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Bay Area United Against War Newsletter
Table of Contents:
A. EVENTS AND ACTIONS
B. VIDEO, FILM, AUDIO. ART, POETRY, ETC.
C. SPECIAL APPEALS AND ONGOING CAMPAIGNS
D. ARTICLES IN FULL
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A. EVENTS AND ACTIONS
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Join us in protest at the Israeli Consulate
456 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m.
on Tuesday, July 5th.
Please bring signs, chalk and/or Palestinian Flags, or just come!
In the meantime, please stay informed (http:ustogazawest.org)
http://codepink.org/blog/2011/07/jailed-fasting-for-gaza-at-the-u-s-embassy-in-athens/
Print, copy and distribute this flyer:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/flotilla.pdf
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International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
On the 5th of July Let's Raise Our Voices for the Cuban 5
THIS 5TH OF JULY, MAKE A CALL, OR SEND A FAX, OR AN E-MAIL, OR A TELEGRAM to the WHITE HOUSE to demand President Obama free the Cuban 5 imprisoned in the United States for defending their homeland. Ask all your friends to do the same.
Let's continue to demand President Obama to make use of the rights conferred upon him by the US Constitution, as a lawyer, as a father, as a son, as a husband, and as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to END THIS COLOSSAL INJUSTICE AND TO FREE THE 5 NOW!!!
This month this ongoing campaign is receiving an added boost by the 22nd challenge to the unilateral blockade of Cuba by the Pastors for Peace Caravan. In many cities across Canada and the United States send off events on July 5th will highlight the campaign with spokes people putting an emphasis on the struggle for the freedom of the Cuban 5. Audiences attending will be asked to send e-mails, faxes or to call President Obama.
FORWARD THIS INFORMATION TO A FRIEND SO HE OR SHE CAN JOIN THIS CAMPAIGN
LET'S BREAK THE WALL OF SILENCE BY ORGANIZING ALL TYPES OF ACTIVITIES EVERY MONTH UNTIL THE FIVE RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND AND THEIR FAMILIES.
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE
By phone: 202-456-1111
If calling from outside the United States, dial first the International Area Code
+ 1 (US country code) followed by 202-456-1111
By Fax: 202-456-2461
If fax is sent from outside the United States, dial first the International Area
Code + 1 (US country code) followed by 202-456-2461
To send an electronic message write to: HTTP://WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/CONTACT
To send a telegram
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.
International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
To learn more about the Cuban 5 visit:
www.thecuban5.org
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Carlos Montes' Court Date is July 6. Call AG Holder that day!
(202) 514-2001
Support Carlos Montes!
National Call-in Day to
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Please call U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
at (202) 514-2001
Suggested text: "My name is __________, I am from _______(city), in ______(state). I am calling to tell Attorney General Holder:
1. Drop the charges! Hands off Carlos Montes!
2. Stop the FBI raids and Grand Jury repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists.
3. Return all property to Carlos Montes and the other activists raided by the FBI.
On Wednesday, July 6, Carlos Montes will go to a Los Angeles court to face six felony charges and enter a plea. The charges all deal with firearms, ammunition and permits. Like millions of other Americans, Carlos has for years held legal permits for guns. The fact is that the charges against Carlos carry a total penalty of up to 18 years, and are aimed at his effective political organizing against war and for people's civil rights.
Carlos is a longtime Chicano activist known for his leadership during the 1968 L.A. high school reform walkouts (see HBO film "Walkout!") and the immigrants' rights mega-marches of 2006. More recently in September 2010, Carlos Montes' name appeared on the FBI search warrant left in the Anti-War Committee office in Minneapolis, where the protests against the 2008 Republican National Convention were centered. The attack on Carlos Montes is part of a sweeping campaign tied to 23 Midwest activists whose homes the FBI raided or who were subpoenaed to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's Grand Jury in Chicago, as the Washington Post reported.
In addition, when the LA Sheriffs broke down Carlos' door and ransacked his home, they took political documents, a computer, cell phones and meeting notes having nothing to do with the legal charges. Later, the FBI approached Carlos to ask him questions about the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the target of this new McCarthyism. Those who know the history of Martin Luther King Jr. and the American civil rights movement understand the repression Montes now faces.
When Carlos went to court on June 16, he demanded police and court documents. Not surprisingly, the District Attorney grew angry, at first refusing, and eventually relenting. There is the not-so-hidden hand of the FBI at work here and its goal is to disrupt and criminalize activists and movements for social justice.
Make no mistake: The U.S. government trial of Carlos Montes is an attack on the immigrants' rights and anti-war movements. So please call July 6 and let Attorney General Holder know we are building a movement that will not bow down to dirty tricks and political repression.
In addition, the Los Angeles Committee to Stop FBI Repression
is mobilizing to pack the courtroom at
8:30a.m. on July 6 when Carlos Montes appears at
Alhambra Courthouse,
150 W Common Wealth, Alhambra, CA 91801. See map.
We invite others to organize solidarity protests, events, or participate in the CSFR Call In Day on July 6, as you see fit.
Please sign the petition for Carlos on the International Action Center website.
Visit www.StopFBI.net or write StopFBI@gmail.com or call 612-379-3585.
follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright (c) 2011 Committee to Stop FBI Repression, All rights reserved.
Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
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STOP BOMBING LIBYA!
Sat. July 9, 12 noon
Protest at Powell and Market Sts., SF
Please bring your friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers to the San Francisco protest on Saturday July 9, 2011, to demand "Stop the Bombing of Libya!" There will be a joint action that day in Washington, D.C. in front of the White House.
Contrary to the absurd argument that the bombing of Libya does not constitute a "hostility," this is fierce and illegal war aimed at carrying out regime change in the country that possesses the largest oil reserves in Africa and the ninth largest in the world.
Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Tripoli on June 17 against the U.S./NATO bombing and the terrible toll it has taken on the people, economy and infrastructure of Libya. Of course, you didn't see any coverage of this huge demonstration in the corporate media. That massive outpouring of humanity undoubtedly included many people who have grievances against the current Libyan government. But the people of Tripoli, like people everywhere, stand together against bombing by foreign powers in pursuit of an imperial agenda. Libyans want peace and they must be free to determine their own destiny.
The people of the United States are adding their voice of opposition on Saturday, July 9 in San Francisco and at the White House. By a margin of 2-to-1, the American people oppose this illegal and criminal war. There is no such thing as a "humanitarian" cruise missile. The U.S. government is spending $10 million a day bombing Libya while it bombs Afghanistan and still occupies Iraq with 47,000 troops.
In the name of "protecting civilians" NATO is killing civilians-and describing them as "legitimate military targets."
On June 20, for instance, NATO and the Pentagon pummeled the birthday party of a four-year-old boy with heavy missiles. They killed 16 civilians, including the four-year-old and his mom, as well as other children and their parents. The four-year-old was the grandson of Khweldi el-Hamedi, an associate of Colonel Gaddafi who participated in the 1969 coup that overthrew the old monarchy.
NATO is killing the civilian family members of the Libyan government in an attempt to break the will of those they have targeted for destruction and overthrow. The Pentagon used the same type of tactic in the 1991 Iraq war.
At a time when the U.S. government says that it is broke and that tens of thousands of teachers and nurses and other workers are being fired because of the "budget crisis," there seems to be limitless funds for war, bombing, invasion and occupation.
Please join us Saturday, July 9!
Three ways that you can help:
1. Endorse.
2. Download the flyer or poster and help spread the word.
3. Make a donation.
Call 415-821-6545 or visit www.ANSWERsf.org for more info or to volunteer.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.AnswerCoalition.org
http://www.AnswerSF.org
Answer@AnswerSF.org
2969 Mission St.
415-821-6545
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Cuba Caravan Send Off Party!!
-come help send the Cuba Caravan to Cuba
Saturday, July 9, 2011
4pm- snacks and music
5pm- program
6pm- Tamale dinner and more music
Eastside Arts Alliance,C
2277 International, Oakland ( AC #1 or 1R )
Donation requested to help support the Caravan (no one turned away)
Video- "People to People" about the Caravan
Speakers- Including Graduate from the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba
Come learn about the Caravan and help send it to Cuba.
For More Info: baypeace@baypeace.org 510-863-1737
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July 12-22
THE UNIMAGINABLE JOURNEY of S. Brian Willson an American Peacemaker
BAY AREA TOUR DATES:
TUESDAY JULY 12 • SANTA ROSA 7:15pm - Santa Rosa Friends House, 684 Benicia Dr.
WEDNESDAY JULY 13 • WALNUT CREEK 7:00pm - Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center, 55 Eckley Ln.
THURSDAY JULY 14 • SEBASTOPOL 7:00pm - Community Church of Sebastopol, 1000 Gravenstein Hwy North (sponsored by Copperfields)
FRIDAY JULY 15 • SAN RAFAEL 7:30pm - First United Methodist Church, 9 Ross Valley Dr. (at Third)
SUNDAY JULY 17 • SAN FRANCISCO 12:30pm - First Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin St. (at Geary)
MONDAY JULY 18 • BERKELEY 6:00pm (talk begins at 7) - Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. (at Bonita)
TUESDAY JULY 19 • SAN JOSE 7:00pm - San Jose Peace AND Justice Center, 48 S. 7th St.
WEDNESDAY JULY 20 • CAPITOLA 7:30pm - Capitola Book Café, 1475 41st Ave., Capitola
FRIDAY JULY 22 • SEASIDE 5:00pm - Peace Resource Center, 1364 Fremont Blvd.
BLOOD ON THE TRACKS is available for purchase from your favorite bookseller or from PM Press: www.pmpress.org (ISBN 978-1-60486-421-2)• For more information: bloodonthetracks.info • "Like" the book page on Facebook!
Follow Brian's journey...from high school jock...to Viet Nam commander...to peace activist...seeking right livelihood...and now...cycling to your town with his new book!
SUMMER 2011 BOOK TOUR
SPONSORS
Global Exchange
Joanna Macy
Unitarian Universalists for Peace, San Francisco
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarians
Veterans For Peace San Francisco
Mt. Diablo Peace Center (Walnut Creek)
KPFA
ANSWER - SF Bay Area
Bay Area Latin America Solidarity Coalition (BALASC)
Peaceworkers (San Francisco)
Marin Task Force on the Americas
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Buddhist Peace Fellowship (Marin County)
School of the Americas Watch West (SOAWW)
The Metta Center
Pace e Bene
San Francisco Friends Meeting - Peace Committee
American Friends Service Committee Pacific Mountain Region
Progressive Democrats of America- San Francisco (PDA-SF)
Western States Legal Foundation
Peninsula Peace and Justice Center (Palo Alto)
VFW Bill Motto Post 5888
Veterans For Peace Santa Cruz
People United for Peace of Santa Cruz County
Resource Center for Nonviolence
GI Rights Hotline, Santa Cruz Node
Ecumenical Peace Institute (Berkeley)
CODE PINK
Marin Friends Meeting
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Physicians for a National Health Program California is having our 2nd annual California Single-Payer Health Care Summer Conference at USC's Tutor Campus Center Ballroom on Saturday, July 16th, 2011 from 9am - 5pm.
Summer Conference 2011 is designed to teach attendees about just, guaranteed, comprehensive health care for ALL who live in California. We are gearing this conference toward professionals working in health, policy, advocacy, education, and organizing arenas.
This year's conference will feature Dr. Carmen Rita Nevarez, Immediate Past President, American Public Health Association as our keynote speaker, plus three Leadership Institutes that will help you develop your skills to build the movement through public speaking, coalition building or grassroots advocacy.
Ticket prices are on a sliding scale, and people who are "new to the movement" receive a discount.
For more information and to register, go to healthisahumanright.eventbrite.com. Please also download our flyer here. Please help us spread the word!
If your organization would like to sponsor this event, you can download our sponsorship form here.
Hope you can join us this summer in Los Angeles. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks,
Molly Tavella, MPH
Shearer Student Fellow
Physicians for a National Health Program California
2344 6th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 665-8523 office
(408) 892-1255 mobile
(510) 665-6027 fax
molly@pnhpcalifornia.org
www.cahpsa.org
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NATIONWIDE PROTEST AGAINST HYATT'S ANTI-WORKER ACTIONS!
July 21st, Thursday, 4:00pm
Grand Hyatt Hotel (Stockton and Sutter Streets)
San Francisco
PLEASE RSVP SO WE KNOW YOU'RE STANDING WITH HOTEL WORKERS ON THIS NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST, CLICK HERE:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFZqUEMtNGU2TndRcWZsUVNGaC0tb1E6MQ
On May 10th, Hyatt offered to sign the Hilton deal. However, for the previous 19 month since our contract expired, Hyatt had been insisting on ripping off our medical benefits, freezing our pension, eliminating the room service bussers, and keeping us in a recession with their cheap wage proposal.
Ever since our contract expired on August 2009, Hyatt joined with other Class A (bigger) hotels to refuse a new, fair Union Contract. Had it not been for the Hilton which took the lead in signing the deal, Hyatt would still be offering the garbage they were offering before the Hilton signed.
Hyatt is notorious nationally for its attacks on its immigrant work force.
In August 2009, Hyatt fired its entire housekeeping department in Boston. Women, mostly immigrants (many of whom had been working for Hyatt for more than 20 years) were fired and replaced by a subcontractor company which pays its workers close to minimum wage. Read more about the Boston housekeepers.
Hyatt has also distinguished itself as the company which loads more and more work on room cleaners, often resulting in high levels of worker injuries. Hyatt has been cited by the government for unsafe working conditions in housekeeping. Read more on housekeepers' injuries, click here.
Join us for a nationwide protest against Hyatt's anti-worker actions on July 21st, Thursday, 4:00pm in front of the Grand Hyatt hotel on Stockton and Sutter Streets, San Francisco.
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Millions March In Harlem
Against the Attack on African People
END
the Bombing of Libya
the Illegal Sanctions in Zimbabwe
Bloomberg's Destruction
of Education, Housing, Health Care, Jobs and more!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Pan Africanism Rising Against Imperialism!
Assemble at 10 AM
110th Street and Malcolm X Blvd
Harlem New York
Pan Africanism or Perish!
For more information and participation call (718) 398-1766
Forward to all your contacts and let us know how many will be attending!
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FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE AND POLICE STATE TERROR
Saturday, August 20 at 2:00pm
Location: In front of SF City Hall, Polk Street side, between Grove & McAllister
On the 34th Birthday of Idriss Stelley, Killed by SFPD on 6-12-01 at the Sony Metreon Complex,
The event is meant to launch a citywide police accountability and transparency COLLECTIVE comprised of socially mindful grassroots entities , social/racial Justice activists, and "progressive "city officials, as well as mayoral candidates, HOLD THEM TO THEIR PROMISES!
Performances, music, spoken word, and speakers.
If you would like to speak or perform,
please contact Jeremy Miller at 415-595-2894, djasik87.9@gmail.com,
or mesha Monge-Irizarry at 415-595-8251
Please join our facebook group at
Idriss Stelley Foundation !
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Protest, March & Die-In on 10th Anniversary of Afghanistan War
Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, 4:30-6:30pm
New Federal Building, 7th & Mission Sts, SF
End All the Wars & Occupations-Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Libya, Haiti . . .
Money for Jobs, Healthcare & Schools-Not for the Pentagon
Friday, October 7, 2011 will be the exact 10th anniversary of the U.S./NATO war on the people of Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of Afghani people have been killed, wounded and displaced, and thousands of U.S. and NATO forces killed and wounded. The war costs more than $126 billion per year at a time when social programs are being slashed.
The true and brutal character of the U.S. strategy to "win hearts and minds" of the Afghani population was described by a Marine officer, quoted in a recent ANSWER Coalition statement:
"You can't just convince them [Afghani people] through projects and goodwill," another Marine officer said. "You have to show up at their door with two companies of Marines and start killing people. That's how you start convincing them." (To read the entire ANSWER statement, click here)
Mark your calendar now and help organize for the October 7 march and die-in in downtown San Francisco. There are several things you can do:
1. Reply to this email to endorse the protest and die-in.
2. Spread the word and help organize in your community, union, workplace and campus.
3. Make a donation to help with organizing expenses.
Only the people can stop the war!
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.AnswerCoalition.org
http://www.AnswerSF.org
Answer@AnswerSF.org
2969 Mission St.
415-821-6545
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(Please forward widely)
Save the dates of October 6, 15 to protest wars; and May 15-22, 2012--Northern California UNAC will be discussing plans for solidarity actions around the Chicago G-8 here.
United National Antiwar Committee
UNACpeace@gmain.com or UNAC at P.O. Box 123, Delmar, NY 12054
518-227-6947
www.UNACpeace.org
UNITED NATIONAL ANTIWAR COMMITTEE (UNAC) CALLS FOR ACTIONS IN OCTOBER
TO MARK 10 YEARS OF WAR ON AFGHANISTAN
On June 22, the White House defied the majority of Americans who want an end to the war in Afghanistan. Instead of announcing the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops, contractors, bases, and war dollars, Obama committed to removing only one twentieth of the US forces on the ground in Afghanistan over the next eight months. Another 23,000 will supposedly be withdrawn just in time to influence the 2012 elections. Even if the President follows thru on this plan, nearly 170,000 US soldiers and contractors will remain in Afghanistan. All veterans and soldiers will be raising the question, "Who will be the last U.S. combatant to die in Afghanistan?"
In truth, the President's plan is not a plan to end the war in Afghanistan. It was, instead, an announcement that the U.S. was changing strategy. As the New York Times reported, the US will be replacing the "counterinsurgency strategy" adopted 18 months ago with the kind of campaign of drone attacks, assassinations, and covert actions that the US has employed in Pakistan.
At a meeting of the United National Antiwar Committee's National Coordinating Committee, held in NYC on June 18, representatives of 47 groups voted to endorse the nonviolent civil resistance activities beginning on October 6 in Washington, D.C. and to call for nationally coordinated local actions on October 15 to protest the tenth anniversary of the US war in Afghanistan. UNAC urges activists in as many cities as possible to hold marches, picket lines, teach-ins, and other events to say:
· Withdraw ALL US/NATO Military Forces, Contractors, and Bases out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya NOW!
· End drone attacks on defenseless populations in Pakistan and Yemen!
· End US Aid to Israel! Hands Off Iran!
· Bring Our War Dollars Home Now! Money for Jobs and Education, Not for War and Incarceration!
Note these dates of upcoming significant events:
· November 11-13 UNAC National Conference - a gathering of all movement activists to learn, share, plan future actions.
· May 15-22, 2012 International Protest Actions against war criminals attending NATO meeting and G-8 summit in Chicago.
Challenge the NATO War Makers in Chicago May 15-22, 2012
NATO and the G8 are coming to Chicago - so are we!
The White House has just announced that the U.S. will host a major international meeting of NATO, the US-commanded and financed 28-nation military alliance, in Chicago from May 15 to May 22, 2012. It was further announced that at the same time and place, there will be a summit of the G-8 world powers. The meetings are expected to draw heads of state, generals and countless others.
At a day-long meeting in New York City on Saturday, June 18, the United National Antiwar Committee's national coordinating committee of 69 participants, representing, 47 organizations, unanimously passed a resolution to call for action at the upcoming NATO meeting.
UNAC is determined to mount a massive united outpouring in Chicago during the NATO gathering to put forth demands opposing endless wars and calling for billions spent on war and destruction be spent instead on people's needs for jobs, health care, housing and education.
CHALLENGE THE NATO WAR MAKERS
Whereas, the U.S. is the major and pre-eminent military, economic and political power behind NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and
Whereas, the U.S. will be hosting a major NATO gathering in the spring of 2012, and
Whereas, U.S. and NATO-allied forces are actively engaged in the monstrous wars, occupations and military attacks on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, the Middle East and elsewhere,
Be it resolved that:
1) UNAC, in conjunction with a broad range of groups and organizations that share general agreement with the major demands adopted at our 2010 Albany, NY national conference, initiate a mass demonstration at the site of the NATO gathering, and
2) UNAC welcomes and encourages the participation of all groups interested in mobilizing against war and for social justice in planning a broad range of other NATO meeting protests including teach-ins, alternative conferences and activities organized on the basis of direct action/civil resistance, and
3) UNAC will seek to make the NATO conference the occasion for internationally coordinated protests, and
4) UNAC will convene a meeting of all of the above forces to discuss and prepare initial plans to begin work on this spring action.
