OCTOBER 6 ACTION AGAINST WARS ABROAD
AND POLICE STATE ATTACKS ON CIVIL LIBERTIES AT HOME
Join us in a march and rally to protest the dangerous escalation in threats of military action
against Syria and Iran and increased racist violence and repression at home.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1:30 PM
PARK ST.
Eleven years ago on October 7, the U.S. unleashed a war on Afghanistan, followed by the war on Iraq based on lies. While thousands of troops remain in these countries, U.S. drone missiles rain down on Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Now the government imposes sanctions and threatens to attack Syria and Iran. The U.S. sends troops and threatens to retaliate against anti-US protesters in the Middle East. These actions will escalate the nightmare of war in the Middle East, not end it.
To wage war abroad, they must wage war at home. The last decade has seen escalating repression and poverty at home. Islamophobia and scapegoating of Muslims leads to manufactured frame-ups and violence against the Muslim community. Civil liberties and the right to dissent are under siege with indefinite detention and extra-judicial assassinations now the law of the land.
Racism is a weapon of war. They use it against Muslims and immigrants. They’ve stepped up the war on Black and Latino youth, with racial profiling, stop and frisk, and harsh sentencing — resulting in police brutality, mass incarceration, military weapons in the hands of police, and a hugely profitable prison industry.
To pay for wars and to maximize the profits of the haves, they take more and more from the have-nots. We see cuts to the social safety nets, attacks on labor, huge unemployment, privatization of public services, neglect of infrastructure, and poisoning of the environment.
LET’S STAND TOGETHER IN UNITY AND SOLIDARITY. TOGETHER WE ARE POWERFUL!
HANDS OFF SYRIA AND IRAN! NO TO RACISM, RAIDS, AND REPRESSION! NO TO ISLAMOPHOBIA!
* United National Antiwar Coalition * United for Justice with Peace * International Action Center *
* Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Boston *
* Committee for Peace & Human Rights, Boston * New England United * Rhode Island Mobilization Committee *
**Please add your organizations to list of endorsers by emailing BostonUNAC@gmail.com.
**If you or your organization would like to speak at the rally, contact Marilyn Levin, marilynl@alumni.neu.edu.
THERE WILL BE A PLANNING MEETING FOR THIS ACTION ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER, 19, 7:30 PM AT IAC OFFICE, 284 AMORY ST., J.P. (Brewery complex, near Stonybrook on Orange line).
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Sep14
Chicago, October 7, 3:00 PM
Posted on September 14, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Chicago, October 7, 3:00 PM
Gather at Tribune Tower, 435 N. Michigan Ave at 3 PM.
Following a short rally and program, we will march to Boeing Corporate headquarters, stopping along the way at Obama national campaign headquarter.
1. End the War in Afghanistan; 2. No New Wars; 3. Stop FBI Repression of Anti-war Activists; 4. Money for Jobs, Education and Healthcare, Not for War
For more information: joe Iosbaker, joeiosbaker@gmail.com, (773)301-0109
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Sep14
Columbus, OH, Oct. 7, 5 PM
Posted on September 14, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Columbus, OH, Oct. 7, 5 PM
Vigil at OSU Main Entrance, 15th Avenue and N. High St., Columbus, Ohio. Also, day long festival for peace on Oct. 6 at Lincoln Park, 580 Woodrow Ave.
For more information: walk@igc.org
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Sep14
Concord NH, Oct 5
Posted on September 14, 2012 by Judy Bello
Concord NH, Oct 5
New Hampshire Peace Action is celebrating 30 years of educating, advocating and organizing for world peace! October 5, NH Peace Action’s 30th Anniversary Event and Fall Fundraiser, At The Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 South Main Street, Concord. Doors open 5:30pm. Featuring Author/Activist David Swanson and Singer/Songwriter David Rovics. $30 for tickets in advance, $35 at the door, $10 for students or limited income, please be in touch about sponsorship opportunities, silent and live auctions, and ads in our program book!
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Sep14
Detroit, MI, Oct 5, 4 – 5:30 PM
Posted on September 14, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Detroit, MI, Oct 5, 4 – 5:30 PM
The Detroit demonstration will be held on Friday, Oct. 5 from 4:00-5:30pm at the entrance of Hart Plaza on Jefferson at Woodward ave. The demo is sponsored by the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI).
A number of issues and demand will be raised related to the wars in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Palestine, drone attacks in Somalia, Pakistan and Yemen. The theme will be centered around money for jobs, education, housing and health care not war and political repression.
For more information: Abayomi Azikiwe
Abayomi Azikiwe.
MECAWI, UNAC
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Sep14
Duluth, MN, Friday, Oct. 5 from 6 – 6 PM
Posted on September 14, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Duluth, MN, Friday, Oct. 5 from 6 – 6 PM
Picket at the corner of Lake Ave. & Superior St in Downtown Duluth.
Sponsored by Northland Anti-War Coalition
End the War in Afghanistan Now! Troops Home Now! No New Wars in Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen! Say NO to the drone war! Foreclose the war, not people’s homes! Money for housing & jobs, not the Pentagon! Stop attacks on civil liberties at home
Description: On Friday, Oct. 5 the Northland Anti-War Coalition will be holding a picket to mark the anniversary of the U.S. war on Afghanistan. We’ll be standing on the corner of Lake Ave. & Superior St. in downtown Duluth, from 5-6pm holding signs for passing motorists and leafleting pedestrians. Feel free to make and bring your own sign, though we’ll also have extras on hand
Sponsors: Northland Anti-War Coalition, Veterans for Peace, Grandmothers for Peace,
Socialist Action
For more information: wainosunrise@yahoo.com
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Sep13
Los Angeles, CA, Oct 6, 2 PM
Posted on September 13, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Los Angeles, CA, Oct 6, 2 PM
Rally at Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive st., Los Angeles, AC at 2 PM
For more information and to endorse the proteet: (323)306-6240
Endorsers include: International ActionCenter; School of the Americas Watch – LA; Arab Americansfor Syria; Latinos Against the War; Union of Progressive Iranians; ALBA USA; Bail Out the People Movement; Occupy 4Jobs, Harvard Blvd Block Club in South Central and more
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Sep13
Los Angeles, CA, Oct 6, 12 noon
Posted on September 13, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Los Angeles, CA, Oct 6, 12 noon
Los Angeles, CA March & Rally to shut down Army recruitment center Oct. 6, 12noon Hollywood & Highland More info: www.AnswerLA.org – 213-251-1025
Sponsored by the ANSWER Coalition
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Sep13
London, UK, Oct. 7
Posted on September 13, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
London, UK, Oct. 7
Sunday 7 October is the anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Stop the War is co-organising a Naming of the Dead ceremony with Afghans for Peace in Trafalgar Square. It will coincide with protests in the US and Canada and with the march for peace against drones being organised in Waziristan
For more information: Email: office@stopwar.org.uk Tel: 0207 561 9311 Web: http://stopwar.org.uk Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stopthewarcoalition Twitter: https://twitter.com/STWuk
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Sep13
Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 7, 1 PM
Posted on September 13, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 7, 1 PM
Gather at 1:00 PM along the sidewalks at Hennepin and Lagoon Avenues in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. March at 1:30. to Closing rally.
for more information: 612-522-1861 or 612-827-5364
Initialed by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition. Endorsements include: AFSCME Local 3800, AlliantAction, Anti-War Committee, Burnsville & Eagan Peace Vigil, Come Home America – MN Chapter, Communities United Against Police Brutality, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Mayday Bookstore, Military Families Speak Out, Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers, Minnesota Coalition for a Peoples Bailout, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, National Lawyers Guild (MN chapter), St. Paul Eastside Neighbors for Peace, Social Welfare Action Alliance (MN), Socialist Action, Students for a Democratic Society, Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Veterans for Peace, Welfare Rights Committee, Women Against Military Madness, Workers International League
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Sep13
New York City, Oct. 7 5 – 7 PM
Posted on September 13, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
New York City, Oct. 7 5 – 7 PM
On the 11th ammiversary of the War on Afghanistan protest at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building in Harlem, Manhattan, NY. The building is at 125th St and Adam Clayton Powel Jr. Blvd in Harlem. The demonstration will be held from 5 – 7 PM.
Bring the Troops Home Now! No Sanctions! Hands Off Syria & Iran, Stand with Palestine! Stop the Cutbacks! End Stop and Frisk! No to Racism,Raids & Repression.
The demonstration is sponsored by UNAC, Muslim Leadership Council of Metro NY, DRUM, IAC, Muslim Peace Coalition, USA, and more.
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Sep13
New York City, Oct. 6
Posted on September 13, 2012 by Administrator
New York City, Oct. 6
STOP U.S. Aggression and Continued War on the World! Not in Our Name!
In New York City, at noon, Saturday, October 6, we will gather at Duffy Square (part of Times Square), 47th & Broadway, to denounce the unmitigated murdering of people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Iraq in the continuing U.S. “war of terror.”
We ask that you bring a pair of civilian shoes representing people killed in our name. After we read the names of the dead, and hear from people deeply affected by the war, we will march to Union Square with a Reaper drone replica, in protest of the expanding U.S. drone war.
Sponsored by World Can’t Wait
To endorse, contact Debra Sweet, (866) 973-4463
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Sep11
Oakland, CA, Oct. 1-3
Posted on September 11, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Oakland, CA, Oct. 1-3
The War at Home and the War Abroad, an antiwar and Civil Liberties Teach-in at Laney College.
Northern California UNAC.
For more information, Jeff Mackler 510-268-9429
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Sep11
Olympia, WA, Oct 7
Posted on September 11, 2012 by Administrator
Olympia, WA, Oct 7
October 7th, is the 11th anniversary of the Afghanistan war: the unhappy day when America used its collective pain from 9/11 to inflict suffering and occupation upon the poor people of Afghanistan. Eleven years later, ninety percent of Afghan people have never even heard of 9/11 and yet they still suffer from the consequences. In the United States people have neglected to pay attention to the continued and expanded campaign of war and occupation.
