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The next meeting of Bay Area United Against War is:
Thursday, February 1, 7:00 P.M.
474 Valencia Street, First Floor, rear
(415) 824-8730
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Tues. Jan. 30, 7pm
Weekly A.N.S.W.E.R. Activist Meeting
2489 Mission St. Room 30 (at 21st St.) near 24th St. BART,
#14, #49 MUNI, San Francisco
Join us for analysis and discussion of recent political developments
in the Middle East and the war in Iraq. Find out how you can help
build the March 17-18 Global Days of Action. Join a postering
team to go out after the meeting.
Pick up flyers, posters and stickers for the March 18 demonstration
9am-9pm Mon Fri. (call for weekend hours) Call 415-821-6545
or email answer@actionsf.org for more info or to volunteer.
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Film/Song about Angola
http://www.prisonactivist.org/angola/
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"Good Dolls" and "Bad Dolls"
http://www.komotv.com/home/video/5001856.html?video=YHI&t=a
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"200 million children in the world sleep in the streets today.
Not one of them is Cuban."
(A sign in Havana)
Venceremos
View sign at bottom of page at:
http://www.cubasolidarity.net/index.html
[Thanks to Norma Harrison for sending this...bw]
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MARCH AND RALLY IN SAN FRANCISCO
SUNDAY, MARCH 18, 2007
(The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade is taking
place on Sat., March 17 in SF.)
ASSEMBLE 12:00 NOON
JUSTIN HERMAN PLAZA -
MARCH TO CIVIC CENTER
For more information:
http://www.actionsf.org/#local4
answer@actionsf.org
Phone: 415-821-6545
Fax: 415-821-5782
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ARTICLES IN FULL:
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1) HOW THE FORCES OF CAPITAL GOT US WHERE WE ARE
[Col. Writ. 1/14/07] Copyright 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal
2) NO MATTER WHAT
[Col. Writ. 1/10/07] Copyright 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal
3) Lt. Ehren Watada
Dahr Jamail's MidEast Dispatches
January 28, 2007
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
4) A New Castro?
By DAVID RIEFF
January 28, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28wwln_lead.t.html?hp&ex=1170046800&en=2b1df82ab315da48&ei=5094&partner=homepage
5) More Than Antiwar
By BOB HERBERT
Washington
January 29, 2007
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/opinion/29herbert.html?hp
6) In Los Angeles, Antigang Efforts Start on the Street
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
January 29, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/us/29gangs.html?ref=us
7) On a Trip Through History, Students Join Freedom Riders
By THEO EMERY
January 29, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/us/29freedom.html?ref=us
8) Jordan Becomes a Doubtful Refuge
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily
Think Dahr's work is vital? We need your help. It's easy!
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/donate/
(c)2007 Dahr Jamail
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
Read story from website
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/iraq/000533.php#more
9) ** FY 2007 INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION BILL ADVANCES
** SPECIAL FORCES FREE FALL OPERATIONS
** ARMY CIVIL AFFAIRS OPERATIONS
** VARIOUS RESOURCES
SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2007, Issue No. 10
January 29, 2007
Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
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1) HOW THE FORCES OF CAPITAL GOT US WHERE WE ARE
[Col. Writ. 1/14/07] Copyright 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Quite recently, I offered some thoughts on the startling warm winter
weather we're having.
While I talked about the probable impact of global warming (greenhouse
gases), I didn't directly address the sources of much of it.
Let's be clear. Much of it, perhaps most, is cars. Some folks may be
thinking -- 'uh oh -- here he goes again with that back-to-nature, John
Africa talk again. He actually wants us to give up our cars!'
But how many of us know that in the good old days -- say, in the
19-teens, and the '20s, cars were electric cars -- run on batteries?
In the early third of the 20th century, most American mass transit
was an electrical affair -- relatively quiet, with far fewer pollutants
being belched into the air.
What happened? Greed happened. Corporate crime happened. Then
mass pollution happened.
Writer and researcher Mark Zepezauer, in his brilliant 2004 book,
*Take the Rich Off Welfare* (Cambridge, Ma.: South End Press) tells the
story with brevity and clarity, as he writes:
"The extent to which automobiles dominate our lives didn't just happen
by accident -- at least part of it was the result of a criminal conspiracy.
Back in the early 1930s, most people living in cities got around on
electric streetcars. Concerned that this wasn't the kind of environment
in which they could sell a lot of buses, General Motors (GM), using
a series of front companies, began buying up streetcar systems,
tearing out the tracks, buying buses from itself, and then selling the
new, polluting bus systems back to the cities -- usually with contracts
that prohibited the purchase of 'any equipment using fuel or means
of propulsion other than gas.' Sometimes the contracts required that
the new owners buy all their replacement buses from GM.
"GM was soon joined by Greyhound, Firestone Tire and Rubber, Standard
Oil of California (also called Chevron), and Mack Trucks. In 1949 -- after
these companies had destroyed more than 100 streetcar systems in over
40 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco,
Oakland, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Salt Lake City -- GM, Chevron, and
Firestone were convicted of a criminal conspiracy to restrain trade.
They were fined $5,000 each, and the executives who organized the
scheme were fined $1.00 each." [p. 139]
Boy -- what does that tell you about 'equal justice under law?'
(Speaking of John Africa, I'm reminded of the opening words of his
*The Judges Letter*, which reads, "The courts are the tools of industrial
plague, granting big business privilege to poison our earth.")
There are some 520 million cars in the world today; 200 million
(38.5%!) are driven in the U.S. The U.S. has only 5% of the world's
population, and drives nearly 40% of the cars.
When we are faced with the chilling spectacle of global warming,
with the rising of the oceans along with temperatures, and with
the very real threat to coastal cities and populations all around
the world, there's a reason for it.
And some big U.S. businesses made plenty of money off it. The
pollution in our lungs, the warming air currents melting the arctic
snow and creating rising sea levels, the very same man-made
temperature changes that have spawned stronger, more destructive
hurricanes was translated into billions of dollars in U.S. corporate
coffers, amassed over decades. It is the very essence of capitalism.
It didn't have to be this way. It could've been very different.
Only people, awake and aware -- and determined to build a new world,
can begin to change it.
Time is running out for over 1/2 a billion people, whose living space
is seriously threatened with flooding.
It's not too late to reverse this monstrous trend. But, it can't be kept
for later.
Copyright 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal
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2) NO MATTER WHAT
[Col. Writ. 1/10/07] Copyright 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal
I did not wait with baited breath for the President's long-anticipated
speech on a "new strategy" for Iraq.
For I knew, with chilling certainty, that no matter the 'strategy',
it would hardly be 'new.' I knew that more didn't mean new -- just
more. And I knew that this president was incapable of little more,
than more of the same.
More troops -- more war -- more death -- more disaster.
There may be a new phrase -- but after "Bring 'em on!", "We're
winnin'!", or "War Against Terror", what can a new phrase mean,
but more b.s.?
Wars aren't fought with phrases; they're used to sell wars; to stir
the blood; to quicken the pulse; and to enliven the bloodlust in men.
This is no different.
I fought my journalistic urge to watch the President's press conference.
It's a lot like watching Elmer Fudd stuttering something about catching
that 'wascally wabbit' (Bugs Bunny). I can actually hear Bugs laughing
at Elmer's latest antic, saying, between guffaws, "What a maroon!"
Madness!
And yet, as is often the case, the journalistic urge wins out, so as
a compromise, I turned on the local NPR affiliate, and listened to
the speech. And despite advance billing by party and PR flacks about
the contents, Bush managed to do it again.
Within moments of his latest offering came appeals to the events
of Sept. 11th, which he blamed on "extremists." Like Iraq had
a damned thing to do with 9/11! Once again, he sprinkled his
speech with calls to supporting 'liberty', and essentially said the
problem was 'too few U.S. and Iraqi troops, and too many restrictions.'
And the solution? 21,000 more troops.
With each twist and turn of administration policy, I've scoffed. This
'new strategy' evoked the same old emotion.
This too is destined for failure. Why?
Because the U.S. Army hasn't an ounce worth of trust in the Iraqi
forces. Because Iraqi "insurgents" (or dead-enders" -- or "extremists",
or whatever we're calling them now) have seeded themselves within
the Ministry of the Interior -- the Army, the police -- you name it.
If the U.S. delivers new arms to the Army, it will be in the hands
of the so-called 'insurgents' by dawn.
And what is this American antipathy against 'extremists' or 'insurgents',
anyhow? The U.S. was formed by armed groups of insurgents -- and yes,
'extremists.' Those who stood against the British King in 1776 were
opposing the biggest, baddest superpower of the era. The Crown was
the seat of legality, order, and power. To dare to challenge them --
to fight the mighty British Empire, was -- well, extreme.
The U.S. did it, and at least one 'founding father' -- Thomas Paine, had
to flee Britain, or face time in the Tower awaiting the national noose.
