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March 2007 Articles
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DV Articles
November 2003
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Dr. Sami Al-Arian, Palestinian political prisoner, is held in a prison hospital after a debilitating 60-day hunger strike seeking to draw the attention of the nation and the world to the injustice visited upon him, jailed for his commitment to justice and dignity for his homeland. This is not a scene from an Israeli jail, however, but from a U.S. prison in North Carolina. Al-Arian's hunger strike ended at the pleas of his family -- yet without justice for Al-Arian, whose imprisonment is part and parcel of a U.S. government policy of targeting Palestinian activists, as well as the broader Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities, in an internal "war of terror" whose policies run parallel to that being waged abroad.....(full article)
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is mad as hell that Iran grabbed 15 sailors and marines in the Persian Gulf. When Iran released a letter from Faye Turney, the only female sailor, Blair said "It is cruel and callous to do this to somebody in this position and playing this kind of game -- it is a disgrace." He even labeled their seizure "blatant aggression." Iran has begun showing TV footage of some of the prisoners asking embarrassing questions like shouldn't the British be getting out of Iraq? Cruel, callous, and disgrace are strong words. But I have two words for Mr. Blair and his phony outrage: Guantanamo Bay. He (and the prisoners) are lucky they weren't detained by U.S. forces where:......(full article)
Since 1947, the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan (Land of the Pure), a military dictatorship, has been a fragile
entity perpetually on the brink of internal civil war, and constantly at
loggerheads with India over contested Kashmir. It is a destabilizing
factor on the Asian continent. The recent sacking of Pakistan's Supreme
Court Justice by President Pervez Musharraf in March of 2007 is just
another one of many straws weighing on the central government's back in
Islamabad, a portent of what more is to come. The Sunni dominant country
is a nation-state in name only being held together by the force of its
military and with the Machiavellian support of the USA. It is a powder keg
of conflict pitting Pakistan's ruthless military against tribal factions
in the North along Afghanistan's border and, in particular, against the
Baloch in the South whose homeland is resource rich Balochistan. In many
respects, Musharaf's Pakistan resembles the US puppet regime of Hamid
Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan. There, the central government has little
influence beyond its seat of government in the capital city and any
authority it does have comes from the barrel of a gun or the bomb rack of
an American made military aircraft. And, in rather depressing respects,
Islamabad's handling of the Baloch and their homeland is seems a mirror
image of the US treatment of local Iraqis in the ongoing US misadventure
in Iraq. But, one must have hope that the USA will learn.....(full
article)
Guatemala Six weeks ago, I began my work here as a human rights accompanier in the Ixcán region of Guatemala. In a very short time, I have had the opportunity to listen to incredible stories which constantly remind me why it is important to continue in this struggle for justice and to remind people (like you) about a forgotten genocide. A civil war ravaged this country for 36 years which ended with the peace accords in 1996 and more than 200,000 civilians dead. 90% of the casualties were at the hands of the US-backed Guatemalan army under the auspices of fighting “communism.” In 2000 and 2001, a courageous group of war survivors filed charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against former military dictators Romeo Lucas Garcia and Efrain Rios Montt and their military high commands in the Guatemalan court system. Seven years later, these cases remain in the investigative phase due to a lack of political will to bring the accused to justice.....(full article)
Most Americans recognize global warming is
happening, but don't believe anything can be done about it or don't want
to think about it. A 2006 poll by ABC News and others found fewer than
four in ten believed global warming is a serious problem and only three in
ten believed it is caused by human activity. Almost 64 percent believe
there's disagreement among scientists, which leads to a great amount of
doubt among the public. With such a low level of concern, there's little
political will to lessen the causes of global warming or plan for the
disruption it will create. Although the media's need to provide "a
balanced viewpoint" created a controversy where none exists, these
attitudes could change with attention given the February release of a UN
report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.....
There's a novel by Russian author Ilya Ehrenburg titled The Life of the Automobile that chronicles humanity's relationship with that form of transportation. As any critical observer knows (whether they drive a car or not) the automobile has forever changed the world in which we live, for better and worse. This is an essential point of Ehlenburg's witty and underhandedly sarcastic novel. Mike Davis's newest offering, Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb (Verso 2007), could be considered a bloody sequel to Ehlenburg's novel. It is, of course, not a novel but a disheartening recitation of incident after murderous incident of death and mayhem caused by lots of explosives packed into automobiles by numerous different groups with just as many agendas.....(full article)
A friend recently asked me what I knew about The Secret, and I had to confess, absolutely nothing. A couple of days later, another friend asked the same question, so I decided I’d better investigate this supposedly revolutionary new book and DVD that have taken the country by storm. As I did so, I discovered that nothing about The Secret is revolutionary or new but rather a glitzy, twenty-first century redux of what has come to be called in metaphysical circles “New Thought.”.....(full article)
The Bush administration continues moving
closer to a nuclear attack on Iran, and we ignore the obvious buildup at
our peril. Russian media is sounding alarms. In February,
ultra-nationalist leader Vladimir Shirinovsky warned that the US would
launch a strike against Tehran at the end of this month. Then last week,
the Russian News and Information Agency Novosti (RIA-Novosti) quoted
military experts predicting the US will attack Iran on April 6th, Good
Friday. According to RIA-Novosti, the imminent assault will target Iranian
air and naval defense capabilities, armed forces headquarters as well as
key economic assets and administration headquarters. Massive air strikes
will be deployed, possibly tactical nuclear weapons as well, and the Bush
administration will attempt to exploit the resulting chaos and political
unrest by installing a pro-US government. Sound familiar? It's Iraq Déjà
vu all over again, and we know how well that war has gone.....(full
article)
Why a Vet Disrupted Congress When They
Were
Civil Disobedience has been something I have
supported, and advocated. It is a valuable tool for change in our society,
a vital part of Democracy. But I have made a point in many conversations
to stress that it would take a very clear issue to motivate me to join the
ranks of the Activists who so willingly lay their bodies, records and
pocketbooks on the line to emphasize a point to their government. Last
week, I proudly, but with an overwhelming sadness, added my name to the
list of those whose life stories include defying rules and laws to shed
light on injustice and express dissent.....