Resolution passed unanimously by the National Coordinating Committee of UNAC on Saturday, June 18, 2011
click here to donate to UNAC:
https://nationalpeaceconference.org/Donate.html
Click here for the Facebook UNAC group.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_157059221012587&ap=1
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B. VIDEO, FILM, AUDIO. ART, POETRY, ETC.:
[Some of these videos are embeded on the BAUAW website:
http://bauaw.blogspot.com/ or bauaw.org ...bw]
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Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class [Full Film]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ZS91cqpa8
Narrated by Ed Asner
Based on the book by Pepi Leistyna, Class Dismissed navigates the steady stream of narrow working class representations from American television's beginnings to today's sitcoms, reality shows, police dramas, and daytime talk shows.
Featuring interviews with media analysts and cultural historians, this documentary examines the patterns inherent in TV's disturbing depictions of working class people as either clowns or social deviants -- stereotypical portrayals that reinforce the myth of meritocracy.
Class Dismissed breaks important new ground in exploring the ways in which race, gender, and sexuality intersect with class, offering a more complex reading of television's often one-dimensional representations. The video also links television portrayals to negative cultural attitudes and public policies that directly affect the lives of working class people.
Featuring interviews with Stanley Aronowitz, (City University of New York); Nickel and Dimed author, Barbara Ehrenreich; Herman Gray (University of California-Santa Cruz); Robin Kelley (Columbia University); Pepi Leistyna (University of Massachusetts-Boston) and Michael Zweig (State University of New York-Stony Brook). Also with Arlene Davila, Susan Douglas, Bambi Haggins, Lisa Henderson, and Andrea Press.
Sections: Class Matters | The American Dream Machine | From the Margins to the Middle | Women Have Class | Class Clowns | No Class | Class Action
http://www.mediaed.org
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Daily life in Fukushima: 'It was like visiting another universe'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY5cvod4Tiw&feature=player_embedded
Uploaded by RussiaToday on Jul 3, 2011
Jan Beranek, who is with a team of Greenpeace activists investigating the fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, says Japanese are encouraged to return to their normal lives unaware of the dangers they face in the contaminated area. "I personally find it very disturbing, because on the one hand you see the Japanese authorities forcing people and society to get back to normal... And yet at the same time there are still extremely high levels of radiation and the contamination of the soil, and also potentially in the food," the activist told RT. "This is just unbelievable because at those levels of exposure it certainly poses a risk to the lives and health of the people. If you draw a parallel to the Chernobyl disaster, then actually the Soviets decided to evacuate everyone living in the place, where radiation was three or four times lower than what we see in Fukushima City today," added Beranek, who personally visited the Chernobyl area after the 1986 disaster. Greenpeace is putting pressure on the Japanese government to gather and provide more information about the contamination in addition to doing its independent effort, Beranek said. "We've actually forced the government to, for example, extend the monitoring of the sea. And we also hear that the government is now revising at least some of the protective measures for children, which is definitely good to see. Yet the government is too slow and doing too little actually [compared to] what the situation would deserve," he said. The activist hopes the consequences of the Fukushima disaster will make Japan and other nations change their stance on nuclear energy and phase it out. There is such change already in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. "Nuclear power, as we have seen, is inherently unsafe. There is always an unpredictable combination of natural catastrophe, technological failure, human error that can result in a situation when a reactor gets out of control very fast. It's a question of a few hours before full meltdown happens. It's unsafe to take the bets and continue with nuclear power," Beranek believes.
RT on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RTnews
RT on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RT_com
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New Analysis of Unit 3 Fuel Pool Video Reveals Top of Fuel Bundle
http://fairewinds.com/content/new-analysis-unit-3-fuel-pool-video-reveals-top-fuel-bundle
New Analysis of Unit 3 Fuel Pool Video Reveals Top of Fuel Bundle from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
A video first released by TEPCO in April has been re-analyzed by Ian Goddard and appears to reveal a handle found atop a single nuclear fuel bundle. This raises more questions about the condition of any fuel still remaining in the Unit 3 fuel pool.
Hi I'm Arnie Gundersen from Fairewinds.
If you have been watching the site lately, it has been about 3 weeks since we have updated a video. During that time, Maggie and I have been on the road making a couple of presentations in Massachusetts, a couple of TV shows and some radio and print. That will be on the site over the next couple of weeks to inform you of what we have been up to. But something happened last night that I really wanted to share with you right now.
I got an email last night from Ian Goddard. And Ian is a long time watcher of this site and has done some really great analysis in the past as well. He took a look at an old TEPCO video. And Tokyo Electric had gone into the Unit 3 fuel pool just once. You remember that Unit 3 is the reactor that is blown to smithereens. The video showed a lot of damage. But Ian Goddard was able to find one spot where there is clearly something that appears to be discernible. It looks like the handle of a BWR fuel bundle.
Ian compares that bundle to other bundles which were looked at over in Unit 4 and it is pretty clear to me and a couple of other nuclear engineers I have shown it to, that this might be a single nuclear fuel bundle in the Unit 3 fuel pool.
It raises more questions than it answers. First of all, there should be a lot of bundles there. Yet, obviously, there is only one in this picture. Where are the other bundles? The other part of the question is, this should be under about 25 feet of water. It is not, it is very near to the surface. So what has happened to that particular bundle, or to the water level in the pool that caused it to come in such close contact with atmosphere?
Like I said, it raises more questions than it answers, but I really do want to thank Ian Goddard for discovering this. If you have any comments or questions or thoughts on what you think it might be, please send in through the comments section on the website.
Thanks, we will get back to you soon.
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Arnie Gundersen Discusses Situation at flooded Ft. Calhoun and Cooper Nuclear Power Plants.
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/gundersen-june-29-2011-video
Gundersen Discusses the Situation at the flooded Ft. Calhoun and Cooper Nuclear Power Plants. from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
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Las Conchas fire, evening flames threatening Los Alamos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCYl7HFmCzE&feature=player_embedded
Uploaded by MichaelZeiler on Jun 29, 2011
On this fourth day of the devastating Las Conchas fire which is threatening Los Alamos, New Mexico, the night sky finally cleared enough to see the flames licking all around the labs and the city.
This time-lapse video is comprised of 113 photographs taken 30 seconds apart. Each photograph is shown for one second. My vantage point is from my home on a ridge just to the north of Santa Fe.
You can see quick changes in the fires, stars in the sky, and emergency vehicles making their way on fire duties. The brightest lights are the headquarters of the Los Alamos labs and other technical areas are to the left. To the right is the Los Alamos town site. Below the headquarters is the suburb of White Rock.
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Let's torture the truth out of suicide bombers says new CIA chief Petraeus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sm02UbKNCKQ
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Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant Main Building Underwater, 10 Mile Mandatory Evacuation Area
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zosA6pPH_E&feature=player_embedded
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Gundersen: Intake Structure that cools reactor and spent fuel pool is probably most vulnerable part of Ft. Calhoun nuke plan - Critical that it stays dry (VIDEO)
June 28th, 2011 at 06:26 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ESVDI2OQZ4&feature=player_embedded
Arnie Gundersen on Five O'clock Shadow with Robert Knight, WBAI, June 28, 2011 at 5:00 pm EDT:
* Intake structure probably the most vulnerable, not auxiliary and containment buildings...
* Intake structure draws in river water that cools reactor and spent fuel pool... critical that it stay dry...
* If gets water in it and emergency service water pumps fail then you've got a case where you're going to cause fuel damage...
* Probably the most vulnerable at Ft Calhoun...
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Black Agenda Report Morning Shot 6.21.2011: Defying The Tomb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LKj0RFjZ9Q&feature=player_embeddedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LKj0RFjZ9Q&feature=player_embedded
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Labor Beat: Give It Back!
http://blip.tv/labor-beat/give_it_back-5315509
The Executive Summit of CEOs and CFOs at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago on June 14, 2011 was the target of a broad coalition of community and labor organizations, put together by Stand Up! Chicago. Several thousand protesters successfully pulled off 3 coordinated feeder marches (housing, jobs, education) that transformed the hub of corporate Chicago at Michigan and Wacker into protest central. We begin with the small band of movement artists (teachers, students and activists) as they plan the visuals and create the huge puppets (Kings of Corporate Welfare) which became the visual rallying points of the Give It Back march and rally. We show the process of how the big march came together and how working people were able to appropriate Chicago's showplace of big business and convert it into a movement theatrical backdrop. The CEOs at the Hyatt went on with their meeting, and a city-wide movement gained confidence in its organizing skills. Rod Wilson of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization observed: "This is definitely the beginning, not the end, not the culminating, but the beginning." Length - 18:33. Produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. Labor Beat is a non-profit 501(c)(3) member of IBEW 1220. Views are those of the producer Labor Beat. For info: mail@laborbeat.org, www.laborbeat.org. 312-226-3330. For other Labor Beat videos, visit Google Video, YouTube, or blip.tv and search "Labor Beat". Labor Beat has regular cable slots in Chicago, Evanston, Rockford, Urbana, IL; St. Louis, MO; Philadelphia, PA; Princeton, NJ; and Rochester, NY. For more detailed information, send us a request at mail@laborbeat.org
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Japanese Anti-Nuc Song Gone Viral
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AylBxsiUSws&feature=related
Kazuyoshi Saito On Ustream 2011/04/08
Song and Lyrics: Kazuyoshi Saito
"You have been telling a lie"
When we walk around this country,
we can find 54 Nuke power plants
My text book and CM always told me,
"It's SAFE"
You have been telling a lie,
then your excuse is just "UNEXPECTED"
I remember the clear sky,
but now, it turns black rain
You've been telling a lie,
it was exposed after all, I know
Yeah, it was a lie, "Nuke is completely safe"
You've been telling a lie,
I just wanna eat such a delicious spinach once again.
Yeah, it was a lie,
You should have noticed this ball game
We can't stop the contaminated wind anymore
Do you accept if you find it about how many people would be exposed by the radiation?
How do you think? I'm asking you, Jap Gov.
When you leave this town,
Could you find delicious water?
Tell me, whatever, there's no way to hide
They are all suck, Tepco, Hepco, Chuden and Kanden
We never dream a dream anymore
But they are all suck
They still keep going
They are truely suck
I wanna take action, how could I handle this feeling?
They are telling a lie....
We are all suck....
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Flood Alert: Brownsville,NE Levee Breach- Cooper Nuclear Plant
Jun 20, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcIrqrKLIyM
Brownsville NE levee is breaching at Brownsville Bridge -
Brownsville is where the Cooper Nuclear Plant is located
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Dr Helen Caldicott - Fukushima Nuclear Disaster- You won't hear this on the Main Stream News.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4ITrXVJMKeQ
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Choosing a Profession
An old country preacher had a teenage son, and it was getting time the boy should give some thought to choosing a profession. Like many young Men his age, the boy didn't really know what he wanted to do, and he didn't seem too concerned about it. One day, while the boy was away at school, his father decided to try an experiment. He went into the boy's room and placed on his study table four objects...
1. A Bible.....?
2. A silver dollar.....?
3. A bottle of whisky......?
4. And a Playboy magazine.....?
'I'll just hide behind the door,' the old preacher said to himself. 'When he comes home from school today, I'll see which object he picks up.
If it's the Bible, he's going to be a preacher like me, and what a blessing that would be!
If he picks up the dollar, he's going to be a business man, and that would be okay, too.
But if he picks up the bottle, he's going to be a no-good drunken bum, and Lord, what a shame that would be.
And worst of all if he picks up that magazine he's going to be a
skirt-chasing womanizer.'
The old man waited anxiously, and soon heard his son's foot-steps as he entered the house whistling and headed for his room.
The boy tossed his books on the bed, and as he turned to leave the room he spotted the objects on the table..
With curiosity in his eye, he walked over to inspect them. Finally, he picked up the Bible and placed it under his arm. He picked up the silver dollar and dropped into his pocket. He uncorked the bottle and took a big drink, while he admired this month's centerfold.
'Lord have mercy,' the old preacher disgustedly whispered.
'He's gonna run for Congress.'
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Stop Police Brutality: Justice for Eric Radcliff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB8GpiXuSV4&NR=1
22 year old Eric Radcliff was shot and killed by police officers from the 35th district on the morning of Saturday May 21st, 2011. According to witnesses he was unarmed. The incident took place on the 5800 Block of Mascher Street in the 5th and Olney Section.
OUR COMMUNITY DEMANDS JUSTICE
WE THE FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF ERIC RADCLIFF ARE CONCERNED THAT JUSTICE HAS NOT BEEN SERVED. WE BELIEVE THAT THE POLICE OFFICERS USED EXCESSIVE FORCE. ERIC DID NOT HAVE TO DIE.
OUR DEMANDS
1. Open An Investigation Into the May 21st Shooting Death of 22 year old Eric Radcliff by officers of the Philadelphia Police Department's 35th District.
2. End Police Brutality! Serve and Protect, Not Disrespect and Victimize!
3. LETS GET OUR HOUSE IN ORDER. Let's Unite for Real Security and To Build a Better Future for Ourselves
Please come Join in UNITY AND LOVE! God is Good, We ARE winning!
JusticeforEricRadcliff@gmail.com
215-954-2272 for more information
VIA Justice for Eric Radcliff
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Stop Police Brutality: Justice for Albert Pernell Jr.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGyR9Y2LPss
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*High Alert* - Fire -Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant near Omaha Nebraska- Flooding Missouri River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHZdub3n0mI&feature=player_embedded
\Five O'Clock Shadow" with Robert Knight and Arnie Gundersen from Fairewinds Associates
Fire knocks out spent fuel cooling pool at nuclear plant near Omaha - Operating under heightened alert level because of nearby flooding on Missouri River.
On June 6, 2011, the Fort Calhoun pressurized water nuclear reactor 20 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska entered emergency status due to imminent flooding from the Missouri River. A day later, there was an electrical fire requiring plant evacuation. Then, on June 8th, NRC event reports confirmed the fire resulted in the loss of cooling for the reactor's spent fuel pool.
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Empty Chairs
AFLCIONow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3juhx3GJQQ
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Hot Particles From Japan to Seattle Virtually Undetectable when Inhaled or Swallowed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBEipg81uLw&feature=player_embedded
Original estimates of xenon and krypton releases remain the same, but a TEPCO recalculation shows dramatic increases in the release of hot particles. This confirms the results of air filter monitoring by independent scientists. Fairewinds' Arnie Gundersen explains how hot particles may react in mammals while escaping traditional detection. Reports of a metallic taste in the mouth, such as those now being reported in Japan and on the west coast, are a telltale sign of radiation exposure.
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'Fukushima media cover-up - PR success, public health disaster'
June 11, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_rAX9TzY2A&feature=player_embedded
Residents of the Fukushima district, and those who lived near-by have not only faced radiation exposure but also social exclusion... That's according to Dr. Robert Jacobs, Professor of nuclear history, at the Hiroshima Peace Institute.
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QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis from Taggart Siegel, director of THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN. Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world including Michael Pollan, Gunther Hauk and Vandana Shiva. Together they reveal both the problems and the solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature.
Official Film Website: http://www.queenofthesun.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekoeQodrVoM
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Autopsy Released in Police Shooting of Man Holding Nozzle
Douglas Zerby was shot 12 times, in the chest, arms and lower legs.
Watch Mary Beth McDade's report
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-long-beach-belmont-shore-shooting,0,2471345.story
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I Wanna Be A Pirate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppynM1lcst8
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Detained for photography in Baltimore Parts 1 and 2:
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iMr76atjUA
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JOFwbiI8fQ
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Arrested for Filming Police in MD?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ew29IFVHw&NR=1
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Woman 'detained' for filming police search launches high court challenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2MtGCp5scM&NR=1
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Adam Kokesh body slammed, choked, police brutality at Jefferson Memorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jUU3yCy3uI&feature=player_embedded#at=575
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Kim Ives & Dan Coughlin on WikiLeaks Cables that Reveal "Secret History" of U.S. Bullying in Haiti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL0Dk21dC-M
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Operation Empire State Rebellion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJvBlQcaaaU&feature=player_embedded#at=10
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20 Facts About U.S. Inequality that Everyone Should Know
Click an image to learn more about a fact!
http://www.stanford.edu/group/scspi/cgi-bin/facts.php
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THE AUDACITY OF HOPE
ustogaza1's Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/ustogaza1
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Licensed to Kill Video
http://nirs.org/multimedia/video/l2k.htm
Gundersen Gives Testimony to NRC ACRS from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
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Gundersen Gives Testimony to NRC ACRS
http://fairewinds.com/updates
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) held a special ACRS meeting Thursday May 26, 2011 on the current status of Fukushima. Arnie Gundersen was invited to speak for 5 minutes concerning the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident as it pertains to the 23 Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactors (BWR's) in the US and containment integrity. Mr. Gundersen was the first engineer to brief the NRC on the implication of Main Steam Isolation Valve (MSIV) Leakage in 1974, and he has been studying containment integrity since 1972. The NRC has constantly maintained in all of its calculations and reviews that there is zero probability of a containment leaking. For more than six years, in testimony and in correspondence with the NRC, Mr. Gundersen has disputed the NRC's stand that containment systems simply do not and cannot leak. The events at Fukushima have proven that Gundersen was correct. The explosions at Fukushima show that Mark 1 containments will lose their integrity and release huge amounts of radiation, as Mr. Gundersen has been telling the NRC for many years.
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Guy on wheelchair taken down by officers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdkJxw1mPoM
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Paradise Gray Speaks At Jordan Miles Emergency Rally 05/06/2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJOLz1EYDYE&feature=player_embedded
Police Reassigned While CAPA Student's Beatdown Investigated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK-6IsP3dUg&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Pittsburgh Student Claims Police Brutality; Shows Hospital Photos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_j_AVsTXZc&feature=relmfu
Justice For Jordan Miles
By jasiri x
http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/
Monday, May 9, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Even though Pittsburgh Police beat Jordan Miles until he looked like this: (Photo at website)
And even though Jordan Miles, an honor student who plays the viola, broke no laws and committed no crimes, the Federal Government decided not to prosecute the 3 undercover Pittsburgh Police officers who savagely beat him.
To add insult to injury, Pittsburgh's Mayor and Police Chief immediately reinstated the 3 officers without so much as a apology. An outraged Pittsburgh community called for an emergency protest to pressure the local District Attorney to prosecute these officers to the fullest extent of the law.
Below is my good friend, and fellow One Hood founding member Paradise Gray (also a founding member of the Blackwatch Movement and the legendary rap group X-Clan) passionately demanding Justice for Jordan Miles and speaking on the futility of a war of terror overseas while black men are terrorized in their own neighborhoods.
For more information on how you can help get Justice For Jordan Miles go to http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/
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Tier Systems Cripple Middle Class Dreams for Young Workers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09pQW6TW8m4&feature=youtu.be
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Epidemiologist, Dr. Steven Wing, Discusses Global Radiation Exposures and Consequences with Gundersen
Epidemiologist, Dr. Steven Wing and nuclear engineer, Arnie Gundersen, discuss the consequences of the Fukushima radioactive fallout on Japan, the USA, and the world. What are the long-term health effects? What should the government(s) do to protect citizens?
http://vimeo.com/22706805
Epidemiologist, Dr. Steven Wing, Discusses Global Radiation Exposures and Consequences with Gundersen from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
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New Video - Lupe Fiasco ft. Skylar Grey - 'Words I Never Said'
Thu, Apr 28 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22l1sf5JZD0
Lupe Fiasco addresses some heavy issues in the latest video for his new single, 'Words I Never Said,' featuring Skylar Grey. In the 5 minute and 45 second dose of reality, Lupe tackles issues such as the war on terrorism, devastation, conspiracy theories, 9/11 and genocide. From the opening lyrics of "I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullsh*t", Lupe doesn't hold back as he voices his socio-political concerns.
