may be lured away by the promise
of independence and more self-generated profits, many hedge
funds are struggling to post good enough numbers to attract
enough capital to make it worth the risk. Also, those funds tend
to be small. “A big hedge fund has 40 people,” Mr. Johnson said.
“They will hire your two best but they will not hire the 98 people
behind them.”
Others disagree, saying there is much competition for talent.
And Wall Street giants’ compensation still pales in comparison
with their hedge fund counterparts. In 2005, the top hedge fund
manager took home $1.5 billion in pay while the price of entry
to be on the list of the top 25 paid managers, compiled
by Institutional Investor’s Alpha magazine, was $130 million.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) Northern Gaza Hospital Diary
Report by Dr. Mona Elfarra
Published: 07/11/06
Sunday 5 Nov
Stories from Beit Hanoun
Monday 8am
On my way to the hospital going via Salah Udin street, east of Gaza, I
could see clearly army tanks, and a group of resistance men. The main road
is deserted, the military operation is now expanding to the north east.
During the early hours of this morning many missiles were fired on the
north and east of Gaza, and civilians were not spared.
I arrived at Al-Awda hospital, and decided next time to take the Jabalia
camp road. But no road is safer than another.
On arrival my colleagues described the scene at 7:30 am.
The small 3-5 year old kids had arrived at the hospital on board their
kindergarten bus with their school bags. Their teacher (Samiha Khulif age
26) was seriously injured. While they were getting out of the bus, an
Israeli missile was launched (I do not know the intended target) - the
teacher was seriously injured and taken to hospital, inside the same bus,
the children were all crying, terrified and trembling, taken by the
hospital staff for pacifying. It was an intense moment and some of my
colleagues burst into tears, seeing the kids inside the obstetrics and
gynae department.
At least 9 were injured and two killed in the attack, some were referred
to the Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
Since the siege and military operation began in Beit Hanoun, 9 women from
the village arrived at the hospital for delivery. They had to wait a few
hours at the checkpoint for permits to leave for the hospital. The women
gave birth but could not get back to their homes. Some stayed in hospital,
others were taken to stay with some families around the hospital. I met
one of them who gave birth by Caesarian Section. She was unable to talk,
but had a beautiful baby. Her mother was next to her in tears, worried
about the rest of the family who could not leave the village.
All hospitals in the Gaza strip are working under great pressure and a
heavy caseload, due to the current Israeli operation on top of a long
period of economical sanctions against the Palestinian Authority that left
70 percent of the population living on humanitarian aid.
Medics work under fire and very difficult conditions. Yesterday 2 medical
rescue team men were killed while working, one of our staff in Al-Awda
hospital was injured the same day, all while on duty.
I have seen some of the shrapnel that was recovered from the previous
day's injuries, with clear writing "USA USA". The shrapnel seems unusual,
surgeons had not come across it before. We do not have the time and
facilities to investigate, but some experts might find results. Anyway
killing of civilians is illegal whether with knives or internationally
prohibited weapons.
My messege to all good American men and women,
PLEASE PLEASE MAKE SURE
THAT YOUR TAXES ARE NOT USED
FOR KILLING INNOCENT CIVILIANS IN GAZA.
with love and soliderity
Mona
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) A Look at the Numbers: How the Rich Get Richer
Clara Jeffery
May/June 2006 Issue
http://www.motherjones.com/cgi-bin/print_article.pl?url=http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2006/05/perks_of_privilege.html
Sources:
The Perks of Privilege: Sources
By The Editors
May/June 2006 Issue
http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2006/05/sources.html
IN 1985, THE FORBES 400 were worth $221 billion combined.
Today, they’re worth $1.13 trillion—more than the GDP of Canada.
THERE’VE BEEN FEW new additions to the Forbes 400. The median
household income has also stagnated—at around $44,000.
AMONG THE FORBES 400 who gave to a 2004 presidential
campaign, 72% gave to Bush.
IN 2005, there were 9 million American millionaires,
a 62% increase since 2002.
IN 2005, 25.7 million Americans received food stamps,
a 49% increase since 2000.
ONLY ESTATES worth more than $1.5 million are taxed. That’s less
than 1% of all estates. Still, repealing the estate tax will cost the
government at least $55 billion a year.
ONLY 3% OF STUDENTS at the top 146 colleges come from
families in the bottom income quartile; only 10% come
from the bottom half.
BUSH’S TAX CUTS GIVE a 2-child family earning $1 million
an extra $86,722—or Harvard tuition, room, board,
and an iMac G5 for both kids.
A 2-CHILD family earning $50,000 gets $2,050—or 1/5
the cost of public college for one kid.
THIS YEAR, Donald Trump will earn $1.5 million an hour
to speak at Learning Annex seminars.
ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION, the federal minimum wage has
fallen 42% since its peak in 1968.
IF THE $5.15 HOURLY minimum wage had risen at the same
rate as CEO compensation since 1990, it would now stand
at $23.03.
A MINIMUM WAGE employee who works 40 hours a week
for 51 weeks a year goes home with $10,506 before taxes.
SUCH A WORKER would take 7,000 years to earn Oracle
CEO Larry Ellison’s yearly compensation.
ELLISON RECENTLY posed in Vanity Fair with his $300 million,
454-foot yacht, which he noted is “really only the size
of a very large house.”
ONLY THE WEALTHIEST 20% of Americans spend more
on entertainment than on health care.
THE $17,530 EARNED by the average Wal-Mart employee
last year was $1,820 below the poverty line for a family of 4.
5 OF AMERICA’S 10 richest people are Wal-Mart heirs.
PUBLIC COMPANIES spend 10% of their earnings compensating
their top 5 executives.
1,730 BOARD MEMBERS of the nation’s 1,000 leading
companies sit on the boards of 4 or more other corporations
—including half of Coca-Cola’s 14-person board.