After 60 days without food, an ailing Sami Al-Arian called off his hunger strike last week at the urging of his wife and children. But just hours later, a federal appeals court upheld a civil contempt ruling that could keep Al-Arian behind bars indefinitely. Al-Arian has been imprisoned since 2003 on trumped-up charges of supporting terrorism -- even though a Florida jury acquitted him or deadlocked on all counts in 2005. Faced with the possibility of a retrial, Al-Arian agreed to plead guilty to a single count of supporting the nonviolent activities of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The deal specified that Al-Arian would be given a short additional sentence, followed by voluntary deportation -- even though Al-Arian has lived in the U.S. since 1975, and his five children are all U.S. citizens. Instead, the U.S. government continued its witch-hunt.....(full article)
Tina Richards has an idea. Tina is the mother of a Marine scheduled for his third tour of duty in Iraq who took on Rep. David Obey (Dem., Wisconsin) and the Democratic leadership over funding for the war. Though her home is Missouri, she's in the process of moving to the Washington, D.C. area to keep up the fight to end the war. Her idea is simple. Bring 10,000 concerned citizens to Washington this summer to lobby their Congressional representatives and counter the ten thousand paid lobbyists who ensure that ours is the most lavishly financed and most seriously immune to change legislature in the world. If realized, Tina's idea has the potential to revolutionize politics on Capitol Hill. Not just because it will bring enormous public pressure to bear around a single issue of pressing national importance. That has happened before. More important, it will provide a new model for citizen lobbying that Washington sorely needs.....(full article)
Fair trade copper might seem an unfamiliar concept, so I'll start at the beginning. There was once a Midwestern copper smelter called Chemetco. In 2001, it declared itself bankrupt after being fined nearly four million dollars on conviction of sustained and calculated criminal environmental offences. For ten years, the Chemetco Corporation discharged hazardous waste into a tributary of the Mississippi. And when caught in the act, the company tried desperately to lie its way out of trouble. Chemetco treated with contempt the hazardous waste regulations that came into existence almost 30 years ago. Its behaviour was monitored and logged for decades and yet its grossest violation was only discovered by accident....(full article)
Why is it that US politicians feel compelled
to appear before a small, delimited section of the United States and
pronounce unwavering support for Israel -- which is de facto support for
ethnic cleansing and slow motion genocide? Why is it the administration of
a superpower feels forced to address this small segment of the US
population? Is this in the US “national interest”?
We
have observed the same song and dance so many times before it's hard to
believe more didn't see it coming. The Democrats once again let down their
constituents and all the other voters who ushered them in to power last
November -- believing, in utter stupidity, that they would somehow halt the
madness of the Iraq war by challenging the Bush administration and their
Republican allies in Congress. By now we should all know about the ugly
stunt they pulled last week. The Democratic majority in the House passed
an appropriations bill that would give Bush more money to continue his
war. The legislation, which will likely be knocked out by the White House,
calls for the troops to come home later this year. Democrats, led by Nancy
Pelosi, believed this would somehow appease their antiwar base.
Regrettably their smarmy attempt has absolutely no teeth whatsoever.
Having been one of the unfortunate geeks who actually read the bill, I can
tell you only one thing -- it's a complete farce.....(full
article)
A Little Good Press Last Friday, the House passed a $124 billion supplemental appropriations bill that would require President Bush to pull combat troops out of Iraq within a year but would continue to fund the war. The legislation went through by a vote of 218 to 212. Voting “no” were 14 Democrats, including 12 who had previously come out against the war and saw the bill as violating the voters’ mandate to get out now as expressed in the 2006 congressional elections. Republican Ron Paul also voted “no” for the right reasons. But was the bill even for real, or was it a kind of make-believe diversion, a show staged for the media and the public to make it seem like something really was happening when it was not? (full article)
Petitions, calls, and faxes to congress are important channels for political action, but what could possibly stop a new war with Iran? One has to wonder, are our congressional leaders even reading their faxes? A notable website called www.isirannext.org recently published over 80 names and organizations of people whom directly influence policy and the president. Maybe through side channels, average Americans can get their message through.....(full article)
I always take in the Hollywood period dramas set in ancient Greece or Rome. My film-buff son is into this too, so we went last week to see 300, the Warner Brothers’ blockbuster produced by Zack Snyder and based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller about the epic battle of Thermopylae between the Greeks and Persians. It had by that time grossed over $100 million and no doubt influenced a lot of minds. The film tells a familiar historical tale. (Rather, it ought to be familiar, but history instruction in our public schools is not necessarily comprehensive.) In 480 BCE, Greece was threatened by an invasion by the Persian army, the greatest war machine of its day. The empire of King Xerxes extended from the Indus River to Egypt, and drew its troops from the ends of the realm. The king personally led them in battle against the Greeks.....(full article)
Sarbanes-Oxley is a US federal law enacted in response to the rising incidence of corporate and accounting fraud at prominent corporations, as exemplified by Enron, whose annual revenues in 2001 decreased from over $100 billion to nearly zero in a matter of months. Enron's market capitalization prior to its collapse was over $60 billion, while its ten year annual growth rate exceeded 50%. Enron collapsed primarily because its business-model was inextricably linked to the amount of trust customers placed in its financial integrity. Once this confidence withered, Enron's clients became unwilling to trade long-term natural gas contracts due to a concern they may never be fulfilled. The underlying market dynamics are similar to those of a bank run, where panic-driven depositors race to withdraw their funds as quickly as possible. A mounting lack of trust quickly envelops into a self-fulfilling prophecy. These same principles, in a sense, also apply to the Catholic Church.....(full article)
