[LAAMN] Fwd: [Fast4Freedom] Tune in...to the Pelican Bay SHU hunger strike on KPFK Sat 7-2 at 1:00 PM
From: JazzyMoe Ahmed jazzmoe2...@yahoo.com Are you tuned into the SHU at Pelican Bay State Prison? Do you ever imagine yourself living the same day, day after day, in a dark cage, alone, hurt inside, lonely with NO view to the outside, without ample, even digestible food? And do you imagine yourself left to the mercy of often sadistic guards who on a whim can do whatever they will with you? Can you imagine spending years on end with no human touch? Conditions in SHU's are so deplorable that men there have launched a hunger strike which will go on until their demands have been met. Please tune into KPFK, 90.7 fm on Saturday, July 2nd at 1:00 pm for a special show on the Hunger Strike at Pelican Bay. We will speak to former prisoners who have tolerated unspeakable treatment and who have resorted to different methods of resistance and to the mother of one of the strike organizers. We will open the phones to those of you who wish to share your feelings, ideas and words of solidarity. Once again, tune into KPFK, 90.7 fm at 1:00 pm for a special Think Outside the Cage!! If you are not from LA, you can listen live at http://KPFK.orgKPFK.org. geri silva FACTS Education Fund: Families to Amend California's Three Strikes 213.746.4844 Fair Chance Project 213.746.4343 3982 So Figueroa St #210 Los Angeles 90037 424.744.1156 - cell http://www.facts1.netwww.facts1.net www.fairchanceproject.org --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Fwd: [Fast4Freedom] Press Conference Friday -- Pelican Bay State Prison Hunger Strike
From: Keith James keithjame...@yahoo.com Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:26:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Fast4Freedom] Press Conference Friday -- Pelican Bay State Prison Hunger Strike Reply-To: fast4free...@yahoogroups.com Emergency Press Conference: Support for Hunger Strike at Pelican Bay Prison Friday, July 1, 2011 @ 12 noon KRST Unity Center of Afrakan Spiritual Science 7825. S. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90047-2728 Phone: Contact Keith James @ 213-840-5348 (cell) On July 1, 2011, prisoners in the SHU (Security Housing Unit) at Pelican Bay State Prison begin an indefinite hunger strike. There are 5 core demands (see below). There is an important show of racial /ethnic unity among the prisoners. This emergency press conference, on Friday, July 1, at 12 noon, will show support for these basic demands from the SHU prisoners. Letters from hunger striking prisoners in Pelican Bay State Prison will be read and made available to the press. The press conference will expose and condemn indefinite and long term solitary confinement as torture; as cruel and unusual punishment (on May 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prison conditions in California violate the Eighth Amendmentâs ban on cruel and unusual punishment). Pelican Bay State Prison is considered the âmodelâ nationally for long-term segregation and isolation. Such long-term solitary confinement is now widespread throughout CA and U.S. No one is sentenced in court to serve their time in isolation (except in very rare cases) such long-term isolation, which includes minimuum human contact and maximum sensory deprivation, is decided by the prison authorities themselves. This brutality, aimed at breaking bones and spirit, is nothing less than crimes against humanity and they are bbeing carried out every single day at Pelican Bay State Prison. This press conference will demand there be no reprisals against the prisoners and present a vision of support that will shake society awake on this crucial issue. Speakers/statements include Rev. Richard Meri Ka Ra Byrd (KRST Unity Center); Clyde Young (revolutionary communist and former prisoner); Fanya Baruti (All of Us or None LA Chapter Organizer); Gloria Killian (Action Committee for Women in Prison); Paul Von Blum (professor of African American Studies, UCLA); Luis Garcia, Senate Select Committee on California Correctional Systems (SSCCS); Dylan Rodriguez, Professor and Chair, Ethnic Studies, University of CA, Riverside (update to follow); Rev. Dr. Lewis E. Logan, Ruach Christian Community Fellowship; Rev. Eugene Williams, Regional Council of Neighborhood Organizations Basic Core Demands From Pelican Bay Prisoners (Security Housing Unit) 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. Prisoners are accused of being active or inactive participants of prison gangs using false or highly dubious evidence, and are then sent to longterm isolation (SHU). They can escape these tortuous conditions only if they debrief, that is, provide information on gang activity. Debriefing produces false information (wrongly landing other prisoners in SHU, in an endless cycle) and can endanger the lives of debriefing prisoners and their families. 3. Comply with the recommendations of the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in Prisons (2006) regarding an end to longterm solitary confinement. This bipartisan commission specifically recommended to make segregation a last resort and end conditions of isolation. Yet as of May 18, 2011, California kept 3,259 prisoners in SHUs and hundreds more in Administrative Segregation waiting for a SHU cell to open up. Some prisoners have been kept in isolation for more than thirty years. 4. Provide adequate food. Prisoners report unsanitary conditions and small quantities of food that do not conform to prison regulations. There is no accountability or independent quality control of meals. 5. Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite SHU inmates. The hunger strikers are pressing for opportunities âto engage in self-help treatment, education, religious and other productive activities... Currently these opportunities are routinely denied, even if the prisoners want to pay for correspondence courses themselves. Examples of privileges the prisoners want are: one phone call per week, and permission to have sweatsuits and watch caps. (Often warm clothing is denied, though the cells and exercise cage can be bitterly cold.) All of the privileges mentioned in the demands are already allowed at other SuperMax prisons
[LAAMN] Drowning Fish?
