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Thursday, June 23, 2005
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2005
1) Cut all Public School Ties to the Military!
Speak up and Picket the S.F. Board of Education
the Fourth Tuesday of Each Month Starting:
June 28TH, 7:00 P.M.
555 Franklin St., S.F,
To get on the speakers list call:
415-241-6427, 241-6493 or 241-6000
2) COLLEGE NOT COMBAT PETITION CAMPAIGN
16TH & MISSION STREET
SATURDAY JUNE 25, 12:30 P.M.
TUESDAY JUNE 28 AND THURSDAY JUNE 30, 5 & 7 P.M.
3) COLLEGE NOT COMBAT PETITION CAMPAIGN
JULY 2,3 & 4 WEEKEND SCHEDULE
*SHOW UP TO PETITION:
SATURDAY, SUNDAY & MONDAY, JULY 2, 3 & 4, 1:00 P.M.
DOLORES PARK, 18TH AND DOLORES STS, SF
*SEE THE SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE'S PLAY
"DOING GOOD"
MUSIC: 1:30 P.M. - SHOW: 2:00 P.M.
(THEN GATHER SIGNATURES AFTER THE SHOW)
4) HANDS OFF VENEZUELA SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA FILM
SHOWING: 7:00 PM, FRIDAY JULY 15
Center for Political Education
522 Valencia, Third Floor,
Near 16th Street, SF
(not wheelchair accessible)
Close the 16th Street BART
$5/$3 Students, Seniors, Unemployed
5) SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE
PRESENTS: "DOING GOOD"
A play based loosely on the book, "Confessions
of an Economic Hit Man", by John Perkins.
JULY 16, PRECITA PARK
MUSIC: 1:30 P.M.
SHOW: 2:00 P.M.
(This play is fresh, new, brilliantly performed,
insightful, full of content, and the music is the
icing on the cake!...BW)
SPONSORED BY BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR
Help get the word out about the ballot proposition
and upcoming antiwar events. Free antiwar posters!
FREE!
6) SAVE THE DATES: AUGUST 4, 5 & 6, 2005 FOR
PRESENTATION OF HOWARD ZINN'S ONE MAN SHOW,
"MARX IN SOHO" PERFORMED BY JERRY LEVY
LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED
TO BENEFIT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR
WWW.BAUAW.ORG
(FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 415-824-8730)
7) Censorship
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
June 23, 2005
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
8) Justices, 5-4, Back Seizure
of Property for Development
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 23, 2005
"As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze
residences for projects such as shopping malls and
hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/politics/23wire-
scotus.html?hp&ex=1119585600&en=5036788eb4cc9d17&ei=5094&partner=home
page
9) Feds Target Calif. Marijuana Dispensaries
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 23, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Medical-Marijuana.html
10) Timeline for Iraq Pullout
Would Aid Insurgents, Rumsfeld Says
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: June 23, 2005
"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said
today that setting a timeline for withdrawal
of American troops from Iraq would give a
"lifeline for terrorists." And in a spirited
defense of the war, he invoked Abraham Lincoln
and the American revolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/international/middleeast/23cnd-rums.html
11) House Again Backs Ban on Flag Desecration
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: June 22, 2005
"WASHINGTON, June 22 - Voting once again today
on an issue blending emotion, patriotism and politics,
the House of Representatives overwhelmingly endorsed
a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress
to outlaw debasing the American flag."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/politics/22cnd-
flag.html?hp&ex=1119499200&en=964c8d03d8a28062&ei=5094&partner=homepa
ge
12) A Joint Public Statement by the National
Council of Arab Americans & the
Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
on the September 24 March on
Washington
From: "NCA National Office"
nationaloffice@arab-american.net
13) Anti-war groups call for massive September mobilization
By Askia Muhammad
White House Correspondent
Updated Jun 16, 2005, 09:17 am
14) Vets hold ground at regional military
recruiting station, ignore threats
of arrest to reach young recruits
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Contact: George Main 916.505-4869
or Cres Vellucci 916.996-9170
Attention: News Desk
SACRAMENTO - A military veterans
organization claimed a major victory
Early Tuesday after members - despite
repeated police warnings of immediate
arrest - were able to virtually swarm
a bus carrying potential military
recruits and distribute literature
encouraging them to not enlist
to fight in the war in Iraq.
15) Crisis in California:
WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
June 24, 2005
http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/549/549_08_PeterCamejo.shtml
16) On June 29 2004, Gus Rugley, 21 yr African American Youth
was shot more than a hundred times on Alemany Boulevard, San
Francisco, after what SFPD described as a high speed chase.
According to the corporate press, Rugley would have opened
fire at a police car. However, the autopsy report released
nearly 9 months after Rugley's homicide, revealed that Gus
had no gun powder traces on his skin or clothing, therefore
Gus could not have used a weapon. The toxicological screen
also revealed that Gus Rugley was not under the influence of
alcohol or any drugs at the time of his death.
Please take a moment to post a message of support to Gus'
courageous mom, Elvira Pollard. In 7 days the anniversary of
Gus' killing is coming up !
Join our campaign for Justice4GusRugley!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Gus/
Cordially,
mesha monge-irizarry
Idriss Stelley Foundation
(415) 595-8251 24HR Bilingual Spa. Crisis Line
ACORN
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
SF Youth Empowerment Funding Advisory Board member (Youth Commission)
17) Justice4JulioAyala Press conference &Protest,
The Heat is ON !
(mesha Monge-Irizarry, Idriss Stelley Foundation)
18) Pentagon to Gather Data on Students
Opponents Contend Move may Illegally Bypass Privacy Laws
Jonathan Krim, Washington Post
Thursday, June 23, 2005
"Washington -- The Defense Department began working
Wednesday with a private marketing firm to create
a database of high school students ages 16 to 18 and
all college students to help the military identify
potential recruits in a time of dwindling enlistment
in some branches."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/23/MNGRODDG201.DTL
19) U.S. doctors linked to POW `torture'
Guantanamo medical records misused
Basis of interrogators' strategy: Report
TANYA TALAGA AND KAREN PALMER
STAFF REPORTERS
"Medical records compiled by doctors caring for prisoners
at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay are being
tapped to design more effective interrogation techniques,
says an explosive new report."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/
Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1119477015095&call_pageid=9683321
20) Military Enlists Marketer
to Get Data on Students
for Recruiters
By Mark Mazzetti
Times Staff Writer
June 23, 2005
"WASHINGTON - With the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
making it increasingly hard for the U.S. military to fill
its ranks with recruits, the Pentagon has hired an outside
marketing firm to help compile an extensive database about
teenagers and college students that the military services
could use to target potential enlistees."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-
privacy23jun23,1,5537670,print.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0623-03.htm
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Cut all Public School Ties to the Military!
Speak up and Picket the S.F. Board of Education
the Fourth Tuesday of Each Month Starting:
June 28TH, 7:00 P.M.
555 Franklin St., S.F,
To get on the speakers list call:
415-241-6427, 241-6493 or 241-6000
Bay Area United Against War (BAUAW) will be picketing the San
Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Board of Education
meetings the 4th Tuesday of each month beginning June 28th until
the district cuts all school ties to the military.
San Francisco voters passed Proposition N for the immediate
withdrawal of troops from Iraq by a 63 percent majority last
November. And this November 2005 we will pass an anti-recruitment
resolution initiated by College Not Combat, a coalition of groups
and individuals opposed to the U.S. militaries' school recruitment
program.
We are currently gathering the necessary signatures to place
this counter-recruitment proposition on the ballot. The
proposition says, "The people of San Francisco oppose U.S.
military recruiters using public school, college and university
facilities to recruit young people into the armed forces.
Furthermore, San Francisco should oppose the military's "economic
draft" by investigating means by which to fund and grant
scholarships for college and job training to low-income students
so they are not economically compelled to join the military!"
Proposition N, passed last November, already mandates the
SFUSD to cut all school ties to the military. Yet S.F. children
are still being actively recruited at schools throughout the
district by direct military recruitment, and through the Junior
Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs.
Many students are forced into JROTC in order to get the necessary
Physical Education credits they need to graduate High School. JROTC
now fulfills this requirement-and the district actually pays
a million dollars a year to the Army to support JROTC. (JROTC, by
the way, is totally managed and controlled by the U.S. Army. The
Army writes the curriculum and appoints the teachers. The district
has no say in this program.)
In fact, the U.S. military maintains a presence in the schools
at all grade levels from kindergarten on up. And now the Military
is beginning to set up JROTC "Military Academies" in the Middle
Schools. At these "academies" children are taught how to obey
orders and to practice military maneuvers with realistically
functioning toy guns.
As a result of the board's open door military policy, many San
Francisco high school graduates are currently serving in Iraq.
This must end. Schools must not be used to recruit youngsters to
kill or be killed in this illegal, immoral war! The following
resolution was presented to the board several months ago.
They still have not acted on it!
CUT ALL SCHOOL TIES TO THE MILITARY!
Resolution for San Francisco Board of Education
WHEREAS, the United States military is actively recruiting high
school students into the military to fight in Iraq; and
WHEREAS, many young San Francisco high school alumni are
presently serving in military units fighting in Iraq; and
WHEREAS, it is San Francisco City policy by virtue of
Proposition N, to bring all U.S. troops home from Iraq now; and
WHEREAS, over 1,700 U.S. soldiers and approximately
100,000 Iraqis have been killed in this war and over
10,000 U.S. soldiers and unknown thousands of Iraqis have
been wounded; and
WHEREAS, the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on the
war have robbed our children of resources that should be
spent on education and other human needs; and
WHEREAS, military presence in our schools legitimizes the
message that violence is acceptable; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
It shall be the policy of the San Francisco Board of Education
to cut all ties with the United States military, including, but
not limited to: Ending military recruitment on campuses; ending
the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC); and guaranteeing
that all students and parents are informed of their right to deny
military recruiters access to their names, addresses and
telephone numbers.
Come to the next planning meeting of
Bay Area United Against War (BAUAW)
Saturday, July 9, 11:30 a.m. at 474 Valencia Street
between 15th & 16th Streets, S.F.
Bay Area United Against War (BAUAW) • www.bauaw.org
P.O. Box 318021,
San Francisco, CA 94131-8021 •
414-824-8730
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) COLLEGE NOT COMBAT PETITION CAMPAIGN
16TH & MISSION STREET
SATURDAY JUNE 25, 12:30 P.M.
TUESDAY JUNE 28 AND THURSDAY JUNE 30, 5 & 7 P.M.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) COLLEGE NOT COMBAT PETITION CAMPAIGN
JULY 2,3 & 4 WEEKEND SCHEDULE
*SHOW UP TO PETITION:
SATURDAY, SUNDAY & MONDAY, JULY 2, 3 & 4, 1:00 P.M.