. . . As it turned out, Attenborough was ahead of his time, as the close-ups with animals that were the hallmark of Life on Earth were quite radical for most viewers. Fast forward to the age of reality TV today, and Attenborough’s antics would seem subdued compared to the lengths Australian Steve Irwin would go to make contact with a wild animal. Exposed to animals by his parents since he was a child, Irwin became almost a natural at handling many animals most of us would call dangerous. Eventually, he translated his knack into a career, which included inheriting his parents’ reptile park and rehabilitation center in the state of Queensland, eventually renaming it the Australia Zoo, and starring with his wife, Terri, in a wildlife “croc-umentary” series called The Crocodile Hunter, in which he showcased his bizarre and daring (reckless?) way of interacting with animals. If Attenborough came face-to-face with wildlife, Irwin went mano a mano with them. That alone made him a one in a million rarity.....(full article)
An Open Letter to the U.S. House of
Representatives
For Every 2.6 Children in Prison You Get
One Car:
The night before his five-day walk to
protest immigrant prisons of the Rio Grande Valley, Jay Johnson-Castro
drove to Los Fresnos to get an advance glimpse of International
Educational Services, Inc. (IES). “Where’s the school?” he asked, as a
guard approached him in the parking lot. “What school?” said the guard,
explaining that IES was a detention center for “young adults” whose
mothers were being held at the nearby Port Isabel Immigrant Detention
Center. When Johnson-Castro explained that he was against prisons for
children, the guard replied that IES wasn’t really a prison.....(full
article)
Open Letter to Ronald McDonald
Listen up clown,
Fundamental Workers’ Rights
Feminists say, correctly in my opinion, that
if one doesn’t support women’s reproductive rights, then one isn’t really
a supporter of women’s rights. That is, someone could say, for example,
that, “I support equal pay for equal work. I support an end to sexual
harassment in the workplace. I support national childcare programs. I
support an end to objectification of women in the media. I support all
these things, but I just don’t believe abortion should be legal.” But a
person saying that would not be considered by feminists to be a supporter
of women’s rights. And I agree with feminists that such a person really
isn’t a supporter of women’s rights. Now, suppose a feminist from today
were time-warped four decades into the past. Suppose she were then to say
to lefties of that time that support for women’s reproductive rights was a
necessary condition for anyone who wished to be considered a supporter of
women’s rights. Would she be believed? Would she even be understood? Many
ideas taken for granted today were at some time in the past not only not
believed, they weren’t even understood. It is in this sense that I am
going to share a new idea with you now that you may not even believe, much
less understand -- but that in 40 years will, I hope, be taken for granted
by serious lefties. Anyone who supports workers’ rights must support the
idea of balanced job complexes, and must be willing to work a balanced job
complex himself or herself....(full article)
Pat Tillman: Beyond the Hype The American football hero may be gone but details of his mysterious death in Afghanistan just won't go away. Most recently, as reported by Time Magazine, "Nine officers, including up to four generals, should be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan." This is as good a time as any to contemplate how and why Pat Tillman ended up in position to be killed by his fellow soldiers. Here's how the New York Times described Tillman at the time of his death: "A graduate of Arizona State University, Tillman, a safety, played for four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. But as an unrestricted free agent in 2002, he turned town a three-year, $3.6 million contract offer from the Cardinals and enlisted in the Army.....(full article)
On March 16, 2007, Philippine police
arrested veteran journalist, activist, former political prisoner and
torture victim, Congressman Satur Ocampo, on the steps of the Philippine
Supreme Court. One day earlier, in Washington DC, California Senator
Barbara Boxer opened hearings on the mounting death squad executions and
kidnappings in the Philippines. Nearly a thousand union leaders, clergy
members, lawyers, human rights activists, peasants and elected officials
of the social action party lists led by Representative Ocampo have been
victimized. While the Philippine government, headed by President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo, is under investigation in the US Senate for the ongoing
murder of her opponents, Senator Ocampo is charged, together with 50 other
government critics, of having ordered the execution of a group of Marcos
opponents… 22 years ago. The government ignores the fact that Ocampo was
in prison at that time, a political prisoner of the Marcos
dictatorship.....(full article)
Oh Lord, Won't You Buy Me an Acre of
Land I couldn't sleep replaying in my mind everything I have recently read and heard from savvy observers who think as I do regarding the looming crisis. I tried counting sheep, but as someone who once raised sheep, it didn't work. It just led to thinking about shearing and spinning and all the nice organic lamb we used to put in the freezer. I won't go into particulars about what is coming down the pike regarding the real estate situation, dollar, foreign entanglements, energy and the corrupt financial, political and corporate non-ethics that are destroying this country. Many are doing that. Instead, I'd like to address self reliance and taking control of one's life.....(full article)
Experience tells me that a film so wrong on so many levels must either be a masterpiece, (think DW Griffith's Broken Blossom or John Waters' Female Troubles) or more predictably, an abomination on celluloid on par with Philadelphia, Forrest Gump and Driving Miss Daisy. It's probably bad form to comment on a film that I haven't even seen, but the reviews of Black Snake Moan (with very few exceptions) all seem to overlook one simple question: Why does a woman who has been gang-raped, and presumably abused all her life, require, of all things, "redemption"? For the same reason, it turns out, an HIV positive man has to confess his "shame" in a crowded courtroom for succumbing to a one-night stand (Philadelphia), and a promiscuous woman has to succumb to HIV and a sexless, guilt-induced marriage to her mentally challenged suitor (Forrest Gump). In other words, how else will cineplex audiences engage emotionally with characters outside the sexual mainstream, however blameless, unless their transgressions are tearfully atoned for through death and abject obeisance to middle-class values? Or as Black Snake Moan helpfully suggests, forced confinement and cough syrup....(full article)
For those coming of political age after the fall of the Soviet Union, the concept of a Third World might seem antiquated. After all, as Vijay Prashad explains in his new book The Darker Nations (New Press 2007), the concept derived from the so-called two-camp theory put forth by the United States after World War Two. This theory held that there were only two superpowers in the world -- the United States and the Soviet Union. Every other nation would be best served by aligning themselves with one or the other of these camps. Naturally, both capitols would do their best to include as many nations as possible in their camps, since this served their needs for protection and expansion of markets and resources. This is not to say that there was not a difference between Washington's need to expand its capitalist enterprise and Moscow's desire to have some kind of socialist world, but to point out a fundamental understanding that runs through Prashad's book: the Third World saw nonalignment to either capitol as most beneficial to its own goals of independence and local development so they formed a movement of non-aligned nations. These nations shared a viewpoint that countered the view that the first and second world were somehow better. At times, according to Prashad's account, this was the only view they shared. Still, it was the view that united them....(full article)