**Drowning Fish?** /by Greg Palast June 30th, 2011/ // July 3 would have been my parents' 67th Anniversary. 67 years. Maybe it was the triumph of Hope over Reality (still have that Obama 2008 poster?). Or maybe something else, something that those of us who haven't walked that far down the path can't imagine. My Dad's last wish the night before he died last November was to dedicate some of his small savings to the Palast Investigative Fund. It's the only time I wished he'd been an investment banker. He wasn't, so the Gil Palast Memorial Fund is small. And therefore, I appreciate deeply the donations many of you added to it. My mom asked me to wait until my parents' would-have-been anniversary to announce the recipient of the Gil Palast Really Tiny Memorial Fellowship in Investigative Reporting. And the winner is: Rob Roberts, fish biologist. Except his name isn't Rob and he doesn't know a damn thing about fish. His real name is Zachary ZD Roberts, photo journalist extraordinaire. Zach, under the name Rob, scoped out the Gulf Coast for our team immediately the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion. // If you google Zach Roberts, Greg Palast also comes up, making his undercover work more difficult than it need be. But google the name Rob Roberts and you get lots of hits including a sex offender and a fish biologist. Using the name Rob (one of his many legal names, so it's legit), Zach could go where US media fear to tread: where BP doesn't want cameras to snoop. Here's what he found. According to the scientists on NPR, every one of whom is in BP's pay, Mother Nature herself was cleaning up the oil from BP's blow-out, so don't worry about the fish. But Zach found out that BP's fish story was baloney. From local fisherman, Zach learned that fish were DROWNING. Until I heard this from Zach, I didn't know a fish could drown. They can, a biologist (a real one) explained to me. And they have, by the gazillions - but BP's rent-a-professor operation had drowned out the findings. Yes, Mother Nature has created bacteria that can eat crude oil (good), and the bugs have had a party feasting on BP's gunk. Then these bacteria had bacterium babies (bad). These little buggers, like all creatures, breathe — and so they sucked all the oxygen out of the water. Result: fish drowned. BP denies it — and the Department of Interior can't find the fish corpses. The Department hired these same biologists who are suckling on the BP money teat. They could not find the dead fish despite searching by sticking their white canes in the Gulf waters. But we could. It's not easy finding a biologist who is not licking BP's candy cane. But we found a couple: You can meet them — and the deceased fish—in our film on BP, broadcast last week in Europe. The full-monty US version is on its way. // This year, Zach completed the first round of shooting in Alaska for his film on Sarah Palin. Click here http://mailings.gregpalast.net/t.aspx?S=1ID=107NL=1N=108SI=58991ENC=%212%21GS%21%3fy%216%214%21JQ%21A%211%28O%213%21CD%21%3e1%21%3f%3a%29x%2184%27%216%3f%217%3b%28%21%2f%21%3f%21-%21%29%40%211%28sC%3c%21I%3b%2fy%23%3a%21B94t%212%21GL for some of the killer shots from his portfolio, including the one at the top of oil from the Exxon Valdez — taken 21 years after the spill by Roberts in advance of our filming in the Arctic for our Arctic-to-Amazon investigation of BP and Big Oil. Zach, by the way, conceived and edited the comic book, Steal Back Your Vote (2008) http://mailings.gregpalast.net/t.aspx?S=1ID=107NL=1N=108SI=58991ENC=%212%21GS%21%3fy%216%214%21JQ%21A%211%28O%213%21CD%21%3e1%21%3f%3a%29x%2184%27%216I%21%3eI3%21%2fR%21%3d%218CbpY, and convinced Bobby Kennedy and I to write it, along with artists Ted Rall and Lloyd Dangle. The Fellowship will provide Zach a small stipend to work with us for one year. [I'd like to make it two years, and would appreciate your tax-deductible donations to do so. I don't want to pressure you, but my mother is 89 and it would break her heart if the Gil Palast Memorial Fund http://mailings.gregpalast.net/t.aspx?S=1ID=107NL=1N=108SI=58991ENC=%212%21GS%21%3fy%216%214%21JQ%21A%211%28O%213%21CD%21%3e1%21%3f%3a%29x%2184%27%216I%21%3eI3%21%2fR%21%3d%216H%21%3a0%21-G.%21H%40%21J%40%280 ran out of funds. Mom has also requested the list of names of all you subscribers who have NOT donated; which gives you a hint as to how she maintained a successful 66-year marriage.] Thanks again to you all. We're working hard to produce no-B.S. journalism and your support goes along way. We look forward to sharing our forthcoming reports with you over the next several months, and will keep you informed on Rob Roberts' ongoing work. /When in the course of human events it becomes necessary/ to expose the bastards, you can count on us. — Greg Palast and the Palast Investigative Team * /Forensic economist and journalist Greg Palast, author of the New York Times
[LAAMN] Justice as important as the money in Cobell case
Justice as important as the money in Cobell case By WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer Published: 6/20/2011 2:29 AM Last Modified: 6/20/2011 4:54 AM A proposed $3.4 billion settlement of a 1996 class-action lawsuit would mean paydays - in some cases, huge ones - for half a million American Indians, including some 35,000 in Oklahoma. But not everyone is satisfied with the deal. Congress has already approved the settlement - the largest ever against the U.S. government - to resolve decades of mismanagement of American Indian assets, including land, oil, natural gas, timber and grazing. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., has scheduled a fairness hearing over the proposed settlement Monday. Nineteen people are scheduled to speak against the plan. Ben Carnes, a Choctaw from Broken Bow, sold a lithograph by American Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier and scraped together donations from Facebook friends to pay for his trip to Washington to speak against the settlement. Carnes said his main concern is that the settlement ignores those responsible for the asset mismanagement. They want to throw some money at it and (have) everybody forget the main issue, Carnes said. I was under the impression that we were pursuing justice, that we wanted to find out where the money went to. Carnes said he will ask Hogan to throw out the settlement and take a closer look at what happened to the assets over the decades. He also wants to end U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs control of the assets and grant Indians full sovereignty over their own property. Compared to those greater issues, the settlement money is nothing, he said What's the market value of sovereignty? What's the price of that? he said. It's not just about the money. Money doesn't mean anything. Carnes said he doesn't have much hope for convincing the judge, but he plans to continue his fight to the Supreme Court before opting out of the settlement, if he has to. The Quapaw Nation also asked to be part of Monday's hearing, but won't be allowed to speak because the nation isn't due any money under the settlement, although many of its members are. You would think a fairness hearing says that anybody that's interested ought to be able to be heard, but I guess the definition of fairness may be different, said Tulsa attorney John Williams, who is working with the tribe on the case. Some 1,065 Quapaws have asked to opt out of the settlement and the tribe asked the court for three more months to discuss the issue with its 3,500 members. The proposed settlement may sufficiently resolve issues for many Indians, but it is grossly inadequate to address the history of theft of mineral and agricultural wealth from Quapaws, tribal filings with the court say. Quapaw allotments in northeastern Oklahoma had an enormous amount of lead and zinc that were mined for decades by companies that contracted with the federal agencies that were supposed to be protecting Indian interests. Tribal members have filed a separate class action suit reflecting its claims, but the 1,065 who tried to opt out of the Cobell settlement through the tribe may be forced to accept at least part of the settlement - an issue that will probably lead to more litigation, Williams said. Steve Bruner, a member of the Creek National Council, has conditionally opted out of the settlement. In a letter to Judge Hogan, he strongly objects to the size of potential legal fees for the firm that brought the suit. The firm sent Bruner an estimate that his