Please Act Now to Free U.S. Held Political Prisoners

Please Act Now to Free U.S. Held Political Prisoners

From: "B Evans" <ben.c.evans@gmail.com>

To: politicalprisoners@nationallawyersguild.org

Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 1:55:38 PM

Subject: URGENT: act now to free U.S. held political prisoners

It's not too late....please share this with your comrades, friends and family....

On January 20, 2001, the Saturday before he left office, President Bill Clinton pardoned for over 140 people, and commuted sentences for over 30 people, including former political prisoners Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg. 

President Obama has the power to free U.S. held political prisoners serving federal sentences. 

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives the U.S. President the "Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." That means the president can pardon only for federal crimes. Unfortunately, state prisoners have to petition the state governor, not the president. This would include our comrade Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is serving a Pennsylvania sentence, and many other political prisoners serving state sentences. 

President Obama is reportedly actively considering clemency petitions for political prisoners Leonard Peltier, Oscar López Rivera (http://www.freeoscarlopez.org/), Dr. Mutulu Shakur (http://mutulushakur.com/site/2016/10/executive-clemency/), former Black Panther Veronza Bowers (http://www.veronza.org/), Dr. Aafia Siddiqui (https://aafia.org/dr-aafia-siddiqui/), and for prisoner of conscience Chelsea Manning(https://www.chelseamanning.org/), and whistleblower exile Edward Snowden (https://edwardsnowden.com/).

Please write your own message calling for the release of political prisoners to President Obama: 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/write-or-call

For a list of political prisoners in federal custody see:

https://www.nlg.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Resolution-Calling-for-Release-of-Federal-Political-Prisoners_Political-Prisoner-Support-Committee.pdf

(Note: Barrett Brown is now free!)

Thank you.

yours in solidarity, 

Benjamin Evans

National Lawyers Guild - Political Prisoner Support Committee

P.O. Box 40162

Providence, RI 02940

401-258-4239

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From Socialist Alternative -Breitbart leads right wing attack on our movement

Breitbart leads right wing attack on our movement

 

1/11/2017 11:06 AM

Kshama Sawant

To  alfredjohnson34@comcast.net 

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Sisters and Brothers, We are under attack by the Right wing.  Because of our role in calling the first wave of protests against Trump’s victory and now our nationwide organizing of student walkouts and demonstrations, the right-wing media has singled out our movement and myself, for a series of political and racist attacks. Stephen Bannon’s Breitbart, the bigoted website of the right, wrote a recent attack piece on our student walkouts and demonstrations for January 20th. Right wing bloggers circulated a video of me, now watched by millions, calling for mass peaceful demonstrations of Trump's Inauguration to shut down his agenda of racism and division. Thousands have called my council office since, many with violent threats or racist, misogynist insults. We’ve also grabbed the attention of Fox News with one of our student organizers taking on right wing blowhard, Tucker Carlson. To force through their right-wing agenda, Trump and his backers are counting on us to succumb to fear, isolation, division, and demoralization.  We must meet this dire threat with unmitigated resistance.  Please donate $25 today. Trump does not have a mandate and does not represent the views of the majority of everyday people, but right wing populism is a serious threat, and was further emboldened by Trump’s bigoted, anti-immigrant, sexist campaign and rise to the White House. The only way to defeat the Right’s agenda is for progressive, left wing people to come together in a powerful movement.  From New York City to Houston to Seattle - so far 16 cities in total! - Movement for the 99% with Socialist Students are organizing student walkouts and other actions to challenge the hate-filled, corporate agenda of Trump and the Republican Party.  If you are interested in organizing an action in your city or walkout at your school, go here!  Additionally Movement for the 99% with Socialist Students and Socialist Alternative are organizing, “Inaugurate the Resistance” featuring Jill Stein, myself, Chris Hedges and others in Washington DC on January 21st to discuss how we can build mass movements capable of decisively defeating the right and providing a real alternative for ordinary working people, immigrants, LGBTQ people and youth. Please help spread the word and share the Facebook event! In just 9 days, one of the most right wing administrations in the history of the United States will take power.  They are preparing to unleash a level of attacks on working people, women, people of color, and the environment rarely seen in the modern era. We are determined to stand up against this billionaire’s agenda of hate and division.  But we need your help.  Trump and his fellow billionaires have tremendous resources to bring to bear, but we have you. You who powered the historic Sanders campaign.  You who funded the successful fightback at Standing Rock.  And you who will help build a powerful movement against the attacks from Trump and the Republican Party.  Please contribute whatever you can - if you are able please contribute $25, $50, or $100. Movement for the 99% takes no money from big business or the super-rich. They are entirely reliant on ordinary people like YOU. Donate what you can today and, together, we all can build a wall of resistance to Trump. In solidarity, Kshama Sawant Contribute $25 Share Tweet Forward Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