DOLORES PARK, 18TH AND DOLORES STS, SF
*SEE THE SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE'S PLAY
"DOING GOOD"
MUSIC: 1:30 P.M. - SHOW: 2:00 P.M.
(THEN GATHER SIGNATURES AFTER THE SHOW)
Based loosely on the book, "Confessions
of an Economic Hit Man", by John Perkins.
This play is fresh, new, brilliantly performed,
insightful, full of content, and the music
is the icing on the cake!
SPONSORED BY BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR (BAUAW)
BAUAW is setting up a COLLEGE NOT COMBAT
PETITION CAMPAIGN table by invitation
from the Mime Troupe. THERE WILL BE AN
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE STAGE.
We will be able to gather signatures before
and after the performance. After the performance
we will also fan out over the city to give this
petition drive a big push over the July 4th weekend.
COME HELP GATHER SIGNATURES FOR THE
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT BALLOT INITIATIVE
FOR THE SAN FRANCISCO, NOVEMBER 2005, ELECTIONS:
"The people of San Francisco oppose U.S.
military recruiters using public
school, college and university
facilities to recruit young
people into the armed forces.
Furthermore, San Francisco should
oppose the military's "economic
draft" by investigating means
by which to fund and grant
scholarships for college and job
training to low-income students
so they are not economically compelled
to join the military!"
LOOK FOR OUR TABLE TO PICK UP PETITIONS.
FREE ANTIWAR POSTERS!
WE ONLY HAVE A FEW WEEKS TO GO!
GET THE MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS!
MONEY FOR EDUCATION NOT FOR WAR!
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) HANDS OFF VENEZUELA SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA FILM
SHOWING: 7:00 PM, FRIDAY JULY 15
Center for Political Education
522 Valencia, Third Floor,
Near 16th Street, SF
(not wheelchair accessible)
Close the 16th Street BART
$5/$3 Students, Seniors, Unemployed
With the Poor of the World
Con los pobres de la Tierra (2003) 56 minutes.
by Marta Harnecker on Venezuela
In Spanish with English Subtitles
This video gives the background and context of the
current struggles in Venezuela since 1993. Using TV
news footage and archival video, this film documents
the rise of Chavez and the Oligarchy's three attempts
to overthrow him.
May Day in Caracas
(2005) 22 minutes.
by a J. Carlos Flores.
In Spanish with English Subtitles
A short documentary about international labor day in
Venezuela
Hands off Venezuela will show these films as a benefit
to bring Stalin Peres Borges, a leader of the National
Union of Workers of Venezuela (UNT) a dynamic new
Venezuelan Trade Union federation.
Call Adam at 415 864 3537 or email sfbay@ushov.org for
more info or to arrange a speaker to talk about the
inspiring events in Venezuela and the need to protect
it from US attack.
Also Come To The Next Hands Off Venezuela Organizing
Meeting (all welcome): 7:00 PM, Thursday, June 30,
Socialist Action Bookstore, corner Valencia and 14th,
SF
www.handsoffvenezuela.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE
PRESENTS: "DOING GOOD"
A play based loosely on the book, "Confessions
of an Economic Hit Man", by John Perkins.
JULY 16, PRECITA PARK
MUSIC: 1:30 P.M.
SHOW: 2:00 P.M.
(This play is fresh, new, brilliantly performed,
insightful, full of content, and the music is the
icing on the cake!...BW)
SPONSORED BY BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR
Help get the word out about the ballot proposition
and upcoming antiwar events. Free antiwar posters!
FREE!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) SAVE THE DATES: AUGUST 4, 5 & 6, 2005 FOR
PRESENTATION OF HOWARD ZINN'S ONE MAN SHOW,
"MARX IN SOHO" PERFORMED BY JERRY LEVY
LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED
TO BENEFIT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR
WWW.BAUAW.ORG
(FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 415-824-8730)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) Censorship
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
June 23, 2005
At long last, the culminating session of the World Tribunal on Iraq is
upon us. As a witness providing testimony, like the other witnesses I'm
being interviewed by many outlets. Today, one of them was by reporters
for one of the larger newspapers in Turkey, the Yeni Safak Newspaper.
I'll leave the reporters nameless, for reasons you'll soon see.
The newspaper has been translating various articles of mine into Turkish
and running them, particularly those concerning the most recent Fallujah
massacre. The report who was interviewing me today told me that the
former American consulate here, Eric Edelman, asked the Prime Minister
of Turkey to pressure his paper to not run so many of my stories.
"Why did he do this," I asked him.
"Edelman said it was the wrong news," he told me with a smile.
Turns out Edelman also asked that articles by Robert Fisk and Naomi
Klein not be run so often in Yeni Safak either.
He smiled at me while he watched the wheels turning in my head before I
smiled back and said, "That makes me very happy, it means I'm doing my
job as a journalist."
We laughed heartily together at this, as did everyone else at the table.
Reminds me of the obtuse hate mails I sometimes receive-confirmation
that I am doing my job-they always make me smile.
So the American government is pressuring foreign countries to censor
their news. Aside from the fact that this act is the height of arrogance
by the United States, it makes it exceedingly clear why so many
Americans who rely on the corporate media for their news continue to be
so misinformed/un-informed about the goings on in Iraq. If the American
government is attempting to censor the news in foreign countries, you
can imagine what they are doing at home.
Because people like Edelman don't want citizens of the United States to
know that events like the massacre of Fallujah or the atrocities in Abu
Ghraib are not isolated incidents.
People like Edelman don't want people to know what one of my sources in
Baquba just told me today.
His email reads:
"Near the city of Buhrez, 5 kilometers south of Baquba, two Humvess of
American soldiers were destroyed recently. American and Iraqi soldiers
came to the city afterwards and cut all the phones, cut the water, cut
medicine from arriving in the city and told them that until the people
of the city bring the "terrorists" to them, the embargo will continue."
The embargo has been in place now for one week now, and he continued:
"The Americans still won't anyone or any medicines and supplies into
Buhrez, nor will they allow any people in or out. Even the Al-Sadr
followers who organized some help for the people in the city (water,
food, medicine) are not being allowed into the city. Even journalists
cannot enter to publish the news, and the situation there is so bad. The
Americans keep asking for the people in the city to bring them the
persons who were in charge of destroying the two Humvees on the other
side of the city, but of course the people in the city don't know who
carried out the attack."
People like Edelman don't want people to know about the recent US
attacks in Al-Qa'im and Haditha either. Attacks that Iraqis are
describing as just as bad as the massacre of Fallujah.
On Haditha and Al-Qa'im, an Iraqi doctor sent me this email yesterday:
"Listen...we witnessed crimes in the west area of the country of what the
bastards did in Haditha and Al-Qa'im. It was a crime, a really big crime
we have witnessed and filmed in those places and recently also in
Fallujah. We need big help in the western area of the country. Our
doctors need urgent help there. Please, this is an URGENT humanitarian
request from the hospitals in the west of the country. We have big proof
on how the American troops destroyed one of our hospitals, how they
burned the whole store of medication of the west area of Iraq and how
they killed a patient in the ward...how they prevented us from helping the
people in al-Qa'im. This is an URGENT Humanitarian request. The
hospitals in the west of Iraq ask for urgent help...we are in a big
humanitarian medical disaster..."
People like Edelman don't want the public to know that the same tactics
used in Fallujah by the US military-posting snipers around the city to
shoot anyone who moves, targeting ambulances, impeding medical care, or
the detaining of innocent civilians en masse.
After all, Fallujah is the model. Fallujah is our Guernica. And now,
Haditha, Al-Qa'im can be added to the list, with Baquba and Buhrez under
deconstruction.
More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com
Iraq_Dispatches mailing list
http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Justices, 5-4, Back Seizure of Property for Development
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 23, 2005
"As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences
for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order
to generate tax revenue."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/politics/23wire-
scotus.html?hp&ex=1119585600&en=5036788eb4cc9d17&ei=5094&partner=home
page
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) Feds Target Calif. Marijuana Dispensaries
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 23, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Medical-Marijuana.html?
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) Timeline for Iraq Pullout Would Aid Insurgents, Rumsfeld Says
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: June 23, 2005
"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today that setting
a timeline for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq would
give a "lifeline for terrorists." And in a spirited defense
of the war, he invoked Abraham Lincoln and the
American revolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/international/middleeast/23cnd-rums.html
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) House Again Backs Ban on Flag Desecration
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: June 22, 2005
"WASHINGTON, June 22 - Voting once again today on an issue
blending emotion, patriotism and politics, the House of
Representatives overwhelmingly endorsed a constitutional
amendment that would allow Congress to outlaw debasing
the American flag."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/politics/22cnd-
flag.html?hp&ex=1119499200&en=964c8d03d8a28062&ei=5094&partner=homepa
ge
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) A Joint Public Statement by the
National Council of Arab Americans & the
Muslim American Society Freedom
Foundation on the September 24 March on
Washington
From: "NCA National Office" To:
nca-general@arab-american.net
For immediate release and wide distribution
Washington, DC - The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation (MAS
Freedom) and the National Council of Arab-Americans (NCA) stand united
with our Muslim American and Arab American communities throughout the
United States in calling on all to join and support the A.N.S.W.E.R.
initiated September 24 mobilization against war and colonial occupations
that will take place in Washington, DC with parallel actions in San
Francisco and Los Angeles.
We are proud to announce that MAS Freedom and the NCA have both joined
the September 24 National Coalition for the March on Washington, which
also currently includes in its leadership the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition,
Haiti Support Network, Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the
Philippines and the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). More than 4,000
organizations and individuals have thus far signed on to the coalition's
Call to Action, and significant organizing has created enthusiasm for
the mobilization all over the country. Under the overarching auspices
of the September 24 National Coalition, we believe that various
communities and organizations will come together in a genuine reflection
of the grassroots mosaic that constitutes this society.
We echo the grave concerns of our communities at the relentless efforts
by some to remove the Palestinian struggle and its anchoring principle,
the right of return, from the anti-war movement. We are reminded of the
overwhelming support that our communities received when we called for an
all- inclusive non-racist political program for the March 20, 2004
mobilization in New York City. On that day, over 100,000 people turned
out in New York City - the first anniversary of the war and occupation
of Iraq - under the slogan: "Bring the Troops Home Now! End Colonial
Occupation from Iraq to Palestine to Haiti and Everywhere!" In the same
context, our communities and the movement at large turned out in massive
numbers on April 20, 2002 in Washington, DC, signaling that a principled
unity is enthusiastically welcomed by the movement.