mother's estate would receive more than $127,000 under the settlement. But Bruner complained that he couldn't get a straight answer on how much money would go to the lawyers or how his family's claim would change if the legal fees were reduced. For Bruner, the money would settle years of government mismanagement of family oil royalties in Creek County. Originally, the firm told Congress they would limit their fees to no more than $99.9 million, but later asked Hogan to award $223 million, Bruner's letter says. The letter says he can't make an informed decision on whether to accept the potential settlement until he understands how high the fees are and how those fees affect the settlements to class members. Bruner said he hasn't gotten a response to his letter and doesn't know if he's considered a part of the class or not at this point. It's the principle of the thing. When those lawyers say they're going to cap at x amount, then that's the way it should be. I don't appreciate them coming back and saying, 'We meant this; we didn't mean that.' What they're doing is they're dangling money in front of people's noses who don't have a lot, so they'd love to get $500 or $300. They'll be glad to get whatever, Bruner said. It's not going to make or break me. I just object to the way it was done, he said. About the Cobell case Filed: 1996 by Elouise Cobell, a member
[LAAMN] UK Strikes
This actually happened, yesterday. Heres the who and why of it, as the NY and LA Times today were inadequate, at best. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/30 UK Strikes: 750,000 Set to Down Tools in Biggest Day of Industrial Action Since the 1980s by Mark Ellis Mirror/UK http://www.mirror.co.uk/2011/06/30/750-000-to-strike-in-biggest-day-of-indu strial-action-since-the-1980s-115875-23236531/ : June 30, 2011 THOUSANDS of furious workers are staging a mass walkout today to fight Government plans to savage their pensions. Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers have begun to strike across the country, closing or disrupting schools, colleges, courts, Government offices and job centres. Unions estimate 750,000 public sector workers, including teachers, immigrations officers and customs officers, will be striking across the country in protest at the government's pension reforms. Some union officials said they expected the best supported strike we have ever seen (Getty images) The strikes by around 750,000 teachers and civil servants will be the biggest day of industrial action since Margaret Thatcher was PM in the 1980s. Hard-pressed staff have already been hit by savage Coalition cutbacks and are incensed over proposals to hammer their pensions. Thousands of schools in England and Wales will be closed today while ports and airports will be disrupted. Driving centres, courts, job centres and even Downing Street will also be affected. Last night Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the Government was morally responsible for the strikes because it was trying to steamroller through unfair changes to pensions and had failed to negotiate. She added: Deciding to strike is not a decision we take lightly. This is the first time ATL members will be involved in a national strike in our 127 years. We regret any inconvenience caused to parents but a one-day strike will have significantly less impact on childrens education than the damage done by making education an unattractive career. If the Governments changes go ahead we risk losing the best graduates to teaching, losing great teachers, lecturers and heads, and causing a recruitment crisis finding school and college heads. Weve deliberately chosen June 30 to avoid exams and the start of school trips and events. We hope parents and the community can understand why were taking action as a last resort. Labour accused ministers of causing the industrial action by not taking part in last-minute talks. Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham said: When Labour was in government we negotiated through the night to avoid fire strikes and worked hard to stop industrial action on public sector pensions. The Tory-led Government has badly mishandled the whole process. Ministers and unions need to put childrens education first and focus on reaching an agreement. The Coalition was also accused of having a hidden agenda to undermine public sector pensions paving the way for privatising Government services. Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the civil servants Public and Commercial Services Union, told the Mirror the rush to privatise public services would turn from a stream into a flood. He added he was confident of the best support weve ever had for a strike, saying: Hard-pressed public sector workers are paying a huge price, while the Tories friends in the City who caused this crisis are back enjoying their bonuses. This is part of a hidden agenda to undermine pensions and pick off massive parts of the public sector and hand them to the City. Mr Serwotka said key Government services in the justice department and benefits system, as well as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency were prime targets for privatisation. Last night the Government denied it had a hidden agenda on pensions. It followed David Cameron launching another attack on the strikes. Speaking at Prime Ministers questions he said: I dont believe there is any case for industrial action tomorrow, not least because talks are still ongoing. It is only a minority of unions who have taken the decision to go ahead and strike. What I want to see is as many mums and dads as possible able to take their children to school. But his call fell flat when Tory-run Surrey county council which includes the Westminster seat of Education Secretary Michael Gove said the use of volunteers to keep schools open was best avoided. Staff are walking out over plans to make teachers and civil servants pay more for pensions, get less on retirement and work longer. Those in their 30s wont be eligible to retire until 68. Rallies are being held around the country and the leaders of the four unions involved including the National Union of Teachers and the University and College Union will attend a march in Central London. Labour leader Ed Miliband said yesterday that he expected his partys MPs to cross picket lines
[LAAMN] Elouise Cobel statement at fairness hearing for settlement
Elouise Cobel statement at fairness hearing for settlement Tuesday, June 21, 2011 The following is the statement made by Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in the Indian trust fund lawsuit, at the fairness hearing for the $3.4 billion settlement. June 20, 2011. Your Honor, my name is Elouise Cobell. I am an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe and I was born, raised and presently reside on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. I am also the lead plaintiff in this litigation. My great grandfather was Mountain Chief, the last war chief of the Blackfeet Nation. I wish I could be present at today’s fairness hearing so I could introduce myself and personally explain to you how important this settlement is to 500,000 individual Indian trust beneficiaries. However, physically, I am unable to do so. Therefore, I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to participate by telephone. I want to explain that few if any other legal cases in modern times have embodied the pain of so many people in Indian Country and also embodied the hopes of these people. The possibility of settling this century old injustice has provided hope for the future and a light on the horizon. For over 100 years, individual Indians have been victimized by the government’s gross mismanagement of the Individual Indian Trust and our trust assets, including the income earned on our trust lands. And, for the last 15 years, this Court, alone, has held out hope for individual Indians. No other place and no other institution – not the Executive Branch nor, with some notable exceptions, did Congress provide such promise. Successive administrations stubbornly resisted and bitterly fought our efforts with everything it has. Congress was unable to bring resolution, despite great effort to do so. Finally, in 2009, through the extraordinary efforts of this Court, Class Counsel and the Class Representatives, for the first time since this case was filed on June 10, 1996, the Executive Branch sat down in good faith and negotiated a fair settlement of this case. Then, in December 2010, after a year of meeting