"If you turn on TV all you see's a bunch of what the f-ks'
Dude is dating so and so blabbering bout such and such
And that ain't Jersey Shore, homie that's the news
And these the same people that supposed to be telling us the truth
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say s-t
That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either
I'm a part of the problem, my problem is I'm peaceful."
Skylar Grey (who also lends her vocals to Dirty money's 'Coming Home' and Eminem's 'I Need A Doctor') does an excellent job of complementing the Alex Da Kid produced track.
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Union Town by Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ZT71DxLuM&feature=player_embedded
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BRADLEY MANNING "BROKE THE LAW" SAYS OBAMA!
"He broke the law!" says Obama about Bradley Manning who has yet to even be charged, let alone, gone to trial and found guilty. How horrendous is it for the President to declare someone guilty before going to trial or being charged with a crime! Justice in the U.S.A.!
Obama on FREE BRADLEY MANNING protest... San Francisco, CA. April 21, 2011-Presidential remarks on interrupt/interaction/performance art happening at fundraiser. Logan Price queries Barack after org. FRESH JUICE PARTY political action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfmtUpd4id0&feature=youtu.be
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W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: Miss. Medical Examiner Dr. Adel Shaker On Frederick Carter Hanging (4/19/2011)
http://blip.tv/file/5057532
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Max Romeo - Socialism Is Love
http://youtu.be/eTvUs4rY4to
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Cuba: The Accidental Eden
http://video.pbs.org/video/1598230084/
[This is a stunningly beautiful portrait of the Cuban natural environment as it is today. However, several times throughout, the narrator tends to imply that if it werent for the U.S. embargo against Cuba, Cuba's natural environment would be destroyed by the influx of tourism, ergo, the embargo is saving nature. But the Cuban scientists and naturalists tell a slightly different story. But I don't want to spoil the delightfully surprising ending. It's a beautiful film of a beautiful country full of beautiful, articulate and well-educated people....bw]
Watch the full episode. See more Nature.
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VIDEO: SWAT Team Evicts Grandmother
Take Back the Land- Rochester Eviction Defense March 28, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2axN1zsZno&feature=player_embedded
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B. D. S. [Boycott, Divest, Sanction against Israel]
(Jackson 5) Chicago Flashmob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tXe2HKqqs&feature=player_embedded
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The Kill Team
How U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan murdered innocent civilians and mutilated their corpses - and how their officers failed to stop them. Plus: An exclusive look at the war crime photos censored by the Pentagon
Rolling Stone
March 27, 3011
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327
Afghans respond to "Kill Team"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3guxWIorhdA
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BP Oil Spill Scientist Bob Naman: Seafood Still Not Safe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3VdxvMnDls
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Exclusive: Flow Rate Scientist : How Much Oil Is Really Out There?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsHl3kn63ZA&NR=1
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WikiLeaks Mirrors
Wikileaks is currently under heavy attack.
In order to make it impossible to ever fully remove Wikileaks from the Internet, you will find below a list of mirrors of Wikileaks website and CableGate pages.
Go to
http://wikileaks.ch/Mirrors.html
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Labor Beat: Labor Stands with Subpoenaed Activists Against FBI Raids and Grand Jury Investigation of antiwar and social justice activists.
"If trouble is not at your door. It's on it's way, or it just left."
"Investigate the Billionaires...Full investigation into Wall Street..." Jesse Sharkey, Vice President, Chicago Teachers Union
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSNUSIGZCMQ
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Oil Spill Commission Final Report: Catfish Responds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3ZRdsccMsM
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Domestic Espionage Alert - Houston PD to use surveillance drone in America!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpstrc15Ogg
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Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVGqE726OAo&feature=player_embedded
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Coal Ash: One Valley's Tale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E7h-DNvwx4&feature=player_embedded
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Flashmob: Cape Town Opera say NO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wElyrFOnKPk
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"Don't F*** With Our Activists" - Mobilizing Against FBI Raid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyG3dIUGQvQ
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C. SPECIAL APPEALS AND ONGOING CAMPAIGNS
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LEONARD PELTIER NEEDS OUR HELP!
On June 27, Leonard Peltier was removed from the general population at USP-Lewisburg and thrown in the hole. Little else is known at this time. Due to his age and health status, please join us in demanding his immediate return to general population.
Thomas Kane, Acting Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
E-Mail: info@bop.gov
Web Site: www.bop.gov
Phone: (202) 307-3198
Fax: (202) 514-6620
Address: 320 1st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20534
Launched into cyberspace by the
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
PO Box 7488, Fargo, ND 58106
http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info
contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
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CAMPAIGN TO END THE DEATH PENALTY SPECIAL CIRCULAR: PELICAN BAY HUNGER STRIKE BEGINS JULY 1
(Please post widely)
CONTENTS:
-- Introduction
-- Campaign to End the Death Penalty Solidarity Statement
-- CEDP Statement of Solidarity with Pelican Bay Hunger Strikers
-- Solidarity Statement from Corcoran State Prisoners
-- Take Action!
INTRODUCTION
Prisoners in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) of California's Pelican Bay state prison have announced that they will begin an indefinite hunger strike on July 1. Although prison officials aim to keep prisoners silenced and divided, the hunger strike has shown solidarity across racial, ethnic and religious lines and demands improvements in cruel and inhumane prison conditions.
In his statement "Why Prisoners are Protesting", prisoner Mutop DuGuya states, "Effective July 1st we are initiating a peaceful protest by way of an indefinite hunger strike in which we will not eat until our core demands are met.....we have decided to put our fate in our own hands. Some of us have already suffered a slow, agonizing death in which the state has shown no compassion toward these dying prisoners. Rather than compassion they turn up their ruthlessness. No one wants to die. Yet under this current system of what amounts to intense torture, what choice do we have? If one is to die, it will be on our own terms."
Prisons in this country stand as silent tombs. Millions are warehoused in "correctional" facilities that serve only to punish and dehumanize. These prisoners in Pelican Bay are standing bravely against tortuous conditions and those of us on the outside must stand with them and shine a light into the dark cages that politicians want us to forget.
CAMPAIGN TO END THE DEATH PENALTY SOLIDARITY STATEMENT
The Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP) stands in solidarity with the prisoners of Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) who will be engaged in a hunger strike on July 1 in protest of their deplorable conditions.
The prisoners at Pelican Bay prison in California live in a world in which collective punishment is common, sunlight is rare, and food is used as a tool of coercion. They live in a world that is so unlike the world that most of us take for granted that it strains our comprehension. The world of the prisoners has one goal, to create passive, compliant prisoners; prisoners who will not clamor for more; prisoners who will not rock the boat; prisoners who will not threaten to expose just how rotten the prison system is.
This world has failed. While these demands show us a world turned upside down, they also show us a prison population that is fighting back against their appalling conditions. The prisoners have stated that their hunger strike will be indefinite until their demands are met. This means they could face serious health issues or even death. For them, a fighting death is preferable to the hell they are living.
The Campaign to End the Death Penalty supports the Pelican Bay hunger strikers and stand with all prisoners who seek to better their lives. We stand in solidarity with these brave fighters in their quest for justice and humanity.
The demands of the prisoners clearly show the capricious and dehumanizing conditions in which they the prisoners are calling for:
1. Eliminate group punishments. Instead, practice individual accountability. When an individual prisoner breaks a rule, the prison often punishes a whole group of prisoners of the same race. This policy has been applied to keep prisoners in the SHU indefinitely and to make conditions increasingly harsh.
2. Abolish the debriefing policy and modify active/inactive gang status criteria.
Debriefing produces false information - wrongly landing other prisoners in SHU, and can endanger the lives of debriefing prisoners and their families.
3. End long-term solitary confinement. Segregation should be used as a last resort and prisoners require access to adequate healthcare and natural sunlight.
4. Provide wholesome, nutritious meals and access to vitamins.
5. Expand and provide constructive programming such as photos of loved ones, weekly phone calls, extension of visitation time, calendars, and radios, etc.
You can read the prisoner's full text of their demands here: http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/take-action/
SOLIDARITY STATEMENT FROM CORCORAN STATE PRISONERS
Statement of Solidarity with the Pelican Bay Collective Hunger Strike on July 1st.
From: the N.C.T.T. Corcoran SHU
Greetings to all who support freedom, justice, and equality. We here of the N.C.T.T. SHU stand in solidarity with, and in full support of the July 1st hunger strike and the 5 major action points and sub-points as laid out by the Pelican Bay Collective in the Policy Statements (See, "Archives", P.B.S.P.-SHU-D corridor hunger strike).
What many are unaware of is that facility 4B here in Corcoran SHU is designated to house validated prisoners in indefinite SHU confinement and have an identical ultra-super max isolation unit short corridor modeled after corridor D in Pelican Bay, complete with blacked out windows a mirror tinted glass on the towers so no one but the gun tower can see in [into our cells], and none of us can see out; flaps welded to the base of the doors and sandbags on the tiers to prevent "fishing" [a means of passing notes, etc. between cells using lengths of string]; IGI [Institutional Gang Investigators] transports us all to A.C.H. [?] medical appointments and we have no contact with any prisoners or staff outside of this section here in 4B/1C C Section the "short corridor" of the Corcoran SHU. All of the deprivations (save access to sunlight); outlines in the 5-point hunger strike statement are mirrored, and in some instances intensified here in the Corcoran SHU 4B/1C C Section isolation gang unit.
Medical care here, in a facility allegedly designed to house chronic care and prisoners with psychological problems, is so woefully inadequate that it borders on intentional disdain for the health of prisoners, especially where diabetics and cancer are an issue. Access to the law library is denied for the most mundane reasons, or, most often, no reason at all. Yet these things and more are outlined in the P.B.S.P.-SHU five core demands.
What is of note here, and something that should concern all U.S. citizens, is the increasing use of behavioral control (torture units) and human experimental techniques against prisoners not only in California but across the nation. Indefinite confinement, sensory deprivation, withholding food, constant illumination, use of unsubstantiated lies from informants are the psychological billy clubs being used in these torture units. The purpose of this "treatment" is to stop prisoners from standing in opposition to inhumane prison conditions and prevent them from exercising their basic human rights.
Many lawsuits have been filed in opposition to the conditions in these conditions ... [unreadable] yet the courts have repeatedly re-interpreted and misinterpreted their own constitutional law ... [unreadable] to support the state's continued use of these torture units. When approved means of protest and redress of rights are prove meaningless and are fully exhausted, then the pursuit of those ends through other means is necessary.
It is important for all to know the Pelican Bay Collective is not (emphasis in original) alone in this struggle and the broader the participation and support for this hunger strike, the other such efforts, the greater the potential that our sacrifice now will mean a more humane world for us in the future. We urge all who reads these words to support us in this effort with your participation or your voices call your local news agencies, notify your friends on social networks, contact your legislators, tell your fellow faithful at church, mosques, temple or synagogues. Decades before Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Pelican Bay and Corcoran SHUs were described by Congressman Ralph Metcalfe as "the control unit treatment program is long-term punishment under the guise of what is, in fact, pseudo-scientific experimentation."
Our indefinite isolation here is both inhumane and illegal and the proponents of the prison industrial complex are hoping that their campaign to dehumanize us has succeeded to the degree that you don't care and will allow the torture to continue in your name. It is our belief that they have woefully underestimated the decency, principles, and humanity of the people. Join us in opposing this injustice without end. Thank you for your time and support.
In Solidarity,
N.C.T.T. Corcoran - SHU
4B/1C - C Section
Super-max isolation Unit
TAKE ACTION!
Pelican Bay Prisoners Go On Hunger Strike to Protest Grave Conditions July 1, 2011
Lawyers, Advocates, Organizations Hold Press Conference, Voice Prisoner Demand
Press Contact: Isaac Ontiveros
Communications Director, Critical Resistance
Office: 510 444 0484; Cell: 510 517 6612
The Hunger Strikers need support from outside of prison bars. Here are a few things you can do:
Sign the Petition. http://www.change.org/petitions/support-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-at-pelican-bay-state-prison
Get the word out about the hunger strike and the prisoner's demands to your family, friends, church, community groups, and over social networking sites.
Attend protests in solidarity. Rallies planned in San Francisco, Eureka, CA, Montreal, Toronto and New York. Send protest info to: http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/take-action/ to be listed!
Stay informed. Check the blog regularly for updates http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/.
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Keep the Arboretum Free
Dear Arboretum Supporter,
It's been a few months since the Board of Supervisors extended the non-resident fee at the Arboretum until September 30th, 2013. Such policy and ongoing decisions are continuing to greatly impact our neighborhoods and city resources and out of this widespread concern a new coalition has formed - Take Back Our Parks. Community and park advocates have joined together from across the city, including representatives from Keep Arboretum Free, with the common goals of keeping parks and recreation facilities open and accessible to all, stopping privatization of public park properties, protecting the natural character of our parklands and ensuring inclusive community input in planning and decision-making.
This past week a key effort was made towards some of these goals when four City Supervisors placed a measure on the November ballot to put a moratorium on fees for park resources and the long-term leasing of club-houses to private organizations. The Parks For The Public measure can be an important step towards ending the loss of access and growing privatization that is a fallout of the Recreation and Park Department's strategy of using parks as a revenue source and which has imposed policies such as the Arboretum fee.
Please visit the TBOP website to learn more about the Parks For The Public ordinance available for voters on the ballot this fall: http://www.takebackourparks.org/
It is vital that the public have a chance to shape the issues regarding our parks. We encourage you to write to the four sponsoring Supervisors (Avalos, Campos, Mar and Mirkarimi) to thank them for introducing Parks For The Public and let them know that you support limiting the privatization and unwarranted commercialization of our parks.
Ross.Mirkarimi@sfgov.org
John.Avalos@sfgov.org
Eric.L.Mar@sfgov.org
David.Campos@sfgov.org
Please help spread the news about this measure to your community in the city and thank you very much for your continued support.
Sincerely,
The Campaign to Keep The Arboretum Free
www.keeparboretumfree.org
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Supporter of Leak Suspect Is Called Before Grand Jury
By SCOTT SHANE
June 15, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/us/politics/16brfs-Washington.html?ref=world
A supporter of Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, who is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, was called before a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday, but he said he declined to answer any questions. The supporter, David M. House, a freelance computer scientist, said he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, because he believes the Justice Department is "creating a climate of fear around WikiLeaks and the Bradley Manning support network." The grand jury inquiry is separate from the military prosecution of Private Manning and is believed to be exploring whether the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, or others in the group violated the law by acquiring and publishing military and State Department documents.
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Justice for Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace: Decades of isolation in Louisiana state prisons must end
Take Action -- Sign Petition Here:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/justice-for-albert-woodfox-and-herman-wallace
For nearly four decades, 64-year-old Albert Woodfox and 69-year-old Herman Wallace have been held in solitary confinement, mostly in the Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola prison). Throughout their prolonged incarceration in Closed Cell Restriction (CCR) Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace have endured very restrictive conditions including 23 hour cellular confinement. They have limited access to books, newspapers and TV and throughout the years of imprisonment they have been deprived of opportunities for mental stimulation and access to work and education. Social interaction has been restricted to occasional visits from friends and family and limited telephone calls.
Louisiana prison authorities have over the course of 39 years failed to provide a meaningful review of the men's continued isolation as they continue to rubberstamp the original decision to confine the men in CCR. Decades of solitary confinement have had a clear psychological effect on the men. Lawyers report that they are both suffering from serious health problems caused or exacerbated by their years of close confinement.
After being held together in the same prison for nearly 40 years, the men are now held in seperate institutions where they continue to be subjected to conditions that can only be described as cruel, inhuman and degrading.
Take action now to demand that Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace be immediately removed from solitary confinement
Sign our petition which will be sent to the Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, calling on him to:
* take immediate steps to remove Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace from close confinement
* ensure that their treatment complies with the USA's obligations under international standards and the US Constitution.
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WITNESS GAZA
http://www.witnessgaza.com/
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Stop Coal Companies From Erasing Labor Union History
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-coal-companies-from-erasing-labor-union-history
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One year after Bradley's detainment, we need your support more than ever.
Dear Friends,
One year ago, on May 26, 2010, the U.S. government quietly arrested a humble young American intelligence analyst in Iraq and imprisoned him in a military camp in Kuwait. Over the coming weeks, the facts of the arrest and charges against this shy soldier would come to light. And across the world, people like you and I would step forward to help defend him.
Bradley Manning, now 23 years old, has never been to court but has already served a year in prison- including 10 months in conditions of confinement that were clear violation of the international conventions against torture. Bradley has been informally charged with releasing to the world documents that have revealed corruption by world leaders, widespread civilian deaths at the hands of U.S. forces, the true face of Guantanamo, an unvarnished view of the U.S.'s imperialistic foreign negotiations, and the murder of two employees of Reuters News Agency by American soldiers. These documents released by WikiLeaks have spurred democratic revolutions across the Arab world and have changed the face of journalism forever.
For his act of courage, Bradley Manning now faces life in prison-or even death.
But you can help save him-and we've already seen our collective power. Working together with concerned citizens around the world, the Bradley Manning Support Network has helped raise worldwide awareness about Manning's torturous confinement conditions. Through the collective actions of well over a half million people and scores of organizations, we successfully pressured the U.S. government to end the tortuous conditions of pre-trial confinement that Bradley was subjected to at the Marine Base at Quantico, Virginia. Today, Bradley is being treated humanely at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. T hanks to your support, Bradley is given leeway to interact with other pre-trial prisoners, read books, write letters, and even has a window in his cell.
Of course we didn't mount this campaign to just improve Bradley's conditions in jail. Our goal is to ensure that he can receive a fair and open trial. Our goal is to win Bradley's freedom so that he can be reunited with his family and fulfill his dream of going to college. Today, to commemorate Bradley's one year anniversary in prison, will you join me in making a donation to help support Bradley's defense?
http://bradleymanning.org/donate
We'll be facing incredible challenges in the coming months, and your tax-deductible donation today will help pay for Bradley's civilian legal counsel and the growing international grassroots campaign on his behalf. The U.S. government has already spent a year building its case against Bradley, and is now calling its witnesses to Virginia to testify before a grand jury.
What happens to Bradley may ripple through history - he is already considered by many to be the single most important person of his generation. Please show your commitment to Bradley and your support for whistle-blowers and the truth by making a donation today.
With your help, I hope we will come to remember May 26th as a day to commemorate all those who risk their lives and freedom to promote informed democracy - and as the birth of a movement that successfully defended one courageous whistle-blower against the full fury of the U.S. government.
Donate now: bradleymanning.org/donate
In solidarity,
Jeff Paterson and Loraine Reitman,
On behalf of the Bradley Manning Support Network Steering Committee
www.bradleymanning.org
P.S. After you have donated, please help us by forwarding this email to your closest friends. Ask them to stand with you to support Bradley Manning, and the rights of all whistleblowers.
View the new 90 second "I am Bradley Manning" video:
I am Bradley Manning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-P3OXML00s
Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Ave. #41
Oakland, CA 94610
510-488-3559
couragetoresist.org
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Drop the Charges Against Carlos Montes, Stop the FBI Attack on the Chicano and Immigrant Rights Movement, and Stop FBI Repression of Anti-War Activists NOW!Call Off the Expanding Grand Jury Witchhunt and FBI Repression of Anti-War Activists NOW!
Cancel the Subpoenas! Cancel the Grand Juries!
Condemn the FBI Raids and Harassment of Chicano, Immigrant Rights, Anti-War and International Solidarity Activists!
STOP THE FBI CAMPAIGN OF REPRESSION AGAINST CHICANO, IMMIGRANT RIGHTS, ANTI-WAR AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS NOW!
Initiated by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression stopfbi.net stopfbi@gmail.com
http://iacenter.org/stopfbi/
Contact the Committee to Stop FBI Repression
at stopfbi.net
stopfbi@gmail.com
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Mumia Wins Decision Against Re-Imposition Of Death Sentence, But...