THE BIDDER who won a round of golf with Tiger Woods
for $30,100 at a 2004 Buick charity auction could deduct
all but about $200.
TIGER MADE $87 million in 2005, all but $12 million from
endorsements and appearance fees.
THE 5TH LEADING philanthropist last year was Boone Pickens,
in part due to his $165 million gift to Oklahoma State
University’s golf program.
WITHIN AN HOUR, OSU invested it in a hedge fund Pickens
controls. Thanks to a Katrina relief provision, his “gift”
was also 100% deductible.
LAST YEAR 250 COMPANIES gave top execs between
$50,000 and $1 million worth of wholly personal flights
on corporate jets.
THIS PERK is 66% more costly to companies whose CEO
belongs to out-of-state golf clubs.
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT spends $500,000 on 8 security
screeners who speed execs from a Wall Street helipad
to American’s JFK terminal.
UNITED HAS CUT the pensions and salaries of most employees
but promised 400 top executives 8% of the shares it expects
to issue upon emerging from bankruptcy.
UNITED’S TOP 8 execs will also get a bonus of between
55% and 100% of their salaries.
IN 2002, “turnaround artist” Robert Miller dumped Bethlehem
Steel’s pension obligation, allowing “vulture investor”
Wilbur L. Ross to buy steel stock and sell it at a 1,000% profit.
IN 2005, DELPHI HIRED Miller for $4.5 million. After Ross
said he might buy Delphi if its labor costs fell, Miller
demanded wage cuts of up to 63% and dumped the
pension obligation.
10 FORMER ENRON directors agreed to pay shareholders
a $13 million settlement—which is 10% of what they made
by dumping stock while lying about the company’s health.
POOR AMERICANS spend 1/4 of their income on residential
energy costs.
EXXON’S 2005 PROFIT of $36.13 billion is more than the
GDP of 2/3 of the world’s nations.
CEO PAY AMONG military contractors has tripled since 2001.
For David Brooks, the CEO of bulletproof vest maker DHB,
it’s risen 13,233%.
AT THE $10 MILLION bat mitzvah party Brooks threw his
daughter last year, guests got $1,000 gift bags and listened
to Aerosmith, Kenny G., Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, and 50 Cent
—who reportedly sang, “Go shorty, it’s your bat mitzvah,
we gonna party like it’s your bat mitzvah.”
FOR PERFORMING IN the Live 8 concerts to “make poverty
history,” musicians each got gift bags worth up to $12,000.
OSCAR PERFORMERS and presenters collectively owe the
IRS $1,250,000 on the gift bags they got at the 2006
Academy Awards ceremony.
A DOG FOOD COMPANY provided “pawdicures” and other
spa treatments to pets of celebrities attending the 2006
Sundance Film Festival.
ONE OF MADONNA’S recent freebies: $10,000 mink
and diamond-tipped false eyelashes.
PARIS HILTON, who charges clubs $200,000 to appear
for 20 minutes, stiffed Elton John’s AIDS benefit the
$2,500-per-plate fee she owed.
ACCORDING TO Radar magazine, Owen Wilson was paid
$100,000 to attend a Mercedes-Benz-sponsored
Hamptons polo match. When other guests tried
to speak with him, he reportedly said, “That’s not my job.”
-- Clara Jeffery (Ed.)
Next issue: Why the poor stay poor
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Video, Oaxaca- A Victory in The Streets- 11/2/06
From: Anna Kunkin
anna1baila@yahoo.com
Sent: Nov 6, 2006 12:05 AM
[Incredibly powerful video...bw]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf6H_sxCx3k
(Lo que sigue es una explanación para la gente de habla inglés, para
ayudarles a entender de lo que se trata el video. Si alguin no está
de acuerdo con lo que he escrito aquí, le pido el favor de informarme
de mis errores. Gracias, Anna)
This video is of the events in Oaxaca on Nov.2 in front of the
university of Oaxaca when the federal police tried to break in and
destroy the radio station, the people's main communication tool to
each other, and to the outside world. The whole town came out to
defend and fight back and they won a great victory.
-The voice in the beginning is the voice of radio Oaxaca calling for
citizens to come out and form barricades around the university to
protect the radio station. "We cannot allow this important voice to
be lost.''
- Then you see the people responding; creating barricades.
-You will see a man and a woman scolding the federal police, and
appealing to them as fellow Mexicans with families; reminding them
that they are no different than the people in the streets that they
are attacking.
- The doctors making a statement; saying that some of the news media
has been framing the movement in Oaxaca as being made up of gang
members and criminals; (This framed by shots of the townspeople
standing hand in hand to form barricades) but, they say, "we are
doctors; profesionals who are defending our city and helping the
people. "Holding up his stethoscope, he says, "These are our weapons.
With these weapons we fight and help our people and our compañeros."
- Then you see a member of the police saying that they have no
intention of attacking the university or of arresting anyone. The lie
to this is evident in the next shot where helicopters are shown
dropping tear gas into the university.
- Then you see a couragous people; a people fighting together for a
just cause, and in the end, winning. I watch this with tears...and
only hope that I would find the courage to be like these people in
the same situation.
On the right of the screen is a list of more videos that you can
watch just by clicking on the links. One of them is the video that
came out of Indymedia reporter Brad Will's camera after he was shot
dead in the streets of Oaxaca last week.
I hope that this little recap helps all my English speaking
compañeras and compañeros to understand the importance of this
battle. This is the type of thing that people in Latin America have
been dealing with for hundreds of years. Our government doesn't want
us to know that this is what has been going on in our name, but now,
with modern technology it is no longer hidden from us.