This October 7th we would like to invite you to Localization Not Occupation, a gathering that will help us connect the dots between the wars in the Middle East and the increasing inequalities in America. Demanding politicians and war profiteers end the war is not enough. Localization builds community strength and demands we the people end the war directly. https://www.facebook.com/events/396399460423317/
1pm – 6pm, Sylvester Park
Sponsored By: Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation, Occupy Olympia, Alliance for Global Justice, Media Island
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Sep11
Philadelphia, PA, Oct 6
Posted on September 11, 2012 by Administrator
Philadelphia, PA, Oct 6
Philadelphia Against War
Local action on October 6; Location, TBA
Support for regional NYC action on October 7
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Sep11
Richmond, VA, Oct. 7, 6:30 PM
Posted on September 11, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Richmond, VA, Oct. 7, 6:30 PM
PUBLIC FORUM: “U.S. HANDS OFF SYRIA, IRAN & MALI! We need JOBS not WAR!”
6:30 pm – SUNDAY – OCT. 7
William Byrd Community House, Richmond, Virginia
224 So. Cherry St. (2 ½ blocks south of West Cary & 3 blocks west of So. Belvidere)
FREE – CHILDREN WELCOME – LIGHT REFRESHMENTS – DONATIONS APPRECIATED
PROGRAM:
BEHIND THE HEADLINES: THE TRUTH ABOUT U.S. DESIGNS ON SYRIA & IRAN
An analysis of the developing crisis by:
PHIL WILAYTO – Editor, The Virginia Defender
Board Member, Campaign Against Sanctions & Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)
Author, “In Defense of Iran: Notes from a U.S. Peace Delegation’s Journey through the Islamic Republic”
Coordinating Committee Member, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
WHAT’S BEHIND THE UNREST IN MALI?
An analysis of the recent coup, civil war and the threat of U.S.-backed military intervention by:
ANA EDWARDS – Host, DefendersLIVE! weekly radio program
President, Virginia Friends of Mali
Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project
Coordinating Committee Member, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
& A SPECIAL REPORT on a meeting of U.S. peace & social justice activists in New York City with
IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, by a meeting participant
PLUS: A SHOWING OF THE AWARD-WINNING FILM “BAM 6.6”
This acclaimed documentary explores the humanity of the Iranian people through the prism of the devastating 2003 earthquake that struck the ancient town of Bam in southeastern Iran. Through the experiences of two young American tourists, one of whom is a Jewish woman, viewers witness how a natural disaster can overcome religious and political barriers, dispel stereotypes and unite disparate members of the human family.
This event is part of a NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION called by the UNITED NATIONAL ANTIWAR COALITION (UNAC)
Sponsored by: THE VIRGINIA DEFENDER newspaper & the DEFENDERSLIVE! radio program
PO Box 23202, Richmond, VA 23223 – Ph: 804.644.5834 – Fax: 804.332.5225 – Email: DefendersFJE@hotmail.com
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Sep11
Salt Lake City, UT, Oct 7, 3 – 5 PM
Posted on September 11, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Salt Lake City, UT, Oct 7, 3 – 5 PM
No War Abroad and No War at Home.
Demonstrate on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 3 – 5 PM at the Salt Lake City & County Building, 451 south State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah.
For more information: wk_wulle@yahoo.com
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Sep11
San Francisco, CA, Oct. 6, 12 noon
Posted on September 11, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
San Francisco, CA, Oct. 6, 12 noon
San Francisco, CA March & Rally Oct. 6, 12 noon Powell & Market Sts. More info: www.AnswerSF.org – 415-821-6545
Sponsored by the ANSWER coalition
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Sep11
Talahassee, Florida, Oct 7
Posted on September 11, 2012 by Administrator
Talahassee, Florida, Oct 7
Tallahassee will join the international protest against US wars on the 11th Anniversary of the start of the US/NATO war upon the people of Afghanistan. A war based on lies, using criminal means, killing thousands of people that had nothing to do with 911.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
12:30pm until 2:30pm
at 400 South Monroe Street
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/402405256475433/
Protest the wars at home and abroad, the threats to Iran and Syria, and U.S. drone warfare.
“The bombs in Vietnam [Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Palestine ...] explode at home; they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America.” Dr ML King, Jr
Sponsored by: Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Veterans for Peace, Chapter 15, and Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Tallahassee.
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Sep10
Vancouver, Canada, Oct. 6, 1 PM
Posted on September 10, 2012 by Joe Lombardo
Vancouver, Canada, Oct. 6, 1 PM
At the Vancouver Art Gallery, Robson & Howe St, Downtown Vancouver, Canada
Sponsored by the Mobilization Against War & Occupation.
For more information: 604-322-1764 or info@mawovancouver.org
End the Occupations of Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine & Haiti! Saudi and All Foreign Troops Out of Bahrain! U.S., U.K., Canada, France, NATO, Hands Off Libya Now! U.S. Hands Off North Africa & the Middle East! Self Determination for Indigenous Nations & All Oppressed Nations!
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Help UNAC members and Upstate, NY drone activist go to Pakistan. We will be leaving on Oct 1. The tour will protest the drone attacks in Pakistan and document their destruction.
To ****************
They Say Fare Hike; We Say Fare Strike! Printer-Friendly
E-Mail This
Sep 5, 2012
By Tim Larkin
Over the summer a coalition was started by Socialist Alternative, members of the Industrial Workers of the World, and some of the most radical elements of Occupy Boston, going by the name Boston Fare Strike. The purpose of the coalition is to resist the recent implementation of fare hikes on the MBTA, which disproportionately affect the poor, the disabled, the elderly, and working people (especially low-wage earners and people of color). The coalition is committed popularizing and using tactics of direct action and civil disobedience as the most effective way to combat the attacks on workers.
Fare Strike began its campaign of civil disobedience on June 16 with the March Against Austerity. The action consisted of approximately 100 people marching through downtown Boston, stopping at various protest targets like Bank of America and the State House, and gave protesters the opportunity to voice their opposition to the actions of the big banks and the government that serves them. Speakers didn’t restrict their speeches to the fare hikes and service cuts the MBTA was facing, but also dealt with issues that affected the broader community. Home foreclosures, student debt, cuts to public higher education, and cuts in public transportation represent a broad attack on the living standards of the people who depend on these things, while benefiting only the super-rich.
The march ended at Park St. station, where the organizers spoke about the frustration of unresponsive politicians. The only immediate solution was to take direct action. Dozens of protesters rushed through the gates as they were held open. One chant echoed through the station: “If the banks get a free ride, why can’t we?”
Training and Resistance
A couple weeks later, Boston Fare Strike Coalition held a training on fare evasion tactics that drew around 40 people and some media. Some speakers explained the real reasons why the MBTA is currently facing fiscal problems, and one activist talked about a successful fare strike in Chicago. Attendees then discussed outreach to riders and to drivers and evasion tactics. The event was covered by Boston's right-wing newspaper, the Boston Herald, as well as the Metro, the free daily paper oriented towards commuters.
The event ended with a fare evasion. Participants marched into the nearby T station, opened the gates, and then held the gates open for anyone who entered the station. There were no confrontations with police or anyone else. This was the second successfully organized fare evasion with no fines or arrests. Some organizers say this is laying the groundwork for the fight against the next round of fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs, which are anticipated to be happening again next year.
For their third action, the coalition called for a “Fare Free Friday”. Several dozen protesters marched through downtown Boston to stage a fare evasion in Chinatown, all the while followed by some local news cameras. They held the doors open for several minutes, letting riders through and having a coalition member explain the action to the MBTA workers. This time the Transit Police showed up. Luckily for the protesters, there was a train waiting for them, giving them a fast escape. They simply moved to the next stations and continued to do the same thing. When the police followed behind in the next train, they quickly decided to move further. They switched lines and continued to stop at several stations in Boston and Cambridge, offering free rides to anybody who came through. Altogether they were able to temporarily liberate 4 train stations. There still have been no fines and no arrests.
In August, the coalition held another action that targeted the morning commuters for outreach about fare resistance tactics at Quincy Center Station. The action was an opportunity for a couple dozen activists to start conversations with working commuters about what is really needed to stop future fare hikes and service cuts. The protest was considered intolerable by the Transit authorities. The police came to find a couple dozen activists discussing with commuters and handing out leaflets. Without any crimes being committed, the police were left to find arbitrary reasons for kicking several activists out of the station.
Repression and the Future
The authorities were notably more prepared for this action. It also seems that the massive anger that was prevalent early on has mostly subsided. The early hearings on the cuts and hikes were events that allowed people to come and vent their anger, which they did. The hearings drew throngs of people who voiced their opposition to the relatively powerless MBTA board. The Quincy action stimulated some good discussion, but did not draw any new forces into struggle. This shows that most people have accepted the fare hikes and are not likely to be drawn into action at this time. That is, until the next set of cuts, layoffs, and fare hikes comes next year.
At this point, the media has become more pointed in its attacks on riders who refuse to pay fares, blaming them for the MBTA's fiscal crisis. On top of that, along with the increase in fares, there were big increases in the fines for fare refusal.
The wave of resistance that swept through the country during the Occupy movement gave an example of the kinds of tactics that will be necessary to defeat the attacks on the living standards of working people. The Boston Fare Strike Coalition was formed by a base of activists who recognized that lobbying Democratic politicians was a dead end and that direct action was the only tactic available to working people to defend their interests. With more cuts, fare hikes, and layoffs down the road, this sets an important precedent for future struggles.
