[LAAMN] Hiroshima: The Ultimate Act of Terrorism, and The Culture of Cash
Climate change threatens the future of humanity, but we refuse to respond rationally was how George Monbiot opened his essay on the use of fossil fuels. Here, John Pilger adds Nuclear War to the list of dire and immediate threats, and makes as pressing an argument. I don't have the article in front of me, but the Bush administration is currently meeting in closed session with the nuclear industry, discussing using the energy crisis to reopen closed plants, including those with known deadly radiation leaks, and build new ones on the theory that people are now concerned enough about energy to accept this. And, of course, this also will be used to persuade us to accept nuclear weapons up to and including war. We must defeat these sub-humans. The above was written in 2003 Ed http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0815-06.htm Published on Friday, August 15, 2003 by John Pilger August Marks Another Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing of Japan, the Ultimate Act of Terrorism in Which 231,920 People Have Now Died, the Latest, the Children of 1945, from a Plague of Cancers by John Pilger I first visited Hiroshima 22 years after the atomic bombing. Although the city had been completely rebuilt with glass boxes and ring roads, its suffering was not difficult to find. Beside the river, less than a mile from where the bomb burst, stilts of shacks rose from the silt, and languid human silhouettes searched pyramids of rubbish, providing a glimpse of a Japan few can now imagine. They were the survivors. Most of them were sick, impoverished, unemployed and socially excluded. Such was the fear of the atomic plague that people changed their names; most moved away. The sick received treatment in a crowded state-run hospital. The modern Atomic Bomb Hospital, surrounded by pines and overlooking the city, which the Americans built and ran, took only a few patients for study. On 6 August, the anniversary of the bombing, the Mainichi Shimbun reported that the number of people killed directly and after exposure to radiation had now reached 231,920. Today, in the same hospital wards I visited, there are the children of 1945, dying from a predictable plague of cancers. The first Allied journalist to reach Hiroshima following the bombing was Wilfred Burchett, the Australian war correspondent of the London Daily Express. Burchett found thousands of survivors suffering mysterious symptoms of internal hemorrhage, spotted skin and hair loss. In a historic despatch to the Express that began, I write this as a warning to the world, he described the effects of radiation. The Allied occupation authorities vehemently denied Burchett's reports. People had died only as a result of the blast, they lied, and the embedded Allied press amplified this. No radioactivity in Hiroshima ruin was the headline in the New York Times of 13 September 1945. Burchett had his press accreditation withdrawn and was issued with an expulsion order from Japan, which was later rescinded. Japanese film shot in the hospitals was confiscated and sent to Washington, where it was classified as top secret and not released for 23 years. The true motive for using this ultimate weapon of mass destruction was suppressed even longer. The official truth was that the bomb was dropped to speed the surrender of Japan and save Allied lives. Today, as the public becomes more attuned to the scale of government deception, this was probably the biggest lie of all. As the historian Gar Alperovitz, among others, has documented, US political and military leaders, knowing that Japan's surrender was already under way, believed the atomic bombing was militarily unnecessary. In 1946 the US Strategic Bombing Survey confirmed this. None of this was shared with the public, nor the belief in Washington that the atomic bomb experiment in Japan, as President Truman put it, would demonstrate US primacy to the Russians. Since then declassified files have shown that the United States has almost used nuclear weapons on at least three occasions: twice in the 1950s, during the Korean war and in Indo-China (against Ho Chi Minh's forces, which were then routing the French), and during the 1973 Arab/Israeli war. During the 1980s, President Reagan threatened the use of limited nuclear weapons, until huge demonstrations in Europe curtailed the American short-range missile program. Under George W Bush's essentially Reaganite administration, the US (and British) military's love affair with nuclear weapons is on the rise again. In 2001, the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the landmark agreement with the Russians signed in 1972. This was the first time in the nuclear era that Washington had renounced a major arms control accord. The most important official behind this is John Bolton, the under-secretary of state for arms control and international security: an ironic title, surely, given the extraordinary stand Bolton has taken and the threats he has made.