Our tax money is paying for this, and in the cases of the worst
brutality and torture, the perpetrators are trained here in Fort
Benning, Georgia at the School of The Americas. My friend Hector
Aristizabal, a torture victim from Columbia, said that with knowledge
comes grief....and yes, my tears have surprised me. But let's let our
grief and our compassion work for us to give us the strength to make
change. Let's support our sisters and brothers in their efforts to
create justice in their countries. In doing so we will create a just
world; one in which as Subcomandante Marcos says, "Un mundo donde
quepan todos." (A world where we all have a place.)
Please watch this video and pass it on.
A big abrazo to all,
Anna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf6H_sxCx3k
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) Saddam Verdict Could Tear Iraqis Apart
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
*BAGHDAD, Nov 6 (IPS) - The death sentence for former Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein could deepen a divide that threatens to tear Iraqis apart.*
The signs on the street are dangerous already. Several reports have come
in of celebrations in Kurdish and Shia areas, with strong protests in
Sunni-dominated cities in central Iraq.
Iraq is being ripped apart by sectarian violence between Sunnis and
Shias, and many fear that if Saddam Hussein is executed Iraq could slide
into civil war.
On Sunday the High Tribunal in Iraq held Saddam Hussein guilty of
ordering the killing of 148 Shias in 1982. The verdict threatens
stability because Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, is seen by non-Sunnis
to have run policies to the advantage of Sunnis and the disadvantage of
others.
Manny Iraqis in Baghdad say the judgment was hastened for the benefit of
the Republican Party in the United States, which faces congressional
elections Tuesday. The party is expected to do badly primarily as a
result of a widely perceived failure of the Republican Administration's
Iraq policy.
The sectarian split under U.S.-led occupation has spiralled high enough
to lead to fears that Iraq is in a state of civil war already. The
oil-rich nation of 25 million comprises mainly Shias, Sunnis and Kurds,
with the Shias an estimated majority of 60 percent.
In the Shia dominated Sadr City in Baghdad, and in other Shia cities
like Najaf, Kerbala and Basra, large numbers came out on the streets to
celebrate. Much of the Shia population suffered great repression during
the rule of Saddam Hussein.
Celebrations have been reported also across Kurdish regions of northern
Iraq, Like the Shias, the Kurdish population was also heavily repressed
under the reign of the former dictator.
A day before the verdict was announced, Shia Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki asked Iraqis not to "celebrate too much" when the announcement
came.
Other Shia leaders have been trying to sober down such celebrations, and
even oppose the death sentence. They say that execution of the former
leader would make a martyr of him, and give him a higher status than he
deserves.
The picture of a split society was completed by protests and anger in
Sunni-dominated areas of Iraq, particularly in Baghdad and in al-Anabar
province to its west. Facing repression now from a Shia-dominated
government under U.S. influence, Sunnis have adopted the former leader
as one of their own.
In Baghdad's predominantly Sunni neighbourhood al-Adhamiya, Iraqi police
battled resistance members armed with machine guns. In Saddam Hussein's
hometown Tikrit, thousands defied a curfew to carry pictures of Saddam
through the streets.
The divisions were deepened further when Iraqi army units attacked
pro-Saddam demonstrators in many areas. Sunni television channels Zawra
and Salahedin that aired pro-Saddam demonstrations were immediately shut
down and raided by Iraqi security forces.
The closure of the two networks has infuriated Sunnis further. The move
appeared similar to the U.S.-ordered closure of the newspaper al-Hawza
of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which sparked his first uprising against
occupation forces two years back.
In a country where sectarian death squads are killing on average more
than 100 people a day in the capital city alone, another polarising
event is the last thing Iraq needs at this time.
One potential flashpoint everyone is watching is the northern oil-rich
city Kirkuk. The city has a mixed population, including Sunni ethnic
Arabs who were settled there under Saddam's regime. Kurdish leaders want
Kirkuk, and its wealth, within an autonomous Kurdistan.
In the Shia-dominated south, more than 100,000 Iraqis are fleeing their
homes each week as Shia leaders push for federalism, under which each
ethnic group would take substantial control of a region it dominates.
Execution of Saddam Hussein, if it takes place, could worsen a pattern
under which every 'success' of the government under occupation has led
to increasing attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces.
This happened after Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces in
December 2003 after they were tipped off by Kurdish militia members. The
attacks against security forces rose dramatically after that. A similar
pattern followed the killing of suspected al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi by occupation forces.
It is not yet certain that execution will be carried out. The verdict on
Saddam now goes before a nine-judge panel that has indefinite time to
review the case. But if the sentence is upheld, the execution must be
carried out within 30 days.
(c)2006 Dahr Jamail.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) IOF Kill a Palestinian Child and Injure 7 Others, including
a Girl, in a Failed Extra-judicial Execution Attempt
Ref: 116/2006
Date: 06 November 2006
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2006/123-2006.htm
In a new Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) crime reflecting disregard
for the lives of innocent civilians, a Palestinian child was killed and
6 others were injured, one seriously, in an Israeli air strike on the
town of Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip. A teacher was seriously
injured in the same strike. The victims were on their way to school
when IOF fired a surface-to-surface towards the Jabalia Youth Club
during the morning traffic of school children. The IOF rocket was
fired after Palestinians fired rockets at Israel from the area in the
pre-dawn hours. This crime is a continuation of the IOF aggression
on the Gaza Strip, especially the northern part. Over the 6 days
of this recent aggression, 45 Palestinians have been killed,
including 27 unarmed civilians. Ten of these victims are children,
and two are women. In addition, 184 Palestinians have been injured,
including 50 children and 46 women.
PCHR's preliminary investigation into this incident indicates that
at approximately 6:45 on Monday, 6 November 2006, IOF fired
a surface-to-surface towards the Jabalia Youth Club near the
intersection separating Jabalia and Beit Lahia. The rocket fell 15
meters away from a minibus at the intersection transporting
children to the Andera Ghandi Kindergarten in Beit Lahia.
The teacher Najwa Awad E'khlayyef (20) was sitting near the
open rear door of the minibus waiting for children to board.