Socialist Alternative, P.O. Box 45343, Seattle WA 98145
Phone: (206)526-7185
Comments? Suggestions for improving our web page? Please email info@SocialistAlternative.org
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People's Assemblies Network
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
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Oceania
International
Global Education Strike Oct 18th & Nov 14-22nd
16 September 2012 by pa-webgroup | 0 comments
GLOBAL EDUCATION STRIKE Oct.18th & Nov.14-22nd 2012
We are calling for a Global Education Strike. It is the first time that an education strike is being coordinated worldwide. We will UNITE in solidarity, because no matter where we live, we face the same struggle against national state and profit driven interests, and their hold on education. Increasing tuition fees, budget cuts, outsourcing, school closures, as well as other phenomena are linked to an increasing commercialization and privatization of education. Only by uniting globally will we be able to overcome these and enable free emancipatory education for all.
We are all struggling against cuts in education. Most of us are drowning in student debt. The increasing pressure to perform just makes us sick and the restrictions on education and ever-increasing tuition fees, among other barriers, make us angry!
Everyone must have access to education no matter their monetary or social status.
We have had enough of the pressure to measure everything – even the unmeasurable! We are sick and tired of competitiveness being the only criteria dictating everything! It is about time that we do something about this together – UNITED!
We are all people affected by the increasing commodification and commercialization of education. This is vividly portrayed by the symptoms affecting us, such as schools and universities being de-democratized and the further implementation of more hierarchical structures. The education market and competition between institutions is being facilitated by governments around the world, which are increasingly privatizing education, health care, and all other social needs.
In June 2012 alone, we recorded 45 protests in more than 40 cities in connection with the struggle for free emancipatory education. Governments have chronically underfunded the institutions, often using the current economic crisis as a pretext. They promote ‘solutions’ such as: rankings encouraging competition; closing schools that ‘underperform’; increasing student enrollment without increasing faculty, staff, and student resources; outsourcing everything that can be outsourced; promoting elite institutions. All these ‘solutions’ are steps towards an increasing commodification and privatization of education, which also has negative impacts on the conditions for teaching and learning.
The education market and national states require that profits take priority over developing the capabilities for emancipatory thinking. Both need obeying ‘citizens’, consumers and cheap labour, not emancipated individuals living self-determined lives.
We are being mechanized to function as cogs in the capitalist machine. We are socialized to compete with our fellows on every level. Our creativity, our energy and our free spirits are actively being crushed by the educational institution.
The education system within capitalism consists mainly of training factories which are supposed to produce human capital for the exploitation on the labour market as well as knowledge to be commodified. To point out these links and interrupt this mode of production we herewith call for the closing down of educational institutions worldwide during the Global Education Strike.
Fight back! Join in the GLOBAL EDUCATION STRIKE.
All justice begins with knowledge. Stand with us as one this October and November, and the whole world will hear our call to Reclaim Education.
Send an email to the global ISM mailing list or to united.for.education@gmail.com, if you endorse this Call to Action as well and want to be listed below the Call.
Re-posted from http://ism-global.net/call2action_GES
Also from the ISM platform read/share the International Joint Statement
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[UJP Activist] Brown Bag Lunch Vigil: Bring the Troops Home; No War with Iran; No Bomb Factory
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From : United for Justice with Peace
Subject : [UJP Activist] Brown Bag Lunch Vigil: Bring the Troops Home; No War with Iran; No Bomb Factory
To : alfredjohnson34@comcast.net
Reply To : info@justicewithpeace.org
Mon, Sep 17, 2012 05:30 PM
Brown Bag Lunch Vigil: Bring the Troops Home; No War with Iran; No Bomb Factory
When: Wednesday, September 19, 2012, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Where: Downstairs from Sen. John Kerry's office • One Bowdoin Square (corner of Cambridge & New Chardon Streets) • Bowdoin or Government Center T • Boston
11 years after the US attack on Afghanistan, 73,000 US troops remain there. Bring the troops home now - not in 2024 as the Administration proposes.
Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel is again beating the drums for a war with Iran. Tell Senator Kerry that we can't afford another Middle East War!
The Senate has yet to vote on the $5.8 billion plan for a new nuclear bomb factory, called the CMRR, in New Mexico. Tell Sen. Kerry to vote no.
At this vigil we will reach out to passersby and deliver a letter to Senator Kerry on these issues. Join us -- and tell us in advance that you'll be there, so we can put your name on the letter! Register to attend at http://justicewithpeace.org/bblv-register
Sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action, UJP Afghanistan/Pakistan Task Force, Veterans for Peace, and Progressive Democrats of America
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"Publix maintains a hardness of heart that would do Pharaoh proud"...
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From : Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Subject : "Publix maintains a hardness of heart that would do Pharaoh proud"...
To : alfredjohnson34@comcast.net
Reply To : workers@ciw-online.org
Mon, Sep 17, 2012 04:32 PM
"Publix maintains a hardness of heart that would do Pharaoh proud"...
Over 100 protesters marched from Publix to Chipotle in Naples, Florida, yesterday in a loud and colorful action that captured consumers' growing frustration with those companies' stubborn refusal to support the historic labor reforms taking shape today in Florida's tomato fields through the CIW's Fair Food Program.
Campaign for Fair Food ramping up for new season with protests at Publix stores in Tennessee, Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Naples!
As farmworkers filter back to Immokalee from the summer season up north, and students return to schools across the country with plans to accelerate their activism in support of the CIW's Fair Food Program, the pressure is building on Publix to stop hiding behind empty excuses and start doing its part to help improve the lives of the workers who pick its tomatoes.
The latest protest took place yesterday in Naples, Florida, where over 100 workers and Fair Food activists joined in a joyous protest. From the Naples Daily News:
"NORTH NAPLES — Alternating between shouts and song, a group of college students, farmworkers and other activists lined a North Naples intersection Saturday afternoon to drum up support for agricultural labor reform.
In the hope of replicating previous successes with companies like Burger King and Taco Bell, which signed "fair food" agreements supporting wage increases and improved working conditions for field workers, a crowd led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers gathered at U.S. 41 and Vanderbilt Beach Road to demand support from Publix supermarket and fast food chain Chipotle..." read more
Similar protests took place over the course of the past week in Nashville, TN (read the Leaf Chronicle story), and Gainesville (read the Gainesville Sun and Independent Alligator stories) and Tallahassee (see the WCTV story and read the FAMU student newspaper report), Florida.
Frustration with Publix's intransigence is reaching new heights, as reflected in letters and online posts by consumers who are growing weary of the company's hollow justifications for inaction. Father Frank Corbishley (Chaplain with the Episcopal Church Center at the University of Miami) shared a letter he is sending to Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw with the CIW:
"Dear Mr. Crenshaw:
My family has been boycotting Publix Supermarkets for about three years. Enclosed are just a few random sales receipts I’ve saved from recent shopping trips to a local IGA, where we now do our shopping. These receipts total approximately $1,500.00, and they represent only a few weeks of shopping out of the year. We are a family of five, so we spend quite a lot on groceries.
McDonald’s, Burger King, Yum Brands, Subway, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and others have seen fit to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to ensure that workers in the tomato fields of Florida receive better pay and work in safer and healthier conditions. The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange is also working with the CIW to improve the lot of the poorest of the poor among us. Yet Publix maintains a hardness of heart that would do Pharaoh proud!
Publix is located closer to our house than the local IGA. As a large chain, Publix also carries virtually every grocery product we want. It would be so much more convenient for us to shop at Publix, but our conscience won’t allow it. It is high time that you join corporations with a conscience and sign on to the Fair Food Program sponsored by the CIW!"
For more on the recent Publix protests and a GREAT reflection by Kate Savage of Nashville Fair Food on Publix's intransigence, go to the CIW website today!
You are subscribed to the CIW Mailing List as: alfredjohnson34@comcast.net
Click here to unsubscribe.
Coalition of Immokalee Workers • PO Box 603, Immokalee, FL 34143 • (239) 657-8311 • workers@ciw-online.org
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[st-patricks-peace] Fwd: [smedleyvfp] Chris Hedges v. Obama's NDAA: We Won—For Now
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From : imtaptalk@aol.com
Sender : st-patricks-peace-request@lists.riseup.net
Subject : [st-patricks-peace] Fwd: [smedleyvfp] Chris Hedges v. Obama's NDAA: We Won—For Now
To : PNeary7@aol.com, pflasr@aol.com, nono2004@verizon.net, lavieenrose02@yahoo.com, WCAVANAUGH@CAVTOCCI.COM, theheislers@hotmail.com, bethmcdermott@mac.com, waterwebb@aol.com, michael@graycliff.net, mark@inspiredevents.com, thehouseofpeace@yahoo.com, wwarfield@comcast.net, massvfp@yahoogroups.com, bridges95@aol.com, encubed1@yahoo.com, kaywalsh13@hotmail.com, patmcs1@juno.com, Fayegeorge236@aol.com, kflahety@aol.com, dlewit@igc.org, VDomingo@bridgew.edu, st-patricks-peace@lists.riseup.net, mdowling@mwproductions.org, rob113a@yahoo.com, betsy simmons
Mon, Sep 17, 2012 04:48 PM
-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Serpa
To: northeast impeachment
Sent: Mon, Sep 17, 2012 12:02 pm
Subject: [smedleyvfp] Chris Hedges v. Obama's NDAA: We Won—For Now
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/we_won_--_for_now_20120917/?ln
We Won—For Now
posted on Sep 17, 2012
By Chris Hedges
In January I sued President Barack Obama over Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorized the military to detain U.S. citizens indefinitely, strip them of due process and hold them in military facilities, including offshore penal colonies. Last week, round one in the battle to strike down the onerous provision, one that saw me joined by six other plaintiffs including Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg, ended in an unqualified victory for the public. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest, who accepted every one of our challenges to the law, made her temporary injunction of the section permanent. In short, she declared the law unconstitutional.