Communities and organizations have worked too hard over many years to
build bridges of solidarity and reciprocal respect between peoples for
us to allow some to turn us back now to the time when Arabs and Muslims
were placed on the margin. The planting of divisive seeds by some
against our targeted communities during a time when we are facing
continued governmental persecution and institutional racism is a
dangerous endeavor that must be stopped. Capitalizing on fear from
persecution to attain forced complacency and acquiescence to any offered
exclusionary political program must be exposed by the movement as a
whole. Time and again, the movement has made it clear that the
struggles of dispossessed and colonized people from Iraq, to Palestine,
to Haiti, to the Philippines and beyond, are inextricable from the
struggles of communities and the working families of this country.
It is time that our communities are fully respected as equal partners,
as we will not accept being objects of discussions nor will we be
observers of a movement about our very own lives.
Let us all stand together on September 24 in a non-segregated
mobilization that cuts across all color lines, religious beliefs and
ethnic backgrounds, to raise our voices in unison as we march hand in
hand against injustice here in the United States and abroad. And let us
shun all efforts to pit our communities against each other. Let us
refuse all attempts to segregate the movement on that day or any other.
ALL OUT ON SEPTEMBER 24!
The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation The National Council of
Arab Americans June 20, 2005
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) Anti-war groups call for massive September mobilization
By Askia Muhammad
White House Correspondent
Updated Jun 16, 2005, 09:17 am
After seizing Baghdad, U.S. military is deep in a quagmire
(FCN, 06-13-2005)
International A.N.S.W.E.R. (InternationAnswer.org)
WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - A broad anti-war coalition is planning a
mass march, encircling the White House September 24.
The International ANSWER Coalition-along with a diverse group of civil
rights, religious and community organizations-plans to mobilize 100,000
opponents to the U.S. occupation and war in Iraq here and in several
other cities, they announced at the National Press Club on June 1.
"We will, on September 24, surround the White House with a sea of
anti-war demonstrators," Brian Becker, ANSWER's national coordinator,
said at the news conference. "And this will be a graphic demonstration
... that the White House is surrounded by opposition all around the
country and this opposition grows day in and day out."
The demonstrations will also demand an end to U.S. threats against North
Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, and an end to the "colonial-style
occupation in Palestine and in Haiti," the group said.
This "will be the largest anti-war demonstration to take place since the
second election, or selection, of George W. Bush" in November, said Mr.
Becker.
There is now a changed mood inside the United States, he said. "At this
point, we believe the majority sentiment in the country not only
disapproves of George Bush's handling of the White House, but has turned
decisively against the war in Iraq."
Others at the press conference agreed.
"From a theological perspective, we all admit that war is a terrible sin
within the human community. It is a sin that must be challenged. It is a
sin that must be lifted up. It is a sin that we must push to find
another way," said Reverend Graylan Hagler, senior minister of Plymouth
Congregational Church in Washington.
The Iraq conflict is similar in many ways to the Vietnam War, including
the way the war affects domestic politics, according to Vanessa Dixon,
of the D.C. Healthcare Coalition.
"The obscene amounts of money that have been, and will be, allocated to
the Iraqi occupation, should instead be spent on domestic priorities,
such as health care, education, affordable housing, veterans benefits
and other social programs," Ms. Dixon argued. "As a result of such
narrow and mercenary interests, the American public is paying a terrible
price for such wrong-headed priorities. We suffer from a President with
painfully limited wisdom and woefully inadequate compassion. While
waging a war against Iraq, the Bush administration wages another war
against America, by requiring massive cuts in social spending for
programs that benefit U.S. residents."
Central American and Mexican immigrants are also victims of the racist
U.S. war policy, according to Macrina Cardenas of the Mexico Solidarity
Network.
"The Bush administration has made a mess, and it gets worse every day,"
she said. "It's long past time for the people of this country to say,
'No more.' It's time for us to take this country back from the
politicians who sacrifice our children and our future to the profits of
a few oil companies.
"And now, in the name of fighting terrorists, the Bush administration is
building a wall along the Southern Border, the latest step in the racist
war that touches immigrant workers," she continued, referring to
aggressive border tactics in the Southwest.
Instead of receiving gratitude in this country for the good they do,
immigrants support families at home and, at the same time, they pay
taxes in this country. Immigrants face their own racist discrimination,
Ms. Cardenas charged. "They pay taxes, including Social Security, with
no chance of enjoying social services. And for these contributions, they
are treated like criminals, under constant threat of deportation. This
is the racist war at home against people who work hard in our homes and
communities."
The only solution is massive mobilization of the U.S. public, according
to the ANSWER Coalition. "If it's left to the Bush administration, the
United States will never leave Iraq," said Mr. Becker. "They have no
intention of leaving Iraq. The Bush administration has no intention of
leaving the Middle East. That's what the American people have to really
recognize. They went in and destroyed the Iraqi government, not because
it posed a grave and imminent danger to the people of the United States,
but because it was an impediment, and an obstacle to the full take-over
of that oil-rich region."
Mr. Becker believes that, if the public continues to wait for the U.S.
to leave Iraq, the bloodshed will only continue to grow.
"The Bush administration will go all the way to World War III in order
to win in Iraq, and yet you have the Iraqi people who are determined to
drive the Americans out, and the people of the Middle East who stand
with them and are sympathetic to their cause," he said.
"The people of the United States have to fully realize the dangerous
consequences of the Bush administration policies. The U.S. will only
leave Iraq when the people of the United States and the people of the
Middle East show that we have a commonality in opposition to the
Empire."
Other participants at the press conference included Mara
Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney and co-founder, Partnership for Civil
Justice; Mahdi Bray, executive director, Muslim American Society Freedom
Foundation; and Chuck Kaufman, Nicaragua Network.
Messages of support were sent from Ramsey Clark, former U.S.
attorney-general; Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg; Ben Dupuy,
general-secretary, National Popular Party of Haiti (PPN); and Kathy
Boylan, Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C.
ANSWER is reaching out to churches, mosques, youth and student
organizations and others, providing them with logistical information on
the demonstrations. It will hold teach-ins this summer that aim to bring
together organizers, religious and academic leaders, and elected
officials to discuss U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
C Copyright 2005 FCN
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) Vets hold ground at regional military
recruiting station, ignore threats
of arrest to reach young recruits
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Contact: George Main 916.505-4869
or Cres Vellucci 916.996-9170
Attention: News Desk
SACRAMENTO - A military veterans
organization claimed a major victory
Early Tuesday after members - despite
repeated police warnings of immediate
arrest - were able to virtually swarm
a bus carrying potential military
recruits and distribute literature
encouraging them to not enlist
to fight in the war in Iraq.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Crisis in California:
WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
June 24, 2005
http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/549/549_08_PeterCamejo.shtml
THE GOVERNATOR came into office thinking he could escalate the attack
on working people in California. But Arnold Schwarzenegger has run into
a wall of resistance--rising anger and protests over his attacks on
pensions, health care, education and more.
Once considered one of the most popular politicians in the U.S.,
Schwarzenegger's approval ratings now run below George Bush's. Still,
the drive to make workers pay for California's multi-billion-dollar
budget crisis will continue--led by both Republicans and Democrats.
PETER CAMEJO was Ralph Nader's running mate in his 2004 independent
presidential campaign. Before that, he ran twice for governor of
California as the Green Party candidate, winning the highest number of
votes of any Green Party candidate in the country after Nader. In the
2003 recall election, Camejo was included in the televised debates
between the major candidates--and was widely acknowledged to have
beaten Schwarzenegger and the Democratic candidates with his
anti-corporate, pro-labor, pro-environment proposals.
Peter is a featured speaker at Socialism 2005 on July 1-4 in Chicago,
where he will speak on "How Do We Solve the Crisis in California?" For
more about information about this event, go to
www.socialismconference.org. Here, he talks to Socialist Worker's ALAN
MAASS about California's crisis.
CAN YOU talk about the scale of the crisis in California?
THE CRISIS that exists now in California was created by the Republicans
and Democrats.
What they did was dramatically lower the taxes collected from
corporations and the wealthy. The actual amount now taxed from the
wealthiest people in California--the wealthiest 1 percent, who have
incomes equal to 75 percent of the people of California--is at a rate
which is substantially below what it's been for the poorest people.
The poor in California--that is the bottom 20 percent--pay a 57 percent
higher tax rate than the richest 1 percent. The poor pay 11.3 percent
of their income in state and local taxes, and the wealthiest 1 percent
pay 7.2 percent. And even that figure is slightly exaggerated because
the official figures don't calculate capital gains in a manner that's
really appropriate.
Twenty or 25 years ago, the taxes of the corporations used to be close
to 10 percent. Today, their taxes are below 6 percent. That's a 43
percent drop in the taxes they're obligated to pay. Fifty-two percent
of the corporations in California that are profitable pay no taxes.
They pay only an $800 annual fee.
This has created a deficit along with a shift of money from the poor to
the rich, and the way that the Democrats and Republicans are trying to
overcome this is by increasing taxation on the average person.
They've increased what you pay to cross bridges--from $2 to $3, a 50
percent increase. They increased community college fees by 100 percent.
They've increased college tuition by about 30 to 40 percent and plan
for the next two years to increase it by about 10 percent per year.
On the other hand, they're cutting back essential services. Education
is the most extreme case. According to the tests done throughout the
country, California came in 48th out of the 50 states.
Forty or fifty years ago, California was considered to have the best
education system in the United States and was the envy of the world. It
had free education at the University of California system. Now you have
to pay substantial tuition at the University of California, and the
schools are falling apart. California is now only ahead of Mississippi
and Louisiana.
The right wingers claim that this is in part due to a large number of
immigrants, who come across the border from Mexico primarily. But
according to a study, if you factor out the immigrants, California
comes in 50th in the nation--the immigrants are actually holding
California up. That study was reported at the state annual conference
of the in the California Budget Project--which said to the shock of the
people listening that California had fallen to 48th.
Part of the reason for this is that wealthy people--people with higher
incomes--are now sending their children to private schools. For
instance, in the city of San Francisco, 30 percent of young people go
to private schools. So people with money are no longer interested in
public education, and they oppose funding it to the extent that's
necessary.
In 1960, there were 15.7 million people in California. In 2003, there
were 35.4 million. If you look at the rise in gross domestic product
(GDP), it rose much faster than the growth in population. Today,
there's more money per person in California than there was in 1960--yet
our education system is collapsing.
