---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Lynne Stewart ALERT, ALERT, ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10/16 is Sentence Day.
OK, we all want and need to do all we can to keep
Lynne out of Federal Prison, right?

Two old friends (one from college, one from pre-
kindergarten) were hanging out near DC last weekend,
and worrying about Lynne and washing it all down
with vino when they thought up a great idea...
Everybody can make CONTACT Where you live,
work, pray, meet, talk, speak, draw, cook, etc.
Many of Lynne’s supporters are in Chicago, Portland,
Oakland, St. Petersburg, Burlington, Boston,
San Diego, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Providence,
Atlanta....... Not in the NYC area, Unable to Attend Events

Get on your RADIO/ TV (call in to talk shows and
make your comment relevant to Lynne’s sentencing,
ask the people who host radio, tv,web sites
to feature Lynne’s story in the next two weeks)!

Write a letter to the Editor–tie it to something
recent ie destruction of habeas corpus!

Get a local paper to publish a Lynne story
or take out an ad with others!

Where people gather–church, Your livingroom,
temple, mosque-Make an announcement, say
a prayer, show the video, distribute a hand bill!!

Artists, Poets–go to the Malls, the Squares, the
Monuments–Draw, Paint Dedicate it to Lynne,
Speak, Show Videos. Read her letters of Support!!

Host a dinner in your apartment or home, show
the Lynne Stewart video “The Struggle Continues”
or Paul Chan’s (see website) Politics meets Poetics.
Raise funds for the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee.

Go to: www.lynnestewart.org
Call us 212-625-9696

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY!
No reprisals against the students!
Support the anti-Minutemen protesters!
https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr007=e4abpuyud1.app6a&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=185

Watch video of students kicking out Minuteman Jim Gilchrist
at Columbia University in New York
http://www.bwog.net/index.php?page=post&article_id=2265

Minutemen suffer defeat at Columbia University
Jim Gilchrist terminates speech in face of angry opposition
www.answercoalition.org
Please circulate widely

A major demonstration tonight resulted in a serious setback
for the Minutemen organization. Jim Gilchrist, the founder
of the Minutemen, an organization which dispatches armed
vigilantes at the U.S.-Mexican border, was invited by the
Columbia University Republicans to speak at the Roone
Arledge auditorium on campus.

Many hundreds of protesters filled up the blocks outside
the auditorium, in a demonstration initiated by the Chicano
Caucus of Columbia University and supported by the ANSWER
Coalition. Inside the hall, the overwhelming number of
attendees were clearly opposed to the racist message
of the Minutemen. When Gilchrist began to speak, the
students inside exercised their Free Speech rights by
loudly protesting the presence of this fascist on their
campus. More than 20 students - including several ANSWER
activists - occupied the stage where they were violently
attacked by thugs working with the Minutemen. In spite
of the violent attacks against them, they held their ground,
and Gilchrist terminated his speech.

Minutemen thugs tear at ANSWER banner"Progressive students
of all backgrounds -- immigrant and non-immigrant, Black,
Latino, Asian, Arab and white -- mobilized to meet this racist
provocation. Jim Gilchrist was hoping to sell his message of hate
but the people were not buying. Let tonight be a model for others
around the country. And let it be a lesson to the Minutemen:
wherever they go, they will be confronted. We have an obligation
to the millions of immigrants in this country who are being
demonized and targeted by the Minutemen, KKK and other
racists," said Karina Garcia, Political Chair of Chicano Caucus.

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311
Seattle: 206-568-1661

*Full statement of those who occupied the stage*

October 6, 2006

In the aftermath of the protest on the night of October 4 against Jim
Gilchrist and the racist Minutemen at Roone Arledge auditorium, we want to
state clearly: We are proud to send the message to the country that racist
and fascist groups are not welcome at Columbia or in New York City.