The Battle Is Still On To
FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL!
The Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
PO Box 16222 • Oakland CA 94610
www.laboractionmumia.org
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Abolish the Death Penalty Blog
http://www.ncadp.org/blog.cfm?postID=165
Abolish the Death Penalty is a blog dedicated to...well, you know. The purpose of Abolish is to tell the personal stories of crime victims and their loved ones, people on death row and their loved ones and those activists who are working toward abolition. You may, from time to time, see news articles or press releases here, but that is not the primary mission of Abolish the Death Penalty. Our mission is to put a human face on the debate over capital punishment.
You can also follow death penalty news by reading our News page and by following us on Facebook and Twitter.
1 Million Tweets for Troy!
Take Action! Tweet for Troy!
When in doubt, don't execute!! Sign the petition for #TroyDavis! www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
Too much doubt! Stop the execution! #TroyDavis needs us! www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
No room for doubt! Stop the execution of #TroyDavis . Retweet, sign petition www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
Case not "ironclad", yet Georgiacould execute #TroyDavis ! Not on our watch! Petition: www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
No murder weapon. No physical evidence. Stop the execution! #TroyDavis petition: www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
7 out of 9 eyewitnesses recanted. No physical evidence. Stop the execution of Troy Davis www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition #TroyDavis
Thanks!
Exonerated Death Row Survivors Urge Georgia to:
Stop the Execution of Troy Davis
Chairman James E. Donald
Georgia State Board of Pardons & Paroles
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE
Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower
Atlanta, GA 30334
May 1, 2011
Dear Chairperson Donald and Members of the Board:
We, the undersigned, are alive today because some individual or small group of individuals decided that our insistent and persistent proclamations of innocence warranted one more look before we were sent to our death by execution. We are among the 138 individuals who have been legally exonerated and released from death rows in the United States since 1973. We are alive because a few thoughtful persons-attorneys, journalists, judges, jurists, etc.-had lingering doubts about our cases that caused them to say "stop" at a critical moment and halt the march to the execution chamber. When our innocence was ultimately revealed, when our lives were saved, and when our freedom was won, we thanked God and those individuals of conscience who took actions that allowed the truth to eventually come to light.
We are America's exonerated death row survivors. We are living proof that a system operated by human beings is capable of making an irreversible mistake. And while we have had our wrongful convictions overturned and have been freed from death row, we know that we are extremely fortunate to have been able to establish our innocence. We also know that many innocent people who have been executed or who face execution have not been so fortunate. Not all those with innocence claims have had access to the kinds of physical evidence, like DNA, that our courts accept as most reliable. However, we strongly believe that the examples of our cases are reason enough for those with power over life and death to choose life. We also believe that those in authority have a unique moral consideration when encountering individuals with cases where doubt still lingers about innocence or guilt.
One such case is the case of Troy Anthony Davis, whose 1991 conviction for killing Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail rested almost solely on witness testimony. We know that today, 20 years later, witness evidence is considered much less reliable than it was then. This has meant that, even though most of the witnesses who testified against him have now recanted, Troy Davis has been unable to convince the courts to overturn his conviction, or even his death sentence.
Troy Davis has been able to raise serious doubts about his guilt, however. Several witnesses testified at the evidentiary hearing last summer that they had been coerced by police into making false statements against Troy Davis. This courtroom testimony reinforced previous statements in sworn affidavits. Also at this hearing, one witness testified for the first time that he saw an alternative suspect, and not Troy Davis, commit the crime. We don't know if Troy Davis is in fact innocent, but, as people who were wrongfully sentenced to death (and in some cases scheduled for execution), we believe it is vitally important that no execution go forward when there are doubts about guilt. It is absolutely essential to ensuring that the innocent are not executed.
When you issued a temporary stay for Troy Davis in 2007, you stated that the Board "will not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused." This standard is a welcome development, and we urge you to apply it again now. Doubts persist in the case of Troy Davis, and commuting his sentence will reassure the people of Georgia that you will never permit an innocent person to be put to death in their name.
Freddie Lee Pitts, an exonerated death row survivor who faced execution by the state of Florida for a crime he didn't commit, once said, "You can release an innocent man from prison, but you can't release him from the grave."
Thank you for considering our request.
Respectfully,
Kirk Bloodsworth, Exonerated and freed from death row Maryland; Clarence Brandley, Exonerated and freed from death row in Texas; Dan Bright, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana; Albert Burrell, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana; Perry Cobb, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois; Gary Drinkard, Exonerated and freed from death row in Alabama; Nathson Fields, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois; Gary Gauger, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois; Michael Graham, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana; Shujaa Graham, Exonerated and freed from death row in California; Paul House, Exonerated and freed from death row in Tennessee; Derrick Jamison, Exonerated and freed from death row in Ohio; Dale Johnston, Exonerated and freed from death row in Ohio; Ron Keine, Exonerated and freed from death row in New Mexico; Ron Kitchen, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois; Ray Krone, Exonerated and freed from death row in Arizona; Herman Lindsey, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida; Juan Melendez, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida; Randal Padgett, Exonerated and freed from death row in Alabama; Freddie Lee Pitts, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida; Randy Steidl, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois; John Thompson, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana; Delbert Tibbs, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida; David Keaton, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida; Greg Wilhoit, Exonerated and freed from death row in Oklahoma; Harold Wilson, Exonerated and freed from death row in Pennsylvania.
-Witness to Innocence, May 11, 2011
http://www.witnesstoinnocence.com/view_news.php?Exonerated-Death-Row-Survivors-Urge-George-to-Stop-the-Execution-of-Troy-Davis-181
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"A Fort Leavenworth mailing address has been released for Bradley Manning:
Bradley Manning 89289
830 Sabalu Road
Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027
The receptionist at the military barracks confirmed that if someone sends Bradley Manning a letter to that address, it will be delivered to him."
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/update-42811
This is also a Facebook event
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=207100509321891#!/event.php?eid=207100509321891
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Committee to Stop FBI Repression
NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY -- ANY DAY
to Fitzgerald, Holder and Obama
The Grand Jury is still on its witch hunt and the FBI is still
harassing activists. This must stop.
Please make these calls:
1. Call U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald at 312-353-5300 . Then dial 0
(zero) for operator and ask to leave a message with the Duty Clerk.
2. Call U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder 202-353-1555
3. Call President Obama at 202-456-1111
Suggested text: "My name is __________, I am from _______(city), in
______(state). I am calling _____ to demand he call off the Grand Jury
and stop FBI repression against the anti-war and Palestine solidarity
movements. I oppose U.S. government political repression and support
the right to free speech and the right to assembly of the 23 activists
subpoenaed. We will not be criminalized. Tell him to stop this
McCarthy-type witch hunt against international solidarity activists!"
If your call doesn't go through, try again later.
Update: 800 anti-war and international solidarity activists
participated in four regional conferences, in Chicago, IL; Oakland,
CA; Chapel Hill, NC and New York City to stop U.S. Attorney Patrick
Fitzgerald's Grand Jury repression.
Still, in the last few weeks, the FBI has continued to call and harass
anti-war organizers, repressing free speech and the right to organize.
However, all of their intimidation tactics are bringing a movement
closer together to stop war and demand peace.
We demand:
-- Call Off the Grand Jury Witch-hunt Against International Solidarity
Activists!
-- Support Free Speech!
-- Support the Right to Organize!
-- Stop FBI Repression!
-- International Solidarity Is Not a Crime!
-- Stop the Criminalization of Arab and Muslim Communities!
Background: Fitzgerald ordered FBI raids on anti-war and solidarity
activists' homes and subpoenaed fourteen activists in Chicago,
Minneapolis, and Michigan on September 24, 2010. All 14 refused to
speak before the Grand Jury in October. Then, 9 more Palestine
solidarity activists, most Arab-Americans, were subpoenaed to appear
at the Grand Jury on January 25, 2011, launching renewed protests.
There are now 23 who assert their right to not participate in
Fitzgerald's witch-hunt.
The Grand Jury is a secret and closed inquisition, with no judge, and
no press. The U.S. Attorney controls the entire proceedings and hand
picks the jurors, and the solidarity activists are not allowed a
lawyer. Even the date when the Grand Jury ends is a secret.
So please make these calls to those in charge of the repression aimed
against anti-war leaders and the growing Palestine solidarity
movement.
Email us to let us know your results. Send to info@StopFBI.net
**Please sign and circulate our 2011 petition at http://www.stopfbi.net/petition
In Struggle,
Tom Burke,
for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression
FFI: Visit www.StopFBI.net or email info@StopFBI.net or call
612-379-3585 .
Copyright (c) 2011 Committee to Stop FBI Repression, All rights
reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55415
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Call for EMERGENCY RESPONSE Action if Assange Indicted,
Dear Friends:
We write in haste, trying to reach as many of you as possible although the holiday break has begun.......This plan for an urgent "The Day After" demonstration is one we hope you and many, many more organizations will take up as your own, and mobilize for. World Can't Wait asks you to do all you can to spread it through list serves, Facebook, twitter, holiday gatherings.
Our proposal is very very simple, and you can use the following announcement to mobilize - or write your own....
ANY DAY NOW . . . IN THE EVENT THAT THE U.S. INDICTS JULIAN ASSANGE
An emergency public demonstration THE DAY AFTER any U.S. criminal indictment is announced against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Spread the word and call people to come out, across the whole range of movements and groups: anti-war, human rights, freedom of information/freedom of the press, peace, anti-torture, environmental, students and youth, radicals and revolutionaries, religious, civil liberties, teachers and educators, journalists, anti-imperialists, anti-censorship, anti-police state......
At the Federal Building in San Francisco, we'll form ourselves into a human chain "surrounding" the government that meets the Wikileaked truth with repression and wants to imprison and silence leakers, whistleblowers and truthtellers - when, in fact, these people are heroes. We'll say:
HANDS OFF WIKILEAKS! FREE JULIAN ASSANGE! FREE BRADLEY MANNING!
Join the HUMAN CHAIN AROUND THE FEDERAL BUILDING!
New Federal Building, 7th and Mission, San Francisco (nearest BART: Civic Center)
4:00-6:00 PM on The Day FOLLOWING U.S. indictment of Assange
Bring all your friends - signs and banners - bullhorns.
Those who dare at great risk to themselves to put the truth in the hands of the people - and others who might at this moment be thinking about doing more of this themselves -- need to see how much they are supported, and that despite harsh repression from the government and total spin by the mainstream media, the people do want the truth told.
Brad Manning's Christmas Eve statement was just released by his lawyer: "Pvt. Bradley Manning, the lone soldier who stands accused of stealing millions of pages secret US government documents and handing them over to secrets outlet WikiLeaks, wants his supporters to know that they've meant a lot to him. 'I greatly appreciate everyone's support and well wishes during this time,' he said in a Christmas Eve statement released by his lawyer...." Read more here:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/mannings-message-christmas-eve-i-gr/
Demonstrations defending Wikileaks and Assange, and Brad Manning, have already been flowering around the world. Make it happen here too.
Especially here . . .
To join into this action plan, or with questions, contact World Can't Wait or whichever organization or listserve you received this message from.
World Can't Wait, SF Bay
415-864-5153
sf@worldcantwait.org
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DEFEND LYNNE STEWART!
http://lynnestewart.org/
Write to Lynne Stewart at:
Lynne Stewart #53504 - 054
Unit 2N
Federal Medical Center, Carswell
P.O. Box 27137
Fort Worth, TEXAS 76127
Visiting Lynne:
Visiting is very liberal but first she has to get people on her visiting list; wait til she or the lawyers let you know. The visits are FRI, SAT, SUN AND MON for 4 hours and on weekends 8 to 3. Bring clear plastic change purse with lots of change to buy from the machines. Brief Kiss upon arrival and departure, no touching or holding during visit (!!) On visiting forms it may be required that you knew me before I came to prison. Not a problem for most of you.
Commissary Money:
Commissary Money is always welcome It is how Lynne pay for the phone and for email. Also for a lot that prison doesn't supply in terms of food and "sundries" (pens!) (A very big list that includes Raisins, Salad Dressing, ankle sox, mozzarella (definitely not from Antonys--more like a white cheddar, Sanitas Corn Chips but no Salsa, etc. To add money, you do this by using Western Union and a credit card by phone or you can send a USPO money order or Business or Govt Check. The negotiable instruments (PAPER!) need to be sent to Federal Bureau of Prisons, 53504-054, Lynne Stewart, PO Box 474701, Des Moines Iowa 50947-001 (Payable to Lynne Stewart, 53504-054) They hold the mo or checks for 15 days. Western Union costs $10 but is within 2 hours. If you mail, your return address must be on the envelope. Unnecessarily complicated? Of course, it's the BOP !)
The address of her Defense Committee is:
Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
1070 Dean Street
Brooklyn, New York 11216
For further information:
718-789-0558 or 917-853-9759
Please make a generous contribution to her defense.
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In earnest support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange:
http://readersupportednews.org/julian-assange-petition
rsn:Petition
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KEVIN COOPER IS INNOCENT! FREE KEVIN COOPER!
Reasonable doubts about executing Kevin Cooper
Chronicle Editorial
Monday, December 13, 2010
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/13/EDG81GP0I7.DTL
Death penalty -- Kevin Cooper is Innocent! Help save his life from San Quentin's death row!
http://www.savekevincooper.org/
http://www.savekevincooper.org/pages/essays_content.html?ID=255
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
17 December 2010
Click here to take action online:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=15084
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25910.pdf
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Free the Children of Palestine!
Sign Petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/41467.html
Published by Al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition on Dec 16, 2010
Category: Children's Rights
Region: GLOBAL
Target: President Obama
Web site: http://www.al-awda.org
Petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/41467.html
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"Secret diplomacy is a necessary tool for a propertied minority, which is compelled to deceive the majority in order to subject it to its interests."..."Publishing State Secrets" By Leon Trotsky
Documents on Soviet Policy, Trotsky, iii, 2 p. 64
November 22, 1917
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/foreign-relations/1917/November/22.htm
FREE JULIAN ASSANGE! FREE BRADLEY MANNING! STOP THE FBI RAIDS NOW!
MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS NOT WAR!
To understand how much a trillion dollars is, consider looking at it in terms of time:
A million seconds would be about eleven-and-one-half days; a billion seconds would be 31 years; and a trillion seconds would be 31,000 years!
From the novel "A Dark Tide," by Andrew Gross
Now think of it in terms of U.S. war dollars and bankster bailouts!
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Courage to Resist needs your support
Please donate today:
https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=38590
"Soldiers sworn oath is to defend and support the Constitution. Bradley Manning has been defending and supporting our Constitution."
-Dan Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistle-blower
Jeff Paterson
Project Director, Courage to Resist
First US military service member to refuse to fight in Iraq
Please donate today.
https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=38590
P.S. I'm asking that you consider a contribution of $50 or more, or possibly becoming a sustainer at $15 a month. Of course, now is also a perfect time to make a end of year tax-deductible donation. Thanks again for your support!
Please click here to forward this to a friend who might
also be interested in supporting GI resisters.
http://ymlp.com/forward.php?id=lS3tR&e=bonnieweinstein@yahoo.com
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Add your name! We stand with Bradley Manning.
"We stand for truth, for government transparency, and for an end to our tax-dollars funding endless occupation abroad... We stand with accused whistle-blower US Army Pfc. Bradley Manning."
Dear All,
The Bradley Manning Support Network and Courage to Resist are launching a new campaign, and we wanted to give you a chance to be among the first to add your name to this international effort. If you sign the letter online, we'll print out and mail two letters to Army officials on your behalf. With your permission, we may also use your name on the online petition and in upcoming media ads.
Read the complete public letter and add your name at:
http://standwithbrad.org/
Courage to Resist (http://couragetoresist.org)
on behalf of the Bradley Manning Support Network (http://bradleymanning.org)
484 Lake Park Ave #41, Oakland CA 94610
510-488-3559
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Committee to Stop FBI Repression
P.O. Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Please make a donation today at stopfbi.net (PayPal) on the right side of your screen. Also you can write to:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
P.O. Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
This is a critical time for us to stand together, defend free speech, and defend those who help to organize for peace and justice, both at home and abroad!
Thank you for your generosity! Tom Burke
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Short Video About Al-Awda's Work
The following link is to a short video which provides an overview of Al-Awda's work since the founding of our organization in 2000. This video was first shown on Saturday May 23, 2009 at the fundraising banquet of the 7th Annual Int'l Al-Awda Convention in Anaheim California. It was produced from footage collected over the past nine years.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTiAkbB5uC0&eurl
Support Al-Awda, a Great Organization and Cause!
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, depends on your financial support to carry out its work.
To submit your tax-deductible donation to support our work, go to
http://www.al-awda.org/donate.html and follow the simple instructions.
Thank you for your generosity!
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COURAGE TO RESIST!
Support the troops who refuse to fight!
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/
Donate:
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/21/57/
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D. ARTICLES IN FULL (Unless otherwise noted)
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1) Stuck in Dock, Flotilla Activists See the Hand of Israel
By SCOTT SAYARE
July 1, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/world/middleeast/02flotilla.html?ref=world
2) Whipped by Winds Over Land Parched by Drought, a New Mexico Wildfire Rages
By DAN FROSCH
July 1, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/us/02wildfire.html?ref=us
3) Court Won't Intervene in Fate of Nuclear Dump
By MATTHEW L. WALD
July 1, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/science/earth/02yucca.html?ref=us
4) Unknown bomber explodes levees near Ft Calhoun
By Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner
July 1, 2011
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/unknown-bomber-explodes-levees-near-ft-calhoun
5) On eve of U.S. Independence Day, U.S. passengers on flotilla start open-ended fast at U.S. Embassy in Athens
Demand that U.S. government pressure Greece to free their boat and captain, and allow boat to sail to Gaza
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Athens: Donna Nevel (30) 694-266-3852, Medea Benjamin (30) 698-404-7912
NY: Leslie Cagan 845- 688-5646
http://ustogaza.org/latest/on-eve-of-u-s-independence-day-u-s-passengers-on-flotilla-start-open-ended-fast-at-u-s-embassy-in-athens/
6) UK Teachers warn of more strikes as thousands take part in Liverpool march over pension changes
Report by Ben Turner, Liverpool Daily Post
First Published: 01/07/11
http://www.labournet.net/ukunion/1107/livdemo1.html
7) Free Gary Johnson! Overturn the Convictions of Ed Frey, Arthur Bishoff, Collette Connolly! Hands off Christopher Doyon!
By Steven Argue
June 26, 2011
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/06/26/18682916.php
8) We Knew They Got Raises. But This?
"The preliminary and final studies put Philippe P. Dauman, the chief executive of Viacom, at the top of the list. Mr. Dauman made $84.5 million last year, after signing a new long-term contract that included one-time stock awards. Leslie Moonves, of the CBS Corporation, got a 32 percent raise and reaped $56.9 million. Michael White of DirecTV was paid $32.9 million, while Brian L. Roberts of the Comcast Corporation and Robert A. Iger of the Walt Disney Company each received pay packages valued at $28 million."
By PRADNYA JOSHI
July 2, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/business/03pay.html?hp
9) How the Pay Figures Were Calculated
New York Times
July 2, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/business/03paybox.html?src=busln
10) Corporate Cash Con
"What our economy needs is direct job creation by the government and mortgage-debt relief for stressed consumers. What it very much does not need is a transfer of billions of dollars to corporations that have no intention of hiring anyone except more lobbyists."
By PAUL KRUGMAN
July 3, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/opinion/04krugman.html?hp
11) It Gets Even Worse
New York Times Editorial
July 3, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/opinion/04mon1.html?hp
12) Cairo Vendors and Protesters Set Off Clash in Tahrir Square
"Some of the protesters said the trouble began when they tried to move their tent city away from the tea vendors, whom they accused of being 'thugs' in the employ of security forces. Tea vendors brandishing knives then set fire to the tent city, said an activist, Karim el-Agamy, and pelted protesters with rocks and kerosene gas canisters. Another activist, Islam Ismail, said protesters identified two undercover police officers in the crowd and turned them over to the army."