This is a direct result of policies that are aimed at lowering taxes
for the wealthiest people. The profits of American corporations in the
last two years are the highest when measured as a percentage of GDP
than at any time in the history of the United States. Part of that is
due to the U.S. government deliberately permitting the value of the
dollar to drop. Since most international corporations now do a lot of
business abroad, this creates a jump in their profits. But it actually
lowers the standard of living of the actual working person.
In the New York Times, the journalist David Cay Johnston pointed out
that since 1980, the share of income of 90 percent of the people in the
United States has declined--in one of the periods of the greatest rise
in GDP in the history of the United States.
What this shows you is that this divergence between what's happening to
the wealthiest people and what's happening to the mass of the people in
the United States is not accidental. And this is happening across the
whole nation--California is not the worst. California is in the upper
end in terms of how regressive its taxes are, but many states are even
worse.
AFTER WINNING the recall election, Arnold Schwarzenegger has seen his
popularity plummet--particularly as a result of labor-led campaigns to
protest his policies. How has this opposition developed?
THE TRUTH is that there's an enormous vacuum. The fact that working
people in California have accepted lower pay in the midst of a
massively rising economy is quite unusual in American history. If you
go back to other periods, you will see a rise in the standard of living
of working people pretty much running parallel to the rise in the GDP.
And the unions were quite aggressive in fighting for it.
But now, it was only when the Republican became governor and when the
California state government wasn't totally in the hands of the
Democrats--which it was before Schwarzenegger--that the unions even
began to do anything about this.
Yet since they have begun this--especially the California Nurses
Association, which is led by more progressive leaders--there has been
an enormous response and a very sharp drop in the governor's
popularity.
Part of what happened, I think, is that the corporations and the
lobbyists who run California overplayed their hand. They thought that
they could move to end pensions in California. That's what Arnold
actually proposed to do. People don't always realize this, but that's
what his proposal was--to end a guaranteed pension benefit by law,
according to a set formula.
The governor also attempted to change the rules for when teachers get
tenure, and to treat their pay as if it was the private sector. So
teachers wouldn't be guaranteed their pay, but it would depend on test
results, which in many cases are completely beyond the control of
teachers, because of socioeconomic reasons and so on.
This is all an attack on working people. And Schwarzenegger overplayed
his hand. His popularity is dropping. But the Democrats have no real
counterproposal. The only thing they've said so far is to talk about
some very minimal increases in taxes on the rich.
But in other cases, they've joined in on the attack--even progressive
Democrats, like [State Assemblyman] Mark Leno, who is generally doing
good work, especially on the rights of gays and lesbians. Leno has
proposed increasing taxes on the poor by re-establishing the car tax,
which was abolished. This is a tax that effects primarily the poor.
It's similar to the national situation with George Bush's tax cuts. No
one challenged those either. The Democrats went along with the
Republicans because they fear the reaction from the corporate world and
from the lobbyists who finance their campaigns.
ONE OTHER factor in the crisis has been a polarized atmosphere in which
the right wing gets more of a hearing. Can you talk about the attack on
immigrant rights in California?
THERE IS a very important campaign now against the rights of
immigrants. It's popular among the public and among many working
people, who accept these attacks against undocumented workers--as
somehow responsible for the problems we see.
The politicians making these attacks on immigrants have absolutely no
intention of stopping undocumented workers from living in California.
From George Bush down to the lowest-level Democrat and Republican, not
a single politician has come out publicly and said, "Let's round up 11
million people and deport them." So it is very odd that they continue
to refer to people as being illegal and do negative things to them,
like deny them drivers licenses, while they all insist that
undocumented workers remain in the country.
This becomes a violation of the United Nations Human Rights charter.
You cannot have people living in your country that you accept as being
part of your community who do not have equal rights. This is creating a
second-class grouping, and it's obviously being done to continue to
super-exploit them and to make them the scapegoat for social problems.
Now in the case of Mexicans, the contradiction is rather
extreme--because the people who are making statements against Mexicans
are primarily people of European descent. And if there's one group of
people who came to America illegally--without any visas or any rights
or anything that justifies them coming into America and taking it--it's
the Europeans.
Every state in the Southwest, including California, was once part of
Mexico. The people living in this area never chose to become part of
the United States. It was militarily occupied and conquered, and the
people who lived here were denied their rights. They were often
disenfranchised. And there was actually a program in
California--organized by the Democratic Party, back in the 1860s--in
which people were actually paid to kill indigenous people.
Today, these immigrants are descendents of the indigenous people of
this continent. From their point of view, all they are is refugees from
poverty. It's very important to deal with this for there to be any
unity inside the working class to rebuild the unions. If the unions
don't defend immigrant workers, this division will weaken all workers
and will lead to the lowering of the standard of living.
Globalization is a massive economic fact which, unless the labor
movement can politically defend itself, leads to a lower standard of
living in all the advanced countries. Which is what happened in the
United States, because the labor movement has no political arm.
This has to be fought politically. It can't be fought at the level of
the factory or the industry, through strikes or demonstration.
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
16) On June 29 2004, Gus Rugley, 21 yr African American Youth
was shot more than a hundred times on Alemany Boulevard, San
Francisco, after what SFPD described as a high speed chase.
According to the corporate press, Rugley would have opened
fire at a police car. However, the autopsy report released
nearly 9 months after Rugley's homicide, revealed that Gus
had no gun powder traces on his skin or clothing, therefore
Gus could not have used a weapon. The toxicological screen
also revealed that Gus Rugley was not under the influence of
alcohol or any drugs at the time of his death.
Please take a moment to post a message of support to Gus'
courageous mom, Elvira Pollard. In 7 days the anniversary of
Gus' killing is coming up !
Join our campaign for Justice4GusRugley!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Gus/
Cordially,
mesha monge-irizarry
Idriss Stelley Foundation
(415) 595-8251 24HR Bilingual Spa. Crisis Line
ACORN
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
SF Youth Empowerment Funding Advisory Board member
(Youth Commission)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
17) Justice4JulioAyala Press conference &Protest,
The Heat is ON !
(mesha Monge-Irizarry, Idriss Stelley Foundation)
On Wednesday 6-21, the family and friends of Julio Ayala, Latino and
Police Accountatibility activists gathered at 8:30 am in front of
Redwood City City Hall, holding the October 22 Against Police
Brutality Coalition banners, chanting "No justice, No Peace !" and
"Justicia para Julio Ayala". The corporate press was at the
rendez-vous, City Bay, the Examiner, La Prensa Grafica Salvadorena,
Channel 2 &7.
Julio Ayala, 26 yr. Salvadoreno legal US resident, who lived on
Jamestown Avenue in SF Bayview Hill until his tragic fate, died at the
hands of 13 police officers at the SF Airport Inn on 6-3-05, allegedly
"stopping to breathe" after being restrained in a body wrap for 15
minutes.
Before stepping into the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Chamber, we were forwarned by a city official that although the board
was aware that a group was planning to address them in public
comments, no disturbance would be tolerated, "fill out your slips, no
more than 2 minutes per comment!".
Reminiscent of the former apathic SF Police Commission before November
03 Police reform, Supervisors Mark Church, Jerry Hill, Rich Gordon,
Adrienne Tissier (all of European descent) and Rose Jacobs Gibson
(African American), stood motionless, strictly sticking to the 2
minutes imposed time limit, "Next !", and did not care to ask any
questions to Tanya (Julio's sister), Julio and Mirna Ayala (his
parents), who made a moving appeal to the board, often breaking into
heartwrenching tears (which prompted each time for the corporate press
to swirm upclose, avid for sensational material). Mr. Ayala presented
the board with close to 1000 petitions (some from 32 states outside of
California, and 11 foreign countries),demanding all reports pertaining
to the death of his son, release of the 911 dispatching tape and an
independent federal investigation, along with a letter to the Board,
portraying his family as "Law abiding, hard working Latinos" who fled
disaster, oppression and war in El Salvador to seek refuge in the Land
of Opportunity, where they ended up loosing their beautiful son at the
hands of SSF PD.
Juio's friends described him as a children loving, conscencious
worker, undeserving of such horrible fate, and pleaded the board for
their serious consideration of Julio's death matter. Union workers,
peace activists calmly reiterated the same request: "Do the right
thing! Give us Justice 4 Julio"!
"Any more comments?". "well, we do not have authority to settle this
issue at this hearing, we will review the evidence and get back to you
in 2 weeks". The whole matter was wrapped up in less than 15 minutes
before the board moved on to the next agenda item,without another
glance toward the Ayala's.
Board President Mark Church did, for whatever that was worth, pay
respect to the grieving family. On our way back to San Francisco,
Mirna and Julio Ayala alternatively break into tears. Waves of
wrenching pain and despair constantly tear them apart, over and over,
compiled with the total absence of information, disrespect and
diregard inflicted upon them for the past two and a half month. Each
unanswered appeal to let them know what happened to their son takes a
terrible toll on their emotional health and hope that our community
will honnor their beautiful child...
But the struggle for Justice4Julio will go on !
To send a message of support to the Ayala family, you can write to
Ayalajulio2@aol.com
_xIHonLFVWzf_gsYzvjshKE_mG4n9M> or post a message on
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Julio/
If you have been assaulted by PD, please call (415) 595-8251 Idriss
Stelley Foundation 24HR Bilingual Spa. Crisis line or write to
iolmisha@cs.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Julio/
post?postID=i1UIo34ZldzOXjWQHaaoBau2lOcLaxssqtuPfZS1yKNKEiVKqxvlHwjjs2BPqF
Qrz3fe-v5qSX-M
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
18) Pentagon to Gather Data on Students
Opponents Contend Move may Illegally Bypass Privacy Laws
Jonathan Krim, Washington Post
Thursday, June 23, 2005
"Washington -- The Defense Department began working Wednesday
with a private marketing firm to create a database of high
school students ages 16 to 18 and all college students to
help the military identify potential recruits in a time of
dwindling enlistment in some branches."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/23/MNGRODDG201.DTL
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
19) U.S. doctors linked to POW `torture'
Guantanamo medical records misused
Basis of interrogators' strategy: Report
TANYA TALAGA AND KAREN PALMER
STAFF REPORTERS
"Medical records compiled by doctors caring for prisoners
at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay are being
tapped to design more effective interrogation techniques,
says an explosive new report."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/
Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1119477015095&call_pageid=9683321
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
20) Military Enlists Marketer
to Get Data on Students
for Recruiters
By Mark Mazzetti
Times Staff Writer
June 23, 2005
"WASHINGTON - With the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
making it increasingly hard for the U.S. military to fill
its ranks with recruits, the Pentagon has hired an outside
marketing firm to help compile an extensive database about
teenagers and college students that the military services
could use to target potential enlistees."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-
privacy23jun23,1,5537670,print.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0623-03.htm
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Speak up and Picket the S.F. Board of Education
the Fourth Tuesday of Each Month Starting:
June 28TH, 7:00 P.M.