As Chicanos and Latinos, alongside African Americans and progressive people
of other nationalities, we took it as our responsibility to give voice to
the undocumented immigrant families who live in fear at terrorist vigilante
groups like the Minutemen. Armed patrols by these groups force more and more
people desperate for work to find even more hazardous ways into the United
States. Over 3,000 people—including hundreds of children—have died in the
desert. Their blood is on the hands of Gilchrist and his thugs.

Fascist scapegoating is not up for academic discussion. Like Hitler in
pre-Nazi Germany, Gilchrist and the Minutemen attempt to demonize
foreign-born poor people, blaming "illegals" for society's problems. His
group doesn't present reasoned debate. It spouts racism and hatred, aiming
to divide people against one another.

Regardless of how Gilchrist tries to sanitize his message for national
audiences, more candid moments tell the real story. Gilchrist is a member of
the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, which is now notorious for
referring to Mexicans as "savages." Speaking about Mexicans and Central
American immigrants, Minuteman co-founder Chris Simcox once said, "They have
no problem slitting your throat and taking your money or selling drugs to
your kids or raping your daughter and they are evil people."

This vile racism translates directly into violence on the ground. "It should
be legal to kill illegals," said one Minutemen volunteer. "Just shoot 'em on
sight. That's my immigration policy recommendation." It is no wonder that
neo-Nazi organizations like the National Alliance praise the Minuteman
Project in their publications, and have members signing up for Minutemen
militias.

We are sure that if the Nazi party held a public meeting on campus, Jewish
groups would be there to challenge them—so would we. We are sure that if the
Ku Klux Klan held a public meeting on campus, African American groups would
be there to challenge them—so would we. The Minutemen are no different.

We are pleased that an overwhelming number of people answered our call to
demonstrate against the racist, fascist Minutemen the night of October 4.
The hundreds of people outside Roone Arledge chanting, "Minutemen, Nazis,
KKK, racists, fascists, go away!" represented students and community people
from all walks of life. Inside the auditorium, perhaps as much as 80 percent
of the crowd was repelled by the Minutemen's message of hate.

When we walked on stage last night with anti-racist banners for immigrant
rights, we were met with violent attack by Gilchrist's goons. We were the
ones who were punched and kicked. We are proud that despite these attacks,
we held our ground. When Gilchrist walked off stage, it was because he and
his Minutemen outfit were isolated.

This is not an issue of free speech. The Minutemen were able to reserve a
hall at our university and had the protection of campus security and the
NYPD—all to espouse their hate speech. We along with hundreds of others
expressed our right to speak and protest.

Over the last 50 years, throughout the Civil Rights movement and the women's
rights movement, ultra-right wing groups have routinely used violence,
lynchings, armed assaults and bombings against oppressed people. Yet when we
organize to oppose them to express our contempt for their violence, we are
criticized for inhibiting the free speech of the ones who perpetrate
violence.

We thank everyone who joined our protest last night, inside and outside of
the auditorium.

Shame on the Columbia University administration for launching an
investigation of peaceful protesters, and failing to condemn the
perpetrators of violence. Shame on the College Republicans for inviting this
fascist thug and provoking such outrage on our campus.

OPEN LETTER TO COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
By Bonnie Weinstein

The Minutemen, by their very definition
of themselves as a private
military force dedicated to carrying
our their own interpretation of the
law--are terrorists--real terrorists.
They have killed and murdered innocent
people just trying to get to a place where
they can survive--live--work--raise their
children.

These Minutemen hunt them down like
they are animals. And have killed!
They sabotage humanitarian efforts to
leave water to prevent people from
dying of thirst--a horrible death
that hundreds succumb to every year
in their ever longer and more difficult
journey!

The Minutemen slash humanitarian bottles
of water when they come across them. They
have even shot people and, have expressed
publicly, that they wish they could use their
guns routinely! They are Minutemen because
they would like to be able to shoot
to kill anyone trying to cross the
border into this, the country
of immigrants--the USA.

Freedom and justice-loving people have
every right to stand up and protest them
at every conceivable opportunity that they
use to spread their hatred and violence!
Yes, they have the right to speak but
we have the right to speak louder!
When they speak their racist hatred
we shall shout louder still!