(It was just his bad luck that he fled to France, where the Robespierre-led
National Assembly tried to feed his head to the guillotine -- but that's
another story.)
The point? A war against extremities, or terrorism, is misleading and
stupid. It's a war against an idea.
It's now approaching 4 years of this madcap and illegal war -- now
is hardly time for a 'new strategy.' Failure leads to failure. Disaster leads
to disaster. This 'new strategy' is kinda like putting lipstick on a pig.
Its other flaw is its obvious tilt towards the Shia, with Sunnis targeted
by the U.S.-Iraqi forces for a kind of 'super-occupation.' What will
this lead to?
*Every*thing that the administration has done -- from Day One --
has made *more* enemies, not less. It has made the threats facing
the U.S. *more* dangerous -- not less.
Good work, Elmer ( or should I say, Daffy -- as in 'Lame' -- Duck?).
Copyright 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal
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3) Lt. Ehren Watada
Dahr Jamail's MidEast Dispatches
January 28, 2007
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
I would like to bring your attention to a story I covered last August
about 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. The story covered his decision not to deploy
to Iraq and a speech he gave at the Veteran's for Peace National
Convention in Seattle last August. The full text of his speech can be
read here
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000453.php
In the weeks following that speech, I was contacted by the prosecuting
attorney from his court-martial and informed I was on the witness list.
I took up my own legal counsel, and while I remain on the prosecution’s
witness list, I have not been subpoenaed to testify against him in the
trial, which is set for February 5th.
Watada's case is critical for two main reasons.
If he is convicted for his speech charges, it sends a message to other
war resisters that they will be penalized for their speech more harshly
than even their decision not to deploy to Iraq. In addition, this sends
a chilling message to journalists who wish to cover their story – that
as a journalist you may be used as an arm of the prosecution to testify
against your sources.
This case has the potential to set precedent which would deleteriously
affect both free speech rights of service members of the U.S. military,
as well as journalists’ ability to cover those stories. It is important
to note that the Democratically controlled Congress has chosen NOT to
take a stand on either of these issues, when they could intervene on
both counts.
This, despite public outcry from countless media organizations and
mainstream organizations, like Military Reporters and Editors, who wrote
this statement:
"Army prosecutors have subpoenaed two journalists, Honolulu
Star-Bulletin reporter Gregg Kakesako, and Oakland,Calif., freelancer
Sarah Olson, to testify during a January pre-trial hearing at Fort
Lewis, Wash., in the case of an Army officer who denounced the war and
refused orders to deploy to Iraq."
"Responding to the situation, Military Reporters and Editors President
James W. Crawley said, "Trying to force a reporter to testify at a
court-martial sends the wrong signal to the media and the military."
"Reporters and photographers who cover the military have developed a
level of trust with America's fighting men and women to tell their
stories honestly, fairly and completely. Having military prosecutors
abuse that trust by forcing them to testify about matters that can be
ascertained by other witnesses and evidence, stifles that trust and
relationship between the media and military."
In addition, the National Press Club has issued this statement of support:
"The National Press Club today announced its opposition to the U.S.
Army's subpoenas of Oakland, Calif., freelance journalist Sarah Olson
and Honolulu Star Bulletin reporter Gregg Kakesako."
"The subpoenas call for the reporters to testify at the Feb. 5 court
martial of Army Lt. Ehren Watada, who refused to deploy to Iraq and made
several disparaging remarks about the conduct of the war. A petition
calling for the dismissal of the subpoena has been posted on the web."
Supporters of Sarah Olson and myself have set up this website
I urge you today, one week before the court-martial trial of Lt. Watada
begins, to go there and take action by signing the aforementioned
petition
Think Dahr's work is vital? We need your help. It's easy!
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/donate/
(c)2007 Dahr Jamail
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4) A New Castro?
By DAVID RIEFF
January 28, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28wwln_lead.t.html?hp&ex=1170046800&en=2b1df82ab315da48&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Policy analysts and pundits have been predicting for some time that
the so-called unipolar moment, in which the United States stands
unchallenged as the sole superpower, will soon come to an end. The
debacle in Iraq has hastened this reckoning and sharpened the anxieties
about America’s role in the world — perhaps especially among those
who believe that the United States is a benign hegemon and that the
real choice is between a Pax Americana and anarchy. But it is the
recent conduct of Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s firebrand president,
that offers the starkest evidence yet of the changed circumstances
that American policy makers are starting to confront around the world.
In many ways, Chávez is an unlikely figure to assume the mantle of
leadership of this brewing, if slow-burning and incoherent, global revolt.
A paratroop officer who instigated a failed coup attempt against the
corrupt government of Carlos Andrés Pérez in 1992, Chávez would
seem to conform more to the Latin American stereotype of the military
man turned populist (Juan Perón of Argentina being the prototypical
example) than to that of a world revolutionary à la Fidel Castro.
As his hold on power has tightened, however, Chávez’s rhetoric has
increasingly embraced the most ossified traditions of left-wing
sectarianism. Echoing Che Guevara’s insistence that the Cuban
revolution was creating a “new man,” Chávez has spoken of what
he calls his Bolívaran revolution inaugurating the “moral regeneration”
of Latin America. He has compared his own regime with the Paris
Commune, and boasted of sending a copy of “Das Kapital” to the
bishop of Caracas. In speeches, he invokes the tutelary idols of the
antiglobalization left — Noam Chomsky (whom he cited in a speech
at the United Nations); Pierre Bourdieu, the French social theorist;
and Antonio Negri, the erstwhile theorist of the Italian Red Brigades.
Such rhetoric is commonplace at antiglobalization events like the
annual World Social Forum but not in the public declarations
of heads of state.
Now Chávez’s deeds have begun to catch up with his rhetoric. Re-elected
overwhelmingly to a second term in December, Chávez subsequently
announced that he would consider nationalizing, among other things,
the assets of some foreign oil companies and the largest phone company,
which is partly owned by Verizon.
To non-Latin Americans, these statements seem incomprehensible.
And given Chávez’s outlandish rhetoric, it is tempting to dismiss him
as a madman — as many in Washington were doing until quite recently.
After all, Chávez had endorsed the theory that the attacks of 9/11 were
planned and carried out by the Bush administration as pretext for going
to war. And he has repeatedly praised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, making
five visits to Iran — visits that President Ahmadinejad reciprocated
with a recent tour of Latin America that began in Caracas.
The general sense that Chávez must be unhinged derives even more,
perhaps, from his enthusiastic support of a Soviet-style command
economy. He rejects out of hand what has become the received wisdom
of our time, which is that every country, like it or not, must participate
in a globalized world economy. But Chávez declares that he is going
to construct a socialist Venezuela in a socialist Latin America,
globalization be damned. To many, this seems as quixotic as trying
to bring back feudalism and the divine right of kings.
In moving from rhetoric to action, Chávez may indeed have set the
stage for the end of his rule. But the Chávez phenomenon should not
be dismissed. Not only is he still immensely popular within Venezuela,
but he also has become an iconic figure for many people across the
world who see the United States as the principal threat to world
peace, not its benevolent guarantor. In fact, he has come to play
the same role in 2007 that Fidel Castro played in 1967. Perhaps,
globalization or no globalization, the world has changed less than
most people thought.
Of course, it is anything but clear that communism in Cuba will
survive the death of Castro. Indeed, Cuba hangs on economically
only because Venezuela provides it with subsidized oil in much
the way the Soviet Union did before it collapsed. At the same
time, however, the left-wing surge throughout Latin America
continues unabated. Ecuador’s new president, Rafael Correa,
joins not only Chávez but also Evo Morales of Bolivia and Daniel
Ortega in Nicaragua. It’s significant that President Ahmadinejad
— who, it should be noted, is not a Socialist or particularly hostile
to capitalism of the crony kind — met with all of them. More
significant still is that all these men were swept into power
by an electorate for whom globalization is an epithet, not the
collective economic destiny of humanity in the 21st century.
In all likelihood, the chances of a lasting unipolar world were
always slight. History teaches that any time one power
predominates, a coalition forms to oppose it. Many people
expected such a coalition to be led by China (American naval
war planners still do). But the coalition that seems to be arising
first as an “antiprinciple” to U.S. power is one that unites
a Castroite Latin American left, hard-line Shiite parties like
Hezbollah, Iran and at least some extreme elements of the
antiglobalization movement. Note that at Hezbollah’s so-called
victory rally in Beirut after the summer war with Israel, many
participants held up placards with Chávez’s face pictured
alongside that of Sheik Nasrallah. It is the oldest of foreign-
policy instincts, after all, to hold that the enemy of my enemy
is my friend.
Perhaps we were kidding ourselves when we imagined that
when Castro died, the yearning in many parts of the world
for a figure like Castro would die as well. If Hugo Chávez
proves nothing else, it is that such dreams are alive and well.