She was seriously injured, and later transported to the ICU
unit in Shifa Hospital for treatment. In addition, students
from Ahmad Shoqeiri School were on their way to school
in Beit Lahia. One of these students was instantly killed:
Ramzi Merfiq El-Shrafi (16). Six other students were injured,
one of them seriously. The kindergarten children also
suffered shock from the explosion.
PCHR is extremely concerned over the serious IOF
escalation, and:
- Condemns this crime, which is a continuum
of IOF war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
that reflect Israeli disregard for the lives of innocent civilians.
These crimes are considered a form of reprisal and collective
punishment that violate article 33 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention;
- Points to the fact that IOF does not use proportionality
and necessity in the use of force against Palestinian resistance
activists in civilian neighborhoods, which causes casualties
among the civilian population and destruction of their property.
- Calls upon the international community to immediately
intervene to stop these crimes. The Centre reiterates the call
to the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention
to fulfill their obligations and ensure that it is respected under
all circumstances. The Centre reminds the High Contracting
Parties of their obligation under article 146 of the convention
to prosecute criminals suspected of perpetrating serious
violations of the convention. It is noted that serious violations
are considered war crimes in article 147 of the convention
and the optional protocol additional to the convention.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) Board has plan to oust ROTC from S.F. schools
Members want to cut program over 'Don't ask, Don't tell'
- Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/23/MNGIOJ0G7P1.DTL
Plus: Letter to the Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle in response from:
Dan Kelly, M.D., San Francisco Board of Education
Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War, www.bauaw.org
The San Francisco Board of Education appears poised to kick the
military's Junior ROTC programs out of the city's public schools,
saying the Pentagon's refusal to allow openly gay service members
is deplorable and not in line with the school district's
anti-discrimination policy.
School board members are scheduled to introduce a resolution
tonight outlawing the JROTC because of the military's "Don't Ask,
Don't Tell" rule. The resolution calls that policy an "unjust, indefensible,
unintelligent, state-sanctioned act of homophobia."
The resolution, which won't get a final vote until June, would create
a task force to develop a similar program without a tie to the military
and would phase out JROTC by the 2007-08 school year.
JROTC currently has 1,625 students in seven San Francisco public
high schools: Balboa, Burton, Galileo, Lincoln, Lowell, Mission and
Washington. Students enroll on a voluntary basis and earn physical
education credits for participating in the military-sponsored program.
The students engage in physical training such as running, push-ups
and jumping jacks; and discipline training such as marching, drill-
practice and using a mock chain of command. They also study
military history and perform community service.
"They really help you stay focused, stay on track and get your
stuff together," said Timothy Twyman, 16, a sophomore at Mission
High and a member of that school's JROTC program. "It teaches
you about how the world's going to be."
Supporters such as Twyman say the program helps students develop
self-confidence and prepare for the working world, while opponents
counter that it's just an easy way for the military to get a foothold
in public schools and encourage teens to enlist after they graduate.
Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, a Pentagon spokesman, said 402,000
students are enrolled in 3,361 JROTC units around the country,
and another 700 schools are on a waiting list. Carpenter said
he wasn't aware of any school district kicking JROTC off its
campuses and didn't want to comment on San Francisco's
vote until it has been taken.
"We don't comment on what ifs," he said. "We don't speculate."
The proposal to eliminate six Army and one Navy JROTC
units is just one in a recent string of battles between San Francisco
and the military. Last year, the city's Board of Supervisors voted against
allowing the World War II battleship Iowa to berth in the city as
a tourist attraction, in part because of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
policy.
In February, Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval appeared on Fox's
"Hannity and Colmes" show and said, "The United States should
not have a military. All in all, we would be in much, much,
much better shape."
Mark Sanchez, the JROTC resolution's sponsor and the only member
of the school board who is gay, said the nation's gay capital
should have stood up against the military for its "Don't Ask,
Don't Tell" policy long ago.
"If the military said, 'You can't be openly Jewish or you can't be
openly Catholic,' I don't think we would have stood for it this
long," he said. "It's an ethical issue more than anything, and
if we stand by our policies of nondiscrimination, we should
be able to stand by this policy as well."
Sanchez borrowed the language from a resolution submitted
by Commissioner Dan Kelly to the school board in 1996. That
measure failed 4-3. Sanchez said that a decade later it's time
to try again.
Board member Kelly has co-signed the current resolution.
He served two years in prison for resisting the draft during
the war in Vietnam.
The proposal appears headed for passage this time around.
Commissioners Sarah Lipson, Eric Mar and Norman Yee told
The Chronicle they're inclined to support it as long as a solid
replacement program is developed.
"A discriminatory institution like the U.S. military really should
not be running programs in our school district," Mar said.
Commissioners Eddie Chin and Jill Wynns said they are likely
to vote against the resolution, noting that if board members
have trouble with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," they should
be fighting for it to be abolished at the national level.
"If they're against the current administration and the policy,
they should work at the national level and not take it out
on the kids," Chin said.
Wynns, the head of the board's budget committee, said it's
impractical to do away with JROTC. The district and the Department
of Defense split the cost of the program's teachers. Without the
monetary help, the district will have to hire a raft of P.E. teachers
and pay their entire salaries itself, Wynns said. She said she didn't
know yet how much money it would cost the district each year.
Yee, the board president, said the resolution will go to a committee
and probably will be voted upon in the board's last meeting
of the school year, in late June.
E-mail Heather Knight at hknight@sfchronicle.com.
Page A - 1
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/23/MNGIOJ0G7P1.DTL
Letter to the Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle in response from:
Dan Kelly, M.D., San Francisco Board of Education
Sirs,
The Sunday Chronicle’s two-page profile of JROTC, and the much
shorter story about the Board of Education’s deliberations on the
matter, did not really do justice to the importance of the issues
before the Board of Education, and before our young people today.