with members of Congress and their staff, we were able to obtain Congressional approval of this settlement. In this tight budget environment, that was extremely difficult to do, particularly since 100% of the Senate was needed to pass the ratification of our settlement. What has been accomplished here is historic and unprecedented – a $3.4 billion settlement – with $1.5 billion distributed directly to individual Indians and $1.9 billion to address fractionation – a necessary investment for improving future management. And this is tax free. In addition, $5 billion has been spent by the government on trust reform brought about by the pressure this case has brought to bear. Nothing like this has ever been done for individual Indians. I am confident that this Court understands our history of abuse. Its opinions and decisions speak eloquently and sincerely of the challenges we have had to face. The record is plain to anyone who spends the time to read and understand it. It is permanent testimony to the importance of this case and why it has been one of the most difficult challenges I have ever faced. The terms of settlement bring a measure of justice to some of the most vulnerable people in this country. The settlement isn’t perfect. I do not think it compensates all for all the losses sustained but I do think it is fair and it is reasonable. That is what matters – a fair resolution has been achieved. I am convinced that it is the best settlement possible. I am convinced also that if this settlement failed, there would be many more years of litigation with little possibility of a more favorable resolution. While you will hear from several objectors today, the overwhelming majority of class members -- over 99.98% -- agree that the settlement is fair and want this matter resolved now. This support is not surprising to me. When I have visited innumerable Indian communities over the last year to speak about this settlement, I have heard first hand the wide support this settlement enjoys. I don’t want to get into the details of our settlement. Those issues have been fully briefed and debated. And, I know that they will be discussed further in this hearing. However, I want to address an issue that has been addressed by the defendants and a couple of members of Congress. That issue is the reasonableness of the legal fees for our Class Counsel. I have said that if our attorneys are not treated fairly and in accordance with controlling law, we will never be able to retain competent lawyers who would be willing to battle the government until justice is served – how ever long that takes. I strongly believe that is true. An overwhelming majority of individual Indian class members agree. Please let the message be that lawyers who represent native people will be treated no worse or
[LAAMN] 7/1: Russia Confronts France Smuggle Weapons to Libyan Rebels
Moscow, Paris argue on arms deliveries to Libya _English.news.cn_ (http://english.news.cn/)2011-07-01 21:46:59 (mailto:engl...@xinhuanet.com) (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-07/01/c_13961382.htm#) _http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-07/01/c_13961382.htm_ (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-07/01/c_13961382.htm) MOSCOW, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with his visiting French counterpart Alain Juppe here on Friday, but the two argued on France's arms deliveries to Libya. After their talks, Lavrov told reporters that France's supply of weapons to the Libyan opposition was an unpleasant situation. Juppe said the move was for self-defense in line with the U.N. resolution concerning Libya. Lavrov said that France's interpretation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions presented at their meeting allows anyone to do anything for any reason. I think that we and Paris and other permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council should expect to receive documents that are clear, Lavrov said. As we had warned in advance, now we have these very unpleasant situations when things can be interpreted in any number of ways. In turn, Juppe insisted Paris' move was not a violation of the Security Council resolutions, but a protection of civilians from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Civilians had been attacked by Gaddafi's forces and were in an extremely vulnerable situation and that is why medicine, food and also weapons of self-defense were parachuted, Juppe said. We informed our partners in NATO and the Security Council about these deliveries. News of France's weapons deliveries to the Libyan rebels emerged in a report by Le Figaro newspaper on Wednesday. The report said the weapons included anti-tank rockets and light arms. Russia has been critical of NATO-led military operations in Libya, saying airstrikes go beyond the Security Council resolution which mandated a no-fly zone over the North African country. _Special Report: Foreign Military Intervention in Libya_ (http://www.xinhuanet.com/english2010/special/libya/index.htm) == Peace NO War Network (http://www.peacenowar.net/) _http://www.PeaceNOWar.net_ (http://www.peacenowar.net/) War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate Not in our Name! And another world is possible! Information for antiwar movements, news across the World, please visit:_ http://www.PeaceNoWar.net_ (http://www.peacenowar.net/) e-mail: _Info@PeaceNoWar.net_ (mailto:pe...@actionla.org) Tel: (213)403-0131 Please Join PeaceNoWar Listserv, send e-mail to: _peacenowar-subscribe@lists.riseup.net_ (mailto:peacenowar-subscr...@lists.riseup.net) Please Donate to Peace No War Network! Send check pay to: ActionLA/AFGJ ActionLA P.O. Box 751 South Pasadena, CA 91031-0751 (All donations are tax deductible) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Stephen Zunes: Washington Okays Attack on Unarmed U.S. Ship
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/30-5 Washington Okays Attack on Unarmed U.S. Ship by Stephen Zunes http://www.commondreams.org/stephen-zunes Foreign http://www.fpif.org/articles/washington_okays_attack_on_unarmed_us_ship Policy in Focus: June 30, 2011 The Obama administration appears to have given a green light to an Israeli attack on an unarmed flotilla carrying peace and human rights activists - including a vessel with 50 Americans on board - bound for the besieged Gaza Strip. At a press conference on June 24, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized the http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/06/166868.htm flotilla organized by the Free Gaza Campaign by saying it would provoke actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves. Clinton did not explain why a country had the right to defend themselves against ships which are clearly no threat. Not only have organizers of the flotilla gone to great steps to ensure are there no weapons on board, the only cargo bound for Gaza on the U.S. ship are letters of solidarity to the Palestinians in that besieged enclave who have suffered under devastating Israeli bombardments, a crippling blockade, and a right-wing Islamist government. Nor did Clinton explain why the State Department suddenly considers the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the port of Gaza to be Israeli waters, when the entire international community recognizes Israeli territorial waters as being well to the northeast of the ships' intended route. The risk of an Israeli attack on the flotilla is real. Israeli commandoes illegally assaulted a similar flotilla in international waters on May 31 of last year, killing nine people on board one of the vessels, including Furkan Dogan, a 19-year old U.S. citizen. Scores of others, including a number of Americans, were brutally beaten and more than a dozen others were shot but survived their wounds. According to a UN http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/15session/A.HRC.15.21_e n.pdf investigation, based on eyewitness testimony and analysis by a forensic pathologist and ballistic expert, Dogan was initially shot while filming the assault and then murdered while lying face down with a bullet shot at close range in the back of the head. The United States was the only one of the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/29/AR201009290 7110.html?wprss=rss_print/asection vote against the adoption of the report. The Obama administration never filed a complaint with the Israeli government, demonstrating its willingness to allow the armed forces of U.S. allies to