David Rieff is a contributing writer for the magazine.
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5) More Than Antiwar
By BOB HERBERT
Washington
January 29, 2007
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/opinion/29herbert.html?hp
It was a few minutes after 11 a.m. when the scattered crowd began
moving slowly toward the stage at the end of the Mall. The sky was
a beautiful sunlit blue and the Capitol building, huge and white and
majestic, offered the protesters an emotional backdrop that seemed
almost close enough to touch.
“It’s so big,” said a woman from Milwaukee, who was there with her
husband and two children. “It’s lovely. Makes you want to cry.”
You can say what you want about the people opposed to this wretched
war in Iraq, try to stereotype them any way you can. But you couldn’t
walk among them for more than a few minutes on Saturday without
realizing that they love their country as much as anyone ever has.
They love it enough to try to save it.
By 11:15 I thought there was a chance that the march against the
war would be a bust. There just weren’t that many people moving
toward the stage to join the rally that preceded the march. But the
crowd kept building, slowly, steadily. It was a good-natured crowd.
Everyone was bad-mouthing the Bush administration and the war,
but everybody seemed to be smiling.
There were gray-haired women with digital cameras and young girls
with braces. There were guys trying to look cool in knit caps and
shades and balding baby boomers trading stories about Vietnam.
And many ordinary families.
“Where’s Hillary?” someone asked.
That evoked laughter in the crowd. “She’s in Iowa running for
president,” someone said.
When a woman asked, “What’s her position on the war?” a man
standing next to her cracked, “She was for it before she was against it.”
More laughter.
The crowd kept building. There were people being pushed in
wheelchairs and babies in strollers. There were elderly men and
women, walking very slowly in some cases and holding hands.
The goal of the crowd was to get the attention of Congress and
persuade it to move vigorously to reverse the Bush war policies.
But the thought that kept returning as I watched the earnestly
smiling faces, so many of them no longer young, was the way
these protesters had somehow managed to keep the faith. They
still believed, after all the years and all the lies, that they could
make a difference. They still believed their government would
listen to them and respond.
“I have to believe in this,” said Donna Norton of Petaluma, Calif.
“I have a daughter in the reserves and a son-in-law on active duty.
I feel very, very strongly about this.”
Betty and Peter Vinten-Johansen of East Lansing, Mich., said they
felt obliged to march, believing that they could bolster the resolve
of opponents of the war in Congress. Glancing toward the Capitol,
Mr. Vinten-Johansen said, “Maybe we can strengthen their backbone
a little bit.”
Even the celebrities who have been at this sort of thing for decades
have managed to escape the debilitating embrace of cynicism. “How
can you be cynical?” asked Tim Robbins, just before he mounted the
stage to address the crowd, which by that time had grown to more
than 100,000.
“This is inspiring,” he said. “It’s the real voice of the American people,
and when you hear that collective voice protesting freely it reminds you
of the greatness of our country. It gives you hope.”
When Jane Fonda said, “Silence is no longer an option,” she was doing
more than expressing the outrage of the crowd over the carnage in Iraq
and the president’s decision to escalate American involvement. She was
implicitly re-asserting her belief in the effectiveness of citizen action.
Ms. Fonda is approaching 70 now and was at the march with her two
grandchildren. It was very touching to watch her explain how she had
declined to participate in antiwar marches for 34 years because she
was afraid her notoriety would harm rather than help the effort.
The public is way out in front of the politicians on this issue. But the
importance of Saturday’s march does not lie primarily in whether it
hastens a turnaround of U.S. policy on the war. The fact that so many
Americans were willing to travel from every region of the country to
march against the war was a reaffirmation of the public’s commitment
to our peaceful democratic processes.
It is in that unique and unflagging commitment, not in our terrifying
military power, that the continued promise and greatness of America
are to be found.
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6) In Los Angeles, Antigang Efforts Start on the Street
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
January 29, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/us/29gangs.html?ref=us
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28 — At twilight on Friday, in the heart of the
territory of the latest notorious Los Angeles gang, a woman in
a passing car calls out a tip to Officer Dan Robbins, sending him
racing toward a corner and a man he believes is a member of the
204th Street gang.
As Officer Robbins’s black-and-white patrol car speeds forward,
the man, Jose Covarrubias, 20, turns away and drops what appears
to be a small pipe.
“Come here! Get your hands up!” Officer Robbins of the Los Angeles
Police Department shouts as he jumps out of the car and handcuffs
Mr. Covarrubias, arresting him on suspicion of possessing drug
paraphernalia, a methamphetamine pipe.
“You arresting all the black people here on Harvard Boulevard, too?”
Mr. Covarrubias asks, now seated on a curb, making plain the racial
tension in this neighborhood, Harbor Gateway, that has commanded
the city’s attention.
They know each other, this gang unit officer and Mr. Covarrubias,
who Officer Robbins says is a relatively new member of 204th Street,
a Latino gang that gained notoriety last month when two members
were charged in what the police said was the racially motivated
killing of a 14-year-old black girl, Cheryl Green.
The crime stunned the city as a sign of growing violence among
blacks and Latinos in some struggling neighborhoods and brought
renewed promises from the mayor, the police chief and the F.B.I.
director to reverse a surge of gang violence. They have promised
more officers chasing the worst gang members, more school and
community counselors and more cooperation among agencies.
In the department’s Harbor Division, far from the worst in gang
crime but the focus of political and news media attention since
the killing, officers have started joint patrols with other police
agencies. A deputy city attorney, Panagiotis Panagiotou, has
ridden with Officer Robbins for part of his shift in an effort
to broaden prosecutors’ gang knowledge.
Crucial to the effort are the knowledge and wherewithal of gang
unit officers like Officer Robbins, whose focus is tracking gangs
operating in and near Harbor Gateway, a compact 12-square-block
collection of apartment houses and single-family homes in a narrow
sliver of Los Angeles 20 miles from downtown.
Officer Robbins, 36, has been on the force for 12 years, the last two
with the Harbor Division gang unit.
He embodies in many ways the newest incarnation of the gang
enforcement detail, which has a storied but troubled past.
Los Angeles has long been a model for other cities in gang
enforcement. Police officials from across the country and Latin
America will gather here on Feb. 7 to share information and
strategize. Chief William J. Bratton, visiting Washington this week,
plans to meet with members of Congress and federal officials
to advocate for more sharing of intelligence on gangs, terrorists
and organized crime groups.
Yet as much as gang crime has bedeviled Los Angeles, so has
controversy over tactics to fight it, most notably a scandal in the
Rampart Division that came to light in 1999. A gang unit officer
who had been charged with stealing cocaine from an evidence
locker said officers had beaten, shot and framed innocent people,
leading to the reversal of scores of convictions and $70 million
in legal settlements.
The police abolished an elite antigang unit known as Crash, and
a federal consent decree was imposed requiring a more stringent
system of checks and balances among gang enforcement units.
The effect of that order is immediately evident in Officer Robbins’s
attire. He wears a standard uniform and drives a marked squad car,
albeit without lights on top, making him and other gang officers
more visible, for better or worse.
Gang officers also generally serve in the new units, known as
Gang Impact Teams, or GIT, for three years, with extensions
requiring layers of approvals.
“We do lose some of the institutional knowledge,” said Lt. Roger
Murphy, who commands the Harbor Division’s gang officers.
“It takes two to three years to get to know a gang. But we have
to follow these strict protocols.”
With a reporter and photographer allowed to accompany him for
several hours of his nearly 12-hour shift, Officer Robbins offered
a primer on the 204th Street gang.
He knows its history, how it broke long ago from Tortilla Flats,
now a bitter rival.
He knows its numbers: more than 100 members, with about
30 hard-core devotees, relatively small for a Los Angeles gang,
some of which number into the thousands.
He knows that it earns money dealing marijuana and methamphetamine,
but that the income is not enough for several members, who
have legitimate day jobs.
He knows that members of 204th Street dislike blacks, who are
the newer arrivals in the neighborhood, and he has learned from
members that their disdain arises from racial hatred and rivalry
with black gang members they accuse of dealing drugs on their turf.
And he knows Mr. Covarrubias, who has been arrested and jailed
for burglaries and other offenses and has been a suspect in other
gang-related crimes.
It was Officer Robbins, his commanders said, who put months of
“gathering intel” on the gang to good use by recognizing instantly
that the car described by witnesses to Cheryl’s killing was connected
to certain gang members.
That was a major break, said Capt. Joan T. McNamara of the Harbor
Division, that led to the arrest and murder charges against two
of the gang’s members.
And so Officer Robbins and Mr. Covarrubias kept up a running
banter, sometimes friendly, sometimes adversarial, for the few
hours it took to complete paperwork at a nearby stationhouse
and book Mr. Covarrubias into a holding jail at another division.