Almost immediately after Judge Forrest ruled, the Obama administration challenged the decision. Government prosecutors called the opinion “unprecedented” and said that “the government has compelling arguments that it should be reversed.” The government added that it was an “extraordinary injunction of worldwide scope.” Government lawyers asked late Friday for an immediate stay of Forrest’s ban on the use of the military in domestic policing and on the empowering of the government to strip U.S. citizens of due process. The request for a stay was an attempt by the government to get the judge, pending appeal to a higher court, to grant it the right to continue to use the law. Forrest swiftly rejected the stay, setting in motion a fast-paced appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and possibly, if her ruling is upheld there, to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Justice Department sent a letter to Forrest and the 2nd Circuit late Friday night informing them that at 9 a.m. Monday the Obama administration would ask the 2nd Circuit for an emergency stay that would lift Forrest’s injunction. This would allow Obama to continue to operate with indefinite detention authority until a formal appeal was heard. The government’s decision has triggered a constitutional showdown between the president and the judiciary.
“This may be the most significant constitutional standoff since the Pentagon Papers case,” said Carl Mayer, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
“The administration of President Obama within the last 48 hours has decided to engage in an all-out campaign to block and overturn an order of a federal judge,” said co-lead counsel Bruce Afran. “As Judge Forrest noted in her opinion, nothing is more fundamental in American law than the possibility that journalists, activists and citizens could lose their liberty, potentially forever, and the Obama administration has now lined up squarely with the most conservative elements of the Republican Party to undermine Americans’ civil liberties.”
The request by the government to keep the law on the books during the appeal process raises a disturbing question. If the administration is this anxious to restore this section of the NDAA, is it because the Obama government has already used it? Or does it have plans to use the section in the immediate future?
“A Department of Homeland Security bulletin was issued Friday claiming that the riots [in the Middle East] are likely to come to the U.S. and saying that DHS is looking for the Islamic leaders of these likely riots,” Afran said. “It is my view that this is why the government wants to reopen the NDAA—so it has a tool to round up would-be Islamic protesters before they can launch any protest, violent or otherwise. Right now there are no legal tools to arrest would-be protesters. The NDAA would give the government such power. Since the request to vacate the injunction only comes about on the day of the riots, and following the DHS bulletin, it seems to me that the two are connected. The government wants to reopen the NDAA injunction so that they can use it to block protests.”
The decision to vigorously fight Forrest’s ruling is a further example of the Obama White House’s steady and relentless assault against civil liberties, an assault that is more severe than that carried out by George W. Bush. Obama has refused to restore habeas corpus. He supports the FISA Amendment Act, which retroactively makes legal what under our Constitution has traditionally been illegal—warrantless wire tapping, eavesdropping and monitoring directed against U.S. citizens. He has used the Espionage Act six times against whistle-blowers who have exposed government crimes, including war crimes, to the public. He interprets the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force Act as giving him the authority to assassinate U.S. citizens, as he did the cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. And now he wants the right to use the armed forces to throw U.S. citizens into military prisons, where they will have no right to a trial and no defined length of detention.
Liberal apologists for Barack Obama should read Judge Forrest’s 112-page ruling. It is a chilling explication and denunciation of the massive erosion of the separation of powers. It courageously challenges the overreach of Congress and the executive branch in stripping Americans of some of our most cherished constitutional rights.
In the last 220 years there have been only about 135 judicial rulings that have struck down an act of Congress. Most of the cases involved abortion or pornography. Very few dealt with wartime powers and the separation of powers, or what Forrest in her opinion called “a question of defining an individual’s core liberties.”
Section 1021(b)(2) authorizes the military to detain any U.S. citizen who “substantially supported” al-Qaida, the Taliban or “associated forces” and then hold them in military compounds until “the end of hostilities.” The vagueness of the language, and the refusal to exempt journalists, means that those of us who as part of our reporting have direct contact with individuals or groups deemed to be part of a terrorist network can find ourselves seized and detained under the provision.
“The Government was unable to offer definitions for the phrases ‘substantially support’ or ‘directly support,’ ” the judge wrote. “In particular, when the Court asked for one example of what ‘substantially support’ means, the Government stated, ‘I’m not in a position to give one specific example.’ When asked about the phrase ‘directly support,’ the Government stated, ‘I have not thought through exactly and we have not come to a position on ‘direct support’ and what that means.’ In its pre-trial memoranda, the Government also did not provide any definitional examples for those terms.”
The judge’s ruling asked whether a news article deemed by authorities as favorable to the Taliban could be interpreted as having “substantially supported” the Taliban.
“How about a YouTube video?” she went on. “Where is the line between what the government would consider ‘journalistic reporting’ and ‘propaganda?’ Who will make such determinations? Will there be an office established to read articles, watch videos, and evaluate speeches in order to make judgments along a spectrum of where the support is ‘modest’ or ‘substantial?’ ”
Although government lawyers argued during the trial that the law represented no change from prior legislation, they now assert that blocking it imperils the nation’s security. It is one of numerous contradictions in the government’s case, many of which were illuminated in Forrest’s opinion. The government, she wrote, “argues that no future administration could interpret § 1021(b)(2) or the AUMF differently because the two are so clearly the same. That frankly makes no sense, particularly in light of the Government’s inability at the March and August hearings to define certain terms in—or the scope of—§ 1021(b)(2).” The judge said that “Section 1021 appears to be a legislative attempt at an ex post facto ‘fix’: to provide the President (in 2012) with broader detention authority than was provided in the AUMF [Authorization to Use Military Force Act] in 2001 and to try and ratify past detentions which may have occurred under an overly-broad interpretation of the AUMF.”
The government, in effect, is attempting to push though a law similar to the legislation that permitted the government to intern 110,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II. This law, if it comes back into force, would facilitate the mass internment of Muslim Americans as well as those deemed to “support” groups or activities defined as terrorist by the state. Calling the 1944 ruling “an embarrassment,” Forrest referred to Korematsu v. United States, which upheld the government’s internment of Japanese-Americans.
The judge said in her opinion that the government “did not submit any evidence in support of its positions. It did not call a single witness, submit a single declaration, or offer a single document at any point during these proceedings.” She went on to write that she found “the testimony of each plaintiff credible.”
“At the March hearing, the Court asked whether Hedges’ activities could subject him to detention under § 1021; the Government stated that it was not prepared to address that question. When asked a similar question at the August hearing, five months later, the Government remained unwilling to state whether any of plaintiffs’ (including Hedges’s) protected First Amendment future activities could subject him or her to detention under § 1021. This Court finds that Hedges has a reasonable fear of detention pursuant to § 1021(b)(2).”
The government has now lost four times in a litigation that has gone on almost nine months. It lost the preliminary injunction in May. It lost a motion for reconsideration shortly thereafter. It lost the permanent injunction. It lost its request last week for a stay. We won’t stop fighting this, but it is deeply disturbing that the Obama administration, rather than protecting our civil liberties and democracy, insists on further eroding them by expanding the power of the military to seize U.S. citizens and control our streets.
__._,_.___
*************
Fwd: URGENT ACTION - Please support janitors members of SEIU 615 while they negotiate for a new and better contact - Meeting Wednesday 9-19
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From : Joseph Ramsey
Sender : occupy-boston-socialist-discussion@googlegroups.com
Subject : Fwd: URGENT ACTION - Please support janitors members of SEIU 615 while they negotiate for a new and better contact - Meeting Wednesday 9-19
To : occupy-boston-socialist-discussion@googlegroups.com, laboroutreach
Reply To : occupy-boston-socialist-discussion@googlegroups.com
Mon, Sep 17, 2012 04:33 PM
I can't make this meeting Wednesday. But it would be great if others could. Both to support, and to report on developments here.
-Joe
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Edwin Argueta
Date: Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 12:27 PM
Subject: [Occupy Somerville Discuss] URGENT ACTION - Please support janitors members of SEIU 615 while they negotiate for a new and better contact - Meeting Wednesday 9-19
To: occupysomervillediscuss@lists.mayfirst.org
Hey Folks!
Our brothers and sisters at SEIU 615 are facing an uphill battle at the bargain table. Sadly, many of the employers don’t want to make these jobs the good dependable jobs that help to build a middle class and may result in the largest strike to hit Boston in 10 Years. If you can, please stop by this briefing to get more info and show your support for these brave folks.
*************
Urgent Action Alert: Push needed on peitition to change US UN vote this Oct
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From : Veterans For Peace
Subject : Urgent Action Alert: Push needed on peitition to change US UN vote this Oct
To : alfredjohnson34@comcast.net
Reply To : vfp@veteransforpeace.org
Mon, Sep 17, 2012 04:25 PM
Exposing the true costs of war since 1985.
For more on ICBUW, WILPF or VFP please visit ICBUW or Reaching Critical Will or Veterans for Peace Or follow us on Twitter @ICBUW or @RCW_ @VFPNational
Quick Links
Join/Renew
Donate
Subscribe to weekly VFP E-Mail Blast
Email Us
Share this action on FB
Dear friends, we need your help to help promote this petition calling for the US to stop its opposition to our UN resolutions on depleted uranium. We have been delighted to be joined by Veterans For Peace in making this call, along with the Womens International League For Peace and Freedom.
If you haven't already done so, please sign up today (it takes a few seconds) and then forward to your friends, colleagues and families. For too long the US has blocked international action on DU, we need your help to remind them that they can no longer go on acting with impunity.
Petition link: http://www.change.org/petitions/change-the-us-un-vote-on-depleted-uranium-weapons-this-fall
Depleted uranium (DU) weapons are chemically toxic and radioactive conventional weapons designed to pierce armor. They were used by the US in the 1991 Gulf War, in the Balkans in the mid and late 1990’s and again in Iraq in the 2003 occupation. Upon impact with hard targets, DU munitions burn generating a fine dust that may be inhaled by civilians and soldiers alike. Intact munitions or fragments slowly break down, contaminating soils and groundwater.