[LAAMN] Syria:What the Prime Minister's Defection Might Say About State of the Conflict
Syria Snap Analysis: What the Prime Minister's Defection Might Say About State of the Conflicthttp://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2012/8/6/syria-snap-analysis-what-the-prime-ministers-defection-might.html inShare*0* [image: Date]Monday, August 6, 2012 at 13:36 Riyad HijabOne of the most striking claims over Prime Minister Riyad Hijab's defection is that the Assad regime not only picked Hijab to help lead it out of crisis but also threatened him with death. This may be an assertion to curry favour with the opposition, but if it is true, this means that President Assad really does not have anyone he can trust or turn to without fear of consequences. It could mean that the only reason there are not more defections is fear, but --- with the decision of Hijab and his brothers to leave Syria --- it is a fear that is slipping. A potentially more significant claim, one that will likely be verified soon, is that Hijab has been working all along with the Free Syrian Army. First, this could establish how the FSA has been so successful, perhaps even explaining the effectiveness of the bombing that killed several top security officials, alongside a major FSA offensive in Damascus. If Hijab's story is confirmed, it could add credence to claims that there are many working inside the regime to help the opposition. The greatest speculation may be about Hijab's role in a transitional government. Hijab is a civilian leader, so unlike defected General Manaf Tlass, he will have an easier time arguing that his hands are clean from the regime's worst acts. If the former Prime Minister has been working with the FSA all along, then he wlll have already built bridges with the military wing of the opposition, a critical step that others cannot claim. But these are all just possibilities with so little is confirmed at this hour. Any Hijab/FSA ties will likely be exposed in the coming days. We will also soon know how accepting the FSA, the protesters in the streets, and the expatriate leaders in Turkey will be of a man who has been a member of the Baath Party for so long. http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2012/8/6/syria-snap-analysis-what-the-prime-ministers-defection-might.html also from Enduring America We begin with ripples in an Iranian outlet pointing to tensions within the regime on domestic and foreign issues. *Baztab*, which is reportedly linked to Mohsen Rezaei --- former head of the Revolutionary Guards, Secretary of the Expediency Council, and candidate for President in 2013 --- takes aim at Mehrdad Bazrpashhttp://baztab.net/fa/news/12117/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2-%D9%88-%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%87-%DA%AF%D9%88%D8%B4-%D9%81%D9%84%DA%A9-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%DA%A9%D8%B1-%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%AF, a close ally of President Ahmadinejad. The site claims Bazrpash, a former Vice President, became the Chief Executive Officer of Saipa, a major automobile manufacturer, without qualifications. *Baztab* then alleges that Bazrpash's *Vatan Emrooz* daily newspaper has been supported by Government funds, with pro-Ahmadinejad bloggers writing for the paper each day. *Baztab* also takes a different line from other Iranian outlets on Syria. Perhaps mischievously, it says that State broadcaster IRIB is not guiltyhttp://baztab.net/fa/news/12334/%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%B4%D9%82-%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%8C-%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%A7-%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%86-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA! over the abduction of 48 Iranians near Damascus on Saturday. *Then --- in a sharp break from the Iranian leadership's defence of the Syrian regime --- it compares the behaviour of Presdent Assad's troops to that of Israelis in their recent wars in Lebanon and Gaza.* --- view all http://english.al-akhbar.com/breaking Syrian prime minister 'defects' after two months Published Monday, August 6, 2012 Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab defected to Jordan on Monday, only two months after being appointed to the job, an aide said. Spokesperson Mohammad Otri said Hijab had arrived in the Jordanian capital Amman along with ten families after the Free Syrian Army (FSA) facilitated their safe passage out of Damascus. In a statement broadcast on al-Jazeera, Otri said Hijab had been working with the FSA to plan the defection since becoming prime minister in June. I announce today my defection from the killing and terrorist regime and I announce that I have joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution, Hijab said in a statement read in his name by the spokesman. I announce that I am from today a soldier in this blessed revolution, it added. Otri later told AFP Hijab would head to Qatar in the
[LAAMN] LA Times: In Anaheim, voting by district could alter the power dynamic