“I don’t have anything on me, sir,” Mr. Covarrubias said shortly
before the drive to the stationhouse.
“Jose,” Officer Robbins replied with a smirk, “it’s not worth
arguing about.”
On the drive to booking, Officer Robbins pumped Mr. Covarrubias
for information about his intentions this Friday night and about
gang life.
Mr. Covarrubias offered clipped answers if any at all. A wave of
paranoia has swept through the gang over talking to the police,
officers said, and the killing of one of their members, stabbed
75 times and left on a dead-end street miles from the neighborhood,
is being investigated for connections to Cheryl Green’s death.
“You run into Stranger?” Officer Robbins asked, part of a stream
of cryptic queries laced with gang members’ nicknames that
Mr. Covarrubias nevertheless seemed to understand.
He was most forthcoming with his plans to move to another state,
to make an effort to break from the danger of the streets.
As he escorted Mr. Covarrubias into the station, Officer Robbins
quipped, “Here you are again, Jose.”
“Yeah, and I hope it’s the last time I see this place, too,”
he replied.
To Officer Robbins, it was a good arrest. Though a misdemeanor
charge, it kept Mr. Covarrubias in jail and off the streets for the
weekend, since the next opportunity to see a judge was not until
Monday.
Knowing that gang members can readily identify him or his car,
he sometimes parks around a corner and walks into the neighborhood,
hiding in bushes to observe gang members or jumping fences
to surprise them.
He drove the streets in and around Harbor Gateway for hours
on Friday night, watching men he said were gang members
hanging out on driveways and in front yards. He read fresh graffiti
for signs of tensions. He noticed two young boys on a bike and
a skateboard who seemed to trail him as he made the rounds.
“They are probably ones or twos, maybe lookouts,” he said, using
a code he has devised to rate the longevity and intensity of membership,
with five being the highest.
When fighting broke out at a rap concert in the San Pedro District,
he rushed to the scene with other gang officers, donning riot gear
and helping disperse the crowd, which he said included a number
of Harbor-area gang members.
But all in all, the focus on 204th Street has largely driven gang
members inside apartments and “underground.” That has made
it more difficult to catch them red-handed in street crime, making
the arrest of Mr. Covarrubias something of welcome surprise.
“With all that’s been going on,” Officer Robbins told him at one point,
“I can’t believe you are out here.”
Mr. Covarrubias stared blankly at the street.
[Could it be he has a drug dependency problem and needs
treatment?...bw]
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7) On a Trip Through History, Students Join Freedom Riders
By THEO EMERY
January 29, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/us/29freedom.html?ref=us
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 28 — More times than he remembers,
La’Markus Cook has traveled south on Interstate 65 from Nashville,
where he attends American Baptist College, to his home outside
Montgomery, Ala. But never, he said, as he did this weekend.
Air brakes hissing and motors rumbling, four buses retraced segments
of the 1961 Freedom Rides on Saturday and Sunday, giving students
aboard a front-seat view of a pivotal moment in civil rights history.
On the rides 46 years ago, activists armed with only their convictions
braved white mobs to defy segregation of interstate bus travel.
There have been many previous expeditions to locations where
riders were beaten, bloodied and jailed, but this weekend’s was
probably the largest and most ambitious attempt to keep the
history alive.
“I don’t know that any students have ever had this opportunity
before,” said Raymond Arsenault, the author of the 2006 book
“Freedom Riders,” considered an authoritative history.
About 100 students from Vanderbilt University, Tennessee State
University, Fisk University and American Baptist College accompanied
veterans of the civil rights movement, some of whom came close
to death in the bloody confrontations over interstate travel
in the South.
The buses served as rolling classrooms, leaving Nashville early
Saturday for Montgomery and arriving in Birmingham on Saturday
evening. The students, along with faculty members, historians
and others, returned to Nashville on Sunday.
Along the route, speakers rotated among buses to describe their
experiences and answer questions. Several came from the “Nashville
movement” of brash activists, many affiliated with the same
colleges and universities as the students.
Among them were Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia,
who was beaten and jailed on the rides; John Seigenthaler, an aide
to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy during the crisis; James
Lawson and C. T. Vivian, ministers who advised many of the students;
and Diane Nash, who in the early 1960s led sit-in movements
to desegregate lunch counters in Nashville and became one
of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
“Maybe, just maybe,” Mr. Lewis said, “this trip will help renew and
inspire and encourage people to take a page from the past and
apply it to your own life.”
Though the Supreme Court had ruled that Jim Crow segregation
in interstate travel was unconstitutional, the Justice Department
had little appetite for enforcement. In 1947, an interracial
“Journey of Reconciliation” in the upper South had done little
to break travel segregation, Mr. Arsenault wrote.
In 1961, the Congress of Racial Equality decided to challenge
travel segregation again with nonviolent civil disobedience.
When one group of interracial passengers reached Anniston, Ala.,
a Ku Klux Klan-organized mob firebombed the bus and beat the
passengers. Passengers on another bus were badly beaten when
they reached Birmingham.
Attorney General Kennedy intervened. The riders, some badly hurt,
wanted to press on, but the trip was scuttled and the riders flew
instead to New Orleans.
Nashville activists pledged to continue. Mr. Seigenthaler pleaded
with the students, but Ms. Nash said riders had signed their wills
and were prepared to die if necessary.
In Montgomery, a mob met the new wave of riders, severely beating
Mr. Lewis and another rider, Jim Zwerg. In the melee, Mr. Seigenthaler
was clubbed and left unconscious.
The crisis mounted with riders’ imprisonment in Mississippi.
Eventually, more than 400 riders would board segregated buses
and trains, taxing courts throughout the South. Then, in September,
the Interstate Commerce Commission prohibited all discrimination
in interstate busing.
Sherrae M. Hayes, a 20-year-old junior at Tennessee State, said
the trip gave the lesson new meaning. “You can definitely learn
it from a textbook,” Ms. Hayes said, “but I don’t think it means
half as much, or a quarter as much, as being there.”
Outside Montgomery’s old Trailways station on Saturday, riders
craned to see the building’s facade. A few minutes later, as rain
pattered on the roof of the bus, Mr. Zwerg, 67, described the
eerie quiet before the crowd set upon him 46 years ago. “I knew
whether I lived or died,” he said, “it was going to be all right.”
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8) Jordan Becomes a Doubtful Refuge
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily
Think Dahr's work is vital? We need your help. It's easy!
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/donate/
(c)2007 Dahr Jamail
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
Read story from website
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/iraq/000533.php#more
*AMMAN, Jan 29 (IPS) - Hundreds of thousands have fled the violence in
Iraq to seek refuge in Jordan, but refugees are now beginning to find
its borders closing.*
Jordan and Syria are the only two countries where fleeing Iraqis can
hope to find shelter. Western countries have shut their doors to Iraqi
nationals - even to refugees.
And now much the same is happening with Jordan too.
"I had major eye surgery in Jordan, but my doctor told me it failed and
so I need to have it re-operated," Ahmad Khalaf of Saqlawiya, 62 km west
of Baghdad told IPS. "I arrived at the Iraqi-Jordanian crossing point
with my medical reports and a letter from the hospital in Jordan
demanding my arrival in Amman on a certain date in order to remedy the
damage of the previous operation."
Khalaf found what tens of thousands of Iraqis are now finding when they
attempt to enter Jordan. "The Jordanian boarder authorities turned me
back without telling me why, leaving me to face the unknown."
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that 100,000
Iraqis are fleeing the country every month. UNHCR estimates that
approximately 700,000 Iraqis are currently living in Jordan and another
600,000 in Syria -- although many experts believe the real numbers are
higher, given the numbers leaving every month.
The UNHCR estimates also that there are more than 1.5 million internally
displaced people within Iraq itself.
Several Iraqis told IPS that Jordanian authorities had shut their doors
tight since the day Saddam Hussein was executed. Many believe this was
requested by the Iraqi government.
Border authorities in Jordan have been getting progressively tougher
over recent months.
"When Prime Minister (Nouri) al-Maliki visited Jordan last year,
Jordanian authorities became stricter, and half of those who intended to
cross the border were refused entry," a grocery merchant who usually
buys his merchandise from Jordan told IPS. "After (Iraqi Minister of
Interior) Jawad Bolani visited Jordan near the end of 2006, they
practically rejected 95 percent of Iraqis."
Earlier in 2006 Jordan shut its border to Iraqi men between the ages of
17 and 35, as well as to a growing number of Palestinian refugees who
had been living in Iraq under the protection of former president Saddam
Hussein. Most Palestinians living in Iraq have been evicted by Shia
death squads. The massive influx of Iraqis into Jordan before border
controls were tightened has severely strained the infrastructure of
Jordan, which was already suffering economically. Schools and hospitals
in particular have felt the weight of hundreds of thousands of new
residents.