The 2008 presidential election is still a few hundred days away and already the field of contenders is teeming with enough clichés and unintentional comedy to fill a Hollywood blockbuster. You have the inexperienced pretty boys (Obama & Edwards) rolling on mob appeal and feel-good rhetoric. If aesthetics aren’t your cup of tea, may I suggest the shameless panderers (Clinton & McCain), the sort of people who would bend over for NAMBLA if there were enough votes in it. Rounding out this ship of fools is a Mormon (Mitt Romney, who is partial to ending stump speeches with Fidel Castro’s signature phrase), a moron (Sam Brownback, who’s name is obviously some sort of homophobic slur) and an ineffectual elf (Dennis Kucinich, who must be filling in for Ralph Nader). And that’s just the scum gathering on the surface....(full article)
Ol’ Smedley Knew a Racket When He Saw
(and Slew for) One
On a picture-perfect St. Patrick’s Day
morning, I heard that strangely seductive lament of bagpipes drifting
through the open window of my downtown Sacramento apartment, a
second-story unit right across the street from beautiful Capitol Park (an
expanse of delightful urban greenery sullied only by the presence of the
White Sepulcher of Corruption, otherwise known as the State Capitol,
sitting smack dab in its middle). Curious, I headed outside. Spotting a
sizeable crowd near the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial that sits
just inside the park, I moseyed over. As I neared, even these failing old
eyes could make out soon enough it was some sort of support the
troops/war/killing-of-swarthy-people rally. There were probably about two
hundred folks present. Vets, obviously, but also wives, husbands, moms,
dads and youngsters. Including a few “Young Marines,” proudly decked out
in big black boots and camouflage finery, signifying they were, indeed,
well on their way to unquestioningly serving the good, ol’ Imperialistic
States of America. The Web site for “Young Marines” says it “is a youth
education and service program for boys and girls, ages 8 through
completion of high school. The Young Marines promotes the mental, moral,
and physical development of its members.” I don’t know about you, but I
find this unsettling. What about all the six and seven year-olds who want
to join, too? Anyway, back at the park, it took but moments to sense a
weird vibe.....(full article)
Amassing Grace and Bar-Coding Souls
Earlier this month, the Agape Christian Fellowship in Arlington, Texas filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It’s former leader, Pastor Terry Hornbuckle, was convicted of rape late last year and now the church is facing multiple lawsuits. The city of Arlington and Tarrant County are suing the Agape Christian Fellowship for back property taxes and related penalties; Hornbuckle’s rape victims have filed civil suits. Agape’s Chapter 11 filing is part of a growing trend. Faced with hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits, the Roman Catholic diocese of San Diego, California filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. And it’s filing follows the 2004 bankruptcy-protection filings by Catholic dioceses in Tucson (Arizona), Portland (Oregon) and Spokane (Washington) and a 2006 filing by the diocese in Davenport, Iowa. It goes without saying that pedophiles and sexual predators are bad candidates for help in God’s front office. He obviously needs to screen His mortal representatives more carefully. But He should also go on-line and get an MBA. With all the financial and regulatory breaks that churches and religious organizations are getting these days, it’s ridiculous they can’t stay in the black.....(full article)
Last month, the watchdog agency on America's health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made the official announcement that a breath-taking one in 150 kids is autistic in the US. They based this new rate on two studies done on eight year olds in 2000 and 2002. This new rate did not seem to be the least disturbing to CDC officials and we again heard the Really Big Lie About Autism -- that no matter how many autistic kids there are out there, they present no real increase in the disorder, just “better diagnosing by doctors” and “better statistics by the Centers for Disease Control.” The 1 in every 150 revelation was followed by another breaking autism story: Recently uncovered evidence shows that autism is caused by “genetic flaws.” Over 120 scientists from 50 institutions who formed the Autism Genome Project (AGP) performed the research. Headlines indicated a major scientific discovery: The New York Post had “Gene Foul-ups Eyed in Autism,” the Boston Globe posted “Gene Flaws Found in Patients with Autism,” and the Baltimore Sun announced “Autism's Roots Mix of Chance and Genetics.” Scientists who for so long have been baffled by this disorder that didn’t seem to have a definite cause, are now zeroing in on it. To the casual reader, it appears that autism is inherited. After all, genes involve the traits passed on from one generation to another. But wait, it's not that simple.....(full article)
Communist government
stands on the brink. Party officials see their power dithering and
proclaim they are stronger than ever. A capitalist neighbor prepares its
armed forces for a flood of refugees. Thousands have already risked their
lives to come. Families separated for decades are eager to be reunited
with loved ones. The free world waits, dangling exotic foods and
innumerable shampoo brands to further entice the deprived subjects of a
failed socialist experiment. On one side of the boundary, intellectuals
debate whether the people really have a right to be reunited. In the dark,
secretive side of the boundary, intellectuals mutter a little about a
so-called new way and then become strangely quiet. Both sides are blind to
what will really happen: There won't be a reunion; there will be a
takeover. There won't be a new way; there will be a shopping spree.....(full
article)
Racism and the Cherokee Nation
As President Bill Clinton and others arrived
in Selma, Alabama for the 42nd anniversary of the "Bloody Sunday" march
that prodded Congress to pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Cherokee
Nation chose a lower road. It voted overwhelmingly for an amendment to
their constitution that revokes citizenship rights for 2,800 members
because their ancestors included people of African descent. Marilyn Vann,
president of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, has
long fought racism from both governmental officials and indigenous
figures. In this instance, she claims, Cherokee leaders misled voters by
insisting "freedmen don't have Indian blood," "the freedmen were forced on
the tribe," "the freedmen do not have a treaty right to citizenship," "the
people have never voted on citizenship provisions in the history of the
tribe," and "the amendment will create an all Indian tribe." Cherokee
voters were also influenced by the racist charge "that the freedmen if not
ejected, would use up all of the tribal service monies.".....