By LIAM STACK
July 3, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/world/middleeast/04egypt.html?ref=world
13) Egypt's Revolution Disrupts Daily Life, Economy
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/07/04/business/AP-ML-Egypt-Revolutions-Uncertainty.html?src=busln
14) International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba
H. Yamamoto
Doro-Chiba Earthquake report No. 28
Fukushima University Students Began
Fighting to Abolish Nuke Plants!
July 5, 2011
http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/english2.htm
15) French Boat Leaves Greek Waters, but Gaza May Prove Too Far
By SCOTT SAYARE
July 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/world/europe/06flotilla.html?ref=world
16) As Budgets Are Trimmed, Time in Class Is Shortened
By SAM DILLON
July 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/education/06time.html?ref=us
17) Debris and Heavy Flow of Water Hamper Cleanup of Oil in Yellowstone River
By JIM ROBBINS
July 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/us/05spill.html?ref=us
18) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—July 5th, 2011
Prisoners Across at Least 6 California Prisons Join Pelican Bay Hunger Strikers
Strike Could Involve Thousands of Prisoners
Press Contact: Isaac Ontiveros
Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition
Office: 510 444 0484
Cell: 510 517 6612
19) Detroit's Dilemma: How to Share Gains with UAW
“Like thousands of newly hired unionized auto workers brought in at half the wages of existing hires, he and others like him are looking for new contracts between the United Auto Workers and the Detroit automakers to share the wealth.”
By Bernie Woodall
Reuters
July 4, 2011
http://www.portfolio.com/business-news/reuters/2011/07/04/detroits-dilemma-how-to-share-gains-with-uaw#ixzz1RCpnU4hl
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1) Stuck in Dock, Flotilla Activists See the Hand of Israel
By SCOTT SAYARE
July 1, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/world/middleeast/02flotilla.html?ref=world
ATHENS - With the propeller shafts of two ships mysteriously damaged, the Greek authorities holding other vessels in port on government orders and an American boat turned back by the Greek coast guard on Friday just 20 minutes off the coast, the international flotilla to Gaza has stalled.
Organizers say they see the long arm of Israel behind their improbable woes, and while Israeli officials have dismissed such accusations as so much conspiracy mongering, they have declined to deny them outright.
One year after Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara during another flotilla, organizers had hoped once again to challenge the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip off its coast. It appears increasingly unlikely, however, that the eight boats now preparing to sail will ever be able or allowed to leave port.
Echoing a majority view among participants here, Johnny Leo Johansen, a ponytailed Norwegian photographer and activist, put it this way: "It's like they've moved the blockade from Gaza to Greece." On Friday the coast guard stopped the American boat in the flotilla, The Audacity of Hope, about one mile out to sea, quashing the initial excitement of the passengers, who were surprised to have been allowed to leave the harbor at all.
"We could see the handwriting on the wall, that they were going to try to shut down all the ports across the Mediterranean," said Ann Wright, the lead organizer of the American boat.
After a complaint about improper documentation filed by an Israeli advocacy group, the boat had been held in port outside Athens on police orders. Inspectors visited it a week ago Friday, but the results of their inspection had yet to be provided. Without them, the ship could not legally set sail.
The Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection decreed Friday that all vessels in Greek ports were prohibited from sailing toward "the maritime area of Gaza." No explanation was given, and ministry officials could not be reached for further comment.
The Americans decided to leave just the same. After chasing them down, a smiling, youthful coast guard captain leaned out his window and requested the ship's inspection papers. Passengers leaned over the upper-deck railing of the American boat, chanting, "Let us sail to Gaza!" Others held a cardboard sign asking, "Is it Poseidon or Netanyahu?" (That is, a passenger explained, "Who is the king of the Aegean?")
"The probability that the Greek government has already made a decision to not let us out of the port is probably quite high, I would think," Ms. Wright said earlier this week. "It's not surprising, in a way, that the Greek government has succumbed to the pressure."
[On Saturday, The Associated Press reported that Greek authorities had arrested the captain of the Audacity of Hope. The captain was being held at Piraeus police headquarters and would remain there until a court hearing Tuesday, The A.P. reported. Greece's coast guard said the captain faced charges of trying to leave port without permission and of endangering the lives of the boat's passengers. The latter charge is a felony.]
The Israeli government, she noted, has held cabinet meetings on the subject of the flotilla, and several rounds of military exercises have been conducted in preparation for a confrontation. "I'm shocked that they would be spending so much time, money, energy," Ms. Wright added, but in some ways, she has been pleased by the Israeli attention. "We couldn't have dreamed for a better thing. Usually, governments don't cooperate with us this way!"
On Thursday, Irish organizers announced that they had pulled their Turkish-docked ship from the flotilla after the crew discovered damage to the propeller shaft, the result of what they assume to have been sabotage by divers. Organizers said that the damage was discovered on a trial run, but that otherwise the vessel might have sunk at sea.
Activists discovered nearly identical damage to a Greek-Swedish-Norwegian passenger boat this week. That boat is now grounded for repairs.
Three boats with passengers principally from Canada, Spain and the Netherlands were awaiting clearance to sail Friday. All of the ships have ostensibly met the requirements of the Greek authorities, according to Adam Shapiro, a flotilla organizer and spokesman. But on Thursday, harbor officials barred a French boat from refueling, he said, an indication that Greek officials might find justifications for retaining the other ships in port.
As of Friday morning, after more than a week in ports across Greece, not a single ship had explicit clearance from the Greek authorities to set sail, and it remains unclear when more ships might sail, or what an eventual flotilla might resemble. "We're going to do something," Mr. Shapiro vowed. Still, he added, "It seems we're already doing something, given the kind of response we've gotten."
Asked about activists' suggestions that Israel was behind the apparent sabotage, Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said, "These activists are not renowned for being an objective source of information." He added: "These people have a tendency to blame Israel, to see Israel's hand behind every calamity. And of course that cannot be true." But when asked to deny their claims more categorically, he declined.
Israeli officials acknowledge that they have been seeking to head off the flotilla, not just because they consider it an attempt to besmirch the country's name and policies but because they believe the entire endeavor is largely organized and inspired by radical Islamists behind the scenes who are seeking a violent encounter with Israeli forces.
On Thursday, Mr. Netanyahu said in a speech, "Sometimes, we not only need to deflect our enemies' physical attacks, but also deflect the attack on our right to protect ourselves." Speaking at the Israeli Air Force flight school graduation ceremony, Mr. Netanyahu thanked world leaders who in recent days had spoken out and acted "against the provocation flotilla." He commended the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, who he said had been closely cooperating with Israel in coordinating moves related to the flotilla.
On Friday, the Israeli Army told journalists that Tarek Hamud, 32, a son-in-law of Khaled Meshal, the Damascus-based head of Hamas, was with the flotilla in Athens, playing a leading role in its organization. Mr. Hamud leads the Palestinian Association of Hamas, according to Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, a military spokeswoman.
Flotilla activists denied any links to radical or terrorist organizations and said they had never even heard of Mr. Hamud. Izzat al-Risheq, a spokesman for Hamas in Damascus, said Mr. Hamud "has nothing to do with the flotilla in any way. He is in his house right now in Damascus. This is a lie by the Israeli Army aimed at getting people to oppose this humane mission."
Hamas denies having any role in the flotilla.
Ethan Bronner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
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2) Whipped by Winds Over Land Parched by Drought, a New Mexico Wildfire Rages
By DAN FROSCH
July 1, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/us/02wildfire.html?ref=us
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - Driven by a relentless drought and surging summer winds, a wildfire continued to burn virtually unchecked in the Jemez Mountains near Los Alamos National Laboratory on Friday, having already scorched tens of thousands of acres in its path and leaving firefighters scrambling to keep pace.
The Las Conchas Fire, now the largest in New Mexico's history, has not spread to the laboratory, which was one of the birthplaces of the atom bomb and still conducts nuclear research, and officials said Friday that they remained confident the blaze would not reach its confines.
So with the laboratory seemingly safe, attention shifted to the nearby Santa Clara Pueblo, which the fire raced toward late in the week, and where concerns were mounting over the safety of the tribe's cultural sites.
With more than 6,000 acres of tribal land already burned, the pueblo's governor, Walter Dasheno, issued a declaration of emergency on Thursday.
"We are devastated to witness the destruction of our precious homeland," he said in a statement. "From time immemorial to this day, our community has been stewards of this land, have fought to regain portions taken from us and have invested millions of dollars in restoring the forest and resources."
Speaking at a news conference in Los Alamos on Friday, Senator Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico, said the patchwork of Indian pueblos throughout northern New Mexico would bear the brunt of the fire.
"They have taken a real hit," he said. "The watersheds are hurt. Their sacred sites have been hurt by the fire. There is going to have to be a big, massive effort to try to help them restore their lands."
As of Friday, the Las Conchas Fire had burned more than 103,000 acres and was only 3 percent contained. Still, officials said Friday that they were optimistic about controlling more of the blaze in the coming days.
Up until now, the largest wildfire in New Mexico had been the Dry Lakes Fire, which charred 94,580 acres of the Gila National Forest in 2003.
"This is a very complex fire, which started quickly and has been difficult to control," said Lawrence Lujan, a fire information officer for the United States Forest Service.
Wind gusts and brittle conditions have made the blaze especially difficult to control, officials say, prompting evacuations of the town of Los Alamos on Monday and initial fears that it could reach the radioactive waste stored at the legendary laboratory.
With mandatory evacuation orders still in effect, Los Alamos was eerily quiet on Friday, save for the rumble of emergency vehicles patrolling the streets. The smell of smoke hung heavy over the town.
As the Las Conchas Fire blazed, other smaller wildfires were burning across New Mexico, forcing firefighters to divert manpower and resources.
The Pacheco Fire has been burning for two weeks through the Pecos Wilderness, not far from Santa Fe, scorching more than 10,000 acres. A fire also began this week in Mora County in the north, and another blaze burned more than 70,000 acres in southeastern New Mexico, including a portion of a ranch owned by the television newsman Sam Donaldson.
At night, pockets of flames licking up from the wildfires were visible from commercial flights flying into Albuquerque.
At a converted banquet hall at the Pojoaque Pueblo's Cities of Gold Casino, evacuees waited for word of when they might be able to return to Los Alamos, passing the time napping, reading and watching television.
Robert Trujillo, a radiation control technician at the laboratory, sat on a cot and considered the magnitude of the situation.
"Everybody knows it's dry," he said. "Everybody knows there hasn't been any rain. The winds have gotten really bad. How are you going to stop that?"
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3) Court Won't Intervene in Fate of Nuclear Dump
By MATTHEW L. WALD
July 1, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/science/earth/02yucca.html?ref=us
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court on Friday declined to step into a dispute over the Obama administration's cancellation of a planned nuclear waste dump in the Nevada desert, saying the matter must be left for now to federal regulators.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismissed a suit filed by South Carolina and Washington State challenging the Department of Energy's authority to withdraw a 2008 application to open the waste repository. But the court hinted that it might be ready to intervene if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not reach a decision on whether the department could withdraw the license request.
Congress directed the department in 1987 to develop an application to create the dump at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and instructed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to determine whether the application met licensing requirements, which include isolating the radioactive waste for one million years.
But in March 2010, the Department of Energy withdrew its license request, making good on a campaign promise by President Obama.
A three-judge panel at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that the Department of Energy could not withdraw the application, but that decision was appealed to the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission. One commissioner then recused himself from a vote because he had taken part, before he became a commissioner, in an independent review of Yucca Mountain's suitability as a disposal site.
From there, the issue became clouded. The other four commissioners are believed to be divided, 2 to 2, but the commission's chairman, Gregory B. Jaczko, has maneuvered to delay a vote. Mr. Jaczko is a former member of the staff of Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the leader of the Senate's Democratic majority, who is a determined foe of the waste disposal project.
Experts differ on whether a deadlock, if a vote were actually taken and a tie resulted, would allow the lower panel's ruling to stand or would overturn it.
South Carolina and Washington State both have nuclear military waste that was to be stored at Yucca Mountain.
Though Friday's ruling by a three-judge appeals court panel said the issue was not "ripe" for judicial intervention because the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had not made a decision, it said that the plaintiffs and the court would know "very soon" whether the commission was going to take a vote.
"We will not permit an agency to insulate itself from judicial review by refusing to act," the court said. But it was not clear whether it was setting a strict deadline.
The decision noted that under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the commission is supposed to rule on a license within three years after an application is filed - meaning by last month - but could give itself another year if it needed it.
Still, many deadlines set in the act have been missed by many years in the past.
Ellen Ginsburg, a lawyer for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's trade association, said that though the decision did not set a hard deadline for the agency, it was "effectively a notice to the N.R.C. that the court is looking at this very carefully - and although they decided on a procedural matter this time, they may not next time."
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4) Unknown bomber explodes levees near Ft Calhoun
By Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner
July 1, 2011
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/unknown-bomber-explodes-levees-near-ft-calhoun
Neglected farmers taking matters in their own hands?
An investigation is underway in attempt to determine who used explosives to blow up levees upriver and east of Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station around 10:00 Friday morning. In the rich farmland where families still depend on crops for a living and American families depend on those crops for their dinner table, officials report there has been "no damage" to the area, assuring that they had nothing to do with these levee explosions according to KETV News in Omaha, Nebraska.
Farmers have been increasingly disgruntled with the way officials are managing the epic flooding. The levee explosions come less than a week after "workers" punctured the aqua-dam, recently erected to help protect the nuclear station from rising waters, sending thousands of tons of flood waters into the nuclear plant area.
"We had nothing to do with it," stated Matt Wilber, the Pottawattamie County Attorney who is overseeing the county response to flooding.
"Someone went in and basically breached that levee, blew it up," Wilber told reporters for KETV.
"So, the water that was pooling there is now basically flowing back down."
County officials reported that a half-mile stretch of Vanmann #30 levee near Desoto Bend was mechanically excavated and then lowered by using explosives Friday morning but they did not know who was responsible according to KETV News.
People in the Fort Calhoun area heard explosions and then realized the levees were being exploded. They phoned Emergency Management Coordinator Jeff Theulen on Friday morning, wanting to know why levees were being blown up.
"One caller claimed to have witnessed the explosion." reports KETV.
Authorities told KETV they're investigating the levee breach.
"Pottawattamie County officials said no government entity had anything to do with the detonation, and they did not have advance notice from the people responsible for the breach."
The Pottawattamie County Assessor's Office reported to KETV that "trustees of a levee district ordinarily have control over levees in their jurisdiction" and that "the county attorney's office is investigating the possibility of charges and whether the people responsible obtained the explosives illegally."
Before Friday, officials' efforts failed to prevent flooding the farmlands in the area. Then the levee there broke. Crops were flooded. In the week that followed, there had been discussions with local government to lower the new levee according to KETV News but their had been "no clear answers."
The levee where the detonation occurred is on private land. During the investigation, neighbors might remain tight-lipped if they get along with each other. Negative sentiments about government are growing less than favorable, as reflected in the first comment posted under the report on the KETV website reads:
"Whoever did this is trying to protect private property from the mismanagement & misinformation of the Corps & others that are trying to drown us. I lost my home of 38 yrs and would have done the same to protect my neighbors & myself if I had the equipment & explosives.
"Keep in mind that 30,000 people in CB are in jeopardy thanks to the Clinton Administration & Corps of Engineer's poor choices for the last 18 yrs. Shame on them. God Bless America and protect her from her government gone astray."
Another reads, "Locals feel left very 'high & dry' all over the midwest, by govt. If it has to be done, so be it."
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5) On eve of U.S. Independence Day, U.S. passengers on flotilla start open-ended fast at U.S. Embassy in Athens
Demand that U.S. government pressure Greece to free their boat and captain, and allow boat to sail to Gaza
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Athens: Donna Nevel (30) 694-266-3852, Medea Benjamin (30) 698-404-7912
NY: Leslie Cagan 845- 688-5646
http://ustogaza.org/latest/on-eve-of-u-s-independence-day-u-s-passengers-on-flotilla-start-open-ended-fast-at-u-s-embassy-in-athens/
July 3, 2011 Athens, Greece
Members of the U.S. Boat to Gaza have begun an open-ended fast calling on the U.S. government to defend our right to sail out of Greece. The fast has begun in front of the U.S. Embassy at 91 Vasilisis Sophias Avenue in Athens. Fasters delivered an urgent letter to the Embassy and plan to sleep overnight outside the Embassy gates.
Passengers and U.S. boat organizers participating in the fast are: Medea Benjamin, Ken Mayers, Paki Wieland, Kathy Kelly, Ray McGovern, Helaine Meisler, Nic Abramson, and Carol Murry.
Passenger Kathy Kelly said, "We call on officials at the U.S. Embassy in Athens to publicly acknowledge our right to sail and to call on the Greek government to free our ship and its captain immediately."
There will also be a march in support of the flotilla beginning at 7 pm organized by Greek activists who have been protesting the government's austerity measures in Syntagma Square. The march will include a demand on the Greek government to let all of the boats in the Freedom Flotilla 2 sail to Gaza and to free the captain of the U.S. ship, who has been held in jail.
The departure of the U.S. Boat to Gaza - The Audacity of Hope - was first delayed by a complaint filed by the Israel Law Center and shown to be frivolous. Greek authorities then inspected the boat but, until the boat set sail five days later, the results of that inspection has not been shared with the captain and his crew.
The Greek Coast Guard stopped The Audacity of Hope some 20 minutes after it had left the dock on Friday, July 1. The Coast Guard ordered the captain to stop the ship, which he did. Commandos with drawn rifles ordered the ship to return. It is now impounded at a military dock in Athens and the captain has ben arrested.
Over the past two weeks, two boats of the international flotilla to Gaza have been sabotaged while docked at Greek ports. The potential danger to the U.S. boat was obvious to the captain, the crew and the passengers: there was a clear possibility that the U.S. boat would be sabotaged next.
Greek consular officials in the United States, when besieged with calls by angry Americans, told callers that they should direct their protest to U.S. officials because they were ultimately responsible. "We know that the U.S. government has been supporting Israel's underhanded efforts to thwart the flotilla, and has been pressuring the Greek government to stop us. This is a disgrace," said passenger/faster Medea Benjamin. "On July 4, it's time for our government to declare independence from Israel and start supporting its own citizens."
We note that on June 24, passengers on the U.S. Boat to Gaza visited the Consul General in Athens, Deputy Consul General Kate Brandeis agreed that the U.S. Boat "had a right to sail to Gaza."
Ms. Brandeis assured the passengers that the consulate was there to assist U.S. citizens that run into difficulty while in Greece. To date, we have received no assistance from the U.S. Embassy and the captain of our boat, a U.S. citizen, remains in jail and has yet to be visited by anyone from the U.S. Embassy.
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6) UK Teachers warn of more strikes as thousands take part in Liverpool march over pension changes
Report by Ben Turner, Liverpool Daily Post
First Published: 01/07/11
http://www.labournet.net/ukunion/1107/livdemo1.html
AN estimated 3,000 Merseyside public sector staff joined a Liverpool march against pension changes and warned: "This is just the beginning".
Around 300 Merseyside schools closed and hundreds more only partially opened as teacher members of the National Union of Teachers and Association of Teachers and Lecturers turned out in force for a national public sector strike.
Placard-waving teachers, who staged a peaceful noon march from St John's Gardens to The Blackie in Chinatown, were protesting at plans to increase their pension contributions and raise the retirement age.
Many of the teachers, who were joined for the protest by workers from sectors as diverse as the North West Ambulance Service to job centres, warned making them work until 68 would see them "burn out".
And after completing the police-supervised march, which was greeted by public applause as it passed through Queen Square and Renshaw Street, union officials told the ECHO a bigger version of yesterday's protest would almost certainly be repeated in the autumn term.
Peter Glover, NUT Liverpool press spokesman defended any future disruption to Merseyside parents.