"Our small country cannot afford to take in more Iraqis," 30-year-old
Jordanian Ahmad Trawne from Amman told IPS. "We sympathise with our
Iraqi brothers, but they are now a burden on our poor country."
Jordanian citizens are complaining that rich Iraqi immigrants have
brought inflation to Jordanian markets. The real estate business has
flourished, but prices have increased to levels that make it difficult
for most Jordanians to buy or even rent properties in central areas of
capital Amman.
Areas like the Gardens, Shmaissani and western Amman saw an almost 200
percent increase in value in 2006. Prices of food and basic services
have also risen considerably.
Nevertheless, many Iraqis still feel it is the duty of Jordanians to
allow in refugees.
"This country was built by our money," a 60-year-old Iraqi teacher in
Amman told IPS. "Saddam gave Jordan free oil and opened the Iraqi
borders for them, and now they are not allowing us to live in their
country. We are not asking them for any financial help because all
Iraqis bring their own money with them. Many sold their properties in
Iraq so that they could live in dignity."
Iraqis who fail to cross the border are forced to go back because there
are no hotels near the border. They cannot travel inside Iraq after
sunset for fear of U.S. patrols, so they have to stay overnight in
parking lots of highway restaurants, where it can be very cold at night.
It is becoming increasingly difficult also to find room for the hundreds
of thousands moving to another location within Iraq. The UNHCR issued a
warning Jan. 9 that the scale of internal displacement of Iraqis was
beyond the capacity of humanitarian agencies, including the UNHCR. It
declared that a humanitarian crisis looms in Iraq beyond that
anticipated by aid agencies at the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion in
2003.
The UNHCR added that the longer the displacement continues, the more
difficult it would become as the internally displaced and their host
communities in Iraq run out of resources.
(Ali al-Fadhily is our Baghdad correspondent, recently in Amman. Dahr
Jamail is our specialist writer who has spent eight months reporting
from inside Iraq and has been covering the Middle East for several years.)
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9) ** FY 2007 INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION BILL ADVANCES
** SPECIAL FORCES FREE FALL OPERATIONS
** ARMY CIVIL AFFAIRS OPERATIONS
** VARIOUS RESOURCES
SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2007, Issue No. 10
January 29, 2007
Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
FY 2007 INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION BILL ADVANCES
After two years without an annual intelligence authorization and
more than three months into Fiscal Year 2007, the FY 2007
intelligence authorization bill (S. 372) has been reintroduced in
the Senate and reported out of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
See the January 24 Committee report here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_rpt/srpt110-2.html
"This is a critically important piece of national security
legislation, and the fact that our intelligence agencies have
operated without authorizing legislation for two years represents
an unfortunate failure of Congressional oversight," wrote
Senators Ron Wyden and Russ Feingold, who noted that they
nevertheless had concerns about some of its provisions.
Among its positive features, the Senate bill would require
disclosure of the amounts requested, authorized and appropriated
for the National Intelligence Program (Section 107). It would
further mandate consideration of disclosure of the agency budgets
of each of the 16 elements of the intelligence community, as
recommended by the 9-11 Commission.
Declassification of the intelligence budget is the sine qua non
for establishing a sensible national security classification
system.
Some other provisions of the Senate bill are controversial, and
should require referral of the bill to the Senate Judiciary
Committee for further deliberation, argued Kate Martin and
Brittany Benowitz of the Center for National Security Studies in
a January 11, 2007 assessment.
The bill, they wrote, "would permit the Intelligence Community to
access vast troves of personal information on Americans collected
by the FBI or other agencies while limiting application of the
Privacy Act to that information (section 310); it would limit
application of the Privacy Act to records maintained by the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence (section 416); it
would exempt enormous numbers of files of the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence from even the search and review
requirements of the FOIA (section 411); [and] it would permit NSA
and CIA protective personnel to make warrantless arrests for
offenses not committed in their presence (section 424 and 432)."
Last week the bill was referred to the Senate Armed Services
Committee for a ten-day period.
SPECIAL FORCES FREE FALL OPERATIONS
The safe performance of parachute entries into hostile territory
by Special Forces personnel is addressed in a U.S. Army manual.
Military free-fall (MFF) parachute operations "are used when enemy
air defense systems, terrain restrictions, or politically
sensitive environments prevent low altitude penetration or when
mission needs require a clandestine insertion."
"This field manual presents a series of concise, proven techniques
and guidelines that are essential to safe, successful MFF
operations."
See "Special Forces Military Free-Fall Operations," Field Manual
FM 3-05.211, April 2005 (295 pages, 14 MB):
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-05-211.pdf
The unclassified Special Forces manual has not been approved for
public release, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News.
Before posting the document on the Federation of American
Scientists web site, we turned to M, a friendly parachutist who
is attuned to national security classification concerns, and
asked whether there was any reason not to do so.
"I reviewed the manual carefully and consulted with a couple of
people and I didn't see anything that would suggest that any
portion of the report requires special protection," he said.
ARMY CIVIL AFFAIRS OPERATIONS
"Civil Affairs" has recently been elevated to a branch of the U.S.
Army by order of Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey on January 12,
2007.
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/go29.pdf
The role of civil affairs is to support "the interaction of
military forces with the civilian populace [in or around the
battlefield] to facilitate military operations and consolidate
operational objectives."
According to an Army manual on civil affairs operations (pdf), "A
supportive civilian population can provide resources and
information that facilitate friendly operations. It can also
provide a positive climate for the military and diplomatic
activity a nation pursues to achieve foreign policy objectives."
Conversely, "A hostile civilian population threatens the immediate
operations of deployed friendly forces and can often undermine
public support at home for the policy objectives of the United
States and its allies. When executed properly, civil-military
operations can reduce friction between the civilian population
and the military force."
The Army manual has not been approved for public release, but a
copy was obtained by Secrecy News.
See "Civil Affairs Operations," U.S. Army Field Manual FM 3-05.40,
September 2006 (184 pages, 4 MB PDF).
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-05-40.pdf
VARIOUS RESOURCES
In the latest ruling in the prosecution of two former officials of
the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for allegedly
mishandling classified information, Judge T.S. Ellis III said
that press leaks regarding the case did not constitute a
violation of court rules because the leaks apparently derived
from law enforcement sources and not from a sealed grand jury
proceeding. On January 26, he rejected a defense motion for a
hearing on the leaks. See:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/rosen012607.pdf
Legal aspects of the conflicts between freedom of the press and
national security secrecy are freshly examined in a study by
University of Chicago Professor Geoffrey R. Stone and colleagues
for the First Amendment Center. See "Government Secrecy vs.
Freedom of the Press," December 2006:
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/PDF/Govt.Secrecy.Stone.pdf
And some recent scraps from the Congressional Research Service
include "Unmanned Vehicles for U.S. Naval Forces: Background and
Issues for Congress," updated October 25, 2006:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RS21294.pdf
and "Privatization and the Federal Government: An Introduction,"
December 28, 2006:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33777.pdf
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LINKS AND VERY SHORT STORIES
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Terrified Palestinians flee Baghdad for Syrian border
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/45b7856c4.html
Billboards That Know You by Name
By BARNABY FEDER
January 29, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/business/media/29cooper.html?ref=business
Russia Turns to Spin to Redefine Itself and Reassure the West
By ALAN COWELL
January 29, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/world/europe/29russia.html
Iranian Reveals Plan to Expand Role in Iraq
By JAMES GLANZ
January 29, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/world/middleeast/29iranians.html?hp&ex=1170133200&en=6f1bbc475aa92694&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Death Knell May Be Near for Public Election Funds
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Correction Appended
January 23, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/us/politics/23donate.html?th&emc=th
Gangsters for Capitalism
Saturday, 27 January 2007
By Clinton L. Cox
01/27/07 -- -- Although benign U.S. intentions are an article of faith
among many Americans, theft, murder and oppression have always
been central to U.S. policies and practices in the non-white world.
George Bush’s crusade for ‘democracy’ is yet another chapter in the
shameful saga.
“The U.S. has routinely destroyed democracy throughout the globe
while its leaders spout words about spreading democracy.”
“I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service
as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine
Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant
to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time
being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and
for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.... "
http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/134/1/
With DNA From Exhumed Body, Man Finally Wins Freedom
By FERNANDA SANTOS
"AUBURN, N.Y., Jan. 23 — Roy Brown, who spent 15 years in prison
on a murder conviction and uncovered evidence while there that
linked another man to the crime, was released from prison on
Tuesday after DNA tests on the other man's exhumed body
matched saliva on a nightshirt at the crime scene."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/nyregion/24brown.html
Cingular Profits Nearly Quadruple in 4th Quarter
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:04 p.m. ET
January 24, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Earns-ATT-Cingular.html
Man may sue Qantas over Bush T-shirt ban
A Melbourne man is seeking legal advice after Qantas stopped him
from boarding a flight because he was wearing a T-shirt that
depicted US President George W Bush as a terrorist.