(JAI: Anaheim, scene of recent police murders and vigorous protests against them is in the political hands of the representatives of the locality's wealthy. The attempted change to district voting from city wide selection of representatives (in which all the voting members of the locality select from the same list of candidates) would mean that the domination of money funneled in to support a slate of candidates backing issues favored by those donors of that money would find it more difficult to not only, as they do now, overwhelm the airwaves but also enable massive mailings, lawn sign and billboard postings, and recruitment of 'volunteers' for these candidate mouthpieces' of the sources of that dough. Such a change would, of course, not mean that the workers--and those dependent upon them--of that city would elect their own representatives but it would make that more of a possibility.) Two decades ago, Santa Ana was at a crossroads. The Orange County seat was two-thirds Latino, but in citywide elections white Republicans candidates dominated. After a long battle, the city was eventually broken into six council wards, and today all are represented by Latinos. Anaheim faces a similar demographic shift now, and many see it at the root of recent angry protests over the fatal police shootings of two Latino men. According to the latest U.S. census, Anaheim is now majority minority. About 52% of the city's 336,000 residents are Latino, but only a handful of Latinos have ever won council seats. Anaheim is also the largest city in California that still elects council members at large, meaning council members are elected on a citywide basis. Source: LA Times. Aug 4th, 2012: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/04/local/la-me-adv-anaheim-divisions-20120804 In Anaheim, voting by district could alter the power dynamic Anaheim is now under growing pressure to switch to district voting, which usually makes it easier for minority groups to win council seats. August 04, 2012 http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/04|By Nicole Santa Cruz, Doug Smith and Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times - [image: A demographic shift in Anaheim -- it is now majority minority -- is seen as the root of recent protests over the fatal police shootings of two Latino men.]http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2012-08/71584648.jpg http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2012-08/71584648.jpg http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2012-08/71584648.jpg http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2012-08/71584648.jpg Two decades ago, Santa Ana was at a crossroads. The Orange County seat was two-thirds Latino, but in citywide elections white Republicans candidates dominated. After a long battle, the city was eventually broken into six council wards, and today all are represented by Latinos. Anaheim faces a similar demographic shift now, and many see it at the root of recent angry protests over the fatal police shootings of two Latino men. According to the latest U.S. census, Anaheim is now majority minority. About 52% of the city's 336,000 residents are Latino, but only a handful of Latinos have ever won council seats. Anaheim is also the largest city in California that still elects council members at large, meaning council members are elected on a citywide basis. Like Santa Ana in the 1990s, Anaheim is now under growing pressure to switch to district voting, which usually makes it easier for minority groups to win council seats because voting is broken up into smaller geographic segments. The City Council could decide next week to put the question on the November ballot. Anaheim is just the latest California city to reach this threshold, where traditional minority groups attain majority status in population but still struggle to get more political power. This gap is especially pronounced in cities with large immigrant communities, where many residents cannot vote. Only half of the voting-age Latinos in Anaheim are citizens, according to census data. Compton recently agreed to switch to district voting, a response to a voting rights lawsuit. The city is two-thirds Latino, but the council is traditionally made up of blacks. Civil rights activists have sought the same shift in a number of other California cities in recent years, including West Covina, Tulare and Visalia. District elections in Anaheim could dramatically change the political dynamic. A neighborhood-by-neighborhood analysis of census data by The Times shows that the city is deeply segregated along ethnic lines. There is a strong white majority in the city's newer, more affluent east side, including picturesque Anaheim Hills, an enclave nearly physically separated from the rest of the city. About 58% of the residents are white. The area has a median income of more than $100,000. Latinos dominate in the central core of Anaheim generally between the 5 and 55 freeways, an area marked by barrios and dense apartments. Here, 68% of the residents are Latino and
[LAAMN] IRONIC TIMES - 08/06/12
ROMNEY: I'VE PAID MY SALES TAX U. S. NEWS Top Wall Street CEOs Contribute to Romney by 4-To-1 Margin Over Obama Figure so disproportionate White House says it just might stop doing everything they say. more at ... http://www.ironictimes.com/ NOTE: Some readers have had problems loading in pages two and three since we added new advertising. If these pages load too slowly, please use these links... http://www.ironictimes.com/0621-p2alt.html http://www.ironictimes.com/0621-p3alt.html Thanks for subscribing to Ironic Times. -- The Editors To unsubscribe: unsubscr...@ironictimes.com --- 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] The Most Important Question We'll Ask All Year