555 Franklin St., S.F,
To get on the speakers list call:
415-241-6427, 241-6493 or 241-6000
2) COLLEGE NOT COMBAT PETITION CAMPAIGN
16TH & MISSION STREET
SATURDAY JUNE 25, 12:30 P.M.
TUESDAY JUNE 28 AND THURSDAY JUNE 30, 5 & 7 P.M.
3) COLLEGE NOT COMBAT PETITION CAMPAIGN
JULY 2,3 & 4 WEEKEND SCHEDULE
*SHOW UP TO PETITION:
SATURDAY, SUNDAY & MONDAY, JULY 2, 3 & 4, 1:00 P.M.
DOLORES PARK, 18TH AND DOLORES STS, SF
*SEE THE SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE'S PLAY
"DOING GOOD"
MUSIC: 1:30 P.M. - SHOW: 2:00 P.M.
(THEN GATHER SIGNATURES AFTER THE SHOW)
4) HANDS OFF VENEZUELA SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA FILM
SHOWING: 7:00 PM, FRIDAY JULY 15
Center for Political Education
522 Valencia, Third Floor,
Near 16th Street, SF
(not wheelchair accessible)
Close the 16th Street BART
$5/$3 Students, Seniors, Unemployed
5) SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE
PRESENTS: "DOING GOOD"
A play based loosely on the book, "Confessions
of an Economic Hit Man", by John Perkins.
JULY 16, PRECITA PARK
MUSIC: 1:30 P.M.
SHOW: 2:00 P.M.
(This play is fresh, new, brilliantly performed,
insightful, full of content, and the music is the
icing on the cake!...BW)
SPONSORED BY BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR
Help get the word out about the ballot proposition
and upcoming antiwar events. Free antiwar posters!
FREE!
6) SAVE THE DATES: AUGUST 4, 5 & 6, 2005 FOR
PRESENTATION OF HOWARD ZINN'S ONE MAN SHOW,
"MARX IN SOHO" PERFORMED BY JERRY LEVY
LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED
TO BENEFIT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR
WWW.BAUAW.ORG
(FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 415-824-8730)
7) Censorship
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
June 23, 2005
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
8) Justices, 5-4, Back Seizure
of Property for Development
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 23, 2005
"As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze
residences for projects such as shopping malls and
hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/politics/23wire-
scotus.html?hp&ex=1119585600&en=5036788eb4cc9d17&ei=5094&partner=home
page
9) Feds Target Calif. Marijuana Dispensaries
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 23, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Medical-Marijuana.html
10) Timeline for Iraq Pullout
Would Aid Insurgents, Rumsfeld Says
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: June 23, 2005
"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said
today that setting a timeline for withdrawal
of American troops from Iraq would give a
"lifeline for terrorists." And in a spirited
defense of the war, he invoked Abraham Lincoln
and the American revolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/international/middleeast/23cnd-rums.html
11) House Again Backs Ban on Flag Desecration
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: June 22, 2005
"WASHINGTON, June 22 - Voting once again today
on an issue blending emotion, patriotism and politics,
the House of Representatives overwhelmingly endorsed
a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress
to outlaw debasing the American flag."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/politics/22cnd-
flag.html?hp&ex=1119499200&en=964c8d03d8a28062&ei=5094&partner=homepa
ge
12) A Joint Public Statement by the National
Council of Arab Americans & the
Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
on the September 24 March on
Washington
From: "NCA National Office"
nationaloffice@arab-american.net
13) Anti-war groups call for massive September mobilization
By Askia Muhammad
White House Correspondent
Updated Jun 16, 2005, 09:17 am
14) Vets hold ground at regional military
recruiting station, ignore threats
of arrest to reach young recruits
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Contact: George Main 916.505-4869
or Cres Vellucci 916.996-9170
Attention: News Desk
SACRAMENTO - A military veterans
organization claimed a major victory
Early Tuesday after members - despite
repeated police warnings of immediate
arrest - were able to virtually swarm
a bus carrying potential military
recruits and distribute literature
encouraging them to not enlist
to fight in the war in Iraq.
15) Crisis in California:
WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
June 24, 2005
http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/549/549_08_PeterCamejo.shtml
16) On June 29 2004, Gus Rugley, 21 yr African American Youth
was shot more than a hundred times on Alemany Boulevard, San
Francisco, after what SFPD described as a high speed chase.
According to the corporate press, Rugley would have opened
fire at a police car. However, the autopsy report released
nearly 9 months after Rugley's homicide, revealed that Gus
had no gun powder traces on his skin or clothing, therefore
Gus could not have used a weapon. The toxicological screen
also revealed that Gus Rugley was not under the influence of
alcohol or any drugs at the time of his death.
Please take a moment to post a message of support to Gus'
courageous mom, Elvira Pollard. In 7 days the anniversary of
Gus' killing is coming up !
Join our campaign for Justice4GusRugley!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Gus/
Cordially,
mesha monge-irizarry
Idriss Stelley Foundation
(415) 595-8251 24HR Bilingual Spa. Crisis Line
ACORN
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
SF Youth Empowerment Funding Advisory Board member (Youth Commission)
17) Justice4JulioAyala Press conference &Protest,
The Heat is ON !
(mesha Monge-Irizarry, Idriss Stelley Foundation)
18) Pentagon to Gather Data on Students
Opponents Contend Move may Illegally Bypass Privacy Laws
Jonathan Krim, Washington Post
Thursday, June 23, 2005
"Washington -- The Defense Department began working
Wednesday with a private marketing firm to create
a database of high school students ages 16 to 18 and
all college students to help the military identify
potential recruits in a time of dwindling enlistment
in some branches."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/23/MNGRODDG201.DTL
19) U.S. doctors linked to POW `torture'
Guantanamo medical records misused
Basis of interrogators' strategy: Report
TANYA TALAGA AND KAREN PALMER
STAFF REPORTERS
"Medical records compiled by doctors caring for prisoners
at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay are being
tapped to design more effective interrogation techniques,
says an explosive new report."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/
Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1119477015095&call_pageid=9683321
20) Military Enlists Marketer
to Get Data on Students
for Recruiters
By Mark Mazzetti
Times Staff Writer
June 23, 2005
"WASHINGTON - With the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
making it increasingly hard for the U.S. military to fill
its ranks with recruits, the Pentagon has hired an outside
marketing firm to help compile an extensive database about
teenagers and college students that the military services
could use to target potential enlistees."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-
privacy23jun23,1,5537670,print.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0623-03.htm
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Cut all Public School Ties to the Military!
Speak up and Picket the S.F. Board of Education
the Fourth Tuesday of Each Month Starting:
June 28TH, 7:00 P.M.
555 Franklin St., S.F,
To get on the speakers list call:
415-241-6427, 241-6493 or 241-6000
Bay Area United Against War (BAUAW) will be picketing the San
Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Board of Education
meetings the 4th Tuesday of each month beginning June 28th until
the district cuts all school ties to the military.
San Francisco voters passed Proposition N for the immediate
withdrawal of troops from Iraq by a 63 percent majority last
November. And this November 2005 we will pass an anti-recruitment
resolution initiated by College Not Combat, a coalition of groups
and individuals opposed to the U.S. militaries' school recruitment
program.
We are currently gathering the necessary signatures to place
this counter-recruitment proposition on the ballot. The
proposition says, "The people of San Francisco oppose U.S.
military recruiters using public school, college and university
facilities to recruit young people into the armed forces.
Furthermore, San Francisco should oppose the military's "economic
draft" by investigating means by which to fund and grant
scholarships for college and job training to low-income students
so they are not economically compelled to join the military!"
Proposition N, passed last November, already mandates the
SFUSD to cut all school ties to the military. Yet S.F. children
are still being actively recruited at schools throughout the
district by direct military recruitment, and through the Junior
Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs.
Many students are forced into JROTC in order to get the necessary
Physical Education credits they need to graduate High School. JROTC
now fulfills this requirement-and the district actually pays
a million dollars a year to the Army to support JROTC. (JROTC, by
the way, is totally managed and controlled by the U.S. Army. The
Army writes the curriculum and appoints the teachers. The district
has no say in this program.)
In fact, the U.S. military maintains a presence in the schools
at all grade levels from kindergarten on up. And now the Military
is beginning to set up JROTC "Military Academies" in the Middle
Schools. At these "academies" children are taught how to obey
orders and to practice military maneuvers with realistically
functioning toy guns.
As a result of the board's open door military policy, many San
Francisco high school graduates are currently serving in Iraq.
This must end. Schools must not be used to recruit youngsters to
kill or be killed in this illegal, immoral war! The following
resolution was presented to the board several months ago.
They still have not acted on it!
CUT ALL SCHOOL TIES TO THE MILITARY!
Resolution for San Francisco Board of Education
WHEREAS, the United States military is actively recruiting high
school students into the military to fight in Iraq; and
WHEREAS, many young San Francisco high school alumni are
presently serving in military units fighting in Iraq; and
WHEREAS, it is San Francisco City policy by virtue of
Proposition N, to bring all U.S. troops home from Iraq now; and
WHEREAS, over 1,700 U.S. soldiers and approximately
100,000 Iraqis have been killed in this war and over
10,000 U.S. soldiers and unknown thousands of Iraqis have
been wounded; and
WHEREAS, the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on the
war have robbed our children of resources that should be
spent on education and other human needs; and
WHEREAS, military presence in our schools legitimizes the
message that violence is acceptable; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
It shall be the policy of the San Francisco Board of Education
to cut all ties with the United States military, including, but
not limited to: Ending military recruitment on campuses; ending
the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC); and guaranteeing
that all students and parents are informed of their right to deny
military recruiters access to their names, addresses and
telephone numbers.
Come to the next planning meeting of
Bay Area United Against War (BAUAW)
Saturday, July 9, 11:30 a.m. at 474 Valencia Street
between 15th & 16th Streets, S.F.
Bay Area United Against War (BAUAW) • www.bauaw.org
P.O. Box 318021,
San Francisco, CA 94131-8021 •
414-824-8730
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2) COLLEGE NOT COMBAT PETITION CAMPAIGN
16TH & MISSION STREET
SATURDAY JUNE 25, 12:30 P.M.
TUESDAY JUNE 28 AND THURSDAY JUNE 30, 5 & 7 P.M.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) COLLEGE NOT COMBAT PETITION CAMPAIGN
JULY 2,3 & 4 WEEKEND SCHEDULE
*SHOW UP TO PETITION:
SATURDAY, SUNDAY & MONDAY, JULY 2, 3 & 4, 1:00 P.M.