After having lunch with family and
supporters, Cathy Webster of Chico, CA turned herself in at the Rio
Cosumnes Correctional Facility in Elk Grove today to spend 60 days behind
bars and high security fences for a simple trespassing charge at last
November’s protest at the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas in Fort
Benning, Georgia. Webster hugged her daughter, Stephanie Tarrago, and her
grandchildren, Alicia and Alejandro, before two Sacramento County Sheriffs
Deputies escorted her into the jail. Meanwhile, Chico and Sacramento area
supporters, including Grandmothers for Peace and other peace advocates,
sang “This Little Light of Mine,” and “Down by the Riverside.” Webster
trespassed on the U.S. Army base to protest the teaching
of counter-insurgency techniques and torture to Latin American soldiers
that return to their home countries and commit atrocities, including
massacres of women and children. In the same spirit as the civil rights
movement, she used non-violent civil disobedience to shine a spotlight on
the teachings of the school, renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for
Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2000. “The soldiers that are trained at
the SOA are not defending their country, but are killing civilians for
corporate greed and domination,” said Webster. “They go back to their
countries to kill and torture their own people. The graduates of this
school are among the worst human rights violators in Latin
America.”......(full article) Detecting corporate media bias often requires us to discern omissions. For example, consider how the recent pet food recall was reported. Los Angeles Times staff writer Kimi Yoshino penned an article ("Recall of pet food alarms owners") on March 19, 2007 that was widely syndicated. In the piece (which was consistent with almost all corporate media accounts), readers learned what brands were in question, how many animals had been affected, and (of course) that the company's stock has plummeted. Yoshino also interviewed a handful of pet owners [sic], including Victoria Levy, who declared: "That's so disturbing. When they put food on the shelves, you trust that it's safe." When they put food on the shelves, you trust that it's safe.....(full article)
While the number of
the world’s billionaires grew from 793 in 2006 to 946 this year, major
mass uprisings became commonplace occurrences in China and India. In
India, which has the highest number of billionaires (36) in Asia with
total wealth of $191 billion USD, Prime Minister Singh declared that the
greatest single threat to ‘India’s security’ were the Maoist led guerrilla
armies and mass movements in the poorest parts of the country. In China,
with 20 billionaires with $29.4 billion USD net worth, the new rulers,
confronting nearly a hundred thousand reported riots and protests, have
increased the number of armed special anti-riot militia a hundred fold,
and increased spending for the rural poor by $10 billion USD in the hopes
of lessening the monstrous class inequalities and heading off a mass
upheaval. The total wealth of this global ruling class grew 35% year to
year topping $3.5 trillion USD, while income levels for the lower 55% of
the world’s six-billion-strong population declined or stagnated. Put
another way, one hundred millionth of the world’s population
(1/100,000,000) owns more than over three billion people. Over half of the
current billionaires (523) came from just three countries: the US (415),
Germany (55) and Russia (53). The 35% increase in wealth mostly came from
speculation on equity markets, real estate and commodity trading, rather
than from technical innovations, investments in job-creating industries or
social services.....(full article)
Iraq: Why Won't MoveOn Move Forward?
This week marks the
fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. To commemorate the
occasion, the online advocacy group
MoveOn.org is organizing more than 1,000 candlelight vigils throughout
the United States. "We’ll
solemnly honor the sacrifice made by more than 3,000 servicemen and
women, and we'll contemplate the path ahead of us," states MoveOn's
website. "We cannot send tens of thousands of exhausted, under-equipped,
and unprepared troops into the middle of an Iraqi civil war. . . . Honor
the sacrifice. Stop the escalation. Bring the troops home." MoveOn's 3.2
million members strongly oppose any continuation of the war, and the
language above seems to suggest that MoveOn's leadership agrees. But
MoveOn's organizing around Iraq has become notably ambiguous lately.
Although it talks in general terms about bringing the troops home,
specific timetables or meaningful steps in that direction are nowhere
discussed. Most strikingly, MoveOn has adamantly refused to support the
Iraq amendment from
Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders
Barbara Lee,
Lynn Woolsey and
Maxine Waters, which calls for "a
fully funded, and systematic, withdrawal of U.S. soldiers and military
contractors from Iraq" by the end of 2007.....