He said: "This is just the opening shot and there is no turning back."
And Sylvia Wilcox ATL branch secretary for Liverpool stressed: "We have not balloted for national action in 127 years, but we feel we have no choice when reason has failed."
Teachers and public supporters chanted and sounded whistles as the city's streets became a sea of banners bearing "Fair Pensions for All" slogans.
Protesters included Margaret Nolan, an English teacher from Huyton who said: "A PE teacher aged 68 is not going to be as energetic or effective.
"But it is ridiculous for anyone, whatever they do, to have to work at that age."
Other teachers warned the changes would hit recruitment and the calibre of future teachers.
But Education Secretary Michael Gove said he was "disappointed" at the strikes amid continuing negotiations.
He said the teachers had caused unnecessary "inconvenience" to parents.
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7) Free Gary Johnson! Overturn the Convictions of Ed Frey, Arthur Bishoff, Collette Connolly! Hands off Christopher Doyon!
By Steven Argue
June 26, 2011
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/06/26/18682916.php
For protesting on the county steps against Santa Cruz laws that make it illegal for the homeless to sleep at night, homeless activists Gary Johnson (no relation to Becky Johnson) and Attorney Ed Frey were sentenced to 6 months in jail on June 10th. Bail was set for Ed Frey, pending appeal, at $50,000. Their only act of civil disobedience was sleeping. This occurred at their three month protest called "Peace Camp 2010". Revealing the political nature of the draconian sentences, Judge Gallagher told homeless activist Gary Johnson that he "could get some sleep in jail" before they were dragged away in chains for their 6 month sentences. The law they were protesting makes it illegal for the homeless to sleep at night, outside or in a vehicle.
On Friday, June 24, after two weeks in jail, Ed Frey was released on bail pending appeal with his bail of $50,000 dollars reduced to $110. Supporters quickly passed the hat and Ed Frey was released from jail on bail. Gary Johnson still sits in jail.
Also convicted for sleeping at the protest were Arthur Bishoff and Collette Connolly. A fifth protester, Christopher Doyon didn't show up for the kangaroo court trial and bench warrant was issued. A sixth protester, Eliot Anderson was freed by a hung jury that failed to convict him. A juror said of the case, Anderson should not have to gas his dog to try to get into a shelter to legally sleep.
Many potential jurors were upset by the fact that they were to sit through a two week trial for the "crime" of sleep. One example was an elementary school teacher who said, "When I first came to Santa Cruz, I lived in my van for three years. During that time, I was hassled, arrested, and jailed. There is no way I could be impartial in this case considering the pain these people are suffering." A number of potential jurors said such things, but of course they never made it on to the jury. People who are aware of what is going on generally don't make it onto juries in the United States. Those less aware people who made it onto the jury were told, in a typical manner, that they weren't allowed to have their own opinions. In the oft repeated mantra of blind stupidity and injustice in America's capitalist courts, Judge Gallagher told the jury, "Even if you disagree with the law, you must follow the law."
The four protesters were convicted of state anti-lodging law 647(E) for sleeping at the protest. Arthur Bishoff and Collette Connolly did not show up for the absurdity of sentencing and warrants were issued. Ed Frey and Gary Johnson were offered 400 hours of Community Service and 3 years probation for sleeping. In response, Gary Johnson, homeless, asked, "How can I take probation to obey all laws, when you've defined "sleeping" as lodging to the jury, making it a misdemeanor crime? How can I not sleep for six months during probation?" On basic principle and inability to comply, both Gary Johnson and Attorney Ed Frey turned down probation.
This was reminiscent of an earlier Santa Cruz case where Sandy Loranger did time in jail for feeding the homeless soup. When the judge offered her counseling instead of jail Sandy Loranger replied, "If feeding my fellow people is a crime, I am beyond rehabilitation."
The protest Gary Johnson, Ed Frey, Arthur Bishoff, and Collette Connolly were prosecuted for was peaceful in nature with the only act of civil disobedience being the illegal act of sleep outside. Basic protest facilities were included with Attorney Ed Frey providing the protesters with a needed port-a-potty. This helped provide the homeless with a safe place to sleep for months, despite the city government's failure to provide such needed relief for its citizens.
The protest also shamed the city government into modifying the city's law that makes it illegal for the homeless to sleep at night by providing a dismissal of the charges in court if the homeless being charged with sleep can show that they were on the waiting list for the insufficient shelter provided at the Homeless Service Center at the time they were ticketed. Other protests in the 1990s shamed the Santa Cruz City government into reducing the fine for sleeping at night outside or in a vehicle, but the Santa Cruz City Council continued to keep sleep at night for the homeless illegal at that time as well.
During those protests in the 1990s activists were arrested and brutalized by the infamously repressive Santa Cruz Police. Activist B.D. was tackled off his soap box and pepper sprayed by the Santa Cruz Police for giving a speech in favor of the homeless in front of numerous eyewitnesses and a video camera. In 1998 this author was beaten and arrested, spending four days in jail, for exercising my First Amendment right to distribute literature. It was literature in favor of rights for the homeless and opposed to police brutality.
The law for which Gary Johnson and Ed Frey were arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced was Penal Code Section 647(E), for "unlawful lodging". This is a California state law. It was also recently used in August 2010 by the Santa Barbara Police to ticket Courtney Caswell-Peyton, a Santa Barbara disabled woman who fell asleep in her wheel chair. She showed-up for court worried about the possibility of getting her first conviction for any crime. Facing strong protest in that case, the Santa Barbara DA dismissed the charge in the "interests of justice". While happy about not being convicted, she left court saying she was still homeless and questioning why she had no place to sleep.
Unlike the Santa Barbara dismissal, Gary Johnson, Ed Frey, Arthur Bishoff, and Collette Connolly were convicted in the notoriously bad Santa Cruz courts. Judge Gallagher is making an example of them for standing-up against the anti-homeless laws of Santa Cruz. The suspected reason cops charged the four with the state law rather than the Santa Cruz anti-sleeping law was a loophole where city laws didn't apply because the protest was on county property. But, as a cop once told this author, "this is Santa Cruz; we can find a law for anything". And find a law they did.
In 1983 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an earlier version of Penal Code Section 647(E) was unconstitutional in the case of Kolender v. Lawson. It was an anti-vagrancy law that was brought to the supreme court after it was used by San Diego Police to repeatedly harass a Black man with dread locks who was committing no real crime. As a result of that Supreme Court ruling that version of Penal Code Section 647(E) was repealed by the state legislature in 2008.
Since the overturning of the original 647(E) a new version was passed by the State Legislature which states, "Who lodges in any building, structure, vehicle, or place, whether public or private, without the permission of the owner or person entitled to the possession or in control of it" "are guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor". Lodging is being used as a euphemism for sleeping here. This is the law the four protesters were convicted under.
In May 2011, this anti-homeless law 647 (E) was made even worse with the State Legislature making a second violation punishable of up to a year in jail and $2,000 fine. So now homelessness in the state of California is punishable by up to a year in jail if one is caught doing it twice.
Voting for this worsened anti-homeless law were Democrats and Republicans alike, including local Santa Cruz Democrat and darling of many reformist liberals, Bill Monning. Monning voted for that increased penalty at the same time that the people who actually stand-up for human rights were fighting the constitutionality of the law in court with their freedom on the line.
Here is a full list of those who voted for the worsened anti-homeless law: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Beth Gaines, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Charles Calderon, Chesbro, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, John A. Pérez, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, V. Manuel Pérez, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, and Yamada.
None voted against.
As the California state government, dominated by Democrats, passes anti-working class austerity and extremely harsh anti-homeless legislation, the Democrat holding power in Washington, Obama, wages wars in an increasing number of the world's countries for the profit of arms manufacturers, oil corporations, and other imperialist capitalists and locks-up suspected whistle blower on U.S. crimes against humanity, Bradley Manning, under intolerable conditions. Bradley Manning is accused of releasing the helicopter footage that shows U.S. troops nonchalantly gunning down civilians including journalists, first aid respondents, and children in cold blood. Instead of charges of murder for those who committed it, it is Bradley Manning who goes to prison under Obama. Likewise, billions that could be used in a saner society for housing, healthcare, and education are squandered on war.
Meanwhile, the local Democrats in power in Santa Cruz send out their county and city cops to silence protests for human rights for the homeless, support legislation against immigrants like the "Secure Communities" program, and threaten to cut the already meager wages of In Home Support Workers, wages needed to provide the care that helps keep the disabled, elderly, and dying in their homes. While Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty supports the city's anti-homeless laws, police repression, and has signed on with the anti-immigrant "Secure Communities" program, he opposes measures that would help fight homelessness like an increase in the minimum wage and has been part of carrying out austerity that includes the lay-off of workers and cuts in homeless services while at the same time hiring more cops.
As the current crisis of capitalism threatens the break-down all that is left that is civil in our society, the Democrats charge ahead with the Republicans in making sure it is the poor and working class who pay for the crisis of capitalism, not capitalist profits. All reformist dreams of the Democrat Party in any way being a source of any sort of "hope" should be abandoned in favor of recognizing reality. Labor unions must abandon their illusions in the Democrats and stop giving them our money and instead prepare to fight by putting union dues in strike funds. The true power of labor will never be found groveling at the feet of hostile Democrat politicians. Instead, labor has the potential to win demands by shutting down the profits of the capitalists.
As opposed to the Democrat's program of more war, more cops, criminalization of poverty, political repression, and austerity labor should move forward with our own demands. Those could include a massive jobs program to house the homeless, the seizure of housing foreclosed by the banks to be used by those who need it, and an end to capitalist medicine in the United States, a major cause of debt, homelessness, and death. Without an independent fight-back of the working class, using the power of the strike for political demands, the situation will just continue to grow bleaker.
A revolutionary worker's party should be built to advocate and lead on just such a class struggle program. To remain a tool of the working class in the long run such a party also needs to have an anti-capitalist program for the building of socialism. Political parties without a clear anti-capitalist program, once in power, just become mere rulers over the inherent injustices of the capitalist system. Instead of capitalism, an egalitarian socialist economy in the United States with production based on human need rather than capitalist profit could provide everyone with a job, housing, health care, and free education. Such a society needs to be built on principles of workers' democracy rather than Stalinist dictatorship or American style dictatorship of the wealthy.
The alternative to socialist revolution becomes increasingly clear as capitalist society becomes less and less able to take care of its people; climate change caused by capitalist greed becomes an increasing threat to the future of human civilization; the capitalist state becomes increasingly repressive; and the leading capitalist countries plunge the world into war after war of imperialist domination and conquest. As the great German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg said in 1918, the alternatives are socialism or barbarism.
Free Gary Johnson! Overturn the Convictions of Ed Frey, Arthur Bishoff, Collette Connolly! Hands Off Christopher Doyon!
End Laws making it Illegal for the Homeless to Sleep at Night!
Seize Housing From the Banks for those Who Need Housing! For a Nation Wide Jobs Program Building Housing for All!
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Update on the Case of Gary Johnson
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Gary Johnson was released from jail earlier this week PENDING APPEAL, after over two weeks in jail. Like Attorney Ed Frey, he still faces the continuation of his 6 month in jail sentence for sleeping at the "Peace Camp 2010" protest against anti-sleeping laws.
Send messages of support for Gary Johnson, Ed Frey, Arthur Bishoff, Collette Connolly, and Christopher Doyon and opposition to these laws to: steveargue2@yahoo.com
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8) We Knew They Got Raises. But This?
"The preliminary and final studies put Philippe P. Dauman, the chief executive of Viacom, at the top of the list. Mr. Dauman made $84.5 million last year, after signing a new long-term contract that included one-time stock awards. Leslie Moonves, of the CBS Corporation, got a 32 percent raise and reaped $56.9 million. Michael White of DirecTV was paid $32.9 million, while Brian L. Roberts of the Comcast Corporation and Robert A. Iger of the Walt Disney Company each received pay packages valued at $28 million."
By PRADNYA JOSHI
July 2, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/business/03pay.html?hp
IT turns out that the good times are even better than we thought for American chief executives.
A preliminary examination of executive pay in 2010, based on data available as of April 1, found that the paychecks for top American executives were growing again, after shrinking during the 2008-9 recession.
But that study, conducted for The New York Times by Equilar, an executive compensation data firm based in Redwood City, Calif., was just an early snapshot, and there were even more riches to come. Some big companies had not yet disclosed their executive compensation.
So Sunday Business asked Equilar to run the numbers again.
Brace yourself.
The final figures show that the median pay for top executives at 200 big companies last year was $10.8 million. That works out to a 23 percent gain from 2009. The earlier study had put the median pay at a none-too-shabby $9.6 million, up 12 percent.
Total C.E.O. pay hasn't quite returned to its heady, prerecession levels - but it certainly seems headed there. Despite the soft economy, weak home prices and persistently high unemployment, some top executives are already making more than they were before the economy soured.
Pay skyrocketed last year because many companies brought back cash bonuses, says Aaron Boyd, head of research at Equilar. Cash bonuses, as opposed to those awarded in stock options, jumped by an astounding 38 percent, the final numbers show.
Granted, many American corporations did well last year. Profits were up substantially. As a result, many companies are sharing the wealth, at least with their executives. "We're seeing a lot of that reflected in the pay," Mr. Boyd says.
And at a time of so much tumult in the media business, it might be surprising that some executives in media and communications were among the most richly rewarded last year.
The preliminary and final studies put Philippe P. Dauman, the chief executive of Viacom, at the top of the list. Mr. Dauman made $84.5 million last year, after signing a new long-term contract that included one-time stock awards.
Leslie Moonves, of the CBS Corporation, got a 32 percent raise and reaped $56.9 million. Michael White of DirecTV was paid $32.9 million, while Brian L. Roberts of the Comcast Corporation and Robert A. Iger of the Walt Disney Company each received pay packages valued at $28 million.
"Media firms seemed to be paying a lot," said Carol Bowie, head of compensation policy development at ISS Governance, which advises large investors on corporate governance issues like proxy votes. "Media companies in general tend to be high-payers, and they tend to feed off each other."
Other big payers included oil and commodities companies like Exxon Mobil and a few technology giants like Oracle and I.B.M.
Some of the other highly paid executives on the new list who were not in the April survey are Gregg W. Steinhafel of Target, who had a $23.5 million pay package; Michael E. Szymanczyk of Altria, $20.77 million; and Richard C. Adkerson of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, $35.3 million.
Most ordinary Americans aren't getting raises anywhere close to those of these chief executives. Many aren't getting raises at all - or even regular paychecks. Unemployment is still stuck at more than 9 percent.
In some ways, chief executives seem to live in a world apart when it comes to pay. As long as shareholders think that the top brass is doing a good job, executives tend to be well paid, whatever the state of the broader economy. And some corporate boards were probably particularly generous in 2010 after a few relatively lean years for their top executives. In other words, some of this was makeup pay.
"What is of more concern to shareholders is that it looks like C.E.O. pay is recovering faster than company fortunes," says Paul Hodgson, chief communications officer for GovernanceMetrics International, a ratings and research firm.
According to a report released by GovernanceMetrics in June, the good times for chief executives just keep getting better. Many executives received stock options that were granted in 2008 and 2009, when the stock market was sinking.
Now that the market has recovered from its lows of the financial crisis, many executives are sitting on windfall profits, at least on paper. In addition, cash bonuses for the highest-paid C.E.O.'s are at three times prerecession levels, the report said.
Of course, these sorts of pay figures invariably push the buttons of many ordinary Americans. Yes, workers' 401(k)'s are looking better than they did in some recent years, but many investors still have not recovered from the hit they took during the financial crisis. And, of course, millions are out of work or trying to hold on to their homes - or both.
And it's not as if most workers are getting fat raises. The average American worker was taking home $752 a week in late 2010, up a mere 0.5 percent from a year earlier. After inflation, workers were actually making less.
On the flip side, some chief executives have consistently taken token salaries - sometimes, $1 - choosing instead to rely on their ownership stakes for wealth. These stock riches don't show up on the current pay lists, but they can be huge.
Warren E. Buffett, for instance, saw his stock holdings rise last year by 16 percent, to $46 billion. Other longtime chief executives or founders who are sitting on billions of paper profits include Jeffrey P. Bezos of Amazon.com and Michael S. Dell, the founder of Dell.
Resurgent executive pay has some corporate watchdogs worried that companies have already forgotten the lessons of the bust. Boards have promised to tie executive pay to company success, but by some measures pay is rising faster than performance. The median pay raise for chief executives last year - 23 percent - was roughly in line with the increase in net corporate profits. But it far exceeded the median gain in shareholders' total return, which was 16 percent, as well as the median gain in revenue, which was 7 percent.
FOR the moment, shareholders aren't storming executive suites. And while they received a say on pay under new federal rules last year, their votes are nonbinding. In other words, boards can still do as they please.
Pay specialists say companies are taking a hard look at these votes. Still, only about 1.5 percent of the 200 companies in the Equilar study were rebuffed by their shareholders on pay. A vast majority of the votes passed overwhelmingly, with 80 percent or 90 percent support, according to Mr. Boyd of Equilar.
Mr. Boyd says companies are making an effort to explain their pay plans. "We saw companies take it very seriously," he says of the new rule.
In some respects, the mere possibility that shareholders might reject a proposed pay plan is enough to make corporate executives think again. Ms. Bowie of ISS says that outrageous payouts - such as so-called tax gross-ups, in which companies cover executives' tax bills on perks like corporate jets - are becoming rarer.
Disney for instance, eliminated tax gross-ups this year in the face of shareholder ire, she said.
Company directors have the power to rein in runaway executive pay, but it is unclear whether either they or shareholders will do so in 2012. "It can be done if there is the will," Ms. Bowie says.
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9) How the Pay Figures Were Calculated
New York Times
July 2, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/business/03paybox.html?src=busln
Sunday Business asked Equilar, the executive compensation data company, to compile and analyze pay data from corporate filings. To be included in the revised study, a company must have been incorporated in the United States and must have filed a definitive proxy statement by June 23. The 200 highest-paid C.E.O.'s at companies with revenue of $10.78 billion or more were included.
A survey published in April looked at preliminary data on executive pay. At the time, several large companies, like Time Warner and JPMorgan Chase, had not filed their executive pay data as of April 1, so they were not included in the list. At the time, the cutoff was companies with annual revenue of at least $7 billion.
Some companies did not make the revenue cutoff for this survey, but their C.E.O.'s earned above the median. For instance, Howard Schultz of Starbucks made $21.7 million last year while John F. Lundgren of Stanley Black & Decker made $32.6 million, but their companies had less than $10.78 billion in revenue.
For each executive, Equilar calculated the total compensation as the sum of base salary, discretionary and performance-based cash bonuses, the grant-date value of stock and option awards, and other compensation. Other compensation typically includes benefits and perquisites. All figures are taken from the Summary Compensation Table provided in each company's proxy statement.
Whenever grant-date values are not provided for option awards, Equilar calculated the value of stock option grants using the widely accepted Black-Scholes method and the company's own option valuation assumptions.
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10) Corporate Cash Con
"What our economy needs is direct job creation by the government and mortgage-debt relief for stressed consumers. What it very much does not need is a transfer of billions of dollars to corporations that have no intention of hiring anyone except more lobbyists."
By PAUL KRUGMAN
July 3, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/opinion/04krugman.html?hp
Watching the evolution of economic discussion in Washington over the past couple of years has been a disheartening experience. Month by month, the discourse has gotten more primitive; with stunning speed, the lessons of the 2008 financial crisis have been forgotten, and the very ideas that got us into the crisis - regulation is always bad, what's good for the bankers is good for America, tax cuts are the universal elixir - have regained their hold.
And now trickle-down economics - specifically, the idea that anything that increases corporate profits is good for the economy - is making a comeback.
On the face of it, this seems bizarre. Over the last two years profits have soared while unemployment has remained disastrously high. Why should anyone believe that handing even more money to corporations, no strings attached, would lead to faster job creation?