[image: National Women's Law Center]Are you registered? http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=DwYFml5Hd8tyGX0jOnnS1A http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=KHzatSfdj-bN1iO71oXH9g Please use our simple online voter registration tool to get started today! [image: Register to Vote]http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=or_4NghDYR50WH08LvQlng It's a simple question: are you *registered to vote?http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=b9S1_MYqw04E68jPPLkhRg * Are you sure? Most people don't realize it but, depending on the laws in your state, these are just a few of the life-changes that might knock you off the voter roll and force you to re-register: - Getting married and changing your name - Moving, even within the same city or town - Going to college - Going through a mortgage foreclosure *Make sure your voice is heard when women vote, leaders listen! Please use our simple online voter registration tool (offered with Rock The Vote) to start the registration process.http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=CsUZnlLXtyb3Pqk2D7akqw * If you're not registered, the system will make sure you get the right form mailed to you, already filled out! If it turns out that you are already registered and use the tool, it's no problem at all the system will simply verify that you're on the voter rolls already. Throughout the rest of the summer and fall, we'll tell you more about the issues at stake this year that matter to women and our families. And we'll help make sure that you're ready to go to the polls we'll direct you to information about any new rules that might come between you and your vote! For instance, even if you ARE registered, many states have recently imposed new rules that require voters to bring particular kinds of ID (such as a driver's license) with them when they vote. *But for now, what matters is that you register to vote* because if we don't vote, we have no one to blame but ourselves if politicians ignore the issues we care about. *Please register now!http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=LRxnmogaO3UtaKygJnA8_w * While you're on the page, you can also check out our fact sheets describing the issues at stake in 2012 and why they matter. *Please help us make our leaders listen to the interests of women and families!http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=bCExqKhfEIuGuWCVMPbzjQ * Sincerely, [image: Emily J. Martin] * Emily J. Martin * * Vice President and General Counsel * * National Women's Law Center * P.S. *It's so easy: please use the voter registration tool today!http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=-DY_BXrixRzFD_LupREXTA * Share This http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=HNBmM6KLz2lx1uRjbsw_Fw http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=cYob2ClySrFinbxraMP2sg Spread the Word *Please forward this email* to your friends, family, and co-workers and encourage them to sign up to receive the NWLC Update http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=eb4vI2hUTBmEa7s2s10mqg in their own inboxes. *Did someone forward you this email?* *Sign up to receive future NWLC e-mails http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=QceungYIpkpJ0ZCMyP3Svg * *View this email on the web http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=gFgOm9_-oxFX2f-TS2GBBA * *Privacy Policy http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=MwGD7PRtjsNJUWhLYDafkw* ® Copyright 2011 National Womens Law Center 11 Dupont Circle, NW, # 800 Washington, DC 20036 ( phone ) 202. 588. 5180 [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] Any Goodman: The Obama administration has torpedoed the arms trade treaty
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/03/obama-administration-ar ms-trade-treaty http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/03/obama-administration-arm s-trade-treaty The Obama administration has torpedoed the arms trade treaty A campaigner lays flowers in a mock graveyard next to the UN building in New York http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/8/2/13439259 37326/A-campaigner-lays-flowers-016.jpg A campaigner lays flowers in a mock graveyard set up by the Control Arms coalition next to the UN building in New York last week. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters Though nothing in the UN treaty would impact on its domestic gun laws, the US is the world's largest weapons exporter What is more heavily regulated, global trade of bananas or battleships? In late June, activists gathered in New York's Times Square to make the absurd point that, unbelievably, there are more rules governing your ability to trade a banana from one country to the next than governing your ability to trade an AK-47 or a military helicopter. So said Amnesty International USA's Suzanne Nossel at the protest, just before the start of the UN conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which ran from 2 July to 27 July. Thanks to a last-minute declaration by the United States that it needed more time to review the short, 11-page treaty text, the http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/28/arms-trade-treaty-william-hague conference ended last week in failure. There isn't much that could be considered controversial in the treaty. Signatory governments agree not to export weapons to countries that are under an arms embargo, or to export weapons that would facilitate the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or other violations of international humanitarian law. Exports of arms are banned if they will facilitate gender-based violence or violence against children or be used for transnational organised crime. Why does the US need more time than the more than 90 other countries that had sufficient time to read and approve the text? The answer lies in the power of the gun lobby, the arms industry and the apparent inability of Barack Obama to do the right thing, especially if it contradicts a cold, political calculation. The Obama administration torpedoed the treaty exactly one week after the massacre in Aurora, Colorado. In Colorado, Obama offered http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10347728 promises of prayer and reflection. As New http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/20/colorado-shooting-bloomberg-oba ma-romney York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said, commenting on Obama and Mitt Romney both avoiding a discussion of gun control: Soothing words are nice, but maybe it's time the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they're going to do about it. Gun violence is a massive problem in the US, and it only seems to pierce the public consciousness when there is a massacre. Gun-rights advocates attack people who suggest more gun control is needed, accusing them of politicising the massacre. Yet some elected officials are taking a stand. Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois is seeking a ban on assault weapons, much like the ones in place in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. The National Rifle Association's executive vice-president, Wayne LaPierre, issued the http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10357828 threat before the UN conference that: Without apology, the NRA wants no part of any treaty that infringes on the precious right of lawful Americans to keep and bear arms. The NRA organised letters opposing the treaty, signed by 51 senators and 130 members of the House. After the conference ended in failure, the NRA took credit for killing it. Of course, there is nothing in the treaty that would impact on US domestic gun laws. The rights protected by the cherished Second http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitu tion Amendment (a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed) would remain intact. The NRA's interest lies not only with individual gun owners, but also with the US weapons manufacturers and exporters. The US is the world's largest weapons producer, exporter and importer. It is the regulation of this global flow of weaponry that most likely alarms the NRA, not the imagined prospect of the UN taking away the legally owned guns inside the US. Protesters outside the UN during the ATT conference erected a mock graveyard, with each headstone reading: 2,000 people killed by arms every day. That's more than one person killed every minute. In many places around the world, massacres on the order of Aurora are all too common. Days after Aurora, at least nine people were killed in a US drone strike in northwest Pakistan. Pakistani officials said the victims were suspected
[LAAMN] Fwd: support nutrition for people in recovery
-- Forwarded message -- From: Frank Tamborello fr...@hungeractionla.org Date: Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 2:43 PM Subject: support nutrition for people in recovery To: food-advoca...@aumlist.com * *** *Support AB 828 The Nutritional Assistance for Families Act* * * *August 2012: * ** No one should go hungry, but many people who committed drug related felonies in the past do. Research shows that CalFresh (food stamp) benefits are critical for successful community re-entry. But an outdated restriction imposed with no evidence for its necessity keeps many persons leaving prison from ever being able to get basic food assistance. It essentially punishes them for life even when theyve already served time. ** ** AB 828 authored by Assemblymember Sandre Swanson would opt California out of the lifetime federal ban on CalFresh assistance for persons with past drug felonies. 