The biggest impression I got was that it might be time for an umbrella organization that would encompass the two current supposedly umbrella antiwar organizations: UFPJ and ANSWER. Both groups have proven their ability to draw crowds and both organizations seem unwilling to move beyond the folks in each group that refuse to compromise and cooperate on the calling of national protests. I say this because the March 17, 2007 march on the Pentagon was called partially to summon forth the spirit of the 1967 march on the Pentagon against the US war in Vietnam. That protest was called by the New Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam or New Mobe. It was an amalgam of hundreds of organizations against the war. Churches, communists, liberal Democrats, labor unions, civil rights organizations, student groups, socialists, anarchists, hippies, people without a group or ideology, and a multitude of others. The groups within the Mobe worked together on the national stuff and left each local group to its own agenda. UFPJ does this to an extent and so does ANSWER. If there were a coordinating group that existed solely to organize large gatherings, there would most likely be fewer such gatherings, but the ones that did occur would enjoy the unconditional support of the entire movement.....(full article)
On the 15th anniversary of Terry Anderson and Donald Leal's book Free Market Environmentalism -- the seminal book on the subject -- Anderson, the Executive Director of the Bozeman, Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC, formerly known as the Political Economy Research Center) spoke in late-January at an event sponsored by Squaw Valley Institute at the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. While it may have been just another opportunity to speak on "free market environmentalism" and not the kickoff of a "victory tour," nevertheless it comes at a time when PERC's ideas are taking root. In a story written just before Anderson's northern California appearance, Truckee Today's Karen Sloan described PERC as an organization that "contends that private property rights encourage good stewardship of natural resources." The story, headlined "'Enviroprenuer' scholar to speak at Resort at Squaw Creek," pointed out that "PERC scholars argue that government subsidies often degrade the environment, that market incentives can spur individuals to conserve and protect the environment and that polluters should be liable for the harm they cause others."......(full article)
My son Jason and I were involved in an e-mail conversation about global warming. When I brought up the possibility of the cyclical nature of this event, he linked the debate to religion in a way I would never have thought of. He said: (First of all, you should review the info found here.) I realize that a stubborn bunch of right-wing conservatives continue to preach the gospel of "cyclical warming," and they will probably continue to do so long after tornadoes have leveled Denver and the term "Boston Aquarium" is a redundancy. They think this because they believe that it's an article of faith, like Jesus or the Apocalypse. And they believe that if enough people, especially Christians with scientific (any branch of science, which one doesn't matter) credentials shout long and loudly that there is NO PROOF, NO PROOF, NO PROOF, NO PROOF of the human causes of global warming, somehow 40 years of data tracking and climate modeling with increasingly sophisticated technologies can be ignored......(full article)
Hundreds of thousands of indigenous Tamils from both the East and the North in Sri Lanka are fleeing to relative safety from the indiscriminate air attacks and multi-barrel rocket launchers from the Sri Lankan Armed Forces even as we write. A public statement released on 9 March by the Amnesty International reported: "Many civilians are caught up in the fighting between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and urgently require effective protection. More than 220,000 civilians have been displaced by the violence. Amnesty International is concerned that the parties to the conflict are not doing all they can to protect the civilian population.".....(full article)
The stock market is about to crash. The only question is whether it will quickly fall down the elevator shaft or follow the jerky flight path of a man pushed down a stairwell. Either way, the outcome will be the same: stocks will nose-dive, the dollar will plummet, and the bruised US economy will be splattered on the canvas like George Foreman in Rumble in the Jungle. Troubles in the sub-prime market have just begun to materialize and already 38 main sub-prime lenders have gone kaput. Foreclosures have reached a 37-year high, and an estimated two million homeowners will be put out on the street in the next few years. And that’s just for starters.....(full article)
As the Canadian government forges ahead with its cleverly named Passenger Protect Program, the timing could not be better to seriously reconsider what is for all intents and purposes a no-fly list. The attention to the issue of watch lists generated by the struggles of Maher Arar (the Canadian citizen detained by Americans and shipped off to torture and interrogation in Syria) to clear his name should make us all sit back and reflect. There are many lessons to be learned from the Canadian government’s recent apology and financial settlement with Arar for its role in his “extraordinary rendition.”.....(full article)
No one can say that the documentary An Unreasonable Man sugarcoats the case against its subject. The film opens with Ralph Nader mumbling through a brief statement at a sparsely attended press conference during his 2004 presidential campaign. Then comes several minutes of vitriolic denunciations of Nader by three of the most unpleasant, puffed-up and dishonest fixtures of the liberal firmament -- Democratic “strategist” James Carville, author Todd Gitlin and Nation columnist Eric Alterman. If you aren’t familiar with their complaints on the subject, they are easily summarized: Ralph Nader, because he ran for president in 2000 as a third-party candidate against Al Gore and George Bush, is responsible everything bad that’s happened during the Bush presidency. Every. Thing.....(full article)
Dear Jeff,
Bush’s Foreign Aid Surge: A New Era of
Responsibility
While most discussion of President George W.
Bush’s foreign policy centers around the much maligned invasion of Iraq,
the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, and the escalating tension with Iran,
only slight attention is usually given by the media and the public to this
administration’s policies in Africa concerning the HIV/AIDS crisis. Bush,
in fact, is responsible for a “dramatic
increase in U.S. aid to Africa,” boosting “direct development and
humanitarian aid… to more than $4 billion a year from $1.4 billion in
2001,” thanks to the passage of the
AIDS Leadership Act in 2003. Behind these impressive numbers,
though, are underlying issues that have outraged some international health
and aid organizations, invigorating a debate over how aid should be
distributed and what the priorities should be. One of the most
controversial clauses in the AIDS Leadership Act states that federal
funding is unavailable “to
any group or organization that does not have a policy explicitly
opposing prostitution and sex trafficking.” Stipulations like this one,
which is currently the subject of ongoing litigation, have served to
undermine the potential of foreign aid to curb the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in
Africa.....
Aiding the Enemy They cut and run in the face of danger. They aid the enemy and give comfort to him in his hour of need. They don't understand the nature of the threat we face today. Who am I talking about? The Democrats, of course. The enemy they aid, give comfort to, capitulate to, and retreat from, is President Bush. Although they rode a wave of anti-war sentiment into office, the Democrats are doing their best to betray the voters by giving Bush every thing he wants -- money, troops, and his choice of generals -- but whining about it every step of the way. Hence all the non-binding resolutions, the schemes by folks like John Murtha to continue the war while appearing to oppose it, and the shameless posturing for 2008 by opportunists like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.....(full article)
Tina Richards, the mother of a Marine facing
his third deployment to Iraq, is continuing her efforts to pressure
Democrats to end the war. After her
chance encounter with Rep. David Obey in a Capitol Hill
hallway, she returned this week to meet with him and met with his staff to
get clarification of the Iraq supplemental. Richards is also focusing on
the House Committee on Veterans Affairs as her son exemplifies many of the
dysfunctional qualities of the Veterans Administration. In the Capitol
Hill meeting with Obey’s appropriations staff, she was joined by Rev.
Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, Linda Schade of Voters for Peace
and myself. The meeting was videotaped by WHYNotNews and is available
on the web providing an insider's view of Capitol Hill.
In response to hearing the details of the supplemental Ms. Richards said:
“Their supplemental is not good for our troops, for our country or for
Iraq. US troops need to come home now. Continuing to fund the war will not
protect our sons and daughters, it will put them at risk. Iraqi
Parliamentarians say they are able to take care of their own country and
create their own destiny. The US has an obligation to provide the funds to
allow them to rebuild their country since we destroyed it. The Democrats
have the power to end the war. It is their war now -- 198 service members
have been killed since the Democrats had the power to end the war.”....(full
article)
Obama's Israel Problem Sen. Barack Obama isn't quite sure how he feels about the lopsided situation between Israel and Palestine. Less than two weeks after Obama gloated to AIPAC about his love for Israel, he unexpectedly admitted the truth while campaigning in Iowa recently. "[N]obody is suffering more than the Palestinian people..." said Obama, "the Israel government must make difficult concessions for the peace process to restart . . ." The truth hurts indeed, and Obama has been feeling the wrath of the pro-Israel activists since his statement last week. Nonetheless, Obama shouldn't be trusted on the issue. While Rep. Dennis Kucinich hired avid pro-Palestine advocate Noura Erakat to sit on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Obama has been backpedaling -- assuring AIPAC and others that he is unwavering in his support for Israel's continued bullying of Iran and occupation of Palestine.....(full article)
Professor Ilan Pappe is an Israeli historian and senior lecturer of Political Science at Haifa University. He is the author of numerous books, including A History of Modern Palestine, The Modern Middle East, The Israel/Palestine Question and, most recently, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, published in 2006. On March 8, he spoke at a small colloquium in Tokyo organized by the NIHU Program Islamic Area Studies, University of Tokyo Unit, on the path of personal experiences that brought him to write his new book. The following is a transcript of his lecture, tentatively titled "The History of Israel Reconsidered" by organizers of the event.....(full article)
Ilan Pappe deserves credit. He goes further than most Israelis in deconstructing the Jewish state’s historical revisionism, which he calls a “Zionist whitewash of words.” But does Pappe go far enough? The iconoclastic Haifa University historian has written a book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, destroying the “Israeli foundational myth,” which he describes as a “sheer fabrication.” Pappe sets straight the Israeli historiography. Central to Zionist historical revisionism is Nakba (catastrophe) denial. Pappe affirms the occurrence of the Nakba which he states was not a “voluntary flight” but part of a Zionist blueprint (Plan Dalet) for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. It was ethnic cleansing, but was it not also something more sinister? (full article)
The impossible condition of being an ex-Israeli as well as an ethically orientated human being necessary leads towards a serious guilt complex. I am referring here to the obvious case of one feeling guilty for the crimes committed on one’s behalf by one’s brethren. Yet, I have to confess that while guilt can be charming, at least for a while, it is far from being a productive state of mind in the long term. Guilt is a self-centered endeavor, it doesn’t aim towards a change. In guilt alone, there is not much hope for better future. In fact, the only way to translate guilt into productivity is to transform remorse into responsibility. At least in my case, responsibility is primarily grounded on the deep acknowledgment that, though totally against my will, as things are set by the Jewish State, every atrocity committed by Israel is actually committed in my name and on my behalf. In other words, my commitment to the Palestinian issue is evoked by my acceptance of my responsibility. Though shouting ‘not in my name’ would have helped to vindicate me as an individual person, it won’t change the grave sinister fact that every Israeli war crime is actually done in the name of the Jewish people. Thus, I have never been an advocate of the ‘not in my name’ call. Clearly, I am not searching for my own self-redemption but rather for a metaphysical shift of awareness. Consequently, responsibility is for me a form of intervention that bridges the necessary gap between silent acceptance and ethical commitment. My responsibility is my pledge to do whatever I can to bring the suffering of the Palestinians to an immediate halt....(full article)
For anyone interested in social progress, the ‘Oaxaca Commune’ stands out as an event worthy of attention and study. In the Mexican state of Oaxaca, the overwhelming majority of people suddenly awoke from political hibernation and became active in shaping social life. In consequence, the old apparatus of the state, dedicated as it was to the interests of the rich, was destroyed, and a new structure, based on direct representation of the many, was established.....(full article)
Faux
Fair-and-Balanced News Flash:
Capt. Joan Darrah (USN-ret.) was the Navy’s first female intelligence officer. Lt. Col. William Winnewisser (USA-ret.) was a battalion commander, executive officer of the Army Operations Center at the Pentagon, and a White House social aide. Lt. Col. Hank Thomas (USMC-ret.) was an infantry and intelligence officer who served two tours of duty in Vietnam; he later served as assistant secretary for international affairs in the Reagan administration. Lt. Col. Steve Loomis, wounded in action in Vietnam, was awarded the Bronze Star with a “V” for valor. Capt. Joe Lopez, a West Point graduate, and Blackhawk pilot, earned an Air Medal in Iraq. Capt. Rebecca Kanis, a West Point graduate, was a company commander in Special Operations at the time she resigned her commission after nine years of service. Capt. Phil Adams, a Naval Academy graduate, spent eight years as a Marine infantry officer. 1st Lt. Gina Foringer, during her four years of service, was a convoy commander in Somalia when she was wounded in action. SSgt. Eric Alva, who lost a leg in Iraq, served 13 years in the Marines before receiving a medical discharge. Each of them has a stack of medals and commendations; each of them is gay or lesbian. And every one of them is immoral, according the Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military “says that we, by policy, would be condoning what I believe is immoral activity,” Gen. Pace told the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune. When Pace’s comments went public, he was forced to issue a written statement, but never apologized for his opinion about gays: “In expressing my support for the current policy, I also offered some personal opinions about moral conduct. I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views.”....(full article)