Animal and cellular studies have shown that DU damages DNA and has caused cancer in laboratory rodents. The US and other DU users have shown little interest in studying civilian populations but laboratory studies have demonstrated that DU is toxic to the body. Since 1991, reports have come from Iraq of increasing numbers of cases of childhood leukemia and birth defects which may be the result of DU exposure. DU contaminates the environment and is very expensive and difficult to clean up.
These weapons are inherently indiscriminate and need to be banned. Other countries are moving to prohibit the use of DU weapons but the US and other DU users are standing in the way of progress.
The United Nations will vote on a fourth resolution considering their acceptability in October. Even without comprehensive civilian health studies, the failure of states to clean-up contamination, their use against civilian infrastructure in built up areas and the lack of transparency from users over where the weapons have been used clearly demands action to ban these weapons on a precautionary basis.
The United States, Israel, the UK and France are the only four states opposing these resolutions. The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Veterans for Peace are calling for people around the globe to write to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ask her to reconsider the United States‘ voting position at the UN First Committee this October.
Will you join us?
To learn more about ICBUW and depleted uranium weapons, take five minutes and watch our animated short: When the Dust Settles
(http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en)
For any other information, please write to info@icbuw.org
*************
SA] International Speaker on Socialism - Three Chances to Participate!
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From : Bryan Koulouris
Sender : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Subject : [SA] International Speaker on Socialism - Three Chances to Participate!
To : bostonsa-discuss@yahoogroups.com, act-ma
Reply To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Mon, Sep 17, 2012 01:16 AM
******Please forward widely*******
Capitalism in Crisis and the Socialist Alternative
International Speaker:
Sebastian Kugler
Youth Organizer and Socialist Activist from Austria
These Meetings Free and Open to the Public
Three Chances to Participate!
Wednesday, Sept. 19th
1pm at UMass-Boston
Campus Center Second Floor Room 2545
Wednesday, Sept. 19th
7pm in Quincy Center
Thomas Crane Library, 40 Washington Street
near the Quincy Center T stop
Friday, Sept. 21st
7pm in Nashua, NH
UU Church at 58 Lowell St. in Nashua, NH
Also, keep up to date with working class analysis, reports from movements and proposals for a way forward: socialistworld.net and socialistalternative.org
***************
OCT 6 ACTION AGAINST WARS ABROAD & POLICE STATE ATTACKS ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, Planning mtg Wed.
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From : Marilyn Levin
Subject : OCT 6 ACTION AGAINST WARS ABROAD & POLICE STATE ATTACKS ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, Planning mtg Wed.
To : bostonunac@googlegroups.com, BostonUNAC-announce
Sun, Sep 16, 2012 03:30 PM
BUILD OCTOBER 6 ACTION AGAINST WARS ABROAD
AND POLICE STATE ATTACKS ON CIVIL LIBERTIES AT HOME
Join us in a march and rally to protest the dangerous escalation in threats of military action
against Syria and Iran and increased racist violence and repression at home.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1:30 PM
PARK ST.
Eleven years ago on October 7, the U.S. unleashed a war on Afghanistan, followed by the war on Iraq based on lies. While thousands of troops remain in these countries, U.S. drone missiles rain down on Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Now the government imposes sanctions and threatens to attack Syria and Iran. The U.S. sends troops and threatens to retaliate against anti-US protesters in the Middle East. These actions will escalate the nightmare of war in the Middle East, not end it.
To wage war abroad, they must wage war at home. The last decade has seen escalating repression and poverty at home. Islamophobia and scapegoating of Muslims leads to manufactured frame-ups and violence against the Muslim community. Civil liberties and the right to dissent are under siege with indefinite detention and extra-judicial assassinations now the law of the land.
Racism is a weapon of war. They use it against Muslims and immigrants. They’ve stepped up the war on Black and Latino youth, with racial profiling, stop and frisk, and harsh sentencing -- resulting in police brutality, mass incarceration, military weapons in the hands of police, and a hugely profitable prison industry.
To pay for wars and to maximize the profits of the haves, they take more and more from the have-nots. We see cuts to the social safety nets, attacks on labor, huge unemployment, privatization of public services, neglect of infrastructure, and poisoning of the environment.
LET’S STAND TOGETHER IN UNITY AND SOLIDARITY. TOGETHER WE ARE POWERFUL!
HANDS OFF SYRIA AND IRAN! NO TO RACISM, RAIDS, AND REPRESSION! NO TO ISLAMOPHOBIA!
* United National Antiwar Coalition * United for Justice with Peace * International Action Center *
* Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Boston *
* Committee for Peace & Human Rights, Boston * New England United * Rhode Island Mobilization Committee *
**Please add your organizations to list of endorsers by emailing BostonUNAC@gmail.com.
**If you or your organization would like to speak at the rally, contact Marilyn Levin, marilynl@alumni.neu.edu.
THERE WILL BE A PLANNING MEETING FOR THIS ACTION ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER, 19, 7:30 PM AT IAC OFFICE, 284 AMORY ST., J.P. (Brewery complex, near Stonybrook on Orange line).
**************
Re: [SA] SEIU 615 contract ending
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From : Christopher Persampieri
Sender : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Subject : Re: [SA] SEIU 615 contract ending
To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Cc : SA
Reply To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Sun, Sep 16, 2012 12:16 AM
I've been applying for a job with 615 for a while.
I should try to make it down...
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 15, 2012, at 8:02 PM, Joshua Koritz
just making sure people see this:
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:32:00 -0400
From: Ben Kuss
To: "'act-ma@act-ma.org'"
Subject: [act-ma] Contract campaing for 14,000 janitors
Message-ID: <588ec1bd.1cd92a7.2dbf4d26.1ff0@seiu615.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
Dear Act-Ma:
My name is Ben Kuss, and I am an organizer with the SEIU Local 615 (www.seiu615.org). On September 30th, the contract that covers 14,000 janitors will expire, and this week at the bargaining table management has proposed language that will roll back decades of gains, including cuts in wages, benefits, and most importantly to members, the chance to have full-time work.
We will be having a community briefing at our local, this upcoming Wednesday, from 9am ? 11am. Please consider the following for submission, and thank you:
Justice for Janitors Campaign Briefing
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
9 ? 11AM @ SEIU Local 615, 26 West Street, Downtown Boston
Cleaning contractors have proposed language at the bargaining table that would wipe out the hard fought gains that janitors have made over the last decade. Among other things, they are proposing to create a permanent second tier with substantially lower rates and doing away with language intended to move workers to full time.
As the 14,000 janitors of SEIU 615 approach the deadline of their contract on September 30th, community support will be more crucial than ever. Join the members and leadership of SEIU 615 for a breakfast and discussion of where we are now, what the most effective support actions will be, and how we are preparing for escalated activity.
Please RSVP to Khalida at ksmalls@seiu615.org, or 617-878-7460; www.seiu615.org
Hard working Janitors will need your support at this critical moment in the campaign ? join us and learn more about how you can help.
We will begin having DAILY noontime actions starting Monday, September 17, 2012 where we will need support from community allies.
Here are ways to get involved and stay informed about our daily actions:
? To get daily updates about our daily actions, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
? http://www.facebook.com/SEIU615
? http://twitter.com/seiu615
? Meet at SEIU 615 (26 West Street, downtown) at 11:30AM for daily action briefings and
? Stand with us at a building to deliver a clear message to the city, contractors and owners ? the community is watching and janitors have a right to full time work and a fair wage
Contact us if you want to volunteer to help in other ways. Let us know you are willing, ready and able to STAND WITH WORKERS AND SUPPORT THEM IF WE NEED TO STRIKE. We must go forward to protect our rights as workers, NOT backwards!
__._,_.___
*************
[UJP Activist] Occupy Lawrence, 1912 : An Evening of Folk Music & History
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From : United for Justice with Peace
Subject : [UJP Activist] Occupy Lawrence, 1912 : An Evening of Folk Music & History
To : alfredjohnson34@comcast.net
Reply To : info@justicewithpeace.org
Fri, Sep 14, 2012 02:59 AM
Occupy Lawrence, 1912 : An Evening of Folk Music & History
When: Saturday, September 22, 2012, 7:00 pm
Where: Arlington Center for the Arts • 41 Foster Street • Arlington
Charlie King and Karen Brandow present Occupy Lawrence 1912 a multi-media performance about the Bread and Roses textile strike that took place in Lawrence, Massachusetts 100 years ago.
Chris Nauman and Kenny Selcer open.
Steve Early discusses "Unions – then and now".
Tickets are $10.00 and will go on sale at 6 pm.
Parking available * Wheelchair accessible * On public transportation (#77 bus)
Sponsored by Arlington United for Justice with Peace and cosponsored by Arlington 25% Solution, Jobs with Justice and Occupy Arlington
arlingtonujp@yahoo.com
www.arlingtonujp.org
Thanks to New England War Tax Resistance for a grant
*************
SA] In South Africa, Labor Unrest in Mining Deepens
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From : Jeffrey Booth
Sender : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Subject : [SA] In South Africa, Labor Unrest in Mining Deepens
To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Reply To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Fri, Sep 14, 2012 12:38 PM
2 attachments
“Where are our leaders?” thundered Mr. Malema, dressed in a white shirt embroidered with the logo of the A.N.C., from which he has been expelled, and a black beret. “Our leaders have sold out South Africa! Our leaders are sleeping with capital!”
In South Africa, Labor Unrest in Mining Deepens
Alexander Joe/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Striking workers at an Anglo American Platinum mine. The company has halted mining operations in the area because of threats.
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: September 12, 2012
JOHANNESBURG — The labor strife gripping South Africa’s mines spread Wednesday, with riots prompting the world’s largest platinum producer to halt production at a number of its mines in the country and guards firing tear gas on protesting workers at a major gold mine.
Related
· South Africa Lifts Charges of Murder in Mine Strike (September 3, 2012)
· Rage by Miners Points to Shift in South Africa (September 1, 2012)
· In Police Shooting of Miners, South Africa Charges Miners (August 31, 2012)
· Times Topic: South Africa
Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.
Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
Unrest has rippled across the gold- and platinum-producing regions that surround Johannesburg since the police killed 34 miners at a platinum mine last month in Marikana, 80 miles northwest of here, in an effort to halt a violent, illegal strike by workers demanding that their wages be raised. The spreading turmoil is destabilizing one of the most important industries in Africa’s biggest economy.
In a speech to striking workers at a gold mine on Monday, Julius Malema, the firebrand former leader of the African National Congress Youth League, called for a national mining strike until wages for all miners were increased to about $1,500 a month, roughly double or triple what they take home now.
“Where are our leaders?” thundered Mr. Malema, dressed in a white shirt embroidered with the logo of the A.N.C., from which he has been expelled, and a black beret. “Our leaders have sold out South Africa! Our leaders are sleeping with capital!”
Amid the turmoil, Anglo American Platinum, which says it produces about 40 percent of the world’s newly mined platinum, announced Wednesday that it was shutting down its mining operations near Marikana because of threats against its workers.
“In light of the current volatile situation in the Rustenburg area, where our employees, who want to go to work, are being prevented from doing so and are being intimidated by the threat of violence, Anglo American Platinum has decided to suspend its operations,” the company said in a statement.
Security guards on Wednesday fired tear gas at workers engaged in a wildcat strike at a gold mine in Carletonville, 50 miles southwest of Johannesburg. On Sunday, about 15,000 workers walked off the job at the mine, which is operated by Gold Fields.
The mine in Marikana where the killings took place, which is owned by Lonmin, a company based in London, has been closed for more than a month since the company’s rock drill operators, who perform some of the hardest, most dangerous work, went on strike to demand higher wages.
Many of the strikers were members of a radical, breakaway union and had expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s largest union, the National Union of Mineworkers, which is part of the trade union federation allied with the governing A.N.C.
So far, the unrest has done little to dent South Africa’s economy. Neither its stock market nor its currency has suffered as a result of the strikes. Labor unrest is common in South Africa, though it is not usually this violent, said Frans Cronje, an analyst at the South African Institute of Race Relations, a research institution that counsels investors.
“South Africa has a background of conflict and instability and violence,” Mr. Cronje said.
But the strikes underscore the problems the country faces: the highest level of inequality of any large economy, according to some estimates; jobless rates that reach 50 percent among young blacks; and an education system churning out graduates ill prepared for what jobs are available. The A.N.C., which bills itself as the protector of the poor, is now seen by many here as too cozy with the owners of capital.
“The corporate world does not yet realize the seriousness of the social and economic inequalities that confront the country,” Mr. Cronje said. “They have felt very often that their political connections are insurance that can bail them out of the problem. But the biggest constituency is the people who do not vote. It does not help therefore to have an A.N.C. insider on your board.”
Mr. Malema, who was ejected from the A.N.C. this year for sowing discord within the party, has been visiting striking miners in what is widely seen as a bid to shore up his popularity and help push President Jacob Zuma out as president of the party. Known for his radical pronouncements advocating the nationalization of the country’s mines and the seizure of white farms without compensation, Mr. Malema is the subject of multiple corruption investigations into his vast and mysteriously acquired fortune.
Mr. Malema received a warm reception from striking gold miners, who waved ceremonial cudgels, marched and sang songs in his praise. One held up a sign reading “Juju for President,” using Mr. Malema’s nickname. But other workers were skeptical.
“He says that the mine bosses are using us, the politicians are using us,” said Vusi Tshomela, 28, a gold miner. “I think he is also using us.”
A version of this article appeared in print on September 13, 2012, on page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: In South Africa, Labor Unrest in Mining Deepens.
**************
SA] In South Africa, Labor Unrest in Mining Deepens
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From : Jeffrey Booth
Sender : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Subject : [SA] In South Africa, Labor Unrest in Mining Deepens
To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Reply To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Fri, Sep 14, 2012 12:38 PM
2 attachments
“Where are our leaders?” thundered Mr. Malema, dressed in a white shirt embroidered with the logo of the A.N.C., from which he has been expelled, and a black beret. “Our leaders have sold out South Africa! Our leaders are sleeping with capital!”
In South Africa, Labor Unrest in Mining Deepens
Alexander Joe/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Striking workers at an Anglo American Platinum mine. The company has halted mining operations in the area because of threats.
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: September 12, 2012
JOHANNESBURG — The labor strife gripping South Africa’s mines spread Wednesday, with riots prompting the world’s largest platinum producer to halt production at a number of its mines in the country and guards firing tear gas on protesting workers at a major gold mine.
Related
· South Africa Lifts Charges of Murder in Mine Strike (September 3, 2012)
· Rage by Miners Points to Shift in South Africa (September 1, 2012)
· In Police Shooting of Miners, South Africa Charges Miners (August 31, 2012)
· Times Topic: South Africa
Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.
Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
Unrest has rippled across the gold- and platinum-producing regions that surround Johannesburg since the police killed 34 miners at a platinum mine last month in Marikana, 80 miles northwest of here, in an effort to halt a violent, illegal strike by workers demanding that their wages be raised. The spreading turmoil is destabilizing one of the most important industries in Africa’s biggest economy.
In a speech to striking workers at a gold mine on Monday, Julius Malema, the firebrand former leader of the African National Congress Youth League, called for a national mining strike until wages for all miners were increased to about $1,500 a month, roughly double or triple what they take home now.
“Where are our leaders?” thundered Mr. Malema, dressed in a white shirt embroidered with the logo of the A.N.C., from which he has been expelled, and a black beret. “Our leaders have sold out South Africa! Our leaders are sleeping with capital!”
Amid the turmoil, Anglo American Platinum, which says it produces about 40 percent of the world’s newly mined platinum, announced Wednesday that it was shutting down its mining operations near Marikana because of threats against its workers.
“In light of the current volatile situation in the Rustenburg area, where our employees, who want to go to work, are being prevented from doing so and are being intimidated by the threat of violence, Anglo American Platinum has decided to suspend its operations,” the company said in a statement.
Security guards on Wednesday fired tear gas at workers engaged in a wildcat strike at a gold mine in Carletonville, 50 miles southwest of Johannesburg. On Sunday, about 15,000 workers walked off the job at the mine, which is operated by Gold Fields.
The mine in Marikana where the killings took place, which is owned by Lonmin, a company based in London, has been closed for more than a month since the company’s rock drill operators, who perform some of the hardest, most dangerous work, went on strike to demand higher wages.
Many of the strikers were members of a radical, breakaway union and had expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s largest union, the National Union of Mineworkers, which is part of the trade union federation allied with the governing A.N.C.
So far, the unrest has done little to dent South Africa’s economy. Neither its stock market nor its currency has suffered as a result of the strikes. Labor unrest is common in South Africa, though it is not usually this violent, said Frans Cronje, an analyst at the South African Institute of Race Relations, a research institution that counsels investors.
“South Africa has a background of conflict and instability and violence,” Mr. Cronje said.
But the strikes underscore the problems the country faces: the highest level of inequality of any large economy, according to some estimates; jobless rates that reach 50 percent among young blacks; and an education system churning out graduates ill prepared for what jobs are available. The A.N.C., which bills itself as the protector of the poor, is now seen by many here as too cozy with the owners of capital.
“The corporate world does not yet realize the seriousness of the social and economic inequalities that confront the country,” Mr. Cronje said. “They have felt very often that their political connections are insurance that can bail them out of the problem. But the biggest constituency is the people who do not vote. It does not help therefore to have an A.N.C. insider on your board.”
Mr. Malema, who was ejected from the A.N.C. this year for sowing discord within the party, has been visiting striking miners in what is widely seen as a bid to shore up his popularity and help push President Jacob Zuma out as president of the party. Known for his radical pronouncements advocating the nationalization of the country’s mines and the seizure of white farms without compensation, Mr. Malema is the subject of multiple corruption investigations into his vast and mysteriously acquired fortune.
Mr. Malema received a warm reception from striking gold miners, who waved ceremonial cudgels, marched and sang songs in his praise. One held up a sign reading “Juju for President,” using Mr. Malema’s nickname. But other workers were skeptical.
“He says that the mine bosses are using us, the politicians are using us,” said Vusi Tshomela, 28, a gold miner. “I think he is also using us.”
A version of this article appeared in print on September 13, 2012, on page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: In South Africa, Labor Unrest in Mining Deepens.
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[UJP Activist] Get Out the Vote for the Peace and Justice Referendum on Election day, Nov. 6!
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From : United for Justice with Peace
Subject : [UJP Activist] Get Out the Vote for the Peace and Justice Referendum on Election day, Nov. 6!
To : alfredjohnson34@comcast.net
Reply To : info@justicewithpeace.org
Wed, Sep 05, 2012 10:30 PM
Get Out the Vote for the Peace and Justice Referendum on Election day, Nov. 6!
UJP meeting Sept. 11 to Plan
"The Campaign to Vote 'Yes' for the 'Budget for All' Ballot Question"
The presidential election campaign this fall is a time when many Americans are talking politics, open to discussion and new ideas. Yet the two major national parties limit the debate and many proposals for real solutions are "off the table." A dynamic coalition of peace, labor, housing and community activists came together to address this problem. Working countless volunteer hours to gather signatures, the coalition has put the Budget for All policy referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot. A "yes" vote advises our representatives to support jobs and social security, fair taxation, ending the Afghanistan War and cutting the military budget. Many people were surprised and pleased when they signed the petition. Now we need to engage the voters with a real discussion of how to put the country on the right track. This is our chance to send a clear message to Congress, the president and the nation about what the people of Massachusetts really want. We need an overwhelming "yes" vote!