37 States and the District of Columbia have already restored nutrition benefits to this vulnerable population, ** ** *Key benefits of the bill include:* ** ** - *Increased CalFresh participation:* Every $5 spent on CalFresh results in $9 spent in the local economy. California has low enrollment in this program compared to other states and increased participation would boost the economy with free federal dollars. ** ** - *Reduced administrative time:* Eliminating screening for past drug felonies would remove red tape from the CalFresh program and increase efficiency in program administration. ** ** - *Reduced recidivism:* People in re-entry are in a critical time of life when access to food and jobs can make the difference between returning to the mainstream or returning to crime. It makes no sense to make it harder on people trying to get back to normal life, especially given the increased burden on local County sheriff and probation offices due to Californias realignment of many criminall justice functions. ** ** The Nutritional Assistance for Families Act is sponsored by The Western Center on Law and Poverty with over 35 organizations signed on in support including the California State Association of Counties, the California Welfare Directors Association, and the California Catholic Conference. ** * * * * *Status of the Bill:* * * Introduced as a 2-year bill in 2010, the bill is in the suspense file of the Senate Appropriations Committee even though it passed the Assembly last year. It will likely be voted on Thursday August 16 ** ** *What you can do:* ** ** Write a letter of support or call for AB 828 to the Senate Appropriations Committee today. Call the members and tell them why you support this bill. See attached list of committee members or http://sapro.senate.ca.gov/ where the addresses and phone numbers of the members of the Appropriations Committee are to be found. Below is info on the committee's staff who are entry point to *all*senators. Addresses Staff *Staff Director*: Bob Franzoia *Consultants*: Marie Liu, Brendan McCarthy, Mark McKenzie, Jolie Onodera, Maureen Ortiz and Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez *Assistants*: Jennifer Douglas and Lydia McKim *Phone*: (916) 651-4101 *Room*: 2206 State Capitol Room Sacramento, CA 95814 ** ** ** ** Frank Tamborello Hunger Action Los Angeles 961 S. Mariposa #205 Los Angeles CA 90006 213-388-8228 fr...@hungeractionla.org [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
[LAAMN] New Bradley Manning Petition--PLEASE SIGN
Dear Friends, This is a new BRADLEY MANNING petition on AVAAZ - PLEASE SIGN IT AND CIRCULATE !. http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_human_rights_whistleblower_Bradley_Manning/?cCTAqdb It’s just gone live this week, and we’re particularly anxious to get signatures in the first week or so, because the more we get the more likely it will be that Avaaz themselves will then take it up and promote it to their 15 million strong membership/email lists, many of whom may not already know about Bradley’s situation. TO RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS AND EXTRA FUNDS NEEDED FOR THE DEFENCE The idea, as well as actually doing the ‘petitioning’, is to raise the public profile of Bradley’s case at this incredibly critical time as it continues through the Court Martial, and to also raise essential funds for the additional legal costs caused by the lack of speedy trial. ILLEGAL TREATMENT AT QUANTICO – ‘CRUEL, INHUMAN and DEGRADING’ The illegal treatment meted out to Brad for most of the first year of his imprisonment, which includes solitary confinement and being stripped naked, will be dealt with by the Court in a special hearing in the autumn - 1st to 5th OCTOBER - when the Defence will seek to have the charges dismissed on account of this violation. PROSECUTION DELAYS AND PROTRACTED LEGAL PROCESS = MORE FUNDS NEEDED Because the Prosecution (the US Govt) has withheld volumes of information sought by the Defence from as far back as Oct 2010, and is being consistently obstructive about evidence, the process through the court has gone on for far longer than anticipated, with the attendant increase in legal fees. Whereas it was thought back in April that all the fees were covered as the trial was expected to take place in May, a further eight months worth of fees are likely to be incurred, and there is thus an urgent need to raise money for the legal costs. The most recent guess for the date for the actual trial is now that it could be as late as Feb 2013. Meanwhile, the prosecution has limitless public funding, but the defence is entirely funded by donations, so it’s good strategically for the prosecution to cause as many delays as possible! MAKING AN EXAMPLE OF BRAD TO DETER FUTURE WHISTLEBLOWERS Bradley stands to suffer Life Imprisonment without Parole if US officials get their way, yet what he is accused of doing has given us evidence of the true nature of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, revealed widespread human rights abuses and shown up the corruption and collusion of governments and corporations. The authorities are evidently seeking to make an example of Bradley and warn off whistleblowers with chilling reprisals. But whistleblowers protect democracy and are salt and light in society – they reveal the truth to the public so that we can respond by calling for change. What we let the authorities get away with in respect of our whistleblowers will, in part, determine the kind of society we live in. Bradley’s lawyer said: ‘What happens in this Court Martial is of vital importance TO US ALL.’ And so it is. SIGN THE PETITION AND CIRCULATE THE LINK! http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_human_rights_whistleblower_Bradley_Manning/?cCTAqdb Mon Aug 6, 2012 8:45 pm [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/