DOLORES PARK, 18TH AND DOLORES STS, SF
*SEE THE SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE'S PLAY
"DOING GOOD"
MUSIC: 1:30 P.M. - SHOW: 2:00 P.M.
(THEN GATHER SIGNATURES AFTER THE SHOW)
Based loosely on the book, "Confessions
of an Economic Hit Man", by John Perkins.
This play is fresh, new, brilliantly performed,
insightful, full of content, and the music
is the icing on the cake!
SPONSORED BY BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR (BAUAW)
BAUAW is setting up a COLLEGE NOT COMBAT
PETITION CAMPAIGN table by invitation
from the Mime Troupe. THERE WILL BE AN
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE STAGE.
We will be able to gather signatures before
and after the performance. After the performance
we will also fan out over the city to give this
petition drive a big push over the July 4th weekend.
COME HELP GATHER SIGNATURES FOR THE
COLLEGE NOT COMBAT BALLOT INITIATIVE
FOR THE SAN FRANCISCO, NOVEMBER 2005, ELECTIONS:
"The people of San Francisco oppose U.S.
military recruiters using public
school, college and university
facilities to recruit young
people into the armed forces.
Furthermore, San Francisco should
oppose the military's "economic
draft" by investigating means
by which to fund and grant
scholarships for college and job
training to low-income students
so they are not economically compelled
to join the military!"
LOOK FOR OUR TABLE TO PICK UP PETITIONS.
FREE ANTIWAR POSTERS!
WE ONLY HAVE A FEW WEEKS TO GO!
GET THE MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS!
MONEY FOR EDUCATION NOT FOR WAR!
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) HANDS OFF VENEZUELA SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA FILM
SHOWING: 7:00 PM, FRIDAY JULY 15
Center for Political Education
522 Valencia, Third Floor,
Near 16th Street, SF
(not wheelchair accessible)
Close the 16th Street BART
$5/$3 Students, Seniors, Unemployed
With the Poor of the World
Con los pobres de la Tierra (2003) 56 minutes.
by Marta Harnecker on Venezuela
In Spanish with English Subtitles
This video gives the background and context of the
current struggles in Venezuela since 1993. Using TV
news footage and archival video, this film documents
the rise of Chavez and the Oligarchy's three attempts
to overthrow him.
May Day in Caracas
(2005) 22 minutes.
by a J. Carlos Flores.
In Spanish with English Subtitles
A short documentary about international labor day in
Venezuela
Hands off Venezuela will show these films as a benefit
to bring Stalin Peres Borges, a leader of the National
Union of Workers of Venezuela (UNT) a dynamic new
Venezuelan Trade Union federation.
Call Adam at 415 864 3537 or email sfbay@ushov.org for
more info or to arrange a speaker to talk about the
inspiring events in Venezuela and the need to protect
it from US attack.
Also Come To The Next Hands Off Venezuela Organizing
Meeting (all welcome): 7:00 PM, Thursday, June 30,
Socialist Action Bookstore, corner Valencia and 14th,
SF
www.handsoffvenezuela.org
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE
PRESENTS: "DOING GOOD"
A play based loosely on the book, "Confessions
of an Economic Hit Man", by John Perkins.
JULY 16, PRECITA PARK
MUSIC: 1:30 P.M.
SHOW: 2:00 P.M.
(This play is fresh, new, brilliantly performed,
insightful, full of content, and the music is the
icing on the cake!...BW)
SPONSORED BY BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR
Help get the word out about the ballot proposition
and upcoming antiwar events. Free antiwar posters!
FREE!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) SAVE THE DATES: AUGUST 4, 5 & 6, 2005 FOR
PRESENTATION OF HOWARD ZINN'S ONE MAN SHOW,
"MARX IN SOHO" PERFORMED BY JERRY LEVY
LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED
TO BENEFIT BAY AREA UNITED AGAINST WAR
WWW.BAUAW.ORG
(FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 415-824-8730)
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) Censorship
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
http://dahrjamailiraq.com
June 23, 2005
At long last, the culminating session of the World Tribunal on Iraq is
upon us. As a witness providing testimony, like the other witnesses I'm
being interviewed by many outlets. Today, one of them was by reporters
for one of the larger newspapers in Turkey, the Yeni Safak Newspaper.
I'll leave the reporters nameless, for reasons you'll soon see.
The newspaper has been translating various articles of mine into Turkish
and running them, particularly those concerning the most recent Fallujah
massacre. The report who was interviewing me today told me that the
former American consulate here, Eric Edelman, asked the Prime Minister
of Turkey to pressure his paper to not run so many of my stories.
"Why did he do this," I asked him.
"Edelman said it was the wrong news," he told me with a smile.
Turns out Edelman also asked that articles by Robert Fisk and Naomi
Klein not be run so often in Yeni Safak either.
He smiled at me while he watched the wheels turning in my head before I
smiled back and said, "That makes me very happy, it means I'm doing my
job as a journalist."
We laughed heartily together at this, as did everyone else at the table.
Reminds me of the obtuse hate mails I sometimes receive-confirmation
that I am doing my job-they always make me smile.
So the American government is pressuring foreign countries to censor
their news. Aside from the fact that this act is the height of arrogance
by the United States, it makes it exceedingly clear why so many
Americans who rely on the corporate media for their news continue to be
so misinformed/un-informed about the goings on in Iraq. If the American
government is attempting to censor the news in foreign countries, you
can imagine what they are doing at home.
Because people like Edelman don't want citizens of the United States to
know that events like the massacre of Fallujah or the atrocities in Abu
Ghraib are not isolated incidents.
People like Edelman don't want people to know what one of my sources in
Baquba just told me today.
His email reads:
"Near the city of Buhrez, 5 kilometers south of Baquba, two Humvess of
American soldiers were destroyed recently. American and Iraqi soldiers
came to the city afterwards and cut all the phones, cut the water, cut
medicine from arriving in the city and told them that until the people
of the city bring the "terrorists" to them, the embargo will continue."
The embargo has been in place now for one week now, and he continued:
"The Americans still won't anyone or any medicines and supplies into
Buhrez, nor will they allow any people in or out. Even the Al-Sadr
followers who organized some help for the people in the city (water,
food, medicine) are not being allowed into the city. Even journalists
cannot enter to publish the news, and the situation there is so bad. The
Americans keep asking for the people in the city to bring them the
persons who were in charge of destroying the two Humvees on the other
side of the city, but of course the people in the city don't know who
carried out the attack."
People like Edelman don't want people to know about the recent US
attacks in Al-Qa'im and Haditha either. Attacks that Iraqis are
describing as just as bad as the massacre of Fallujah.
On Haditha and Al-Qa'im, an Iraqi doctor sent me this email yesterday:
"Listen...we witnessed crimes in the west area of the country of what the
bastards did in Haditha and Al-Qa'im. It was a crime, a really big crime
we have witnessed and filmed in those places and recently also in
Fallujah. We need big help in the western area of the country. Our
doctors need urgent help there. Please, this is an URGENT humanitarian
request from the hospitals in the west of the country. We have big proof
on how the American troops destroyed one of our hospitals, how they
burned the whole store of medication of the west area of Iraq and how
they killed a patient in the ward...how they prevented us from helping the
people in al-Qa'im. This is an URGENT Humanitarian request. The
hospitals in the west of Iraq ask for urgent help...we are in a big
humanitarian medical disaster..."
People like Edelman don't want the public to know that the same tactics
used in Fallujah by the US military-posting snipers around the city to
shoot anyone who moves, targeting ambulances, impeding medical care, or
the detaining of innocent civilians en masse.
After all, Fallujah is the model. Fallujah is our Guernica. And now,
Haditha, Al-Qa'im can be added to the list, with Baquba and Buhrez under
deconstruction.
More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com
Iraq_Dispatches mailing list
http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Justices, 5-4, Back Seizure of Property for Development
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 23, 2005
"As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences
for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order
to generate tax revenue."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/politics/23wire-
scotus.html?hp&ex=1119585600&en=5036788eb4cc9d17&ei=5094&partner=home
page
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) Feds Target Calif. Marijuana Dispensaries
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 23, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Medical-Marijuana.html?
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) Timeline for Iraq Pullout Would Aid Insurgents, Rumsfeld Says
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: June 23, 2005
"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today that setting
a timeline for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq would
give a "lifeline for terrorists." And in a spirited defense
of the war, he invoked Abraham Lincoln and the
American revolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/international/middleeast/23cnd-rums.html
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) House Again Backs Ban on Flag Desecration
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: June 22, 2005
"WASHINGTON, June 22 - Voting once again today on an issue
blending emotion, patriotism and politics, the House of
Representatives overwhelmingly endorsed a constitutional
amendment that would allow Congress to outlaw debasing
the American flag."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/politics/22cnd-
flag.html?hp&ex=1119499200&en=964c8d03d8a28062&ei=5094&partner=homepa
ge
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) A Joint Public Statement by the
National Council of Arab Americans & the
Muslim American Society Freedom
Foundation on the September 24 March on
Washington
From: "NCA National Office"
nca-general@arab-american.net
For immediate release and wide distribution
Washington, DC - The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation (MAS
Freedom) and the National Council of Arab-Americans (NCA) stand united
with our Muslim American and Arab American communities throughout the
United States in calling on all to join and support the A.N.S.W.E.R.
initiated September 24 mobilization against war and colonial occupations
that will take place in Washington, DC with parallel actions in San
Francisco and Los Angeles.
We are proud to announce that MAS Freedom and the NCA have both joined
the September 24 National Coalition for the March on Washington, which
also currently includes in its leadership the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition,
Haiti Support Network, Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the
Philippines and the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). More than 4,000
organizations and individuals have thus far signed on to the coalition's
Call to Action, and significant organizing has created enthusiasm for
the mobilization all over the country. Under the overarching auspices
of the September 24 National Coalition, we believe that various
communities and organizations will come together in a genuine reflection
of the grassroots mosaic that constitutes this society.
We echo the grave concerns of our communities at the relentless efforts
by some to remove the Palestinian struggle and its anchoring principle,
the right of return, from the anti-war movement. We are reminded of the
overwhelming support that our communities received when we called for an
all- inclusive non-racist political program for the March 20, 2004
mobilization in New York City. On that day, over 100,000 people turned
out in New York City - the first anniversary of the war and occupation
of Iraq - under the slogan: "Bring the Troops Home Now! End Colonial
Occupation from Iraq to Palestine to Haiti and Everywhere!" In the same
context, our communities and the movement at large turned out in massive
numbers on April 20, 2002 in Washington, DC, signaling that a principled
unity is enthusiastically welcomed by the movement.