murder U.S. citizens on the high seas. As indicated by Clinton's statement of last week, the administration appears to be willing to let it happen again. Congressional Response Last year, 329 out of 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a http://peters.house.gov/uploads/Israel%20Flotilla%20Letter%20FINAL.pdf letter that referred to Israel's attack that killed Dogan and the others as an act of self-defense which they strongly support. A Senate http://thehill.com/images/stories/news/2010/PDFs/reidmcconnellisraelletter. pdf letter - signed by 87 out of 100 senators - went on record fully supporting what it called Israel's right to self-defense, claiming that the effort to relieve critical shortages of food and medicine in the besieged Gaza Strip was simply part of a clever tactical and diplomatic ploy by Israel's opponents to challenge its international standing. But not everyone in Congress believes the assaulting and killing human rights activists on the high seas is legitimate. Last week, on June 24, six members of Congress signed a http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/sites/default/files/clinton_letter.pdf letter to Secretary Clinton requesting that she do everything in her power to work with the Israeli government to ensure the safety of the U.S. citizens on board. As of this writing, they have not received a response. Earlier in the week, the State Department issued a public http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5511.html statement to discourage Americans from taking part in the second Gaza flotilla because they might be attacked by Israeli forces. Yet thus far neither the State Department nor the White House has issued a public statement demanding that Israel not attack Americans legally traveling in international waters. Indeed, on Friday, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland implied that the United States would blame those taking part in the flotilla rather than the rightist Israeli government should anything happen to them. Like those in the early 1960s who claimed civil rights protesters were responsible for the attacks by white racist mobs because they had provoked them, Nuland http://www.uspolicy.be/headline/statement-gaza-%E2%80%9Canniversary%E2%80%9 D-flotilla stated, Groups that
[LAAMN] Lal Khan/Palestine: The simmering revolt
http://www.marxist.com/palestine-the-simmering-revolt.htm Palestine: The simmering revolthttp://www.marxist.com/palestine-the-simmering-revolt.htm Written by Lal Khan Friday, 01 July 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/palestine-the-simmering-revolt/print.htm# *The scathing remarks of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against Barak Obama for suggesting that the two state solution should be based upon the pre-1967 borders, just before boarding the plane to Washington for a state visit, exposed the diplomatic weakness of the imperialist leaders.* [image: Netanyahu and Obama] http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/israel/Barack_Obama-Netanyahu_and_Obama.jpgThe arrogance displayed by one of its closest allies laid bare the political and diplomatic impotence of the USA, and its inability to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The standing ovation for Netanyahu during his speech to the US Congress was another humiliating setback for Obama who was fortunate enough to be touring Buckingham Palace at the time. Netanyahus offensive was devised to avoid the question of the Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, which is blocking any even partial peace settlement. In fact he rejected almost every demand of the so-called international community. The fact is that he cannot make any significant concessions if he is to preserve the exploitative system on which Israel was created under the pretext of the biblical myth of the land of Judea and Samara. Thus the talks stalled once again. The general pessimism about a negotiated settlement in the Middle East was expressed by *The Economist* in its recent issue: In the end, after much brouhaha and hyperbole, there were no real winners: no sign that negotiations between Israel and Palestinians would resume; no hint of flexibility from Mr. Netanyahu; no expectations from the Palestinians that they would talk to Mr. Netanyahu under the present circumstances... Rarely has the outlook seemed so bleak. The two state solution was always a non-starter. After the occupation of the West Bank the process of building settlements has made the geographical differentiation between Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods almost impossible. These Jewish settlements are deep intrusions into the West Bank that even surround large towns and cities like Ariel, Ramallah, Bethlehem and, of course, East Jerusalem. A number of areas within the Palestinian Territories have been dissected by these settlements and the monstrous concrete wall imposed by the Zionist state. Gaza and the West Bank are already divided up by large tracts of Israeli occupied territory. There are many other unresolved questions: the Israeli demand for a demilitarised Palestinian state; trade and commerce under Israeli tutelage; the use of the Israeli currency the shekel in Palestinian areas; but above all the vast number of Palestinian workers that are employed in Israeli industry. Under these conditions, a two- state solution would not bring anything like independence or sovereignty to the Palestinians. It will rather increase the military and economic subjugation of the Palestinian masses to the Zionist state. All those who are constantly harping about the independence of Palestine through this two-state solution carefully avoid all mention of the realities on the ground. While talking about a peace process, they ignore the crude reality of imperialist aggression, brutalisation and the daily killings of the Palestinians by Israeli state terrorism. The Arab rulers have used and abused the Palestinian cause to perpetuate their despotic rule and distract their subjects from the economic and political repression they were inflicting. The conduct of the so called United Nations reeks of hypocrisy. Scores of resolutions have been passed in the General Assembly proclaiming the rights of the Palestinian masses. But not one has been implemented. This decrepit assembly of the ruling elites of the world can never grant the Palestinians their freedom. The declaration of an independent state at the UN general assembly in September will be yet another hoax. Even if it is passed, the Americans will veto it. The Palestinian masses have a long history of sacrifices and struggle. However, the methods of individual terrorism over the years played into the hands of the vicious Israeli ruling class, who replied with the most brazen state terrorism. The blowing up of passenger planes and school busses only provided them with an excuse to carryout ferocious massacres of the Palestinians like those in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in the early 1980s. Neither could the negotiated settlements with imperialism attain freedom for the Palestinians. It was the first intifada of 1987, the huge revolutionary upsurge of the Palestinian masses that rattled the Zionist state. However, the Oslo accords signed between Arafat and imperialism were bitter pills coated with layers of saccharine diplomatic hypocrisy. They were
[LAAMN] Today's LUV News: 1 July, 2011