This is not a question of the Minutemen's
freedom of speech, but of the guns they
reserve for defenseless immigrant families--
the night vision goggles and the U.S. military
drones--the heat seeking, night-vision unmanned
planes that relay their images to Minutemen
loaded with high-tech guns and equipment.
They work together with the U.S. border patrol
--just good old boys helping out with their finger
on the trigger itching to get the go-ahead
to commit mass slaughter.

They even went to the home of a recluse.
An independent-minded woman who lives
alone in the Arizona desert with her pets.
She had noticed the remains of people trying
to cross the border and using her property
as a resting stop. Knowing how far away
she herself was to any source of water,
(she had her water trucked in regularly)
and not wanting anyone to die of thirst
so close to her water supply and on her
land, she put out bottles of water for
whoever needed it.

The Minutemen got wind of this and invaded
her land and destroyed the bottles!
And, if the new immigration laws are put into
effect she can be charged as a criminal for
her humanitarian effort on her own property.

What kind of society makes humanitarian
efforts towards human beings looking for work
a crime, and torture of prisoners legal? And how
is trying to look for work wherever one can find
it become a crime anyway? What about the basic
human right to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness?

Why is it OK for American businesses to rake in
billions of dollars of profits from the Fair Trade
Agreement and NAFTA etc., that put much of the
Mexican people out of work, and it is a crime for
those very same people to seek work in the country
raking in the profits across those same borders?
And on land that was, for a large part, originally
theirs in the first place!

Why is it legal for profits to cross all borders back
into the deep, deep pockets of American big business
and it's a crime for a Mexican-born worker to work
on American soil?

And "protecting our borders" is not helping American
workers. On the contrary, being able to hire cheap
labor in the first place is what's hurting the American
worker. The best defense American workers have is to
unite with their brothers and sisters struggling to
survive all over the world--and demand that those
workers get the same decent wages and
benefits as they get! Every worker has a
right to a decent life! And workers united are a powerful
force. This is the side of decency!

The Minutemen are on the side of U.S. big business
who are stealing from the poor and giving to the wealthy.
Their modus operandi is to make a scapegoat of
Latin American workers. To portray them as enemies
--as rats that are infesting our land and stealing
our jobs when it is American big business seeking
out the poorest paid workers throughout the world
to manufacture their Nikes and IPods who are the
thieves! To pay those workers a tiny fraction
of what their American counterparts were making
until they were laid off, that is, while raking in
the profits at the highest rates ever before.

It is in the interests of all workers to defend the
most oppressed workers among us no matter
where they are in the world against such
organizations as the Minutemen
and against the U.S. government--the most
violent government that has ever existed.
Both Democrats and Republicans voted
100 to 0 to approve the Pentagon budget--
the biggest war budget ever, for the most
violent government in the world.

The division between the rich and the poor
is not just growing in numbers, it is growing
psychologically, emotionally, spiritually,
concretely, socially and politically!

We will not stand by as you persecute those opposed
to this violence and racism and who bravely
stand up against it! It is our duty to stand up and
fight for the kind of world we want and against
the return to barbarism and rule by force of violence
and intimidation and para-military assault on our own
citizens in their own school!

I am appalled that the Columbia administration has
rushed to defend these criminals, and I demand that
no reprisals be taken against the courageous protesters,
who stood up against these armed racist vigilantes.

The world is watching what you do!

Sincerely,

Bonnie Weinstein

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STAND UP FOR LYNNE STEWART ON OCTOBER 15 AND 16!

Friends & Americans--

Throughout American history, a number
of attorneys have placed people's
needs and human rights before
personal desire for wealth and position. Most
toil in obscurity, defending the
indigent in criminal cases that few lawyers
care to touch, others support mothers
and children in the least glamorous of
civil cases, helping them to remain in
their homes and to put food on the
table.

A few, like the late Bill Kunstler, rise
to fame, devote themselves to
people's movements, and live their
later days, with no lack of stress, but
in the comfort of family and friends.