Qantas officials told Allen Jasson his T-shirt was offensive and
could cause a security risk, as he tried to board a London bound
flight from Melbourne.
Mr Jasson says Mr Bush has led an illegal war in Iraq.
The 55-year-old says it is his democratic right
to express a political view.
"It's not about affronting anyone and it's certainly not an
offensive statement," he said.
Melbourne QC and civil liberties advocate Robert Richter
says the ban is outrageous.
"You see T-shirts like that on the streets of New York and you
don't see American police telling people to take off
their T-shirts," he said.
Qantas says it will allow Mr Jasson to board another flight,
as long as he removes the T-shirt.
The IT specialist says the T-shirt merely expresses his
view that the US-led war in Iraq is illegal.
"It's an important statement," he said.
"It's a statement that encapsulates the values and
important beliefs that I hold."
Mr Richter says T-shirts with political slogans are common.
"[Fellow passengers] don't have to read it, they don't
have to look at him," he said.
"They can come up to him and say that they disagree but
to think that might incite some problem is absurd."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1831559.htm
Bush Continues to Unite the World... Against Him
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0123-04.htm
UN Climate Panel to Project Wrenching Change
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0123-06.htm
Menopause at 30 for Millions in Poverty
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0123-03.htm
Israeli Separation Barrier is Cutting off Palestinians from Their Livelihood
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0123-02.htm
Tuna Stocks Close to Exhaustion, Says WWF
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0123-01.htm
Israel's President to Be Indicted in Rape Case
By GREG MYRE
"JERUSALEM, Jan. 23 — Israel's attorney general plans to indict the
country's president, Moshe Katsav, on charges of rape and other
sexual offenses, the Justice Ministry announced today."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/middleeast/23cnd-israel.html?
hp&ex=1169614800&en=7895701811d23e48&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Bank of America Profit Rises 47%
By ERIC DASH
Big gains in equity investments buoyed Bank of America's earnings
in the fourth quarter, which were up 47 percent from the same period
in 2005, the bank reported today.
January 23, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/business/23cnd-bank.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
US Warns Iran to Back Down
A second US aircraft carrier strike group now steaming toward the
Middle East is Washington's way of warning Iran to back down in its attempts
to dominate the region, a top US diplomat said in Dubai Tuesday.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012307A.shtml
Ecstasy trials for combat stress
David Adam, science correspondent
Thursday February 17, 2005
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1416073,00.html
UN Study Backs Climate Theory: Humans Cause Global Warming
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0119-07.htm
US Media Overlooked Major Humanitarian Stories in 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0119-05.htm
Cost of Iraq War Skyrockets to $8 Billion a Month
The steadily rising Iraq war price tag will reach about $8.4 billion a
month this year, Pentagon spokesmen said on Thursday, as heavy
replacement costs for lost, destroyed and aging equipment mount.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012007A.shtml
US Plans Envision Broad Attack on Iran: Analyst
US contingency planning for military action against Iran's nuclear
program goes beyond limited strikes and would effectively unleash a war
against the country, a former US intelligence analyst said on Friday.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012007B.shtml
Furor Over 12-Year-Old Actress's Rape Scene
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
January 20, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/20/movies/20dako.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Bush to Urge New Tax Plan for Health Care
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and ROBERT PEAR
January 21, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/washington/21health.html?
hp&ex=1169355600&en=768f7fdf5d41e18c&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Forget that old line about "What's good for GM is good for America"
How the social glue of America is being dissolved
January 2006, Volume 8, Number 1
http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/488
U.S. to Renegotiate Labor Rights
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Bush administration said it would renegotiate the language
covering labor rights in free trade agreements it has reached with
Peru, Colombia and Panama, in order for the new Democratic
Congress to approve the deals. John K. Veroneau, deputy United
States trade representative, said that the three countries had been
notified and predicted that an agreement on revised language could
be reached without a lengthy delay. The announcement was the
strongest signal to date that the administration was prepared
to modify its trade policies in light of Democratic control of the
House and Senate. Democrats, backed by American labor unions,
have long complained that the free trade deals negotiated
by the administration do not include enough protections
for American workers.
January 18, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/business/worldbusiness/18fobriefs-labor.html
Antiques Dealer Sues to Bar Homeless From Sidewalk
By TRYMAINE LEE
"A Manhattan antiques dealer has filed a lawsuit against a small group
of homeless people claiming that they are disrupting his business
by using the sidewalk outside his high-end East Side store as a urinal,
a spittoon and an occasional dressing room, according to the suit
and the dealer's lawyer."
January 18, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/nyregion/18suit.html?ref=nyregion
Justices Scrutinize Death Penalty in Texas
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
January 18, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/washington/18scotus.html
Army Denies Watada Illegal-War Defense
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011707A.shtml
Israeli General Resigns Over War With Hezbollah
By GREG MYRE
January 17, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/world/middleeast/17israel.html?
hp&ex=1169096400&en=49902c1723a2c943&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Second Iraq Hanging Also Went Awry
By JOHN F. BURNS
January 16, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/world/middleeast/16hang.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
U.N. Puts '06 Death Toll in Iraq Above 34,000
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
January 16, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/world/middleeast/16cnd-iraq.html?
hp&ex=1169010000&en=934ebfa88b7db5cb&ei=5094&partner=homepage
New Orleans Veterans for Peace
http://foodmusicjustice.com/2007/01/10/new-orleans-veterans-for-peace/
Guantanamo Uncassified
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5E3w7ME6Fs
Blue Man Group on Global Warming
http://video. google.com/ videoplay? docid=8453442377 878175440
Iraq to give Western companies oil rights: report
Last Updated: Monday, January 8, 2007 | 12:29 PM ET
CBC News
The Iraqi government plans to introduce a law that will give Western
oil companies rights to the country's huge oil reserves,
a British newspaper says.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/01/08/iraq-oil.html#skip300x250
Service members to Congress: End Iraq war
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 16, 2007 16:37:16 EST
http://www.navytime s.com/news/ 2007/01/tnsRedre ss070116/
Grumbling in the Ranks
Vocal opposition to President's Bush's strategy of sending more than 20,000
additional troops to help secure Iraq has grown to include some of the
troops themselves.
A group of more than 50 active-duty military officers will deliver a
petition to Congress on Tuesday signed by about 1,000 troops calling for an
end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. "Any troop increase over here will just
produce more sitting ducks, more targets," said Sergeant Ronn Cantu, who is
serving in Iraq.
Under the 1988 Military Whistleblower Protection Act, active duty military,
National Guard, and Reservists may communicate with any member of Congress
without fear of reprisal, even if copies of the communication are sent to
others.
www.marxmail.org
January 15, 2007, 1:30 pm
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/01/15/grumbling-in-the-ranks/trackback/
Anywhere the Eye Can See, It's Likely to See an Ad
By LOUISE STORY
Add this to the endangered list: blank spaces.
January 15, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/business/media/15everywhere.html?ref=business
Bush gets cool response from troops set for Iraq
By Joseph Curl
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published January 12, 2007
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070112-120719-1724r.htm
Brazil Gambles on Monitoring of Amazon Loggers
By LARRY ROHTER
January 14, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/world/americas/14amazon.html?
_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin
Pentagon Intensifies Pressure on Iran
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011307A.shtml
Israeli forces confiscating hundreds of dunams of Hebron
land for settlement industry
"Official sources at the Hebron offices of the Land Defense Committee
in the West Bank are reporting that Israeli forces intend to confiscate
much of the town of Dahariya for settlement industry. More than
300 fertile dunams of Palestinian land is slated to be taken from
the southwestern area of the town."
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=1414
Hackensack: Lawsuit in Police Shooting
By KAREEM FAHIM
The family of a 45-year-old man who was fatally shot last year by
a New Jersey Park Police officer filed a wrongful-death suit yesterday
in State Superior Court. The suit names the officer and several
colleagues, the State of New Jersey and the Park Police. The man,
Emil Mann, a member of the Ramapough Mountain Indians, had
been at a barbecue in the woods of Mahwah on April 1 when the
officer, Chad Walder, shot him twice without justification, the
suit alleges. Officer Walder, who has said he fired in self-defense,
and two other officers also delayed getting medical help to Mr. Mann,
the suit says. A lawyer for Officer Walder, Robert Galantucci, said
the shooting was justified. No criminal charges have been filed
in the case, and the Bergen County prosecutor's office has said
the investigation is still open. Mr. Mann, who grew up on the
mountain where he was shot, lived in Monroe, N.Y., and had
three children.
January 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/nyregion/12mbrfs-emil.html
Texas: Judge Blocks Ordinance on Immigrants
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A judge blocked an ordinance requiring landlords to verify the
citizenship of potential tenants, a day before it was to go into
effect in a Dallas suburb. The judge granted a temporary
restraining order after a claim that state open-meetings laws
had been violated when the ordinance was approved and
adopted by the City Council of Farmers Branch in November.