Communities and organizations have worked too hard over many years to
build bridges of solidarity and reciprocal respect between peoples for
us to allow some to turn us back now to the time when Arabs and Muslims
were placed on the margin. The planting of divisive seeds by some
against our targeted communities during a time when we are facing
continued governmental persecution and institutional racism is a
dangerous endeavor that must be stopped. Capitalizing on fear from
persecution to attain forced complacency and acquiescence to any offered
exclusionary political program must be exposed by the movement as a
whole. Time and again, the movement has made it clear that the
struggles of dispossessed and colonized people from Iraq, to Palestine,
to Haiti, to the Philippines and beyond, are inextricable from the
struggles of communities and the working families of this country.
It is time that our communities are fully respected as equal partners,
as we will not accept being objects of discussions nor will we be
observers of a movement about our very own lives.
Let us all stand together on September 24 in a non-segregated
mobilization that cuts across all color lines, religious beliefs and
ethnic backgrounds, to raise our voices in unison as we march hand in
hand against injustice here in the United States and abroad. And let us
shun all efforts to pit our communities against each other. Let us
refuse all attempts to segregate the movement on that day or any other.
ALL OUT ON SEPTEMBER 24!
The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation The National Council of
Arab Americans June 20, 2005
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) Anti-war groups call for massive September mobilization
By Askia Muhammad
White House Correspondent
Updated Jun 16, 2005, 09:17 am
After seizing Baghdad, U.S. military is deep in a quagmire
(FCN, 06-13-2005)
International A.N.S.W.E.R. (InternationAnswer.org)
WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - A broad anti-war coalition is planning a
mass march, encircling the White House September 24.
The International ANSWER Coalition-along with a diverse group of civil
rights, religious and community organizations-plans to mobilize 100,000
opponents to the U.S. occupation and war in Iraq here and in several
other cities, they announced at the National Press Club on June 1.
"We will, on September 24, surround the White House with a sea of
anti-war demonstrators," Brian Becker, ANSWER's national coordinator,
said at the news conference. "And this will be a graphic demonstration
... that the White House is surrounded by opposition all around the
country and this opposition grows day in and day out."
The demonstrations will also demand an end to U.S. threats against North
Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, and an end to the "colonial-style
occupation in Palestine and in Haiti," the group said.
This "will be the largest anti-war demonstration to take place since the
second election, or selection, of George W. Bush" in November, said Mr.
Becker.
There is now a changed mood inside the United States, he said. "At this
point, we believe the majority sentiment in the country not only
disapproves of George Bush's handling of the White House, but has turned
decisively against the war in Iraq."
Others at the press conference agreed.
"From a theological perspective, we all admit that war is a terrible sin
within the human community. It is a sin that must be challenged. It is a
sin that must be lifted up. It is a sin that we must push to find
another way," said Reverend Graylan Hagler, senior minister of Plymouth
Congregational Church in Washington.
The Iraq conflict is similar in many ways to the Vietnam War, including
the way the war affects domestic politics, according to Vanessa Dixon,
of the D.C. Healthcare Coalition.
"The obscene amounts of money that have been, and will be, allocated to
the Iraqi occupation, should instead be spent on domestic priorities,
such as health care, education, affordable housing, veterans benefits
and other social programs," Ms. Dixon argued. "As a result of such
narrow and mercenary interests, the American public is paying a terrible
price for such wrong-headed priorities. We suffer from a President with
painfully limited wisdom and woefully inadequate compassion. While
waging a war against Iraq, the Bush administration wages another war
against America, by requiring massive cuts in social spending for
programs that benefit U.S. residents."
Central American and Mexican immigrants are also victims of the racist
U.S. war policy, according to Macrina Cardenas of the Mexico Solidarity
Network.
"The Bush administration has made a mess, and it gets worse every day,"
she said. "It's long past time for the people of this country to say,
'No more.' It's time for us to take this country back from the
politicians who sacrifice our children and our future to the profits of
a few oil companies.
"And now, in the name of fighting terrorists, the Bush administration is
building a wall along the Southern Border, the latest step in the racist
war that touches immigrant workers," she continued, referring to
aggressive border tactics in the Southwest.
Instead of receiving gratitude in this country for the good they do,
immigrants support families at home and, at the same time, they pay
taxes in this country. Immigrants face their own racist discrimination,
Ms. Cardenas charged. "They pay taxes, including Social Security, with
no chance of enjoying social services. And for these contributions, they
are treated like criminals, under constant threat of deportation. This
is the racist war at home against people who work hard in our homes and
communities."
The only solution is massive mobilization of the U.S. public, according
to the ANSWER Coalition. "If it's left to the Bush administration, the
United States will never leave Iraq," said Mr. Becker. "They have no
intention of leaving Iraq. The Bush administration has no intention of
leaving the Middle East. That's what the American people have to really
recognize. They went in and destroyed the Iraqi government, not because
it posed a grave and imminent danger to the people of the United States,
but because it was an impediment, and an obstacle to the full take-over
of that oil-rich region."
Mr. Becker believes that, if the public continues to wait for the U.S.
to leave Iraq, the bloodshed will only continue to grow.
"The Bush administration will go all the way to World War III in order
to win in Iraq, and yet you have the Iraqi people who are determined to
drive the Americans out, and the people of the Middle East who stand
with them and are sympathetic to their cause," he said.
"The people of the United States have to fully realize the dangerous
consequences of the Bush administration policies. The U.S. will only
leave Iraq when the people of the United States and the people of the
Middle East show that we have a commonality in opposition to the
Empire."
Other participants at the press conference included Mara
Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney and co-founder, Partnership for Civil
Justice; Mahdi Bray, executive director, Muslim American Society Freedom
Foundation; and Chuck Kaufman, Nicaragua Network.
Messages of support were sent from Ramsey Clark, former U.S.
attorney-general; Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg; Ben Dupuy,
general-secretary, National Popular Party of Haiti (PPN); and Kathy
Boylan, Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C.
ANSWER is reaching out to churches, mosques, youth and student
organizations and others, providing them with logistical information on
the demonstrations. It will hold teach-ins this summer that aim to bring
together organizers, religious and academic leaders, and elected
officials to discuss U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
C Copyright 2005 FCN
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) Vets hold ground at regional military
recruiting station, ignore threats
of arrest to reach young recruits
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Contact: George Main 916.505-4869
or Cres Vellucci 916.996-9170
Attention: News Desk
SACRAMENTO - A military veterans
organization claimed a major victory
Early Tuesday after members - despite
repeated police warnings of immediate
arrest - were able to virtually swarm
a bus carrying potential military
recruits and distribute literature
encouraging them to not enlist
to fight in the war in Iraq.
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Crisis in California:
WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
June 24, 2005
http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/549/549_08_PeterCamejo.shtml
THE GOVERNATOR came into office thinking he could escalate the attack
on working people in California. But Arnold Schwarzenegger has run into
a wall of resistance--rising anger and protests over his attacks on
pensions, health care, education and more.
Once considered one of the most popular politicians in the U.S.,
Schwarzenegger's approval ratings now run below George Bush's. Still,
the drive to make workers pay for California's multi-billion-dollar
budget crisis will continue--led by both Republicans and Democrats.
PETER CAMEJO was Ralph Nader's running mate in his 2004 independent
presidential campaign. Before that, he ran twice for governor of
California as the Green Party candidate, winning the highest number of
votes of any Green Party candidate in the country after Nader. In the
2003 recall election, Camejo was included in the televised debates
between the major candidates--and was widely acknowledged to have
beaten Schwarzenegger and the Democratic candidates with his
anti-corporate, pro-labor, pro-environment proposals.
Peter is a featured speaker at Socialism 2005 on July 1-4 in Chicago,
where he will speak on "How Do We Solve the Crisis in California?" For
more about information about this event, go to
www.socialismconference.org. Here, he talks to Socialist Worker's ALAN
MAASS about California's crisis.
CAN YOU talk about the scale of the crisis in California?
THE CRISIS that exists now in California was created by the Republicans
and Democrats.
What they did was dramatically lower the taxes collected from
corporations and the wealthy. The actual amount now taxed from the
wealthiest people in California--the wealthiest 1 percent, who have
incomes equal to 75 percent of the people of California--is at a rate
which is substantially below what it's been for the poorest people.
The poor in California--that is the bottom 20 percent--pay a 57 percent
higher tax rate than the richest 1 percent. The poor pay 11.3 percent
of their income in state and local taxes, and the wealthiest 1 percent
pay 7.2 percent. And even that figure is slightly exaggerated because
the official figures don't calculate capital gains in a manner that's
really appropriate.
Twenty or 25 years ago, the taxes of the corporations used to be close
to 10 percent. Today, their taxes are below 6 percent. That's a 43
percent drop in the taxes they're obligated to pay. Fifty-two percent
of the corporations in California that are profitable pay no taxes.
They pay only an $800 annual fee.
This has created a deficit along with a shift of money from the poor to
the rich, and the way that the Democrats and Republicans are trying to
overcome this is by increasing taxation on the average person.
They've increased what you pay to cross bridges--from $2 to $3, a 50
percent increase. They increased community college fees by 100 percent.
They've increased college tuition by about 30 to 40 percent and plan
for the next two years to increase it by about 10 percent per year.
On the other hand, they're cutting back essential services. Education
is the most extreme case. According to the tests done throughout the
country, California came in 48th out of the 50 states.
Forty or fifty years ago, California was considered to have the best
education system in the United States and was the envy of the world. It
had free education at the University of California system. Now you have
to pay substantial tuition at the University of California, and the
schools are falling apart. California is now only ahead of Mississippi
and Louisiana.
The right wingers claim that this is in part due to a large number of
immigrants, who come across the border from Mexico primarily. But
according to a study, if you factor out the immigrants, California
comes in 50th in the nation--the immigrants are actually holding
California up. That study was reported at the state annual conference
of the in the California Budget Project--which said to the shock of the
people listening that California had fallen to 48th.
Part of the reason for this is that wealthy people--people with higher
incomes--are now sending their children to private schools. For
instance, in the city of San Francisco, 30 percent of young people go
to private schools. So people with money are no longer interested in
public education, and they oppose funding it to the extent that's
necessary.
In 1960, there were 15.7 million people in California. In 2003, there
were 35.4 million. If you look at the rise in gross domestic product
(GDP), it rose much faster than the growth in population. Today,
there's more money per person in California than there was in 1960--yet
our education system is collapsing.