While profiling several cadets and instructors, the main article
in no way addressed persistent concerns raised by other students
and parents about JROTC’s presence on our campuses. There
have been many complaints of students being coerced into
joining JROTC or being placed in it automatically, of the JROTC
acting as a stand-in for counseling or other services students
may need and deserve, and of the JROTC draining resources
from other programs. Parents and students have complained
about militarization of their campuses and campus events
by the prominent presence of uniformed cadet units. There
have been episodes of hazing and group ostracism, and there
continue to be reports of homophobic comments made
against JROTC opponents.
No mention was made of critiques that JROTC’s curriculum
and instruction rely upon memorization and rote repetition
rather than critical thinking, or that they do not meet the
academic standards applied to non-JROTC classes.
In discussing the costs of the program, no mention was made
of the fact that schools with JROTC receive disproportionate
SFUSD funding compared to schools without JROTC. Neither
was it clarified that a JROTC instructor‘s average annual salary
is $105,000 even though they are not credentialed and not
required to have a college degree, while regular SFUSD teachers,
even with advanced degrees, average less than $60,000.
It was not even mentioned that JROTC instructors carry
a drastically lower student load when compared with
regular PE and classroom teachers.
Your story did not attempt to address an important and
critical underlying theme: the tension between civilian and
military authority that has been a central element in the
vigor and stability of our democratic institutions ever since
George Washington made his farewell speech at Fraunce’s
Tavern, and which was highlighted famously by Dwight
Eisenhower’s own farewell warning against the military-
industrial complex’s rise to prominence.
Finally, and most importantly, you made no acknowledgement
of JROTC’s role as a national vehicle for military recruitment,
or the heightened importance of this function in the “all volunteer”
military. While quoting local JROTC members who deny that
any recruitment occurs, your story ignored Defense Department
statements asserting that JROTC is, in fact, an important
recruitment tool; and you did not report testimony by a local
JROTC instructor to the Board of Education’s Curriculum Committee
in the summer of 2006 that JROTC units across the country actively
recruit students into the military as a matter of course.
Our nation is sending volunteers and reservists alike to kill
and die in a war which was declared under false pretenses
and against international opposition; a war which has cost
hundreds of thousands of civilian lives; a war which threatens
to destabilize the whole Middle East; a war whose conduct has
been noted for unprecedented corruption and callous
mismanagement; a war requiring active recruiting because
it is being pursued without the politically dangerous use
of the Selective Service System draft.
We do not have the luxury to say that national policy is none
of our business. Warfare as an instrument of aggressive and
acquisitive foreign policy has effects on our local economy and
on the health and well being of our students and our democracy.
That policy is our business, just as much as it is the business
of Congress. We have had enough internal and local reasons
to close this program before, but its popularity has caused
us to hesitate. The larger questions now tip the balance
and mean that we can’t continue that delay. We really do
need to “think globally and act locally”. This is a chance for
San Francisco to lead on an important national issue as we
have so often done before. By removing this military
recruitment and public relations program from schools
we can do better for our students, and we may empower
other communities to consider how local decision-making
can, and should, influence national policy.
If analyzing JROTC’s role in this manner is political, as
characterized in the early paragraphs of your story, that
is because “politics” is the vehicle which we use to make
decisions for the good of the whole, and for the future
of our community; not simply for our own short-term benefit.
Dan Kelly, M.D.
San Francisco Board of Education
Letter to the Editor from Bonnie Weinstein, www.bauaw.org:
Dear Editor,
In light of the ABC undercover investigation into rampant
deceitful military recruitment practices how can you recommend
JROTC--an outfit run by these very same liars--and be for
allowing them to continue to teach our children?
The schools are supposed to keep our children safe from
swindlers and the like--not to provide a home for them
in our schools.
Statistics show that nationwide, 45 percent of JROTC
graduates go on to serve in the military. That is why they
are in our schools for. If you don't believe me go to:
http://www.usarec.army.mil/im/formpub/REC_PUBS/p350_13.pdf
And read the United States Army Recruiting Command School
Recruiting Program Handbook.
Point 1-1 states:
1-1. Purpose
The purpose of this handbook is:
a. To provide a single-source guidance docu-
ment, combining regulatory requirements and
successful techniques and ideas to assist staff
and recruiters in building and maintaining an
effective School Recruiting Program (SRP).
Sincerely,
Bonnie Weinstein
415-824-8730
giobon@sbcglobal.net
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) Cuban gay soap cracks a legacy of hate
The huge success of a gay soap opera suggests
Cuban society has begun to accept homosexuality.
BY MIAMI HERALD STAFF
cuba@MiamiHerald.com
MIAMI HERALD
Posted on Mon, Nov. 06, 2006
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/americas/15939853.htm
[This story in today's MIAMI HERALD should be of particular interest
to John O'Brien and David Thorstad to whom this post is dedicated.
Though the HERALD gives the impression that there's something very
significant about the fact that the gay characters on the soap opera
get AIDS, the ENTIRE PROGRAM is about people with HIV-AIDS. The story
is framed as a series of flashbacks through which the different tales
are told, by the members of an HIV-AIDS support group, ALL OF WHOM,
gay and strait, have AIDS.
Readers can find scores more articles on Cuban LGBTs, their lives,
struggles and issues: http://www.walterlippmann.com/lgbt-cuba.html
Walter Lippmann
walterlx@earthlink.net ]
SANTA CLARA, Cuba - It's a late Sunday afternoon at El Mejunje,
Cuba's only openly gay disco, and some men are dancing or kissing
while Alex is remembering the days he ducked police harassment by
faking straight relationships.
''In 1980, during Mariel, we were thrown out of the country with the
crazy people and criminals -- the useless,'' said the 42-year-old
restaurant manager. ``People threw rocks at us. I was forced to have
girlfriends and do things that were beyond me.