The Catholic Church Opts for Nonviolence over War: What Now?

 

1/12/2017 2:05 AM

United for Justice with Peace

To  markin 

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The Catholic Church Opts for Nonviolence over War: What Now?

Dr. Lisa Sowle Cahill, professor of theology at Boston College, was one of the leaders of last April’s Vatican 3-day international symposium on Nonviolence and Just Peace.  The symposium recommended that the Catholic Church drop its teaching of “Just War Theory” and endorse a policy of nonviolence with a teaching from the pope.  In response, Pope Francis has just issued a statement for January 1, the World Day of Peace in the Catholic Church, calling for all to embrace a policy of “active nonviolence” and no more war.  

Dr. Cahill will describe the Vatican symposium and speak on the future of nonviolence in the Catholic Church and the world.  After her presentation there will be discussion with the audience.  This meeting will be at 3pm February 5, 2017 (it’s ok - the Super Bowl isn’t until 6:30 pm) in the lower church hall of Our Lady Help of Christians Church at 573 Washington St., Newton Corner.  All are welcome.  Free, but offerings to support the work of the sponsors will be graciously accepted.  Park in the parking lot behind the church off of Adams St.  Use the adjacent church entrance.

Sponsored by Newton Dialogues on Peace and War and the Sacred Heart/Our Lady Help of Christians Justice and Peace Committee. 

Upcoming Events: 

Sing-Along Fundraiser - #NoDAPL - Jan. 14, 2017	Saturday, January 14, 2017 - 7:00pm	Calvary United Methodist Church	Arlington
Women's March on Washington - Jan. 21	Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 10:00am	Gathering Point near US Capitol	Washington D.C.
Boston Women's March for America	Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 11:00am	Boston Common	Boston

More Peace and Justice Events.    How to Submit Events
 

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NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

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NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

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WARS ABROAD, WARS AT HOME

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Many of the folks I know are getting ready to play serious defense in 2017, and they’re not wrong. Before we take up our three-point stance on the national line of scrimmage, however, maybe we should ask ourselves not only what we’re fighting against, but what we’re fighting for… Nor should we forget that in addition to people’s rights, there are actual people to defend in the brave new world of Trumplandia, or at least to help defend themselves: immigrants, Muslims, African Americans -- especially young black men -- as well as people facing poverty and homelessness… What would it mean to take seriously the idea that people create governments so they can enjoy” life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” What would the United States look like if that were its purpose?