Rarely does an attorney find herself
in a controversy as notorious as that
of her best known clients; rarely does
a grandmother, suffering from cancer,
disbarred from her livelihood, ever-
vigilant for the rights of all of us,
face the fate of a political prisoner,
face the abyss of the American (could
it happen here?) gulag.

I do not think that I overstate
the case when I make the claim that one
school-teacher-turned-lawyer
has become exemplary in the
history of people's movements
for her singular dedication
to the rule of law, democratic
principles, and the human rights
of the powerless, poor and reviled.

Lynne Stewart is not now, nor
has she ever been, a terrorist.

Lynne Stewart has been tried and
convicted for her sheroic devotion to the
American Constitution.

Lynne Stewart has been tried and
convicted by a government that has
relentlessly transferred power from
the American people to a seemingly
conscienceless coterie of neo-cons,
con-artists and enablers (nominal
dissenters better known for being
nowhere when we need them).

Please read "The Case of Lynne Stewart"
by Heidi Boghosian and Ian Head, a
publication of the National Lawyers
Guild, and visit the website,
www.lynnestewart.org. Please investigate
this case further on your own.
I think that you will be convinced
that Lynne's case is a watershed in our
ongoing struggle for human rights.

It is not for Lynne alone that I ask
you to stand up, but for yourself and
for your friends and for all those
who stand up to injustices known and
unimaginable. After all, who
is going to defend all of us?

Please prioritize your schedule
for Sunday, October 15 and Monday, October
16. Please add the following
information to your calendar.

SUNDAY, October 15, 4:00 PM
RALLY AND TRIBUTE
Riverside Church, between 120 & 122nd
Street and Riverside Drive, Manhattan
(#1 or 9 to 125th Street)
On the eve of the sentencing, show
your support and love for Lynne Stewart.
A tribute to her legal career and
to her political life. Speakers and
Entertainment include Vinie Burrows,
Michael Warren, Raging Grannies, Peace
Grannies, Howie Hawkins, Michael Smith,
Michael Ratner, Professor Louie,
Ralph Shoeman, Jeff Mackler,
Black Waxx, and more!

MONDAY, October 16, 8:00 AM
RALLY AND SENTENCING
Tom Paine Park (Foley Square) Centre St
and Worth St, Manhattan
(#6, J, M to Brooklyn Bridge or Chambers Street)
Rally to accompany Lynne Stewart to Court.
Demonstrate your support. You
cannot be too busy for this historic
moment. One to tell your
grandchildren about. Crucial
to the atmosphere of outraged citizenry we
need. Be there for the early rally.
Go with Lynne to court. If there‚s no
room... rally outside the courthouse in the square.

Thank you.

--zool

Paul H. Zulkowitz
The Art & Politics of Justice & Joy
1068 Highland Place
Woodmere NY 11598
zoolTheArtandPolitics@hotmail.com
646-549-1615

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QUOTE
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"You can't talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro
without talking about billions of dollars. You can't talk about
ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken
out of slums .... we are treading in difficult water, because
it really means that we are saying that something is wrong
.... with capitalism .... There must be a better distribution of wealth
and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism."
— Reverend Martin Luther King
(Frogmore, S.C. November 14, 1966)

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U.S. Out of Iraq Now! We Are the Majority!
End Colonial Occupation from Iraq,
to Palestine, Haiti, and Everywhere!
October 28, 2006, 12 Noon, U.N. Plaza, S.F.
Part of the Locally Coordinated Anti-War Protests from Coast to Coast
Vote With Your Feet … and Your Voices, and Banners, and Signs!
Let Every Politician Feel the Power of the People!
415-821-6545
answer@actionsf.org
http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7836
For more info or to volunteer,
call 415-821-6545.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

ANSWER POSTERING CASE HEARING UPDATE:

A hearing was held Thursday, September 28th at
San Francisco Superior Court. The judge ruled
later that week against A.N.S.W.E.R.
To find out how you can help, or if you would like to read
a copy of attorney Ben Rosenfeld’s reply to the city's response
to our lawsuit, which summarizes the main points of our position,
please contact ANSWER at 415-821-6545 or
answer@actionsf.org.