``Things have changed a lot.''
As Cuban state television winds up its controversial soap opera
featuring a gay man, The Hidden Side of the Moon, gays on the
communist-ruled island say society -- and in particular the
government -- has learned to accept homosexuals and include them in
public discourse.
Late Sunday afternoons at El Mejunje are a surreal mix of elderly men
crooning to Benny Moré beside gay men showing off flashy dance moves.
It is a far cry from the memories of a Cuba that once locked up and
harassed its gay men.
'When I was 18, people on the street used to shout, `Hey, faggot!' ''
said Oliver, 28, whose last name, like others in this report, is
being withheld for fear of reprisals. ``That doesn't happen anymore,
unless you are a totally brazen transvestite hustling in really short
shorts.''
SUCCESS, CONTROVERSY
The Hidden Side of the Moon broke macho telenovela tradition this
spring with a story line about a married man who falls in love with
another man and becomes HIV-positive. It was the most-watched TV show
in Cuban history. But as viewers broke records, still others wrote
letters of protest to newspapers. Even the Catholic Church weighed
in.
The Hidden Side of the Moon was the first time the Cuban state-run
television monopoly tackled homosexuality in such a high-profile
manner.
The show was the latest in a series of moves by the government that
illustrated a willingness to shed its legacy of persecuting gays. The
Castro government once regarded homosexuals as deviants who needed to
be reformed into communism's selfless ``new man.''
But last year, gay and lesbian film festivals were held in several
Cuban cities, and the nation's first sexual diversity cultural
festival took place in western Pinar del Río. The Cuban government
sends delegations to Latin American International Lesbian and Gay
Association conferences, and two years ago, another Cuban soap
featured a lesbian couple.
Some credit the increased exposure to Mariela Castro, daughter of
Defense Minister and interim president Raúl Castro. Mariela runs the
National Center for Sex Education, from which she publicly promotes
lesbian, gay and transgender rights.
''Mariela has brought the gay community a step forward. She gave us
our space. There have been a lot of positive changes,'' said Javier,
a professional dancer.
Mariela Castro's office not only advocated the controversial soap,
but has pushed for sensitivity training for police. Underscoring the
government's support of her work, this year she gave a number of
interviews to foreign media, which is extremely rare for employees of
the Cuban government.
''There is no official repression of lesbians and gays in Cuba,'' she
told the Montreal Gazette this summer after speaking at an
international gay rights conference there. ``What remains are social
and cultural reactions that must be transformed, the same as in many
other countries.''
''Suddenly in the last two years, there has been a concerted effort
by the Cuban government to push a movement that had been going slowly
for the past 20 years,'' said University of California at Davis
professor Emilio Bejel, author of Gay Cuban Nation. ``They are trying
to make up for the damage of the past. . . . I think they realize it
was really horrible what they did.''
In the mid 1960s and 70s, homosexuality was considered an offense to
communist ideology, so gays, along with Jehovah Witnesses and others
considered social misfits, were sent to the infamous UMAPs --
Military Units to Help Production -- facilities where they were
forced into hard labor and expected to ``reform.''
MIXED MESSAGES
Sodomy was decriminalized in 1979, but it was not until 1993 that
Cuba abandoned the practice of locking up HIV-positive people in
sanitariums. Less than a decade ago, the police swept a popular
underground gay club in Havana, arresting about 800 people.
The persecution of gays was chronicled by late Cuban writer Reinaldo
Arenas in his memoir Before Night Falls, which was later made into a
movie.
''That was a different era, and I'm glad I didn't live it,'' said
Oilime, a gay 29-year-old restaurant worker. ``Nothing like that has
ever happened to me.''
But even now there are no gay rights organizations in Cuba. And
Oilime grumbled over the message of the soap The Hidden Side of the
Moon.
Both featured gay characters get AIDS.
''The simple fact that they put a gay issue on TV shows a lot,'' he
said. ``But it promoted the idea that if you sleep with a gay man,
you will get a fatal illness.
``That helps us?''
The Miami Herald withheld the name of the correspondent who wrote
this dispatch.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) Protecting Neither Facilities nor People
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily
*BAGHDAD, Nov 7 (IPS) - The Facilities Protection Service (FPS) created
after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has become the principal set of death
squads in Iraq, senior leaders say.*
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
*BAGHDAD, Nov 7 (IPS) - The Facilities Protection Service (FPS) created
after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has become the principal set of death
squads in Iraq, senior leaders say.*
"The first accomplishment of Paul Bremer (former U.S. administrator in
Iraq) in Iraq was dissolving the Iraqi army and all security
establishments," a consultant with an Iraqi ministry told IPS on
condition of anonymity. "The man was granted the highest decoration by
his President for a job well done."
The U.S. occupation authorities and the Iraqi leaders working with them
set up new army and police forces under supervision of the Multi
National Forces (MNF). It was decided that each ministry could establish
its own protection force away from the control of the ministries of
interior and defence.
Under Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Order Number 27, the FPS was
established on April 10, 2003, the day after the fall of Baghdad.
This document states: "The FPS may also consist of employees of private
security firms who are engaged to perform services for the ministries or
governorates through contracts, provided such private security firms and
employees are licensed and authorised by the Ministry of Interior."
Global Security.Org, a U.S. based security research group, says: "The
Facilities Protection Service works for all ministries and governmental
agencies, but its standards are set and enforced by the Ministry of the
Interior. It can also be privately hired. The FPS is tasked with the
fixed site protection of ministerial, governmental, or private
buildings, facilities and personnel."
The security website adds: "The majority of the FPS staff consists of
former service members and former security guards. The FPS will now
secure public facilities such as hospitals, banks and power stations
within their district. Once trained, the guards work with U.S. military
forces protecting critical sites like schools, hospitals and power plants."