*OBAMA'S WAR ON WHISTLEBLOWERS * ** *President Obama has gone after more whistleblowers than any previous president. This is chilling to anyone who cares about government corruption, now rampant. Linda Greene has a piece going inside it http://www.counterpunch.org/greene06302011.html this morning. * ** *FINALLY GOING AFTER CROOKED BANKSTERS? * ** *Glenn Greenwald points out that banksters are finally being prosecuted http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/06/30/bankers/index.html, but /in Afghanistan/, not here, where bankster scams resulted in the entire world economy collapsing. The Third World, it would appear, is being held to a higher standard. In an update at the end of the piece, Greenwald points out a /Washington Post/ piece calling for the establishment of the rule of law in Afghanistan, where the USA keeps its Bagram prison in which thousands are locked away without charges indefinitely, never seeing a courtroom, many of them allegedly children. Because of mass media like /the Post/, most citizens stumble about like zombies, completely unaware. * *ACTION OF THE MONTH * ** *In our Action of the Month for July http://members.cox.net/libertyuv/ we encourage readers to send a donation to /Inter Press Service/, which maintains reporters throughout the third world and reports on the victims of global capitalism ignored by our mass media. * ** **At /LUV News/ we routinely run stories about our ruling Forces of Greed http://members.cox.net/libertyuv/FOG.htm (FOG) killing their workers by maintaining known unsafe workplaces, killing their consumers with known poisons and unsafe products, sickening us all with air and water pollution and numerous other horrors with the approval, or a blind eye, from our corrupt government. But can they take away your right to sue them if they rape you? Yes they can. You think I mean figuratively, but no, I'm talking about actual rape, brutal rape, and there's nothing you can do about it. The FOG, like King George, rule absolutely --Jack ** *Woman Gang-Raped by 7 Halliburton Employees Signed Away Her Right to Sue? How Justice Has Become the Privilege of Corporations* http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/151452/woman_gang-raped_by_7_halliburton_employees_%22signed_away%22_her_right_to_sue_how_justice_has_become_the_privilege_of_corporations/?page=entire *Access to justice -- like access to elected office, let alone a pundit's perch -- is becoming a perk just for the rich and powerful.* * * *by Laura Flanders* *Worried about the influence of money in American politics, the huge cash payouts that the US supreme court http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/us-supreme-court waved through by its Citizens United decision -- the decision that lifted most limits on election campaign spending? Corporations are having their way with American elections just as they've already had their way with our media. But at least we have the courts, right?* *Wrong. The third branch of government's in trouble, too. In fact, access to justice -- like access to elected office, let alone a pundit's perch -- is becoming a perk just for the rich and powerful.* *Take the young woman now testifying in court in Texas. Jamie Leigh Jones claims she was drugged and gang-raped http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/jamie-leigh-jones-claims-iraq-rape-employer-held/story?id=13884264 while working for military contractor KBR in Iraq (at the time, a division of Halliburton). Jones, now 26, was on her fourth day in post in Baghdad in 2005 when she says she was assaulted by seven contractors and held captive http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=4004174, under armed guard by two KBR police, in a shipping container.* *When the criminal courts failed to act, her lawyers filed a civil suit, only to be met with Halliburton's response that all her claims were to be decided in arbitration -- because she'd signed away her rights to bring the company to court when she signed her employment contract. As Leigh testified before Congress, in October 2009, I had signed away my right to a jury trial at the age of 20 and without the advice of counsel. It was a matter of sign or resign. I had no idea that the clause was part of the contract, what the clause actually meant, testified Jones.* *You've probably done the very same thing without even knowing it. When it comes to consumer claims, mandatory arbitration is the new normal. According to research by Public Citizen http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=183 and others, corporations are inserting forced arbitration clauses into the fine print of contracts for work, for cell phone service, for credit cards, even nursing home contracts, requiring clients to give up their
[LAAMN] Fwd: Investigative Journalism professor banished by Dean after his students uncovered 13 wrongful death penalty convictions
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2011/06/246592.php Wrongfully Banishing Professor David Protess by Stephen Lendman Tuesday, Jun. 21, 2011 at 12:55 AM lendmanstep...@sbcglobal.net persecution Wrongfully Banishing Professor David Protess - by Stephen Lendman On March 18, Chicago Tribune writers Matthew Walberg and Dan Hinkel headlined, Northwestern at odds with star professor, saying: Cook County prosecutors sparked a media firestorm nearly two years ago when they subpoenaed notes, recordings, and even grades of (his) students (because of their work proving) Anthony McKinney had wrongly been convicted of a 1978 murder. The battle sparked a feud between Northwestern and Protess, whose Medill Innocence Project uncovered numerous wrongful murder convictions, culminating when former Illinois Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on capital punishment in 2000 after 13 prisoners were found innocent and released. On January 11, 2003, two days before leaving office, he then cleared death row, commuting sentences for 163 men and four women to life imprisonment. He also declared a moratorium on future executions, now banned after Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation last March, saying it's impossible to create a perfect, mistake-free death penalty system. Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism's Protess, also Medill Innocence Project Director, was a superstar (investigative) professor, leading teams of students (to uncover 13) wrongful death penalty convictionsOne was just hours from execution. Medill Dean John Lavine, however, suspended him by email, with no further comment about his future. In fact, he was effectively fired, Lavine privately suggesting he wouldn't be welcomed back. It was a textbook case of academic lynching, affecting a distinguished professor deserving high honors, not denigration and banishment. Northwestern's statement said in part: There have been recent media reports regarding the conduct of David Protess (and his) Medill Innocence ProjectNorthwestern has been conducting its own review of (his) actions and practicesIt served as the basis for Northwestern's response to subpoenas issued by the Cook County State's Attorney's office. Despite his laudable work, his Innocence Project (goal) would not justify any improper actions, despite no legitimate evidence proving any. On March 18, The Daily Northwestern's Brian Rosenthal headlined, Updated: NU removes David Protess as professor of Investigative Journalism in spring, saying: His removal leave(s) the future of the class unclear. In an interview, Protess said he will continue to serve as director of the Innocence Project, but he doesn't know if the project will continue to be involved with the class At the time, he also said he's committed to continuing our investigations in these cases. Innocent prisoners should not be punished for the dean's decisionThe innocent prisoners in jail transcend anything going on at Northwestern. I'm not going to neglect the cause. In addition, he expressed disappointment because last quarter's class was the best group of students I've taught in years. The eight undergraduates in his spring class petitioned Medill's Senior Director of Undergraduate Education Michele Mitoun saying: If removing Protess is part of an effort by the University to discipline him for defending the integrity of the Innocence Project to which he and decades of students have given so much, please know that you are not punishing Prof. Protess half as much as you are his students, and the two men still sitting behind bars. Dozens of alumni also petitioned Northwestern and Medill, saying: We are writing to request a public explanation of the facts surrounding the apparent removal of Professor Protess. In particular, we would like to know the reasons for (his) removal, and your explanation of why this action was necessary and is in the best interests of Medill and Northwestern. Former students like Evan Benn, now a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter called Protess' class life-changing. Another, Maurice Possley, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, said he was incredibly professional. Paul Ciolino added: If you look at this thing 30 to 40 years from now, Protess will be a beloved figure that they'll be building statues about. The Northwestern Faculty Senate passed a motion expressing deep concern over the way Protess was treated. Former Medill Dean (1989 - 1996), now Columbia University Journalism Professor, Michael Janeway said he zealously pursued a cause, one you could not question. On June 19, New York Times writers David Carr and John Schwartz headlined, A Watchdog Professor, Now Defending Himself, saying: Renown Journalism Professor Protess spent three decades fighting to prove the innocence of others has been locked in a battle to do the same for himself. It hasn't gone as well. In fact, spurious practices he's accused of include