January 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/us/12brfs-LANDLORDS.html
U.S. Preparing for Trials of Top Qaeda Detainees
By DAVID JOHNSTON and NEIL A. LEWIS
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 — The Bush administration has set up a secret
war room in a Virginia suburb where it is assembling evidence
to prosecute high-ranking detainees from Al Qaeda including
the man accused of being the mastermind of the September 2001
attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, government officials said this week.
January 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/washington/12terror.html?ref=us
Bush's tough tactics are a 'declaration of war' on Iran
By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
Published: 12 January 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2145136.ece
Democrats Risk Antiwar Wrath if They Waver on Iraq Exit
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0110-08.htm
Soldiers Doubt an Influx of American Troops Will Benefit Iraqi Army
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0110-04.htm
Bush to Face Street Protests over Iraq Escalation Plan
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0110-07.htm
YouTube User Spurs Iraq War Dialogue
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0110-01.htm
Robert Fisk: Bush's new strategy - the march of folly
So into the graveyard of Iraq, George Bush, commander-in-chief,
is to send another 21,000 of his soldiers. The march of folly
is to continue...
Published: 11 January 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2144057.ece
Rights of Unions and Nonmembers Vie at Court
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
January 11, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/washington/11scotus.html?ref=us
If you can stomach it:
Transcript of President Bush's Address to Nation on U.S. Policy in Iraq
as recorded by The New York Times:
January 11, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/us/11ptext.html
Israel's Purging of Palestinian Christians
by Jonathan Cook in Nazareth
www.dissidentvoice.org
January 9, 2007
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan07/Cook09.htm
Democrats Beef Police State With 9/11 Commission Bill
Political "opposition" also helping Bush gain traction for Iran military strike
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/100107democratsbeef.htm
Wage Increase Could Hinge on Tax Cuts
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
January 10, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/washington/10wage.html?
hp&ex=1168491600&en=91d9820f1ef98a84&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Britain: An Increase in Profit at the London Stock Exchange
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
The London Stock Exchange, seeking to fend off a hostile takeover
by the Nasdaq Stock Market, reported a 9.9 percent increase in
third-quarter profit and forecast a "strong performance" in fiscal
2008. Net income rose to £31 million ($59.8 million) in the three
months ended Dec. 31, up from £28.2 million a year earlier, the
exchange said. Revenue increased 11 percent, to £89.9 million
($173.5 million). The third-quarter results "support the board's
rejection of Nasdaq's offer, which significantly undervalues the
business and the exchange's unique strategic position," the
exchange's chief executive, Clara Furse, said. "Our strong growth
prospects will continue to enhance the quality of our markets."
The exchange, Europe's biggest equity market, released its
earnings about three weeks ahead of schedule and two days
before Nasdaq's offer to pay £12.43 a share expires.
January 10, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/business/worldbusiness/10fobriefs-
ANINCREASEIN_BRF.html
Venezuelan Plan Shakes Investors
By SIMON ROMERO and CLIFFORD KRAUSS
January 10, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/business/worldbusiness/10venezuela.html?
ref=business
Mayor Finds Friendly Ears on Senate Homeland Security Panel
By SEWELL CHAN and ERIC LIPTON
WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took his perennial
pitch for more security money to Congress on Tuesday, but this year,
for a change, lawmakers seemed poised to listen.
January 10, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/nyregion/10bloomberg.html?ref=nyregion
3 Relatives of Plotter Are Held by Officials
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
January 10, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/nyregion/10plot.html?ref=nyregion
Gas-Like Odor Permeates Parts of New York City
By CHRISTINE HAUSER and SEWELL CHAN
January 8, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/08/nyregion/08cnd-odor.html?
hp&ex=1168318800&en=b688635a7be2e78d&ei=5094&partner=homepage
The Second Declaration of Havana
Walter Lippmann, CubaNews Los Angeles, California
This is one of the great political documents of all time. It was
presented to the Cuban people on February 4, 1962, following Cuba's
expulsion from the Organization of American States. It is printed
here in its entirety. [editorial note from Fidel Castro Speaks,
edited by James Petras and Martin Kenner, Grove Press, 1969.]
It is now web-posted in English here:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/fc-02-04-1962.html
Original Spanish:
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1962/esp/f040262e.html
The universe gives up its deepest secret
It is the invisible material that makes up most of the cosmos.
Now, scientists have created the first image of dark matter
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 08 January 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2134891.ece
Blood and oil: How the West will profit from Iraq's
most precious commodity
The Independent (UK)
January 7, 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132574.ece
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SCROLL DOWN TO READ:
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS (IN FULL DETAIL)
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
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EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
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REPORT BACK ON VENEZUELA
7:00 PM Saturday, January 13
522 Valencia Street , 3rd Floor Auditorium
Hear about:
-Factories run by workers
-The election turnout for Hugo Chavez
-Occupied factories
-Socialism of the 21st Century
See: A short film on current developments
in Venezuela .
Speakers:
-John Peterson, National Secretary
of US Hands Off Venezuela (recently
returned from Venezuela )
-A speaker from Global Exchange
-A speaker from Global Women's
Strike, San Francisco Bay Area
-An opportunity for discussion will follow
the presentations.
Sponsored by Hands Off Venezuela
Hands Off Venezuela is an international
organization dedicated to the principle
that the people of Venezuela have the
right to determine their own destiny
without interference from foreign
countries.
Contact info:
phone (415) 786-1680
email sfbay@ushov.org
web www.ushov.org
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ACT NOW TO END THE WAR!
SATURDAY JANUARY 27, 2007
Washington, D.C.
VOLUNTEER Live in NYC or DC? We need your help
before and during the protest. Call 212-868-5545
STAYINFORMED Visit www.unitedforpeace.org for
updated information and to sign up for our action alerts
DONATE Whether you can contribute $10, $100, or
$1000, we need your support to help end the war!
Call 212-866-5545 or visit www.unitedforpeace.org/donate
Join us for a massive
march on Washington
to tell the new Congress:
unitedforpeace&justice
www.unitedforpeace.org (212)868-5545
On Election Day the voters delivered a dramatic,
unmistakable mandate for peace. Now it's time for action.
On Jan. 27, 2007, help send a strong, clear message to
Congress and the Bush Administration:
Bring the troops home now!
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MARCH ON THE PENTAGON
SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2007
U.S. OUT OF IRAQ NOW
From Iraq to New Orleans, Fund the People's Needs NOT THE
WAR MACHINE! End Colonial Occupation: Iraq, Palestine, Haiti and
everywhere! Shut Down Guantanamo
AnswerCoalition.org
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LYNNE STEWART AND MICHAEL RATNER IN BAY AREA
FEBRUARY 23-25 (Lynne and her husband Ralph will
stay on several more days. Stay tuned for complete
schedule of events.)
Dear Friends of Lynne Stewart,
I am pleased to announce that Lynne Stewart and Michael Ratner have
just accepted our invitation to tour the Bay Area. The confirmed
dates are February 23-25, 2007. Lynne, accompanied by her husband
Ralph Poynter, will stay on several more days for additional meetings.
In solidarity,
Jeff Mackler,
West Coast Coordinator, Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
Co-Coordinator, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
O: 415-255-1080
Cell: 510-387-7714
H: 510-268-9429
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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
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A NEW LOOK AT U.S. RADIOACTIVE WEAPONS
Join us in a campaign to expose and stop the use of these illegal weapons
http://poisondust.org/
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You may enjoy watching these.
In struggle
Che:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqcezl9dD2c
Leon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukkFVV5X0p4
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FIGHTBACK! A Collection of Socialist Essays
By Sylvia Weinstein
http://www.walterlippmann.com/sylvia-weinstein-fightback-intro.html
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URGENT APPEAL TO SAVE IRAQ'S ACADEMICS.
Call for action to save Iraq's Academics
A little known aspect of the tragedy engulfing Iraq is the systematic
liquidation of the country's academics. Even according to conservative
estimates, over 250 educators have been assassinated, and many
hundreds more have disappeared. With thousands fleeing the country
in fear for their lives, not only is Iraq undergoing a major brain drain,
the secular middle class - which has refused to be co-opted by the
US occupation - is being decimated, with far-reaching consequences
for the future of Iraq.
http://www.brussellstribunal.org/
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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.
https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Advocacy?
JServSessionIdr003=cga2p2o6x1.app2a&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=177
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ENDORSE THE A.N.S.W.E.R. CALL TO ACTION
March 17-18, 2007
GLOBAL DAYS OF ACTION ON THE
4TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR!
http://answer.pephost.org/site/Survey?