Let's say you're a passenger on a 737. You paid the ever-increasing price to jam your ever-widening butt into an ever-shrinking seat. Yep, you whipped out the plastic to willingly endure zero leg room, artificial air, phony friendliness, something loosely resembling food (sic), edited-for-mass-consumption movies, and it doesn't matter whether you're seated near the left wing or the right wing . . . the pilot calls the shots. If you choose to speak up, you can guarantee there'll be a uniformed, armed servant of the State waiting for you when the plane lands. Can anyone say "microcosm"? However, on the topic of plane rides, there is one type of rebellion that's always welcome in the home of the brave . . . and the more violent it is, the better. Rise up against official U.S. enemies and they'll make movies about you, build statues, write speeches, and all that good stuff. The powers-that-be in the land of the free may pretend to admire pacifism but never forget: Genuine hero worship is reserved for those ready, willing, and able to shed blood even if it may cost them their our lives.....(full article)
This week, I watched the opening night of the West Coast performance of “My Name is Rachel Corrie.” It was the fourth anniversary of Rachel's death. At the age of 23, she was crushed beneath the blade of a Caterpillar bulldozer operated by the Israeli IDF while trying to defend a Palestinian family's house from destruction. The official investigation whitewashed the incident and, in an exercise of boring familiarity for our times, it blamed the circumstances of amorphous terrorism, the fog of war and the innocent victim herself for having tried to interpose her own body in an effort to avert injustice. Unlike its fulsome praise for the sole Chinese man who, in 1989, stopped bare-handed a column of “Communist” government tanks at Tiananmen Square, the United States government has, at best, ignored Rachel Corrie and, at worst, slighted her as a naïve and liberal fool. This, then, is the 90-minute one woman play that New York did not dare to perform. It is now showing in Seattle, almost as far from Broadway as one can get in the continental United States.....(full article)
After a year of battling FEMA, the state of
Louisiana has a new enemy: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. This week
the Governor signed legislation to make cockfighting illegal in his state,
leaving Louisiana in conspicuous isolation as the only state to be
Cockfighting Friendly. Of course last year Richardson hedged on the issue
saying there were "strong arguments on both sides" of the cockfighting
debate. ("Really?" replied Jay Leno. "What's the good argument for
cockfighting? [It] keeps roosters off the street. It gives those roosters
without any skills a chance to make it? What reason is there for
cockfighting?") But then he wasn't running for President. Efforts to ban
cockfighting in Louisiana have gone over like a dry Mardi Gras.....
Bush and Cheney may be declaring "Mission Accomplished" now that the Iraqi Cabinet has approved the draft of an oil law granting foreign companies unprecedented access to the country's fields. But Beijing is having the last laugh. Just last week, Chinese oil company officials arrived in Baghdad to revive Hussein-era contracts for developing Iraq's oil, specifically, the Ahdab oil field in south-central Iraq. Hundreds of millions of dollars and a reduction in Iraq's Chinese debt are already on the table. It wasn't supposed to work this way. The US had a major role in developing Iraq's proposed oil law, with its scandalous long-term agreements enabling foreign oil companies to plunder the nation's most precious resource. Yet despite the US "investment" of more than 35,000 dead or wounded troops and over 400 billion dollars to secure access to Iraq's oil for itself, China is poised to sign the first major contract......(full article)
John Pilger reports on new revelations that torturers in America's “war on terror” were directed personally by US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He argues that the historical antidote to such barbarity is the new exuberant democracy movement in Latin America.....(full article)
Bush’s trip to Latin
America has turned into another public relations disaster. Every time Air
Force 1 touches down in a southern capital, the streets turn into a
battleground between incensed protestors and fully-armored,
truncheon-wielding Robo-cops. At the same time, Bush has to be whisked
away in an armored-plated limousine to an undisclosed spider-hole in the
Andean outback. Is this any way to promote “free trade”? How is Bush
expected to change hearts and minds when he can’t even stick his nose
beyond the small army of mercenaries which surrounds him 24-7? Bush now
faces stiff headwinds wherever he goes. He is the most unpopular president
in modern times and no one is hoodwinked by his silly promises to help the
poor and needy. It’s just a shabby excuse to mollify the public. “We care
about our neighborhood a lot,” Bush purred in Brazil. Nonsense.....
Last year big cable and bigger telephone companies deployed platoons of lobbyists and up to a hundred million dollars in an attempt to enact national cable franchise legislation. They greased its way through the House of Representatives, proving along the way that willful ignorance and lots of corporate cash could make two thirds of the Congressional Black Caucus vote for the digital broadband redlining of their own communities. The power play of big phone and the cable guys stalled in the US Senate, thanks to a national grassroots campaign campaign spearheaded by Free Press, a national not-for-profit media reform group, and a constellation of forces including the Alliance For Community Media and the National Association of Telecommunications Officers & Advisers. Had they succeeded, big phone and cable interests would have thoroughly privatized the internet, and frozen in place the highly profitable digital divide between blacks and whites, between richer and poorer communities, between urban and rural areas which has been the heart of the cable industry's business model for a generation. Although Ma Bell and the cable guys failed in Congress, their backup plan was already well underway. Plan B for giant cable and phone companies was to push the same or worse legislation virtually simultaneously in all fifty states, one state legislature at a time.....(full article)
The Mister Big behind the scandal of George Bush's firing of US Attorneys is not a 'mister' at all. The House Judiciary Committee has released White House e-mails indicating that the political operative who ordered the hit on prosecutors too honest for their own good was Harriet Miers, one-time legal counsel to the President. But this is not the first time that Miers has fired investigators to protect Mr. Bush.....(full article)
I’ve been meaning to have a talk with you, God.
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