UJP groups were key in initiating and gathering signatures for Budget for All. The coalition collected over 24,000 signatures and the referendum will appear on the ballot in 8 senatorial districts and 24 state representative districts. This is more then any other prior nonbinding question. Now we will gather with coalition partners to make a plan of action to publicize the referendum and get out the vote! We need people to talk to their friends, meet and table in the community, put articles in the local press, and leaflet T-stations. What are your creative plans? Share them with all of us.
Meet to plan the campaign at
American Friends Service Committee
Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 7:00 pm.
2161 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
For more information: info@justicewithpeace.org or 617-383-4857
Text of the Budget for All referendum: budget4allmass.org
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SA] Charest's defeat is a victory for [Quebec] students
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From : Jeffrey Booth
Sender : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Subject : [SA] Charest's defeat is a victory for [Quebec] students
To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Reply To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Thu, Sep 06, 2012 02:02 PM
4 attachments
Notes from Quebec by Ethan Cox
rabble's Special Correspondent on the Quebec student strike, Ethan Cox is a 28 year-old organizer, comms guy and writer from Montreal. He cut his political teeth accrediting the Dawson Student Union against ferocious opposition from the college administration and has worked as a union organizer for the Public Service Alliance of Canada. He has also worked on several successful municipal and federal election campaigns, and was a member of Quebec central office staff for the NDP in the 2011 election. Most recently he served as Quebec Director and Senior Communications Advisor on Brian Topp's NDP leadership campaign. You can follow him on twitter @EthanCoxMtl
Charest's defeat is a victory for students
By
Ethan Cox
| September 6, 2012
"In politics, the victories are never as bright as you would like. We must make do. But for the moment, we should not be embarrassed to say that we won: the [tuition] increase will be set aside, Bill 12 also... and Jean Charest has resigned." - Former CLASSE co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
There is so much to say about last night's election, it's hard to know where to begin. Before the results had sunk in came news of a tragic shooting at the PQ's Metropolis party. A clearly deranged man, wearing a bathrobe and shouting, in French, about Anglos waking up, took the life of one man, and left another in hospital. Our thoughts go out to the victims and their families, and, as always, we wonder how a non-automatic AK-47 could possibly be legal. But enough ink has been spilled on the act of a lone maniac, so I'll stick to the election.
The king is dead
After nine years in power, and twenty eight representing Sherbrooke, first as a Progressive Conservative MP, and then as Liberal MNA, Jean Charest has left politics. His government reduced to official opposition, and his own seat humiliatingly lost to the PQ, Charest resigned this afternoon in a tearful press conference. He came out feisty last night, leading some to speculate he might remain as Liberal leader, but clearly thought better of it overnight.
When Charest's political obituary is written, I believe it will read that he was the man who didn't know when to quit. High on hubris and believing his own hype, Charest went all in on a summer election. He no doubt believed that his skill on the campaign trail, and well honed message of fear and division, would be enough to return him to power.
He lost that gamble, but I would argue that it was an earlier wager which truly sunk him. He bet the province on the so-called "silent majority" who opposed the student strike. He sought to play himself off as a strong man, resolutely defending law and order against the chaos of "the street". He enacted Law 12, the most draconian assault on civil liberties this province has seen since the dark days of Duplessis, and set an election amidst the backdrop of the early return to classes it mandated.
He sought to use the students as a political prop, to sow fear in the population for which he was the only solution. Most in the media were only too happy to go along with this narrative, suggesting that the students and their demands would be a toxic albatross around the neck of PQ leader Pauline Marois.
Students refused to take his bait, with most voting to suspend their strike until the results of the election were known. And despite the supposed toxicity of the student movement, when the PQ pulled out all the stops in the campaign's last week to beg Quebeckers to deliver them a majority government, the rationale they provided in full page newspaper ads, subway panels and elsewhere was that only a PQ majority could succeed in canceling the tuition hikes and repealing Law 12.
The students, victorious
Far from a political liability, or an electoral afterthought, the student strike and social movement it sparked proved decisive in this campaign. After nine years in power the Charest government was tired, wracked by scandal and giving off an inescapable odour of corruption. But governments led by less able campaigners, and lacking the gift of the sovereignty bogeyman, have survived far worse.
As we have seen with the Harper government in Ottawa, persistent scandals barely register on the radar of most voters. For a government to be booted from office, people need a spark. Something which crystallizes their unease and turns it into full blown opposition. In this campaign, that spark was the student movement.
They succeeded in casting Charest and his government as out of touch, and contemptuous of a large swath of the population. With Law 12, Charest overreached. His hubris got the better of him, as it has so often in this last year, and he resolutely insisted that the "silent majority" supported his iron fist, even as polls revealed roughly sixty percent of the population opposed the special law.
The largest rally of the election campaign, by a country mile, was the roughly 100,000 who took to the streets on August 22 to demand Charest's ouster. The students succeeded in crystallizing opposition to so many aspects of the Liberal record, and uniting them in a single message: Charest, Dehors!
As Nadeau-Dubois said, this is no absolute victory. Indeed those are a rare thing in politics. But the resume of the longest student strike in Canadian history, and the social movement which blossomed around it, is clear. Two education ministers, a Premier and a government defeated. The tuition hikes and Law 12 set to be repealed. It's hard to interpret that as anything less than a sweeping victory for the students and their allies.
Their work is far from complete, and we remain far from the truly progressive society they have been fighting for, but the social movement should take a moment today to pat itself on the back. Tomorrow, and in the days to come, you can rest assured it will return. The strike will likely remain suspended, unless Marois breaks her promises, but this movement has gotten a taste of the immense power ordinary people have when they work together. If there is one enduring legacy of this year's events, which far outstrips fleeting victory over Charest, it is the awakening of an entire generation. They know what they want, they know they can win, and our society for decades to come will be shaped by the veterans of this struggle.
The future, uncertain
For a fleeting moment last night at the Quebec Solidaire victory party, it appeared as if the possibility of a PQ minority, with QS holding the balance of power, was tantalizingly close. Those hopes were quickly dashed, and we are left with a weak PQ minority that will doubtless have difficulty governing.
Unable to pass legislation, even with the support of QS' two MNAs, the PQ may look to form a pact of some sort with the third place Coalition Avenir Quebec. I'm not sure the term strange bedfellows even begins to cover that scenario, although I can see the two parties working together to repeal Law 12, given that the CAQ's Legault promised to repeal parts of it on the campaign trail. The tuition hikes, for the record, can be repealed by ministerial order.
Another possibility is that the PQ minority will be brought down, and a governing coalition formed between the Liberals and CAQ. Although there is a lot of common ground between the parties ideologically, there's also an awful lot of bad blood, and it's hard to imagine Jacques Duchesneau, for example, agreeing to govern with the Liberals.
Given that the PQ are nine seats short of a majority, seven if you assume cooperation with QS, it seems unlikely that they will find enough floor crossers to cobble together a majority.
As vulnerable as this PQ minority is, it is unlikely to be taken down immediately. The Liberals, leaderless and about to be publicly flayed at the Charbonneau Commission, will be in no hurry to spark another election.
For my money this government will hang in for a year, maybe two at the outside. Even with a majority, there was little prospect of a referendum the PQ knew they would lose. Now, there is none.
A bittersweet night for Quebec Solidaire
I attended the QS victory party last night, and it was a fascinating experience. Deliriously happy in the early going as co-spokespersons Amir Khadir and Françoise David racked up big leads and were quickly declared elected, the crowd also lustily cheered each time Charest was shown trailing in his riding of Sherbrooke, and repeatedly broke into staples of the street protests, such as "Charest, get out, go find a job up north!" (A reference to a silly joke he made that protesting students should seek employment under his Plan Nord.)
For a brief period, it appeared as if the PQ might form a slim majority which could be propped up by QS, a dream scenario for supporters of the upstart party. People across the room could be heard calling out to each other, "two more!", "One more!" in reference to the number of QS or PQ seats needed to reach the magic number of sixty three.
As the PQ total dropped, and tight races in Saint-Marie-Saint-Jacques and Laurier-Dorion slipped out of reach for QS, a malaise of sorts settled over the crowd. Happy, no doubt, at having doubled their seat total and electing co-spokesperson David. But the victories in Mercier and Gouin were expected, taken for granted even, and this crowd wanted more. They wanted three seats at least, if not four, and were bitterly disappointed by their share of the popular vote, which hovered around 6 percent.
So it was a victory for QS, no doubt. They improved their share of the popular vote by two percent over the 2008 election, and doubled their seat count. But they came agonizingly close to so much more.
Follow me on twitter @EthanCoxMTL for regular coverage of Quebec politics
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Talking with Democrats & Occupiers in Charlotte
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From : Debra Sweet, World Can't Wait
Subject : Talking with Democrats & Occupiers in Charlotte
To : alfredjohnson34@comcast.net
Reply To : debrasweet@worldcantwait.net
Wed, Sep 05, 2012 03:44 PM
The World Can't Wait
Stop the Crimes of Your Government Donate | Local Chapters | Store | Previous Newsletters
Help overfulfill the goal by Thursday when the Democratic Convention ends.
We have too much war in our name... too many fellow human beings deported... too much injustice, climate change... and too many damn bible thumpers in charge.
But one can't have too much response to a fund drive! The goal of $2,000 to Bring Resistance Forward is close to succeeding.
Over-fulfilling the goal would mean a lot; more materials, more possible outreach, more classes visited with the We Are Not Your Soldiers tour. Please donate and be a part of bringing resistance forward.
Dear Alfred,
On Sunday September 2nd the World Can’t Wait hit the streets of Charlotte, NC. A small but determined crew participated in the March On Wall Street South. World Can’t Wait was there to protest Obama’s drone wars and challenge the “lesser of two evils” argument.
The crew of activists had a drone replica which they wheeled through the streets of Charlotte. The drone replica drew much attention, press, and conversation. The activists chanted “When Drones Fly, Children Die!” and “Obama, Romney, All the Same, No More War Crimes in Our Name!” For a time a group of young people marched along with the World Can’t Wait crew and on the spot came up with the chant “Drone Strikes Are War Crimes, Obama Should Do Prison Time!”