General Harith al-Fahad of the former Iraqi army says the FPS turned out
to be no such thing. "All the forces formed were actually militias, not
organised forces, because they were formed according to rations given to
each party in power," he told IPS at a café in Baghdad, with explosions
echoing in the background.
"Those politicians brought their followers into the so-called security
forces. Others took bribes of 500 to 700 dollars from each applicant to
be accepted regardless of standard regulations."
When sectarian violence spread across Iraq after the Shia shrine in
Samarra was destroyed in February this year, "the FPS appeared to be the
main force that conducted assassinations in Baghdad, and there is
evidence that they did it for money."
This seems to continue. U.S. officers training Iraqi police told
reporters last week that infiltration of police units by militia members
could delay the handover of control of the Iraqi security forces for years.
"How can we expect ordinary Iraqis to trust the police when we don't
even trust them not to kill our own men?" Capt. Alexander Shaw said.
Shaw is head of the police transition team of the 372nd Military Police
Battalion, a Washington-based unit charged with overseeing training of
all Iraqi police in western Baghdad.
"To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure we're ever going to have police
here that are free of the militia influence," he said.
Most of the infiltration is coming from the two large Shia militias, the
Badr Organisation that is the armed wing of the pro-Iranian Supreme
Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and the Mehdi Army, the militia
of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Shaw said about 70 percent of the Iraqi police force has been
infiltrated, and police officers are too afraid to patrol many areas of
the capital.
"None of the Iraqi police are working to make their country better,"
Brig. Gen. Salah al-Ani, chief of police for western Baghdad told
reporters recently. "They're working for the militias or to put money in
their pocket."
Dr. Nameer Hadi recently left his post at a major Baghdad hospital
because he felt threatened by the FPS.
"I saw them kill in cold blood a lady patient when they learned that she
was the wife of a Sunni tribe leader," he told IPS. "I am a Shia
believer, but this kind of crime is unbearable."
It is common knowledge in Baghdad that the FPS consists mainly of
criminals who looted banks and government offices at the beginning of
the U.S. invasion in April 2003. Many also believe that once the looters
spent the money they stole, they needed a new source of income, and they
were hired by local and regional powers for organised crime campaigns.
Iraq's interior minister Jawad al-Bolani rejected allegations last month
that Iraq's police and military have played a major role in the death
squads. He said it was the FPS, whose numbers he estimated to be
150,000, that was to blame for the astronomical level of violence.
"Whenever we capture someone, we rarely find anyone is an employee of
the government ministries," Bolani said. "They've turned out to be
mostly from the FPS."
In an interview on al-Arabiya satellite channel Oct. 21, official
spokesman of the Iraqi government Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh accepted that
security forces need to be "purified." He blamed mistakes made during
the "Bremer Period" for the current level of killings.
With attacks on government targets mounting, it is also not certain how
far the FPS has been effective in protecting facilities.
(c)2006 Dahr Jamail
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) JROTC off Our Campuses!
Eric Blanc, a recent graduate from Lowell High, writes about
the current struggle to kick out JROTC from San Francisco schools.
On November 14th, the San Francisco Board of Education can make
history. On that day, a proposal will be voted on to phase out the
Junior Reserve Officer Training (JROTC) program from the S.F.
high schools. If the proposal passes, San Francisco will immediately
become an important example for other cities to kick off this
authoritarian recruitment tool of the U.S. military.
But JROTC will not go down without a fight. On November 5th,
the San Francisco Chronicle published a front-page glowing
tribute to the JROTC, warning of the proposal to "kill off the
long-standing and enormously popular course," which, it says,
is neither discriminatory nor a vehicle for military recruitment,
but merely a positive "learning experience."
So what are the facts about JROTC?
First of all, is the JROTC really "enormously popular" throughout
the city? Hardly. In fact, an independent movement of high-school
students at more than 12 schools began in August to support the
proposal in the Board of Education. A petition circulated by these
students has in a few weeks received close to 1,000 signatures.
(Petition attached below)
"As students we believe that fighting JROTC is a way to fight
the Iraq war by taking away a valuable recruitment tool for the
U.S. military," says Jack Losh, Lowell high-school student and
member of Revolution Youth, the principal youth organization
mobilizing S.F. students against the military presence
on campuses.
At Mission High School, some of the main student advocates
of the petition are Latino youth who are current members
of JROTC, who were pushed into the program without knowing
what it was -- or because their parents couldn't afford the P.E.
uniforms -- and who are unable to leave it now because
of scheduling conflicts due to the lack of space in regular
P.E. classes.
And in November 2005, S.F. voters overwhelmingly passed
Proposition I, opposing military recruiters on campuses.
What about the claim that JROTC is not a recruitment tool?
Rudy de Leon, Under Secretary of Defense, testifying before
the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Committee
On Armed Services in March 2000 admitted that, "The
proportion of JROTC graduates who enter the military
following completion of high school is roughly five times
greater than the proportion of non-JROTC students."
It is true that this percentage is for the time being lower
in San Francisco, but this could change in the coming period,
as the U.S. military seeks to overcome its recruitment woes
in order to continue the occupation of Iraq.
And what about the denial that JROTC is discriminatory? It is
true that in San Francisco there are openly LGBT students in J
ROTC, but these students are denied certain privileges of
joining JROTC, such as eligibility for special military scholarships
or eligibility for entering the military with higher pay. Moreover,
JROTC is intrinsically linked to, and funded by, the military,
which overtly bans openly LGTB citizens from joining.
And what about the "positive impact" of JROTC on students?
It is true that some students in San Francisco have learned
leadership skills and "found a family" in JROTC, but there
is no reason why students couldn't have a similar experience
with the new alternative program that is planned to be set
up after phasing out JROTC; the $1 million in S.F. yearly
public funding that goes to JROTC could provide the
financial base for building this new program.