But what if we were actually to take those words at face value? Not naively, but with the bitter nuance of the black poet Langston Hughes who, recognizing both the promise and the sham, wrote:

“ O, let America be America again --  
The land that never has been yet --
And yet must be -- the land where every man is free.
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Who made America,
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A handy rule of thumb in Washington is that the more pernicious the act, the more high-minded the title. Thus, last week, the House of Representatives approved the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2017, also known as the REINS Act. The bill would strip the executive branch of the power to issue significant new rules on topics ranging from air quality to food safety. In normal times, such a power grab by Congress would surely face a veto threat from the President, but, of course, these are not normal times… The ostensible justification for the REINS Act is a fear of executive overreach. However, it’s easy to discern the real—and darker—motive. No agency imposes a regulation with “an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more” lightly. Such regulations take years to draft and finalize. They’re subject to multiple levels of review, not to mention months of public comment. These regulations also tend to be the sort that have an impact on big corporations, in areas such as energy production, workers’ safety, and lending practices, and, not surprisingly, big corporations often don’t like them.   More

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The astonishing reality is that the mainstream media often leaves the public more ignorant and confused than if they ignored them altogether. This is in fact what polling by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Public Mind Poll has found: that people who said they didn’t follow the news at all were better informed about international events than either Fox News or MSNBC viewers, and about as knowledgeable as CNN viewers. People whose main news source was Comedy Central’s The Daily Show scored second highest of all, outscored by NPR listeners but better informed than Sunday talk show and “talk radio” junkies as well as cable news viewers… Like many institutions in our society, the U.S. media system has been degraded by the inherent corruption of the neoliberal order that has been consolidating its power over our lives and society for the past generation. Just as commercially driven corporate control has proven to be a destructive model for education, healthcare and other public services that leads only to corruption and declining quality, handing over the responsibility for informing the public about what is happening in the world to increasingly monopolistic for-profit corporations is eroding yet another vital pillar of American life.   More

US Government Tries and Fails to Play Media Critic on RT

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In Boston-[act-ma] 1/14 Celebration of the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro

[act-ma] 1/14 Celebration of the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro

 

1/13/2017 9:30 AM

July 26th Coalition

To  act-ma@act-ma.org 

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July 26 Coalition and ​encuentro5 and invite you to join in a Pena in
celebration of the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro on:
*Saturday, January 14, 2017 at 7:pm 9A Hamilton Pl. across from Park
St.station (Red and Green lines)*

January 1, 2017 marks the Sixtieth Anniversary of the uprising in
Santiago de Cuba, the day Comandante Fidel Castro and the July 26
Movement reached Habana causing then president Fulgencio Batista to
flee. The Cuban Revolution began in 1953 and has continued with the
support and defense from its people and solidarity from global
liberation movements. Encuentro5 and the Boston July 26 Coalition pay
tribute to the Cuban Revolution in honor of Comandante Fidel Castro.

A Peña is a gathering of musicians, artists, and friends who come to
share their work and to play together. Peñas take historical root from
Chilean social gatherings during the 60s and early 70s that expressed
the spirit of creativity and resistance in melody, poems, and artwork.
Please feel free to bring your own stories, songs, poems, or artwork to
share.

$5 suggested, no one turned away
Food and Refreshments Provided ($5 additional donation suggested)
Please note that the venue is currently not wheelchair accessible.

See Map (The Orpheum Theater is on Hamilton Place)
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3561955,-71.062814,18z/data=!5m1!1e1

Encuentro 5's monthly Pena Calibration

El 1ro de enero del 2017 se conmemora el sexagésimo (60) aniversario del
levantamiento de Santiago de Cuba, el día en que el Comandante Fidel
Castro y su Movimiento 26 de Julio llegaron a la Habana haciendo huir al
entonces dictador Fulgencio Batista. La Revolución Cubana comenzó en
1953 y continúa con el apoyo y defensa de su Pueblo y la solidaridad de
los movimientos globales de Liberación. Encuentro5 y la Coalición de
Boston del 26 de julio rinden homenaje a la Revolución Cubana en honor
al Comandante Fidel Castro

*
*
Please click here to access flyer ​
/​/
ttp://encuentro5.org/home/ <http://encuentro5.org/home/>

For more information/Para mas información (617) 922-5744
<tel:%28617%29%20922-5744>

/*Happy New Year/Feliz Año Nuevo 2017*/
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