[LAAMN] Activist Convicted of Resisting Arrest Without Violence
Activist Convicted of Resisting Arrest Without Violence Flickr/ photographer padawan *(xava du) Activist Post Orlando Cop Watch activist, John Kurtz, has been ordered jailed for 30 days with 1 year probation for resisting arrest without violence. Kurtz's case came to public attention in January after he was arrested for filming a case of police brutality administered at the hands of officer Adam Gruler, well known for his questionable conduct and liberal use of tasers and verbal abuse. Kurtz was facing a possible 6-year prison sentence for his audacity to film a public servant attacking a member of the public even after the person was restrained with handcuffs. Kurtz's video camera was confiscated after his arrest and mysteriously went missing, destroying a key piece of evidence for his own defense, as well as to document exactly what happened that day. The evidence, therefore, relied upon the words of police officers attached to the event. Despite the conflicting testimony of these officers -- including the arresting officer Adam Gruler himself saying that John did not resist -- Kurtz was still convicted of resisting his illegal arrest. The pattern of lawlessness is reaching a fever pitch, as there is now an overt war by police on photojournalists. The use of intimidation, overt brutality, and a permissive court system is now spiraling out of control. Kurtz's case is a clear violation of the 1st and 4th amendments, yet the conviction stands. Similarly the charge of resisting arrest has become a mantra for officers, which is allowing for horrendous acts of police brutality, even of society's most vulnerable. YouTube is filled with examples of people lying face-down, cuffed, kneeled upon and pummeled as officers continue to shout stop resisting! This is done not only as a show of power, but it also reinforces the legal justification for their behavior and is intended to lead to convictions like those of John Kurtz. The result has a chilling effect on anti-police state activists, as well as photojournalists in general. Please take action and call Judge Alan S. Apte, Orlando Police Department, and the Orange County Jail. Let them know that caging peaceful people will not be tolerated by the general public. Circuit Judge Alan S. Apte Address: 425 N Orange Ave, Courtroom 18A, Orlando, FL 32801 Office: 407-836-0535 Judicial Assistant: Hale Hale’s Email Address: ctja...@ocnjcc.org Chief Judge Belvin Perry Address: 425 N Orange Ave, Courtroom 19D, Orlando, FL 32801 Office: 407-836-2008 Judicial Assistant: Gay Orlando Police Department Headquarters Address: 100 South Hughey Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801-2501 Non-Emergency Complaint Desk: 321-235-5300 Information Desk: 407-246-2470 Community Relations: 407-246-2461 Orange County Corrections Jail Facilities Address: P.O. Box 4970, Orlando, FL 32802 Phone: 407-836-3400 Source for this article: Orlando Cop Watch http://www.activistpost.com/2011/07/activist-convicted-of-resisting-arrest.html#more [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] With the illness of President Chavez, the working class and the revolutionary people must take charge of the revolution
*Please excuse this poor google translation, for the orginal Spanish go to the url below.* ** *From the Venezuelan section of the International Marxist Tendency:* ** http://www.luchadeclases.org.ve/venezuela-leftmenu-161/7035-enfermedad-chavez ** ** With the illness of President Chavez, the working class and the revolutionary people must take charge of the revolutionhttp://www.luchadeclases.org.ve/venezuela-leftmenu-161/7035-enfermedad-chavez [image: Print]http://www.luchadeclases.org.ve/venezuela-leftmenu-161/7035-enfermedad-chavez?tmpl=componentprint=1layout=defaultpage= [image: E-mail]http://www.luchadeclases.org.ve/component/mailto/?tmpl=componentlink=cc8c89f53e1d21333177857b78b5a8d0a3ed8627 Written by Class Struggle / CMI Venezuela Friday July 1, 2011 [image: chavez-speech-disease]On Thursday 30 at 9pm on President Chavez went to the Venezuelan people in a national report on their condition, explaining that Cuba was operated on to remove a cancerous tumor. This story raises a new stage for the revolution and class struggle in Venezuela, which is even more necessary for working people to take the reins and ensure the continuity of the revolution. The short message read where the president expressed his health, made it clear he is still in command of the Venezuelan government, but should follow the instructions for treatment and his medical team. This ends the false matrices opinion that the private media attempted to create on this subject. Gossip about a power vacuum were not in Venezuela, but have heard in international media such as *El País* of Spain or the *BBC* in Britain. They are part of an international media blockade against the Bolivarian revolution in order to weaken it before the 2012 presidential election. As in the civilian-military uprising of February 4, 1992, President Chavez showed his face and spoke directly to the Venezuelan people. Chavez himself admitted that fundamental error has been over the pressures and pace he has imposed the same process in recent years. According to its announcement on medical treatment will require a reasonable time for full recovery, and even if it leaves his duties as president, it is clear that his administration will hold much of the responsibility he has as president. This event is so important and decisive for the revolution comes at a time when the class struggle has reached a point where the contradictions between the oligarchy and the working class are more irreconcilable than ever. While the revolutionary people are demanding more radical revolution, fulfill the Great Commission Housing, in addition to removing the corrupt state bureaucrats and the bourgeoisie and imperialism focus on economic sabotage, media manipulation, sanctions against PDVSA and its destabilization plan forever. Now clearly feels the emptiness, the truth is that no figure in the government has even half of Chavez's popularity among the masses. All this problem shows that it is possible to base the revolution in one man. Chavez himself has said this more than once, and has tried to form a mass party, PSUV, which could play a role beyond electoral battles. Unfortunately, this party has been hijacked in many states by a bureaucracy that is not interested in the actual training of revolutionary cadres. [image: fidel_chavez_29junio]The absence of Chavez leads for the right to try to rely on stretchers reformists and bridges to slow the course of the revolution, expropriation and workers control. The opposition knows that Chavez is the only leader of the revolution can give real leadership and unify the ranks of the Bolivarian movement. They are also well aware that the president has so far been a hundred times to the left of all inter-media leaders in their movement. With one of the latter at the head of the revolution, would be much easier to negotiate to divert or break, later to defeat once and for all. Against this background, the Venezuelan section of the International Marxist Tendency, grouped around the newspaper Fight Classes, calls on all revolutionary sectors to drive around a program that ensures the triumph of socialist revolution: 1.La central slogan should be: *revolutionary Watch!* to go from the base to ensure that they comply with the orders of President Chavez and guidelines such as: workers' control, all power to the people, no reconciliation with the right fight against bureaucracy and corruption. 2.De according to this slogan, we must extend workers' control all institutions and state enterprises. Open the books of account and abolish the wage inequality between officials and grassroots workers. 3.Construir councils of workers in all areas and linked to state and national level, with elected and recallable spokespeople in each instance. As shown in the large national meeting held in May in Ciudad Guayana for workers' control, this slogan is not utopian but a real possibility. 4.In order to fulfill the Mission Housing and building the two
[LAAMN] CORRECTION: Urgent! LAPD Checkpoint TOMORROW NIGHT! PROTEST!