What is needed now is for all students, community organizations,
progressives, and anti-war activists to mobilize in support
of the proposal to get rid of JROTC. You can help by:
1) Bringing folks to the Tuesday, November 14th, 7 p.m. Board
of Education meeting, 555 Franklin St. in San Francisco --
especially S.F. high school students and parents. We also
will need help carpooling students to and from the meeting.
2) Distributing and signing the S.F. high school student
petition against JROTC.
3) If you are a teacher, letting a student from Lowell High
make a short announcement in your class about this issue.
4) Writing to the SF Chronicle about their unbalanced coverage
on the JROTC issue. (http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/)
For more information on how you can help, please contact
Eric at 415-646-6469 and ryi_irj@yahoo.com)
PETITION: JROTC OFF OUR CAMPUSES!
We, San Francisco students, strongly support the proposal
by members of the Board of Education to phase out the Junior
Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program from the
San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).
We believe JROTC should be phased out because:
- We do not think that an institution aimed at recruiting
us to die and kill for senseless wars should be allowed on
our schools;
- We feel that the $1 million in San Francisco public funding
for JROTC should be put toward alternative programs such
as community service, drill team, leadership development,
etc. that are not connected to the U.S. military;
- The official policy of the SFUSD is to oppose discrimination,
and the JROTC is linked to the U.S. military, which is a profoundly
discriminatory institution, particularly against lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender individuals;
That is why we say:
- JROTC off our campuses!
- Use the funds for constructive alternative programs!
- Books not bombs!
Signed,
NAME
SCHOOL
EMAIL
(If you are a San Francisco high school student, please fill out this
endorsement coupon and return to ryi_irj@yahoo.com. If you want
petition sheets for endorsements, contact Eric at the addresses listed above.)
International Liaison Committee for a Workers International (ILC)
P.O. Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140.
Tel. (415) 626-1175; fax: (415) 626-1217.
To SUB/ UNSUBSCRIBE, contact ILC at
ilcinfo@earthlink.net
website: ILC section in www.owcinfo.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
LINKS AND VERY SHORT STORIES
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Massive March in Oaxaca
11/06 | Hundreds of thousands of people
filled the streets to demand Gov.'s ouster
By John Gibler
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/11/78891.html
Oaxaca: November 5: The Sunday of the march.
The caravan continues in spite of the roadblocks.
http://vientos.info/cml/?q=node/6341
Hundreds of US Soldiers Call for Iraq Withdrawal in Petition
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1107-01.htm
Melting Arctic Makes Way for Man - Shipping risks ecosystem
VIDEO: Changing Face of Northwest Passage
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2006/11/03/
VI2006110301105.html
Melting Arctic Makes Way for Man
Researchers Aboard Icebreaker Say
Shipping Could Add to Risks for
Ecosystem
By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, November 5, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/
AR2006110401173.html
Robert Fisk: This was a guilty verdict on America as well
Published: 06 November 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1959051.ece
One for the Ages: A Prescription That May Extend Life
By MICHAEL MASON
October 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/health/nutrition/31agin.html
Pennsylvania: Immigrant Measure Bar Extended
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A federal judge’s order temporarily blocking the City of Hazleton
from enforcing a crackdown on illegal immigrants was extended
to give both sides time to prepare for a trial. The judge, James M.
Munley of United States District Court, whose temporary restraining
order was to expire Nov. 14, extended it for up to 120 days. Two
measures approved by the City Council last month would fine
landlords who rented to illegal immigrants, deny business permits
to companies that hired them and require tenants to register with
City Hall and pay for a rental permit. Hispanic groups and the
American Civil Liberties Union filed suit, saying the measures
trampled on the government’s exclusive power to regulate
immigration. The city defends the law as necessary to protect
legal residents from crime.
November 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/us/07brfs-PENNSYLVANIA_BRF.html
New York Plans to Make Gender Personal Choice
By DAMIEN CAVE
November 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/nyregion/07gender.html?hp&ex=1162962000&en=ad8cd9271abf7ee8&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Iraq War Will Cost More Than $2 Trillion
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110506A.shtml
Israelis to Pursue Offensive in Gaza Strip
By GREG MYRE
November 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/world/middleeast/05cnd-mideast.html?hp&ex=1162789200&en=19f5163e4181e2c1&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Oil, Cash and Corruption
By RON STODGHILL
November 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/business/yourmoney/05giffen.html?ref=business
FOCUS | Military Newspapers Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation
An editorial scheduled to appear on Monday in Army Times, Air Force
Times, Navy Times and Marine Corps Times, calls for the resignation
of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The papers are sold
to American servicemen and women.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110406Z.shtml
FOCUS | Supreme Court to Hear Major Abortion Case Next Week
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110406X.shtml
Anger Joins Grief as Marine’s Family Feels Misled
By SHAILA DEWAN
November 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/us/05friendly.html?ref=us
FOCUS | British Believe Bush Is More Dangerous Than Kim Jong-il
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110306Z.shtml
America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest
neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion
published today that reveals just how far the country's reputation has
fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.
Jobless Rate Hits 5-Year Low
By JEREMY W. PETERS
November 4, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/04/business/04job.html?ref=business
Texas: Wider Audience for Border Cameras
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas has started broadcasting live images of the Mexican border
on the Internet in a program that asks the public to report signs
of illegal immigration or drug crimes. A test Web site,
texasborderwatch.com, went live Thursday with views from
eight cameras and ways for viewers to e-mail reports of suspicious
activity. Previously, the images had been available only to law
enforcement and landowners where the cameras are located.
Some civil rights groups have said use of the cameras would
instill fear in border communities and could lead to racial
profiling and fraudulent reports of crimes.
November 4, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/04/us/04brfs-TEXASWIDERAU_BRF.html
98 Percent of Cluster Bombs Victims are Civilians
Ann De Ron, Electronic Lebanon, 2 November 2006
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5930.shtml
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