Nonetheless, trickle-down is clearly on the ascendant - and even some Democrats are buying into it. What am I talking about? Consider first the arguments Republicans are using to defend outrageous tax loopholes. How can people simultaneously demand savage cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and defend special tax breaks favoring hedge fund managers and owners of corporate jets?
Well, here's what a spokesman for Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, told Greg Sargent of The Washington Post: "You can't help the wage earner by taxing the wage payer offering a job." He went on to imply, disingenuously, that the tax breaks at issue mainly help small businesses (they're actually mainly for big corporations). But the basic argument was that anything that leaves more money in the hands of corporations will mean more jobs. That is, it's pure trickle-down.
And then there's the repatriation issue.
U.S. corporations are supposed to pay taxes on the profits of their overseas subsidiaries - but only when those profits are transferred back to the parent company. Now there's a move afoot - driven, of course, by a major lobbying campaign - to offer an amnesty under which companies could move funds back while paying hardly any taxes. And even some Democrats are supporting this idea, claiming that it would create jobs.
As opponents of this plan point out, we've already seen this movie: A similar tax holiday was offered in 2004, with a similar sales pitch. And it was a total failure. Companies did indeed take advantage of the amnesty to move a lot of money back to the United States. But they used that money to pay dividends, pay down debt, buy up other companies, buy back their own stock - pretty much everything except increasing investment and creating jobs. Indeed, there's no evidence that the 2004 tax holiday did anything at all to stimulate the economy.
What the tax holiday did do, however, was give big corporations a chance to avoid paying taxes, because they would eventually have repatriated, and paid taxes on, much of the money they brought in under the amnesty. And it also gave these companies an incentive to move even more jobs overseas, since they now know that there's a good chance that they'll be able to bring overseas profits home nearly tax-free under future amnesties.
Yet as I said, there's a push for a repeat of this disastrous performance. And this time around the circumstances are even worse. Think about it: How can anyone imagine that lack of corporate cash is what's holding back recovery in America right now? After all, it's widely understood that corporations are already sitting on large amounts of cash that they aren't investing in their own businesses.
In fact, that idle cash has become a major conservative talking point, with right-wingers claiming that businesses are failing to invest because of political uncertainty. That's almost surely false: the evidence strongly says that the real reason businesses are sitting on cash is lack of consumer demand. In any case, if corporations already have plenty of cash they're not using, why would giving them a tax break that adds to this pile of cash do anything to accelerate recovery?
It wouldn't, of course; claims that a corporate tax holiday would create jobs, or that ending the tax break for corporate jets would destroy jobs, are nonsense.
So here's what you should answer to anyone defending big giveaways to corporations: Lack of corporate cash is not the problem facing America. Big business already has the money it needs to expand; what it lacks is a reason to expand with consumers still on the ropes and the government slashing spending.
What our economy needs is direct job creation by the government and mortgage-debt relief for stressed consumers. What it very much does not need is a transfer of billions of dollars to corporations that have no intention of hiring anyone except more lobbyists.
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11) It Gets Even Worse
New York Times Editorial
July 3, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/opinion/04mon1.html?hp
If you thought the do-it-yourself anti-immigrant schemes couldn't get any more repellent, you were wrong. New laws in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina are following - and in some ways outdoing - Arizona's attempt to engineer the mass expulsion of the undocumented, no matter the damage to the Constitution, public safety, local economies and immigrant families.
The laws vary in their details but share a common strategy: to make it impossible for people without papers to live without fear.
They give new powers to local police untrained in immigration law. They force businesses to purge work forces and schools to check students' immigration status. And they greatly increase the danger of unreasonable searches, false arrests, racial profiling and other abuses, not just against immigrants, but anyone who may look like some officer's idea of an illegal immigrant.
The laws empower local police officers to demand the documents of people they meet, and to detain those they suspect are here illegally. That means they can make warrantless arrests for assumed civil immigration violations, a stunning abuse of power.
The laws also make it illegal to give a ride to the undocumented, so a son could land in jail for driving his mother to the supermarket, or a church volunteer for ferrying families to a soup kitchen. They require businesses to check employees against the error-plagued federal E-Verify database, and to fire those who are flagged as unauthorized. Once the purge takes hold in agriculture, there will be no one left to pick onions, peaches and cotton. The immigrant labor shortage is already being felt in Georgia, where crops are rotting and the governor has called for using jobless ex-convicts in the fields.
Alabama's law is the most extreme. It forces public school districts to determine the immigration status of students and their parents and report the data to the state. Alabama still can't bar them from enrolling, since the Supreme Court declared in Plyler v. Doe that all children are entitled to a public education. The state's law seems designed to challenge that ruling, as it turns school officials into de facto immigration agents and impels frightened parents to keep their children home.
It has long been clear that America is suffering for lack of a well-functioning immigration system that better protects workers and families, promotes lawfulness at the border and in the workplace, and gives hardworking people a path to legality.
Congress's inaction has let the states run amok with their own destructive ideas. Supporters insist they are only trying to enforce the law. But trying to catch and deport 11 million people is lunacy. The damage to this country - its citizens and its laws - is enormous.
Civil rights organizations are suing or threatening to sue to block these noxious state laws. So far federal courts have enjoined parts of bad local laws in Arizona, Georgia, Utah and Indiana. President Obama's Department of Justice has sued Arizona but not the other states. It needs to fight harder.
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12) Cairo Vendors and Protesters Set Off Clash in Tahrir Square
"Some of the protesters said the trouble began when they tried to move their tent city away from the tea vendors, whom they accused of being 'thugs' in the employ of security forces. Tea vendors brandishing knives then set fire to the tent city, said an activist, Karim el-Agamy, and pelted protesters with rocks and kerosene gas canisters. Another activist, Islam Ismail, said protesters identified two undercover police officers in the crowd and turned them over to the army."
By LIAM STACK
July 3, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/world/middleeast/04egypt.html?ref=world
CAIRO - Chaos erupted in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday night, as a dispute between protesters and tea vendors set off clashes among groups of young men armed with rocks, clubs and knives, and a tent city occupied by protesters was burned to the ground.
The clashes appeared to pit civilian against civilian, a departure from violence that flared in the square last Tuesday between protesters and the police, and pointed to lingering tensions in Egypt as the country negotiates a political transition under a provisional military government that has come under increasing criticism from the protesters.
Tahrir Square was the focal point of the 18-day uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February. Since then, protesters have reoccupied the square every few weeks to press the military council to follow through on revolutionary demands. Each reoccupation of Tahrir has ended in clashes - between protesters and security forces, or protesters and other civilians. As was the case Sunday night, it is not always clear which is which.
The clashes began around sunset and continued as darkness settled on downtown Cairo.
Some of the protesters said the trouble began when they tried to move their tent city away from the tea vendors, whom they accused of being "thugs" in the employ of security forces. Tea vendors brandishing knives then set fire to the tent city, said an activist, Karim el-Agamy, and pelted protesters with rocks and kerosene gas canisters. Another activist, Islam Ismail, said protesters identified two undercover police officers in the crowd and turned them over to the army.
It was not possible to verify these claims.
By 8 p.m., the protesters' tent city lay in smoldering ruins.
Over 1,000 young men, many armed with metal pipes and jagged wooden clubs, raced back and forth across the square in pursuit of enemies who seemed to rarely materialize. Despite the scuffles, traffic continued through the square, directed by civilians and swerving around protesters, some of whom threw the metal pots and pans of tea vendors into the street and under the wheels of passing cars.
Passers-by watched as young men scuffled in the square, dusty and scattered with bits of broken rock, running from one end to the next waving crude weapons and shouting "Thugs! Thugs!"
"If I had a weapon I would beat these boys myself," said Khaled Lotfy, a bystander who was passing through the square on his way back from the gym, carrying a tennis racket. "Egypt woke up, so enough already. Why do they keep doing this?"
Neither police officers nor armed forces were present, which contributed to an atmosphere of tension and chaos.
A line of ambulances treated the wounded, mainly young men with thick, bloody bandages wrapped around their heads. Egypt's Ministry of Health said that 47 were wounded, including 20 critically. Ambulances wailed across the square throughout the night.
The protesters have been camped in Tahrir Square since a protest on Friday that called for swifter prosecution of former government officials, including police officers, accused of using deadly force against protesters during the February uprising. More than 850 peaceful protesters were killed. So far, no one has been convicted of a single death, although the former president and his interior minister have been charged.
Mr. Mubarak has been deemed too ill to stand trial.
Dina Salah Amer contributed reporting.
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13) Egypt's Revolution Disrupts Daily Life, Economy
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/07/04/business/AP-ML-Egypt-Revolutions-Uncertainty.html?src=busln
CAIRO (AP) - The quarrel on a bridge spanning the Nile went like this.
A driver stops to gawk at protesters crowding the sidewalks along the bridge. Traffic is snarled. Tempers flare and car horns blare. A well-dressed man jumps out of his car to berate the driver.
"Move! Move! I'm fed up with waiting for you to move!" he screams.
The driver gets out of his car and yells back some choice insults, repeatedly jabbing the first man in the chest. As a crowd forms and voices rise higher, the men are pulled apart. Shirts are straightened, shoulders patted in an attempt to soothe.
"If you want to watch, why don't you just park somewhere and join them," the first man yells. Then, as he hops back into his car, he barks - as much to the protesters as the other motorist: "Some of us are trying to work. We can't keep living like this."
Abdel-Meguid Omar, who helped break up the fight, looks around him, shrugs and sums up the scene with the sarcasm and humor for which Egyptians have long been famous: "So, this is democracy..."
The man's complaint over the continuing disruption of daily life reflects a growing frustration amid the optimism that was the soundtrack for Egypt's revolution since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.
Egyptians are now looking to a future in which they hope, for the first time in decades, to chart their own course. With the floodgates open, they are taking to the streets to press for long-pent-up demands - more housing, better pay, lower prices. Expectations are soaring, even as they tell themselves not everything can be solved at once.
But the turmoil, fueled in part by the continuing protests, is making it harder to address the demands. Revenue from tourism, worker remittances and foreign investment plunged sharply after the revolution, while manufacturing and productivity were hard hit. Many complain that their lives are worse off economically than under Mubarak, increasing the pressure for immediate change.
In a make-or-break year, Egypt's transitional government is trying to show it can make at least some tangible improvements. Officials have approved the new budget for fiscal 2011-2012, a populist behemoth of welfare and development programs. The cash-strapped government is relying on new aid from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United States and other countries who say they want to help Egypt make a transition to democracy.
But many worry even that won't be enough to meet the burgeoning hopes of the population. The need to see economic progress right now could swamp an already fragile boat, as Egypt also tries to work out its political turmoil.
"Everyone wants what they want now. No one is willing to wait," said clothing store clerk Mansour Hamed, sipping a coffee at a roadside cafe while others around him nodded in agreement. "That's not how to build a country."
The complaints are not lost on the current government and the country's military rulers.
Finance Minister Samir Radwan, who by virtue of his post has become one of the most visible figures in the transitional government, told reporters recently that the revolution had created a "new atmosphere" in the country and that, without doubt, "there are difficulties."
Weeks before the uprising, the old regime was touting economic growth projections of 5.8 percent for this fiscal year ending in June and 6 percent for the year after. Since then, GDP growth for this fiscal year has been slashed to as low as 1 percent by some estimates, with a government forecast of 3 percent next year.
The plunge in growth only worsens problems that long festered under Mubarak's rule.
In Mubarak's final years, almost half the population lived near or below a poverty line of $2 per day, according to the World Bank. Unemployment among youth, who make up the majority of the population, was at least double the official rate of about 10 percent. Food inflation stood at more than 15 percent per year, jobs were scarce, salaries barely adequate and affordable housing a distant dream.
In the four months since Mubarak ceded control to the military, those numbers have not improved.
The new budget, for the fiscal year starting July 1, aims to get the country through what Radwan recently described as a "bottleneck" by easing tensions long enough for the economy to get back on its feet.
It sets a new government sector minimum wage at 700 pounds ($110) per month, boosting salaries for several million people. Government spending on education, health and other social services eats up about 54 percent of the money. Wages for the public sector account for another $20 billion - a 23 percent increase over the current year's budget.
The overall price tag is $83 billion, while revenue is forecast at $59 billion.
Some of the shortfall is met by increasing taxes, including a new 10 percent tax on cigarettes. But Egypt is also depending on more than $20 billion in promises it has secured from various donors, including Gulf Arab states, the U.S., and the Group of Eight industrialized nations.
But to keep that aid coming in the future, Egypt must show progress on both the economic and political fronts. The overriding concern, both inside and outside the country, is that the growing power of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood will strain ties with the United States and the West.
Elections planned for September will be key.
"If the political hurdle for support is cleared, G8 and multilateral financial support will provide somewhat of an anchor for public finances," Citigroup said in a report in June. "If, on the other hand, relations between the West and the new Egyptian regime deteriorate, the fiscal trajectory becomes much more uncertain."
Egyptian officials are well aware of the risks. At least two U.S. business delegations have come to Egypt in the past few weeks, including one led by senators John McCain and John Kerry, both of whom praised the changes taking place in the country.
For Steven Farris, chief executive of the oil and gas producer Apache Corp., the first impression came from a local employee who met him at the airport, brimming with excited optimism.
"He sparkled," said Farris, who led one of the delegations. "You can feel the enthusiasm and you can feel the hope."
Egyptians do have hope - even if heavily tempered by caution.
An April survey by the U.S.-based International Republic Institute found that 89 percent of Egyptians polled said the country was moving in the right direction. But 81 percent rated the economy as poor, and 41 percent said they have trouble covering their basic needs and feeding their families.
Ratna Sahay, the IMF's deputy director for the Middle East and Central Asia, said there's no reason the economy can't get back on the track of higher growth.
"The fundamentals of the economy haven't changed," Sahay said. "But of course it depends on the political transition, which is hard to predict."
It is the uncertainty that weighs on everyone.
In their Cairo meetings, the delegation of American executives led by Apache's Farris, which included leaders from Exxon Mobil, Coca Cola and Citigroup, stressed their commitment to the country. Egyptian officials pitched them infrastructure projects, which some are considering. But so far, no new major investments have been announced by these firms.
Ahmed Samir, a 25-year-old Cairo pharmacist, has the same complicated mix of hope and worry that real change won't come, at least not fast enough to satisfy people.
"The real problem in this country is the mindset of the people," said Samir. "For 30 years, they've been trodden on, ignored and made to believe that they should be grateful for that."
"Now, we're like people who have been starving and see food for the first time. We want to eat and don't want to wait anymore."
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14) International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba
H. Yamamoto
Doro-Chiba Earthquake report No. 28
Fukushima University Students Began
Fighting to Abolish Nuke Plants!
July 5, 2011
http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/english2.htm
Dear our friends of the world,
Japanese government is urging the restart of the operation of the Genkai Nuclear Plant located in about 80 Km from “atomic bomb site Nagasaki” in Kyushu, which have been shut maintenance, in the midst of the world worst disaster ever in the history.
University students begin to express their burning anger against docile scholars and shameless propellers of nuclear policy bribed by government and capital. Revolts erupt from within campuses across the country.
Don’t restart nuclear plants now shut for routine maintenance!
Abolish all nuclear plants by the power of international solidarity!
The united power of working class and people alone can create future!
In Struggle and Solidarity,
International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba
H. Yamamoto
http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/english2.htm
Doro-Chiba Earthquake report No. 28
Fukushima University Students Began
Fighting to Abolish Nuke Plants!
The Great Rally of Angry Fukushima on June 19 was attended by 1500 people from all over Japan and made a vigorous demonstration in the center of the city with warm welcome of Fukushima citizens. (Doro-Chiba Quake Report No.26)
Most remarkably, many students of Fukushima University participated in the rally. A student of first year grade made a passionate speech: “Speak out, and then we can change the situation. We can abolish nuclear plants. Let’s stand up from Fukushima!”
Several Fukushima University students joined us while we were marching across Fukushima city. They shouted “Give back the ocean!” “Give back the field!”, and we chanted these slogans in a heart with them.
“I’m from Niigata. On the occasion of the quake in 2007, all nuclear reactors in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant automatically shut down and simultaneously a fire broke out. In spite of this bitter experience, we are now encountering a serious accident in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Such accident could not have happened if government had seriously thought over the risk of radiation and nuclear plants.
Now, government raised the reference level of exposed dose per year. It is urgent to take precautions since the magnitude of internal exposure have not been clarified. But government, media and professors are telling a pack of lies. Today’s world is filled with absurdities. As an ordinary student I find the present situation totally unacceptable and ridiculous.
In Niigata, we succeeded to stop construction of new nuclear plants in Maki-machi by the local referendum. Just speak out, and we can change the world. We can abolish nuclear plants. Let’s stand up from here Fukushima!”
Revolts erupt from within the Universities in Fukushima and Mie
On June 6, 12 associate professors of Fukushima University presented a document of request to the prefecture governor. Their demands are: “Prefecture should publicly acknowledge the existing danger of radiation and take necessary measures to lower the reference level of exposed dose” and proposed seven concrete agendas.
Thus they expressed their burning anger against docile scholars bribed by government and capital. The typical person is YAMASHITA Shunichi, professor of Nagasaki University, who was recently appointed to the Adviser of Fukushima prefecture on Health-risk Management from Nuclear Radiation.
After the appointment, he traveled to many places in Fukushima and preached: “Cancer-causing risk will not increase if exposure dose will not go beyond 100mSv/year” and “There is no immediate hazardous effect on health (under the present condition of Fukushima)” and so on.
He is a shameless advocator of government and TEPCO and abandons the life of people of Fukushima in the name of “atomic bomb site Nagasaki” and with authority of professor. Now a large number of people across Japan are voicing anger against YAMASHITA, calling him “Mr. Daijobu”. (“Daijobu” means “No problem” in Japanese.)
In response to such rising, a new petition movement demanding displacement of YAMASHITA has been started. The essential organizers of this movement are the members of the "Fukushima network to protect children from radioactivity”, who participated in June 5 rally of National Railway Struggle.
The struggles have started from within universities across the country. On May 11 in Mie University, faculty council of department of education rejected, the plan of opening a course “Energy and Environment”, sponsored by Chubu Electric Power Company.
This attempt of sponsored course was planned to recover the setback in constructing new nuclear plants in South Mie by Chubu Electric Power Company (CEPCO), which had been driven into the cancellation by the protest movement of fishermen and residents for two times. CEPCO had tried rollback by purchasing the University for a large amount of donation of 300 million yen in ten years. It shows that we can stop and abolish nuclear plants by all means if we take action starting from University.
Let’s start fresh struggle on campus now!
A large donation by the electric power companies is flowing every year in universities throughout the country and universities have been incorporated into the part of "the atomic village" until now. A university, which should be originally a place to open up the future for young people has been transformed into an organ to take away the future from children and youth.
However, through the accident of Fukushima, the fact has been revealed that the government and capital had distorted "study" and "education” 180-degree. And now, a fight with magnificent future has begun at last to overturn unbearable present conditions of university and education fundamentally. The key point is we students stand up on our own campus.
Tohoku (Northeastern Japan) University students’ autonomous body calls for the great rally in the campus on July 8. We, Zengakuren (All Japan Federation of Students’ Autonomous Bodies) will launch all-out struggle to rebuild a student autonomous body in every university and revitalize student movement in a huge scale.
The future is ours. In solidarity with the friends of all over the world, we will fight to abolish all nukes of the world!
July 5, 2011
Zengakuren (All Japan Federation of Students’ Autonomous Bodies)
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15) French Boat Leaves Greek Waters, but Gaza May Prove Too Far
By SCOTT SAYARE
July 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/world/europe/06flotilla.html?ref=world
Defying a government order, a small French boat quietly left Greek waters early Tuesday and set course for the Gaza Strip, coordinators announced later in the day, when the craft had reached international waters. It was the first vessel aiming to be part of an international flotilla challenging Israel’s naval blockade to successfully depart Greek territorial waters.
But organizers were undecided as to whether the vessel, carrying seven pro-Palestinian activists and a journalist, would indeed continue on course to Gaza. It was unclear that the boat had enough fuel to reach the Gaza coast.