THIS ACTION WILL BE TOMORROW, SATURDAY NIGHT. I apologize. Got some bad info! Ron Gochez Social Justice Educator/Community Organizer PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR CONTACTS!! WHAT: LAPD Sobriety CHECKPOINT WHEN: SATURDAY!!. July 2nd! 8pm-2am! WHERE: South Central LA! S. Figueroa St and W 40th Place! Join the Southern CA Immigration Coalition at that location to insure that the LAPD does not steal people's cars simply for not having a license! Bring signs, flashlights, banners...etc! We will have Know Your Rights fliers to hand out to the people at that location! Join us! Ron Gochez Social Justice Educator/Community Organizer Union del Barrio Southern CA Immigration Coalition July 1, 2011 (Friday) – Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. in LAPD’s Devonshire Area on Reseda Boulevard at Nordhoff Street July 1, 2011 (Friday) – Sobriety Checkpoint from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. in LAPD’s North Hollywood Area on Lankershim Boulevard at Cumpston Street July 2, 2011 (Saturday) – Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. in LAPD’s Southwest Area on Figueroa Street at 40th Place July 3, 2011 (Sunday) – DUI Saturation Patrol from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. in LAPD’s Foothill Area July 3, 2011 (Sunday) – DUI Saturation Patrol from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. in LAPD’s Harbor Area July 4, 2011 (Monday) – Sobriety Checkpoint from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. in LAPD’s West Los Angeles Area on Pacific Coast Highway at Temescal Canyon Road. --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Letters to Congress RE: The Gaza Freedom Flotilla
Dear All, As always, you are free to borrow from this letter for your own messages to your congresspeople. As you may intuit from this letter, our congressional district lies in the Bible belt and is written with that in mind. However you choose to word your message, though, I hope you will take the time to write or call your representatives. You may also wish to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. May God have mercy on us all. Hajja Romi Dear Congressman Cassidy/Senators Vitter and Landrieu, I wish to express my strong sympathy and support for the nonviolent activists on board a flotilla of ships in the harbor in Athens, who are trying to sail to Gaza with much-needed supplies of food and medicine for the captive population there. I realize that my support is at variance with that of the US Government and many of my fellow citizens, but I feel that people in this country are poorly informed as to the issues involved. For years our mainstream media in the United States has been completely dominated by pro-Israel interests, and as a result many people in this country who do not have connections in the Middle East, as I do, simply do not know the truth about the dispossession of the Palestinian people and the atrocities which have been perpetrated against them before, during and since the 1948 war which Israelis call their War of Independence and Palestinians call the Catastrophe (Nakba). Arab peoples have as much right as anyone to nations of their own, and simply because Israelis claim that God gave them Palestine does not make it so. God is not in the real estate business, and His promise was to Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), father of BOTH the Jewish AND Arab peoples. For Israelis to claim that their covetousness of the land of Palestine and their murder of innocent civilians there is in conformity with God's will is clearly false, as their conquest and occupation go against His law in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17), if nothing else (laws #6 and #10). In addition, Israelis have also borne false witness against Palestinians (law #9) and their illegal settlements constitute theft (law #8) Two years ago, Israel mounted a punishing, devastating assault on the trapped population of Gaza. These people, most of whom are refugees and the descendants of refugees from the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine, were bombarded with internationally outlawed weapons like depleted uranium and white phosphorus. Among the more than 1400 known dead were many woman and children. Almost all of the dead were unarmed civilians and their death constituted a war crime that even Israelis like jurist Richard Goldstone condemned. While the US has consistently supported Israel in the prosecution of these attacks, most of the world has condemned them as war crimes. We do ourselves NO FAVORS when we continue to give Israel a blank check to harass and murder innocent people. Now, an unarmed flotilla seeks to leave Athens. Israel would be well advised to let it proceed without the kind of murderous attacks on the passengers which left nine dead in a similar attempt last year. We deceive only ourselves if we think that God will not punish us for supplying weapons for the hideous genocide of the Palestinian people which Israel is so clearly attempting. Cordially, Romi Wythe Elnagar Natural-born US Citizen [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group,
[LAAMN] Fwd: Please Support Anti-War and Chicano Activist Carlos Montes!
Hi, please support me and the 23 other activist in this fight, my court date is July 6. Carlos Montes Support Carlos Montes' legal defense. Thousands are needed to keep Carlos out of prison. Also don't forget the call-in Day July 6! Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Please Support Anti-War and Chicano Activist Carlos Montes! A July 6 court date is fast approaching for Carlos Montes, and we urgently need your support. Thousands of dollars are needed to put on a strong legal and political defense. You can help keep Carlos Montes out of prison. We are asking you to donate to Carlos Montes’ legal defense by clicking here. For donations by check, there is information at the bottom. Carlos Montes is a longtime Chicano activist known for his leadership of the 1968 East Los Angeles high school education reform movement (see the film Walkout), the historic Chicano Moratorium against the U.S. war in Vietnam, and the recent immigrants rights mega-marches of 2006. More recently in September 2010, Carlos Montes’ name appeared on the FBI search warrant for the Anti-War Committee office in Minneapolis - the organizing center for the 30,000 protesters at the 2008 Republican National Convention. The attack on Carlos Montes is part of a sweeping government campaign tied to 23 Midwest anti-war activists raided or subpoenaed by the FBI - as the Washington Post reported. In May, Los Angeles Sheriffs broke down Montes’ door, arrested him and ransacked his home. They took political documents, a computer, cell phones and meeting notes having nothing to do with the legal charges. The FBI tried to question Carlos regarding the case of the 23 anti-war and solidarity activists. Sadly, we have seen this repression before. As Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) said in a recent letter to Attorney General Eric Holder about the current FBI and grand jury repression: “I am writing because I am reminded of another time and another period in our history, during the Civil Rights Movement, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and I and many others in the movement, were investigated in an attempt to silence our voices.” If you know this history, you understand the repression Carlos Montes now faces. In solidarity with Carlos Montes on Wednesday July 6, we are organizing a protest in Los Angeles and a National Call In Day to Attorney General Eric Holder. Thank you for your donation and your solidarity. The anti-war and immigrant rights movements will not be silenced, we will continue to organize for meaningful change. For peace and justice, Tom Burke, for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression www.StopFBI.net To Donate by Check Mail: Committee to Stop FBI Repression PO Box 14183 Minneapolis, MN 55414 To Donate Online click here. or paste http://www.stopfbi.net/donate in your browser. For Tax Deductible Donations For larger tax deductable donations going to the legal defense fund, please make them out to the “National Lawyers’ Guild Foundation and write “CSFR” in the message line. These donations must be $100 or more. Please mail to our office at the address above. For questions or information: i...@stopfbi.net or call 612-379-3585 follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend Copyright © 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 Add us to your address book [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To
[LAAMN] Fw: Last update for July 1st
--- On Fri, 7/1/11, U.S. BOAT TO GAZA ustog...@gmail.com wrote: July 1 - 9 pm (NYC time) Sorry for the delay in getting this to you all. As you know, earlier today the U.S. Boat to Gaza - The Audacity of Hope - was stopped by the Greek Coast Guard. After a stand off that unfolded over several hours a 2nd Greek Coast Guard boat arrived. This boat carried heavily armed Greek commandos and this shifted the dynamic. Soon after a decision was made to bring the boat back to a dock in Athens, not the same one the boat had previously been at. Once docked we learned that the Greek authorities are most likely going to bring some type of charges against the captain of our boat, and that should happen tomorrow (Saturday) morning. In solidarity with the captain, most of the passengers and other crew members decided to spend the night on the boat. We do not yet know what their plans are for tomorrow, or what the next steps in all of this will be. As soon as we find out we will get word to you all. The good news today was the tremendous outpouring of calls and emails sent to the Greek Embassy in Washington, DC as well as Greek consulates around the country. Many people have also contacted the U.S. State Dept. urging them to stop supporting the Israeli efforts to undermine the flotilla. Please be sure to check our website for regular updates and to sign up for Twitter and Facebook notices. Thanks everyone for your support and great work today! GET ON BOARD THE U.S. TO GAZA CAMPAIGN VISIT WWW.USTOGAZA.ORG TO ENDORSE AND CONTRIBUTE Thank you for your support Please distribute widely [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