This is a direct result of policies that are aimed at lowering taxes
for the wealthiest people. The profits of American corporations in the
last two years are the highest when measured as a percentage of GDP
than at any time in the history of the United States. Part of that is
due to the U.S. government deliberately permitting the value of the
dollar to drop. Since most international corporations now do a lot of
business abroad, this creates a jump in their profits. But it actually
lowers the standard of living of the actual working person.
In the New York Times, the journalist David Cay Johnston pointed out
that since 1980, the share of income of 90 percent of the people in the
United States has declined--in one of the periods of the greatest rise
in GDP in the history of the United States.
What this shows you is that this divergence between what's happening to
the wealthiest people and what's happening to the mass of the people in
the United States is not accidental. And this is happening across the
whole nation--California is not the worst. California is in the upper
end in terms of how regressive its taxes are, but many states are even
worse.
AFTER WINNING the recall election, Arnold Schwarzenegger has seen his
popularity plummet--particularly as a result of labor-led campaigns to
protest his policies. How has this opposition developed?
THE TRUTH is that there's an enormous vacuum. The fact that working
people in California have accepted lower pay in the midst of a
massively rising economy is quite unusual in American history. If you
go back to other periods, you will see a rise in the standard of living
of working people pretty much running parallel to the rise in the GDP.
And the unions were quite aggressive in fighting for it.
But now, it was only when the Republican became governor and when the
California state government wasn't totally in the hands of the
Democrats--which it was before Schwarzenegger--that the unions even
began to do anything about this.
Yet since they have begun this--especially the California Nurses
Association, which is led by more progressive leaders--there has been
an enormous response and a very sharp drop in the governor's
popularity.
Part of what happened, I think, is that the corporations and the
lobbyists who run California overplayed their hand. They thought that
they could move to end pensions in California. That's what Arnold
actually proposed to do. People don't always realize this, but that's
what his proposal was--to end a guaranteed pension benefit by law,
according to a set formula.
The governor also attempted to change the rules for when teachers get
tenure, and to treat their pay as if it was the private sector. So
teachers wouldn't be guaranteed their pay, but it would depend on test
results, which in many cases are completely beyond the control of
teachers, because of socioeconomic reasons and so on.
This is all an attack on working people. And Schwarzenegger overplayed
his hand. His popularity is dropping. But the Democrats have no real
counterproposal. The only thing they've said so far is to talk about
some very minimal increases in taxes on the rich.
But in other cases, they've joined in on the attack--even progressive
Democrats, like [State Assemblyman] Mark Leno, who is generally doing
good work, especially on the rights of gays and lesbians. Leno has
proposed increasing taxes on the poor by re-establishing the car tax,
which was abolished. This is a tax that effects primarily the poor.
It's similar to the national situation with George Bush's tax cuts. No
one challenged those either. The Democrats went along with the
Republicans because they fear the reaction from the corporate world and
from the lobbyists who finance their campaigns.
ONE OTHER factor in the crisis has been a polarized atmosphere in which
the right wing gets more of a hearing. Can you talk about the attack on
immigrant rights in California?
THERE IS a very important campaign now against the rights of
immigrants. It's popular among the public and among many working
people, who accept these attacks against undocumented workers--as
somehow responsible for the problems we see.
The politicians making these attacks on immigrants have absolutely no
intention of stopping undocumented workers from living in California.
From George Bush down to the lowest-level Democrat and Republican, not
a single politician has come out publicly and said, "Let's round up 11
million people and deport them." So it is very odd that they continue
to refer to people as being illegal and do negative things to them,
like deny them drivers licenses, while they all insist that
undocumented workers remain in the country.
This becomes a violation of the United Nations Human Rights charter.
You cannot have people living in your country that you accept as being
part of your community who do not have equal rights. This is creating a
second-class grouping, and it's obviously being done to continue to
super-exploit them and to make them the scapegoat for social problems.
Now in the case of Mexicans, the contradiction is rather
extreme--because the people who are making statements against Mexicans
are primarily people of European descent. And if there's one group of
people who came to America illegally--without any visas or any rights
or anything that justifies them coming into America and taking it--it's
the Europeans.
Every state in the Southwest, including California, was once part of
Mexico. The people living in this area never chose to become part of
the United States. It was militarily occupied and conquered, and the
people who lived here were denied their rights. They were often
disenfranchised. And there was actually a program in
California--organized by the Democratic Party, back in the 1860s--in
which people were actually paid to kill indigenous people.
Today, these immigrants are descendents of the indigenous people of
this continent. From their point of view, all they are is refugees from
poverty. It's very important to deal with this for there to be any
unity inside the working class to rebuild the unions. If the unions
don't defend immigrant workers, this division will weaken all workers
and will lead to the lowering of the standard of living.
Globalization is a massive economic fact which, unless the labor
movement can politically defend itself, leads to a lower standard of
living in all the advanced countries. Which is what happened in the
United States, because the labor movement has no political arm.
This has to be fought politically. It can't be fought at the level of
the factory or the industry, through strikes or demonstration.
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism
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16) On June 29 2004, Gus Rugley, 21 yr African American Youth
was shot more than a hundred times on Alemany Boulevard, San
Francisco, after what SFPD described as a high speed chase.
According to the corporate press, Rugley would have opened
fire at a police car. However, the autopsy report released
nearly 9 months after Rugley's homicide, revealed that Gus
had no gun powder traces on his skin or clothing, therefore
Gus could not have used a weapon. The toxicological screen
also revealed that Gus Rugley was not under the influence of
alcohol or any drugs at the time of his death.
Please take a moment to post a message of support to Gus'
courageous mom, Elvira Pollard. In 7 days the anniversary of
Gus' killing is coming up !
Join our campaign for Justice4GusRugley!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Gus/
Cordially,
mesha monge-irizarry
Idriss Stelley Foundation
(415) 595-8251 24HR Bilingual Spa. Crisis Line
ACORN
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
SF Youth Empowerment Funding Advisory Board member
(Youth Commission)
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17) Justice4JulioAyala Press conference &Protest,
The Heat is ON !
(mesha Monge-Irizarry, Idriss Stelley Foundation)
On Wednesday 6-21, the family and friends of Julio Ayala, Latino and
Police Accountatibility activists gathered at 8:30 am in front of
Redwood City City Hall, holding the October 22 Against Police
Brutality Coalition banners, chanting "No justice, No Peace !" and
"Justicia para Julio Ayala". The corporate press was at the
rendez-vous, City Bay, the Examiner, La Prensa Grafica Salvadorena,
Channel 2 &7.
Julio Ayala, 26 yr. Salvadoreno legal US resident, who lived on
Jamestown Avenue in SF Bayview Hill until his tragic fate, died at the
hands of 13 police officers at the SF Airport Inn on 6-3-05, allegedly
"stopping to breathe" after being restrained in a body wrap for 15
minutes.
Before stepping into the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Chamber, we were forwarned by a city official that although the board
was aware that a group was planning to address them in public
comments, no disturbance would be tolerated, "fill out your slips, no
more than 2 minutes per comment!".
Reminiscent of the former apathic SF Police Commission before November
03 Police reform, Supervisors Mark Church, Jerry Hill, Rich Gordon,
Adrienne Tissier (all of European descent) and Rose Jacobs Gibson
(African American), stood motionless, strictly sticking to the 2
minutes imposed time limit, "Next !", and did not care to ask any
questions to Tanya (Julio's sister), Julio and Mirna Ayala (his
parents), who made a moving appeal to the board, often breaking into
heartwrenching tears (which prompted each time for the corporate press
to swirm upclose, avid for sensational material). Mr. Ayala presented
the board with close to 1000 petitions (some from 32 states outside of
California, and 11 foreign countries),demanding all reports pertaining
to the death of his son, release of the 911 dispatching tape and an
independent federal investigation, along with a letter to the Board,
portraying his family as "Law abiding, hard working Latinos" who fled
disaster, oppression and war in El Salvador to seek refuge in the Land
of Opportunity, where they ended up loosing their beautiful son at the
hands of SSF PD.
Juio's friends described him as a children loving, conscencious
worker, undeserving of such horrible fate, and pleaded the board for
their serious consideration of Julio's death matter. Union workers,
peace activists calmly reiterated the same request: "Do the right
thing! Give us Justice 4 Julio"!
"Any more comments?". "well, we do not have authority to settle this
issue at this hearing, we will review the evidence and get back to you
in 2 weeks". The whole matter was wrapped up in less than 15 minutes
before the board moved on to the next agenda item,without another
glance toward the Ayala's.
Board President Mark Church did, for whatever that was worth, pay
respect to the grieving family. On our way back to San Francisco,
Mirna and Julio Ayala alternatively break into tears. Waves of
wrenching pain and despair constantly tear them apart, over and over,
compiled with the total absence of information, disrespect and
diregard inflicted upon them for the past two and a half month. Each
unanswered appeal to let them know what happened to their son takes a
terrible toll on their emotional health and hope that our community
will honnor their beautiful child...
But the struggle for Justice4Julio will go on !
To send a message of support to the Ayala family, you can write to
Ayalajulio2@aol.com
_xIHonLFVWzf_gsYzvjshKE_mG4n9M> or post a message on
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Julio/
If you have been assaulted by PD, please call (415) 595-8251 Idriss
Stelley Foundation 24HR Bilingual Spa. Crisis line or write to
iolmisha@cs.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Julio/
post?postID=i1UIo34ZldzOXjWQHaaoBau2lOcLaxssqtuPfZS1yKNKEiVKqxvlHwjjs2BPqF
Qrz3fe-v5qSX-M
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18) Pentagon to Gather Data on Students
Opponents Contend Move may Illegally Bypass Privacy Laws
Jonathan Krim, Washington Post
Thursday, June 23, 2005
"Washington -- The Defense Department began working Wednesday
with a private marketing firm to create a database of high
school students ages 16 to 18 and all college students to
help the military identify potential recruits in a time of
dwindling enlistment in some branches."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/23/MNGRODDG201.DTL
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19) U.S. doctors linked to POW `torture'
Guantanamo medical records misused
Basis of interrogators' strategy: Report
TANYA TALAGA AND KAREN PALMER
STAFF REPORTERS
"Medical records compiled by doctors caring for prisoners
at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay are being
tapped to design more effective interrogation techniques,
says an explosive new report."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/
Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1119477015095&call_pageid=9683321
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20) Military Enlists Marketer
to Get Data on Students
for Recruiters
By Mark Mazzetti
Times Staff Writer
June 23, 2005
"WASHINGTON - With the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
making it increasingly hard for the U.S. military to fill
its ranks with recruits, the Pentagon has hired an outside
marketing firm to help compile an extensive database about
teenagers and college students that the military services
could use to target potential enlistees."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-
privacy23jun23,1,5537670,print.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0623-03.htm
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