SURVEY_ID=3400&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&JServSessionIdr011=
k7a3443r73.app8a
http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_homepage
Please circulate widely
www.answercoalition.org
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Sand Creek Massacre
Hello, Everyone,
On November 29, 1864, 700 Colorado troops savagely slaughtered
over 450 Cheyenne children, disabled, elders, and women in the
southeastern Colorado Territory under its protection. This act
became known as the Sand Creek Massacre. This film project
("The Sand Creek Massacre" documentary film project) is an
examination of an open wound in the souls of the Cheyenne
people as told from their perspective. This project chronicles
that horrific 19th century event and its affect on the 21st century
struggle for respectful coexistence between white and native
plains cultures in the United States of America.
Listed below are links on which you can click to get the latest news,
products, and view, free, "THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE" award-
winning documentary short. In order to create more native
awareness, particularly to save the roots of America's history,
please read the following:
Some people in America are trying to save the world. Bless
them. In the meantime, the roots of America are dying.
What happens to a plant when the roots die? The plant dies
according to my biology teacher in high school. American's
roots are its native people. Many of America's native people
are dying from drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, hunger,
and disease, which was introduced to them by the Caucasian
male. Tribal elders are dying. When they die, their oral
histories go with them. Our native's oral histories are the
essence of the roots of America, what took place before
our ancestors came over to America, what is taking place,
and what will be taking place. It is time we replenish
America's roots with native awareness, else America
continues its decaying, and ultimately, its death.
You can help. The 22-MINUTE SAND CREEK MASSACRE
DOCUMENTARY PRESENTATION/EDUCATIONAL DVD IS
READY FOR PURCHASE! (pass the word about this powerful
educational tool to friends, family, schools, parents, teachers,
and other related people and organizations to contact
me (dvasicek@earthlink.net, 303-903-2103) for information
about how they can purchase the DVD and have me come
to their children's school to show the film and to interact
in a questions and answers discussion about the Sand
Creek Massacre.
Happy Holidays!
Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Vasicek,+Don
http://www.donvasicek.com
dvasicek@earthlink.net
303-903-2103
"THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE" AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY
SHORT FEATURED AT NATIVE AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL:
http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/local/16035305.htm
(scroll down when you get there])
"THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE" AWARD-WINNING
WRITER/FILMMAKER DONALD L. VASICEK REPORT:
http://www.digitalcinemareport.com/sandcreekmassacre.html
"THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE" AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY
SHORT FINALIST IN DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL COMPETITION (VIEW HERE):
http://www.docupyx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=4
1
VIEW "THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE" AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY
SHORT FILM MOVIE OF THE WEEK FOR FREE HERE:
http://twymancreative.com/twymanc.html
SHOP:
http://www.manataka.org/page633.html
BuyIndies.com
donvasicek.com.
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MUST SEE: PBS VIDEO NOTEBOOK: A DAY AT THE PLANT
NOW's Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa takes us inside the
world's largest pork processing plant, located in Tar Heel, North
Carolina. As the first TV journalist ever allowed to film inside the
plant, owned by The Smithfield Packing Company, Hinojosa gives
us an insider's view of what conditions are like in a plant that
slaughters over 33,000 hogs per day.
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/250/smithfield.html
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Rights activist held in Oaxaca prison
Three students arrested and held incommunicado in Oaxaca
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/11/80142.html
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TAX THE RICH! FEED THE POOR! MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS, NOT WAR!
www.bauaw.org
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The following quote is from the 1918 anti-war speech delivered
in Canton, Ohio, by Eugene Debs. The address, protesting World War I,
resulted in Debs being arrested and imprisoned on charges of espionage.
The speech remains one of the great expressions of the militancy and
internationalism of the US working class.
His appeal, before sentencing, included one of his best-known quotes:
"...while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal
element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."
Read the complete speech at:
http://douglassarchives.org/debs_a78.htm
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!VIVA FIDEL! LONG LIVE FIDEL! LONG LIVE THE CUBAN REVOLUTION!
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My Name is Roland Sheppard
This Is My `Blog'
I am is a retired Business Representative of Painters District
Council #8 in San Francisco. I have been a life long social activist
and socialist. Roland Sheppard is a retired Business Representative
of Painters District Council #8 in San Francisco. I have been
a life long social activist and socialist.
Prior to my being elected as a union official, I had worked
for 31 years as a house painter and have been a lifelong socialist.
I have led a unique life. In my retire age, I am interested in writing
about my experiences as a socialist, as a participant in the Black
Liberation Movement, the Union Movement, and almost all social
movements.
I became especially interested in the environment when I was
diagnosed with cancer due to my work environment. I learned
how to write essays, when I first got a computer in order to put
together all the medical legal arguments on my breakthrough
workers' compensation case in California, proving that my work
environment as a painter had caused my cancer. After a five-year
struggle, I won a $300,000 settlement on his case.
The following essays are based upon my involvement in the
struggle for freedom for all humanity. I hope the history
of my life's experiences will help future generations
of Freedom Fighters.
For this purpose, this website is dedicated.
web.mac.com/rolandgarret/iWeb/Site/RolandSheppardsBlog.html
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The Corporate Looting of the Gulf Coast
Robin Hood in Reverse
http://www.counterpunch.org/quigley11132006.html
More Info:
www.justiceforneworleans.org
For a detailed report:
Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast
by Rita J. King, Special to CorpWatch
August 15th, 2006
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14004
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TAX FACT SHEET
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/901006_taxpolicy.pdf
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Communist Manifesto illustrated by Disney [and other cartoons) with
words by K. Marx and F. Engels--absolutely wonderful!...bw]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1oGIffyVVk&NR
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Asylum Street Spankers-Magnetic Yellow Ribbon
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=bfMgRHRJ- tc
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Homer Simpson Joins the Army
Another morale-booster from Groening and company. [If you get
a chance to see the whole thing, it's worth it...bw]
http://hotair.com/archives/2006/11/12/video-the-simpsons-salute-the-lazy-and
-uneducated/
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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.motherjon
es.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
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Immigration video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tacK8MAfuAs
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
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=668720
5<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.
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Asylum Street Spankers-Magnetic Yellow Ribbon
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=bfMgRHRJ- tc
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
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/
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nick Mottern, Consumers for Peace
nickmottern@earthlink.net
Howard Zinn joins Kathy Kelly, Dahr Jamail, Ann Wright and Neil MacKay in
endorsing "War Crimes Committed by the United States in Iraq and
Mechanisms for Accountability."
The report was published internationally by 10 organizations in October.
"This report on the war crimes of the current administration is an
invaluable resource, with a meticulous presentation of the
evidence and an astute examination of international law.
- Howard Zinn.
The 37 page report, written by Consumers for Peace with the
consultation of international humanitarian law expert Karen
Parker, JD, is available for free download at
http://www.consumersforpeace.org/pdf/war_crimes_iraq_101006.pdf
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
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/
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Taking Aim with Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone has a new Internet
address: http://www.takingaimradio.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 the
new Taking Aim web address:
http://www.takingaimradio.com
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
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
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
Visit the Traprock Peace Center Video Archive at:
http://www.youtube.com/TraprockPeaceTV
Visit the Traprock Peace Center
Deerfield, MA
http://www.traprockpeace.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
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
"It is reasonable and honorable to abhor violence and preach
against it while there is a visible and rational means of obtaining,
without violence, the indispensable justice for the welfare of man.
But, if convinced by the inevitable differences of character, by the
irreconcilable and different interests, because of the deep diversity
in the sea of the political mind and aspirations, there is not a peaceful
way to obtain the minimum rights of a people (...) or it is the blind
who against the boiling truth sustain peaceful means, or it is those
who doesn't see and insist on proclaiming it that are untrue
to their people."[2]
[2] José Martí " Ciegos y desleales Obras Escogidas in III volumes;
Editorial Política 1981 Volume III p182
---------*-- -------*- --------* --------- *-------- -*------- -
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.
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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."
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NO BORDERS! NO WALLS! NO FENCES! GENERAL AMNESTY FOR ALL!
OUR HOMELAND IS WHERE WE LIVE!
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REPEAL THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT IN 2007!
Check out: 10 EXCELLENT REASONS NOT TO JOIN THE MILITARY
http://www.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
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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
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Bill of Rights
http://www.law. cornell.edu/ constitution/ constitution. billofrights. html
http://www.indybay. org/news/ 2006/02/1805182. php
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"The International"
Lots of good information over at Wikipedia, as often the case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Internationale
What I've always found fascinating is the wide variety of translations (or
perhaps it would be better to call them "interpretations" or "variations")
that exist, even in English. It's also fascinating to read all the different
verses of the song.
One thing I learned at Wikipedia is that the original intention was that the
song would be sung to the tune of the Marseillaise, but that shortly
thereafter different music was written. Good thing, in my opinion, I'd hate
to see the identities of two stirring songs be confused. Each deserves their
own place in history.
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