At one point the protesters were waiting to proceed with the march and a World Can’t Wait activist began to agitate to the delegates to the DNC and residents of Charlotte gathered on the side walk about the grim realities of Obama’s drone wars for the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. It was during this point that the 12 Steps to Overcoming the Addiction to Voting for the Lesser of Two Evils was read to the crowd of an enlarged copy which had also drawn much attention through out the day.
Tuesday, World Can't Wait joined with others from Vets for Peace and Occupiers from around the country to stage an unpermitted march to Free Bradley Manning and End the Wars. Energetic, impassioned, and outraged by the restrictions on free movement (and thus free speech) in downtown Charlotte, people gathered at the newly formed Occupy encampment and marched until stopped by lines of police. World Can't Wait brought out the drone again, added a visual element to the march that many felt was almost too creepy to endure... disturbed and disgusted by the hidden though horrific reality of flying death robots. St. Pete for Peace brought an illustrated anti-drone banner which completed the story of drones with images of some of the children who have been killed in these bombings.
In Chicago, protesters also gathered Tuesday to "Reject President 1% and End Obama's Wars on the World's 99%," also bringing a replica drone to the streets of downtown.
Links to media coverage here.
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In response to the huge volume of response I received about 12 Steps to Overcoming Addiction to Voting for the “Lesser” of 2 Evils:
I haven't answered all of you yet, but I will. Thanks for writing, even if you don't agree with the message.
No, I don't wish for Romney to win. To me, the Democrats and Republicans are both "worse," though in different ways.
I can't tell you who to vote for. I urge you not to throw away your time, funds, and especially your hopes, on something that has no chance of turning out well.
I do have plenty of hope, but it lies in changing the terms in this country, so that people refuse to put up with the crimes carried out against people here and around the world, by "democracy." Artists like this give me hope:
Brian McFadden, editorial cartoonist carried in The New York Times, as been hitting these points effectively in The New "Due" Process and DNC Swag Bag.
I want to visit the Guantanamo Bay Museum of Art and History, opened this year "when the last detention facility in Guantanamo Bay was officially decommissioned in 2010, an international team of artists, curators and architects began planning and designing a museum that would take the place of the detention facility - a little less than two years later, their work became reality."
For more substance to the case that the Democrats dangerously set the basis for torture by indefinite detention to expand, no matter who the president is, see Dropping Torture Investigations, Obama Prosecutes Only Critics of Torture (includes video from appearance on RT last week):
The platform of the Republican Party, and Romney in his speeches, promotes reviving the “global war on terror” as a concept, and criticizes the Obama administration for changing its name to the “overseas contingency operation.” I will grant you, there is a difference in approach between the two parties.
But does emphasizing that distinction miss the essential spread and development of the US “war on terror” which the Obama administration has relentlessly pursued? Beyond the matter of not closing Guantanamo, Obama’s lawyers argue against habeas corpus rights for 6,000 prisoners in Bagram; against even the right of people tortured in Guantanamo and U.S. secret rendition programs to sue for damages; against the release of photos of torture at Abu Ghraib so that people would have seen more of what the Bush regime was responsible for. (Continue reading...)
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Thursday September 6:
Veterans, Occupiers and War Opponents Protest US Wars for Empire and Demand Release of Pfc. Manning as President Obama Speaks at the Convention
(Sample press release - find or organize a protest near you here)
What: Rally & photo-op
When: Thursday September 6 [insert time]
Where: [insert location]
Today protesters will gather in support of the soldier accused of leaking classified records to WikiLeaks, Pfc Manning. They will demand that the Army drops charges against Manning, on the basis that the leaks provided essential information to the public about the effect of the "global war on terror," most notably the Collateral Murder incident where Iraqi civilians were killed. Protesters insist that all the wars the US is engaged in, both covert and conventional, end immediately.
Jill McLaughlin, a member of World Can't Wait's Steering Committee, stated, "It's ironic that targeted assassinations by drone strikes, greatly expanded by Barack Obama, would qualify as war crimes yet Manning is the one being punished while U.S. government figures are apparently immune from prosecution. If Manning indeed leaked such documents, then he is a hero and must be immediately released."
World Can’t Wait is a national organization committed to “stopping the crimes of our government.”
Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can't Wait
Click to tweet or share on Facebook:
World Can't Wait - info@worldcantwait.org - 866.973.4463 - 305 West Broadway #185, NY, NY 10013
Send checks or money orders, payable to "World Can't Wait":
World Can't Wait
305 W. Broadway #185
New York, NY 10013
For sponsorship level donations, or if you wish to make stock donations please contact Samantha Goldman samantha@worldcantwait.org, 866-973-4463.
To make a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more in support of WCW's educational activities, please make checks out to "World Can't Wait/Alliance for Global Justice," a 501(3)(c) organization.
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SA] Standing Together: Labor Day event celebrates legacy of Bread and Roses Strike
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From : Jeffrey Booth
Sender : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Subject : [SA] Standing Together: Labor Day event celebrates legacy of Bread and Roses Strike
To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Reply To : bostonSA-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Wed, Sep 05, 2012 01:36 PM
6 attachments
Merrimack Valley
Related Photos
· MARY SCHWALM/Staff photo Union members and supporters march along Broadway from the Malden Mills to Campagnone Common in Lawrence during the 100th anniversary of the Bread and Roses strike. 9/3/12
· MARY SCHWALM/Staff photo Union members and supporters march along Broadway from the Malden Mills to Campagnone Common in Lawrence during the 100th anniversary of the Bread and Roses Strike. MARY SCHWALM/Staff photo
· MARY SCHWALM/Staff photos Union members and supporters march from the Malden Mills to Campagnone Common in Lawrence during the 100th anniversary of the Bread and Roses Strike. MARY SCHWALM/Staff photos
· MacKenzie Trainor, left, and Ariana Michitson, dancers from the Center for Performing Arts of Acting and Dancing in Methuen, wait their turn to take the stage.
· MARY SCHWALM/Staff photo Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua joins in the unveiling of the 1912 Strikers' Monument at Campagnone Common in Lawrence.
· Actors with the Bread and Puppet Circus practice their horse puppet maneuvers before a show at the 28th annual Bread and Roses Festival on Campagnone Common in Lawrence.
September 4, 2012
Standing Together: Labor Day event celebrates legacy of Bread and Roses Strike
By Douglas Moser dmoser@eagletribune.com
LAWRENCE — What made the Bread and Roses Strike different was its solidarity across various ethnic and linguistic lines.
In a city still characterized by a population made largely of immigrants and their children, Labor Day event organizers and union members yesterday linked Lawrence’s history of immigration to the significance of the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike in a festival on Campagnone Common that included a march and the unveiling of a monument to that strike.
“It was a big day in labor history,” said Paul Georges, president of the Merrimack Valley Central Labor Council, one of the festival organizers. “It started a revolution in the labor movement and spread throughout New England and the rest of the world. People got a clearer understanding of standing together and how that’s in their best interest.”
The Bread and Roses Strike started in January 1912 after the Massachusetts Legislature reduced the work week from 56 hours to 54. Business and industry subsequently reduced pay, leading to a massive strike in Lawrence that lasted about nine weeks and included clashes with city police and Massachusetts National Guard units. Along with pay, they walked out over child labor and worker safety issues.
Labor leaders said that strike and its legacy is still relevant today, and pointed to growing income disparity in the United States and working class and middle class wages that have been stagnant for more than a decade.
“Many of the things they were against, the injustice, is still here today,” said Frank McLaughlin, president of the Lawrence Teachers’ Union.
The city unveiled a monument to the Bread and Roses Strike, two large bronze plaques depicting the strikers and a 30,000-pound piece of basalt granite quarried in Dracut. The plaque unveiled yesterday shows a man carrying an American flag in front of lines of striking men and women, with City Hall’s cupola and the mills’ smokestacks in the background.
Gloucester sculptor Daniel Altshuler crafted the plaque and was on hand for the unveiling. He said he visited Lawrence and studied up on the history of the strike and of the city with books and videos when working on the concept of the plaque.
“This is Labor Day, and these men, women and children put their livelihoods on the line for us,” Altshuler said.
The monument, which will be completed in about a month when the bronze plaques are attached to the granite, was paid for with private donations and was installed on the north common next to Common Street across from City Hall and the Superior Court building.
Yesterday’s Bread and Roses Festival started at 11 a.m. with a march from outside the Polartec building on Stafford Street, down Broadway and across Haverhill Street to the common. Hundreds of people participated, most of whom were union members marching in honor of the 1912 strike, in support of local workers and for the cause of labor unions generally.
“My family took part in that (strike). They immigrated to Lawrence from Lithuania and Ireland,” said Claire Padbaiskas, a fourth-grade teacher at Lawrence Public Schools. “Workers built the United States and they’re still building the United States. We need to stand with them.”
John Feliz, with Building Wreckers local 1421, said he and many of his fellow members were there to support other unions and political candidates he said would support workers rights. His union and several others joined the march.
“We’re supporting all the unions in the area,” he said. “We’re here to support the people that look out for the workers.” Many of the marchers carried signs and wore T-shirts and pins supporting Elizabeth Warren for Senate and Barack Obama for President.
Ethan Snow, of the union Unite Here — which represents employees at Polartec and marched as well — said he is third-generation union member. Organized labor needs to adjust as the job environment evolves from a time when a person spent a whole career in one job to one where people regularly have multiple careers over a working lifetime.
“As the job landscape changes, young people can benefit from contact with unions,” he said. “It used to be you could go into one of these mills and keep your job for a lifetime. Now people need two or three jobs and come out of college with a massive debt burden.”
The festival included music all afternoon, lines of food vendors and numerous booths with political and union themes.
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Follow Douglas Moser on Twitter @EagleEyeMoser. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.
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