“It’s kind of in a holding pattern for the moment,” said one organizer, Adam Shapiro. “We’re trying to find out what is the next step.”
Last week, Greece decreed that no ships would be permitted to sail from its territorial waters toward “the maritime area of Gaza,” later citing safety concerns for the passengers of such ships. The Greek Coast Guard has turned back two flotilla boats, and the harbor authorities have held others in port for what they call administrative irregularities or seaworthiness issues.
Organizers had kept the location of the French boat a secret, and moored it in open water, not at a dock, so as to avoid alerting the Greek authorities to its presence.
Separately on Tuesday, a Greek court released the American captain of The Audacity of Hope, the United States-flagged boat that set out for Gaza from Athens last week but was almost immediately stopped by the coast guard and impounded. The captain, John Klusmire, was jailed on Saturday after a judge advanced initial charges of endangering the vessel’s passengers, a felony, and disobeying an official directive. The charges have been dropped, said Mr. Shapiro, the organizer.
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16) As Budgets Are Trimmed, Time in Class Is Shortened
By SAM DILLON
July 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/education/06time.html?ref=us
After several years of state and local budget cuts, thousands of school districts across the nation are gutting summer-school programs, cramming classes into four-day weeks or lopping days off the school year, even though virtually everyone involved in education agrees that American students need more instructional time.
Los Angeles slashed its budget for summer classes to $3 million from $18 million last year, while Philadelphia, Milwaukee and half the school districts in North Carolina have eviscerated their programs or zeroed them out. A scattering of rural districts in New Mexico, Idaho and other states will be closed on Fridays or Mondays come September. And in California, where some 600 of the 1,100 local districts have shortened the calendar by up to five days over the past two years, lawmakers last week authorized them to cut seven days more if budgets get tighter.
“Instead of increasing school time, in a lot of cases we’ve been pushing back against efforts to shorten not just the school day but the week and year,” said Justin Hamilton, a spokesman for the federal Department of Education. “We’re trying to prevent what exists now from shrinking even further.”
For two decades, advocates have been working to modernize the nation’s traditional 180-day school calendar, saying that the languid summers evoked in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” have a pernicious underside: each fall, many students — especially those who are poor — return to school having forgotten much of what they learned the previous year. The Obama administration picked up the mantra: at his 2009 confirmation hearing, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan declared, “Our school day is too short, our school week is too short, our school year is too short,” but its efforts in this realm have not been as successful as other initiatives.
“It feels like it’s been pushed to the back burner a bit,” said Jeff Smink, a vice president at the National Summer Learning Association in Baltimore.
The most ambitious federal program in this realm is part of a $4 billion effort to overhaul 1,150 failing schools, in which each is required to select an improvement model that includes a new schedule increasing learning time. In the Denver suburbs, for example, Fort Logan Elementary School has used the federal money to add four and a half hours of instruction per week.
But an interim report on the program in 10 states found several districts visited by federal inspectors were out of compliance. In Reno, Nev., for example, officials found that Smithridge Elementary School was using the 15 minutes it had added each morning for breakfast, not academics. District officials in San Francisco, the report said, “believed that Everett Middle School extended the school day by an hour six years ago and due to this reason was not required to implement any additional time.”
In a separate report scheduled for release on Thursday, the National Center on Time and Learning, a Boston group that advocates expanding instruction time, acknowledges that an “untold number” of schools nationwide have reduced their hours and days, often by furloughing teachers. But the report also says more than 1,000 schools and districts have expanded their schedules, and highlights many examples.
In Pittsburgh, for example, $11 million in federal stimulus money is being used this summer to provide 5,300 students — more than twice the 2,400 enrolled last year — 23 additional days of math and reading instruction in a camplike atmosphere that converts some of the city’s museums, recording studios and even bicycle-repair shops into classrooms.
In tiny Brandon, S.D., near Sioux Falls, some 65 teachers and principals plan to work without pay this summer to keep alive a summer school program that would have otherwise been canceled because of cuts in state aid.
“Our staff got together and said ‘Let’s do something to help our kids avoid that summer learning loss,’ ” said David Pappone, the superintendent.
And in Chicago, which has had one of the shortest school days of any major urban system, Mayor Rahm Emanuel won powers last month to impose a longer day and year. Mr. Emanuel is working with school authorities to add time for the fall term.
But each of these seems to have a counter-example.
Across Oregon, districts have been negotiating furlough days with teachers unions. In April, for instance, the local union agreed with the 17,000-student North Clackamas district, south of Portland, to six unpaid days off in 2011-12, leaving students with 168 days of class. Many of Oregon’s 200 districts have cut similar deals. The average number of days teachers are scheduled to be with students next year fell to 165 from 167 this year, according to a survey by the Oregon School Boards Association.
Oregon sets minimum annual instructional hours — 990 hours for ninth grade, for example. Most states set minimum days, and several that do — including Arizona, California and Nevada — have lowered the bar amid belt tightening. Nevada’s new law, signed in June, allows as few as 175 days, down from 180.
California made the same cut in 2009, but last week dropped the minimum to 168 for any district where revenues fall short of projections during the 2011-12 school year. Hawaii, mired in red ink, shortened its 180-day school year to 163 days in 2009, shuttering schools on many Fridays. But lawsuits and widespread protests last year persuaded lawmakers to restore the school year to 178 days.
Last month North Carolina lawmakers moved in the same direction, raising the state’s minimum to 185 days of instruction, up from 180. But since the legislature provided no additional financing, some education officials there were less than thrilled.
The 2,800-student Balsz elementary district in Phoenix adopted a 200-day calendar starting in 2009-10, drawing on a local tax levy and a decade-old state law that increased financing by 5 percent for districts that meet that threshold. “Parents love it,” said Jeffrey Smith, the superintendent. And Mr. Smith said the results were palpable: after one year of the new schedule, reading scores jumped 43 percent in grades 5 and 6 and 19 percent in grades 3 and 4.
And if many students groan at the notion of spending more time in class, some have warmed to it.
Rubi Morales, for instance, said that when she started six years ago at the Preuss charter school in San Diego, which has seven hours of class (instead of the typical six) 198 days of the year, she resented returning to her gritty neighborhood in the evenings to find all her friends roughhousing in the streets.
“They were doing fun stuff, and I’d be getting home and doing homework,” recalled Ms. Morales, 18, who is headed to the University of California, Berkeley, this fall. “Now I see all those study hours paid off.”
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17) Debris and Heavy Flow of Water Hamper Cleanup of Oil in Yellowstone River
By JIM ROBBINS
July 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/us/05spill.html?ref=us
LAUREL, Mont. — Specially trained crews streaming into this refinery town to clean up tens of thousands of gallons of oil that spilled into the Yellowstone River from a ruptured Exxon Mobil pipeline over the weekend have found their efforts hampered by a muddy, raging river filled with debris.
The Yellowstone River has its origins in the famous park and normally peaks in mid-June but is not expected to crest until the middle of July because of the heavy snows and late runoff. Crews that continue to arrive have had difficulty sopping up oil and putting oil booms around slicks because the river is so active.
“The situation is very challenging,” said Gary Pruessing, president of the Exxon Mobil Pipeline Company, a division of Exxon Mobil, who added that the river was four times its usual flow for this time of year. “Because the river is outside its banks, it’s flowing into areas that don’t normally flood. Yesterday, we saw the tops of fence posts in the river, and we just can’t wade into there and start working.”
River banks are unstable, and there are snags, or large dead trees in the water. So cleanup workers, wearing orange life vests and hard hats, are working the mosquito-infested shoreline.
Investigators trying to determine the cause of the spill have not been able to get on boats or get close to where the leak occurred late Friday night.
The river is flooding people’s yards and fields and carrying oil with it. The crew brought in by the oil company, which now numbers 125 or so, is using special large pads that repel water and soak up oil. Where the river has receded, it has left a deposit of oil that looks like a bathtub ring on the ground. There is an oily brown sheen on the water in places where the water is slack, and much of the grass has been stained black by escaped crude.
Along Thiel Road, which runs parallel to the swollen river and is less than a mile from the pipeline rupture, homeowners were concerned.
“We have old asparagus plants, apple trees and wild plums along the river, and there’s oil all around them,” said Carla Van Siclen, speaking of her four-acre property. “We’re concerned about them dying out, and they are pretty good natural bank protection. I’m a little irritated we haven’t gotten the full story, and I wish they would hold a public meeting.”
A faint smell of diesel hung in the air as Ms. Van Siclen spoke. “It depends on which way the wind is blowing,” she said.
Alan G. Jeffers, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil, said, “The testing we’ve done has not indicated any cause for concern for human health.”
Air-quality monitoring showed no benzene and no hydrogen sulfide. A hot line set up has garnered about 75 calls — mostly residents reporting oil damage to property, or with questions.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Coast Guard are part of the unified command here. Estimates put the leak at 750 to 1,000 barrels, which is as much as 42,000 gallons, and the river has carried it a long way.
The pipeline had passed an inspection in December and an audit of the pipeline’s integrity management program by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in June. It had been briefly shut down in May but restarted when the company determined nothing was amiss.
“We feel this line was safe even with the high current,” said Mr. Pruessing, who would not estimate a cost or a time frame for the cleanup. The cleanup has been split into four zones that total 241 miles. The first seven miles from where the spill occurred is where most of the oil is concentrated, and that is where the cleanup crew is most active. The second is 12 miles out, then 144 and 78.
“Our job is to contain the source of the leak and monitor the spread,” said Frank Box, head of the rapid response team for Exxon Mobil. “We’re following E.P.A.’s advice.”
Mr. Box said his team had 32,000 feet of boom ready to be put out and 2,300 packs of large oil-absorbing pads. “We’re still ramping up,” he said.
The crews, expected to number 200 or more this week, are made up of people who work for Exxon Mobil around the country and are tasked with showing up quickly at emergencies.
Both the Audubon Society and International Bird Rescue are ready to help, but as of Monday evening, according to Mr. Pruessing, there had been only one report of a contaminated goose. Rescuers sent to find it could not locate it.
Exxon Mobil officials had noticed a significant reduction in pressure Saturday night and shut off the pipeline. Later a policeman reported smelling diesel fumes.
It is not known why the pipeline, a 12-inch line with a concrete coating buried 6 to 13 feet below the river back in 1991 , ruptured, although many speculate it is related to the surging river. The line was last tested with a “smart pig,” a pipeline inspection gauge, that went through in 2009.
“We regret what happened and we need to apologize to everybody affected in Montana,” Mr. Pruessing said. “We’re here until the job is done.”
Joanna Foster contributed reporting from New York.
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18) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—July 5th, 2011
Prisoners Across at Least 6 California Prisons Join Pelican Bay Hunger Strikers
Strike Could Involve Thousands of Prisoners
Press Contact: Isaac Ontiveros
Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition
Office: 510 444 0484
Cell: 510 517 6612
Oakland— More than 100 hours into an indefinite hunger strike started at Pelican Bay State Prison’s Security Housing Unit, prisoners in at least 6 state prisons have joined in, with participation potentially growing into the thousands. Hunger strikers at Pelican Bay and other prisoners participating are protesting the conditions in the Pelican Bay’s Security Housing Unit (SHU).
Dozens of U.S.-based and international human rights organizations have condemned Security Housing Units as having cruel, inhumane, and torturous conditions. SHU prisoners are kept in windowless, 6 by 10 foot cells, 23½ hours a day, for years at a time. The CDCR operates four Security Housing Units in its system at Corcoran, California Correctional Institution (CCI), Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW) as well as Pelican Bay.
As of Tuesday morning, advocates had confirmed hunger strike participants at Corcoran and CCI, as well as Folsom, Centinela, and Calipatria State Prisons. Despite the Hunger Strike spreading, the CDCR claimed in an LA Times article this past weekend that less than two dozen prisoners were on hunger strike.
“The CDCR is not following its own protocol around hunger strikes, but we have evidence that thousands of prisoners across in at least 6 prisons in California could be participating in the strike. We think that CRCR knows this and is purposefully withholding information,” said Carol Strickman, staff attorney at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and legal team representative for Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity.
In a statement released from Corcoran Prison’s SHU, prisoners said, “It is important for all to know Pelican Bay is not alone in this struggle and the broader the participation and support for this hunger strike and other such efforts, the greater the potential that our sacrifice now will mean a more humane world for us in the future.”
A recent prisoner work strike in Georgia drew support from thousands of prisoner across at least 5 prisoners – the largest prisoner strike in US history. And at the Lucasville, OH State Prison this January, three hunger strikers won far-reaching changes to prison policy concerning conditions for prisoners on death row. “Given what’s happening in California prisons themselves, its no surprise we’re seeing organized action here too,” said Taeva Shefler from Prison Activist Resource Center. “The US Supreme Court – not just liberal activists– has agreed that California prison conditions amount to cruel and unusual punishment. This growing Hunger Strike is the culmination of decades of abuse, neglect, foot-dragging, and incompetence by an unbroken sequence of CDCR administrations.”
Actions in more than 12 cities are scheduled to happen throughout this week to show support for the Hunger Strike, and an end to indefinite Solitary Confinement, gang validation and inadequate food and medical care as administrative punishment.
Freedom Archives
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19) Detroit's Dilemma: How to Share Gains with UAW
“Like thousands of newly hired unionized auto workers brought in at half the wages of existing hires, he and others like him are looking for new contracts between the United Auto Workers and the Detroit automakers to share the wealth.”
By Bernie Woodall
Reuters
July 4, 2011
http://www.portfolio.com/business-news/reuters/2011/07/04/detroits-dilemma-how-to-share-gains-with-uaw#ixzz1RCpnU4hl
DETROIT (Reuters) - Over the past two years, Ford Motor Co has roared back from the brink of failure, won accolades for its gains in quality, posted its highest profits in a decade and rewarded patient investors with a 14-fold increase in its share price.
But Mike LeBeau, 23, who works at a Ford assembly plant in Chicago making around $15 per hour and lives at a bedroom in his parent's house, is not feeling the good times yet.
Like thousands of newly hired unionized auto workers brought in at half the wages of existing hires, he and others like him are looking for new contracts between the United Auto Workers and the Detroit automakers to share the wealth.
"I can make a car payment, and my student loan," said LeBeau, a recent graduate of Purdue University. But he doesn't have enough for a place of his own, he said.
UAW officials meet next week in Detroit to map out a final bargaining strategy for the first round of contract negotiations with Ford, General Motors Co, and Chrysler Group LLC since 2007.
They will square off against bargaining teams from GM, Ford and Fiat-controlled Chrysler who want to use this contract to break away from the industry's long-criticized practice of coming out of a boom with the kinds of higher fixed costs that contribute to the next crushing bust.
"The biggest question for me is will the UAW and the companies fall back into their old ways," said Tom Saybolt, a former Ford lawyer who now teaches at the University of Detroit-Mercy.
In the four years since the two sides last negotiated a labor contract, the Detroit automakers were pushed into crisis by collapsing vehicle demand and the financial convulsion of 2008. Both GM and Chrysler, now managed by Italy's Fiat SpA, were bailed out by the Obama administration.
The controversial federal bailout helped the UAW secure funding for retiree healthcare by giving a union trust fund an ownership stake in both GM and Chrysler at the same time that it barred the union from striking at those automakers.
It also set the stage for a different kind of labor negotiations that will play out in Detroit over the next several months for some 112,000 autoworkers.
The outcome of the talks will be watched as a key indicator of how much of the wrenching change intended to make the U.S. auto industry more competitive in recent years will stick as the crisis fades.
The U.S. automakers are ready to offer bonuses, including one-time signing bonuses, to UAW workers at the same time that they look to bring down overall payroll costs by pushing union workers to pay more for healthcare and bring them in line with workers in other industries, according to executives and analysts interviewed by Reuters.
UAW President Bob King, 64, now in his second year at the helm of the union, has promised a collaborative "UAW for the 21st Century" approach to negotiation aimed at making the U.S. automakers competitive and suggested he is open to bonus-type payments.
Jobs, jobs, jobs
For the UAW, whose membership has dropped 42 percent since 2004, the contract talks also represent a crucial opportunity to score commitments to keep factories open or to reopen shut assembly lines with new products like the Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, where GM launched the Saturn brand in 1985.
"For the UAW I think it will be jobs, jobs, jobs with a little bit in the background of 'We need a reward for what we did.' And for the companies, it's going to be 'We're not out of the woods yet. We need to be competitive,'" said Art Schwartz, a former GM labor negotiator and consultant.
The 2007 talks reworked retiree healthcare, created a controversial two-tier pay scale for workers and put UAW representatives that manage the retiree healthcare trust on the boards of directors of GM and Chrysler.
Now King and UAW leadership also face a grass-roots clamor from workers who say the union went too far in allowing the Detroit automakers to hire thousands of workers at a "second-tier" wage of about $30,000, compared with about $58,000 for established workers, before overtime.
For perspective, that means that LeBeau, who makes the Ford Explorer, a hot-selling SUV, cannot afford to buy the vehicle that he is making. The top-of-the-line Explorer prices out at almost $40,000.
UNION DISSIDENTS
Union dissidents say the second-tier wages have upended a basic tenet of the industry that dates to Henry Ford's decision to double the pay for his workers to $5 a day in 1914. Part of Ford's justification was to create a market for the Model T by paying workers enough to buy a new model on about four months of pay.
But hiring new workers at $15 per hour, the UAW has allowed GM, Ford and Chrysler to close the gap with Japanese competitors operating factories in the United States. That was a point that Republican critics of the bailout had insisted on early in the 2008 bailout debate. The Detroit automakers now have an average all- in labor cost of about $49 an hour for Chrysler, $58 per hour for Ford and a reported $60 for GM, compared with between $50 and $55 per hour for Toyota's U.S. plants.
Driving fixed labor costs down was probably the biggest gain made by the automakers in 2007. After those talks and the establishment of the retiree healthcare trust, hourly labor costs including benefits fell from around $75 per hour in 2007.
When President Barack Obama championed the success of the $80 billion bailout of the auto industry in 2009, he chose to do so at the Chrysler plant that makes the Jeep Grand Cherokee. That plant, known as Jefferson North, has the largest contingent of workers at the lower wage of any Chrysler plant.
But the two-tier system of wages is a continued sticking point with many UAW workers, who will be asked to ratify new contracts. Some say they doubt that the union leadership has their best interests in view, an unusual degree of rancor in a union that has prided itself on "solidarity" since its founding in 1935.
"We're not seeing eye-to-eye," said Rondo Turner, a 37- year-old GM worker who lost his job last month when GM closed its Indianapolis stamping plant. "The UAW will come out and say we will get your rights back. But from the way I see, they are setting up our negotiations so it's OK to have more second-tier workers."
UAW leader King wants permanent union representation on all of the company boards of directors, as is the case with many unions in Europe.
King, who earned a law degree from the University of Detroit-Mercy while working as an electrician's apprentice at Ford, says the "UAW for the 21st Century" is less adversarial with the companies while also protecting worker rights, work rules, wages and benefits.
King, who lives in the university town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has refocused the UAW's view on wider social issues and human rights, and speaks without hint of irony about working for world peace.
"WITHOUT YOUR BATTLESHIP"
The cerebral King and his lieutenants at UAW have said that given the choice between higher wages and securing and creating jobs, they would take the jobs.
Analysts expect King and the UAW to remain pragmatic because the union has little choice. Ford is the strongest of the Detroit automakers and it would be the target for bargaining in a typical negotiating round. But this time, "a Ford strike would be messy," and the UAW has no way to force GM and Chrysler to accept the same terms without the ability to strike those companies, said Logan Robinson, a former auto executive who teaches at University of Detroit-Mercy.
"It's like showing up without your battleship," he said.
Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California-Berkeley who has been a confidant of King, said the UAW leadership understood that the new contract would have to keep Detroit's recovery on track, meaning any pay increase would probably be in the form of a bonus.
"Nobody is blind to the realities that are out there," he said.
(Editing by Kevin Krolicki)
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