We extend our solidarity to ANSWER in their struggle against the City
and County of San Francisco who, acting as a body, are increasingly
limiting our right to free speech (including the right to post public
announcements--a centuries-old tradition of mass communication
among the poor) and the right to free assembly--as was experienced
by the group People United for General and Unconditional Amnesty
to All, who were denied their permits for a rally on 24th and Mission
Street on Saturday, September 16 based upon a false report by
the Mission Police Station representative at the permit hearing.
It is also true that the DPT ISCOTT hearing never goes against
Police recommendations. So, there you have it, the Police and
their generals have the last say on permits in SF!

Paid advertising in the mass media is prohibitive. Only those with millions
of dollars to spend for advertising are allowed a public voice.
Our society is plastered with product publicity everywhere our
eyes look--in shop windows, billboards, on buildings, signs
on trucks as we drive by--we are inundated with commercial pollution--
in our line of site; on the airwaves; and on TV? Forget about it!

Meanwhile the politicians (all wealthy or wannabes themselves)
claim to represent the views of the people while at the same time,
silencing them by requiring exorbitant fees and denying permits--
not to speak of inflicting ridiculous fines such as they are trying
to do to ANSWER.

(The Department of Public Works (DPW) once tried to charge
the person who applied for the permits for Feb. 16, 2001 protests
over $23,000.00 for "clean-up of Market Street" after the
massive march of over 500,000 people from Justin Herman
Plaza to the Civic Center in solidarity with "THE WORLD SAYS
NO TO WAR" International protest against the impending war on Iraq
held across the world that weekend.)

Right here in San Francisco the fees for permits have skyrocketed--
a sound permit that used to cost $65.00 in 2001 costs $453.20 now!
And the permit process is long and complicated. The permit
application for DPT, in addition, costs over $200.00, is 17 pages
long and full of rules and regulations that must be followed.

What's worse, both the City and County and the ACLU have
agreed that while we have the right to free speech, the City
and County does, indeed, have the right to say when and where
we may or may not exercise it.

I don't quite remember when we voted for such things!

WE SAY NO!

The City's obligation is to make sure our right to organize,
publicize and protest is protected! And that our right to free
speech and the right to have direct contact with our own
community is guaranteed!

We must be able to post public events, and hold public
events where the people are. The San Francisco
Police Department routinely protects the rights of the Zionists
when they want to hold counter-demonstrations to our
antiwar actions. They also protect the "Right to Lifers" when
they want to march down San Francisco's Embarcadero--right
here in San Francisco, the Pro-Choice City!

The San Francisco Police Department goes all out to
accommodate them! WHY NOT US!

ANSWER POSTERING CASE:

We urge you to support ANSWER's free speech lawsuit
against the San Francisco Department of Public Works (DPW).

As you may be aware from articles that have recently appeared
in the Bay Guardian, the SF Weekly and elsewhere, the DPW
is attempting to impose fines that now total more than $45,000
against the local ANSWER Coalition for postering violations. If the
city wins, it means that if your group puts out a leaflet about
a meeting and a person you handed it to goes and posts it
up on a lamppost, your group will be held liable for damages
automatically by the City and County.

This is what's at stake here. A freedom-loving city would
build postering kiosks around all the lampposts throughout
the city where neighbors could communicate with neighbors.
Make them attractive and easy for the community to maintain
themselves.

What about those lost dog, cat, bird flyers that get posted
up all over. Is the city going to fine grandma for trying to find
her lost cat?

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!VIVA FIDEL! LONG LIVE FIDEL! LONG LIVE THE CUBAN REVOLUTION!
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

SCROLL DOWN TO READ:
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
ARTICLES IN FULL
LINKS ONLY

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EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
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South Bay Mobilization and Friends of South Asia
present

"One Country:
A Bold Proposal to End the
Israeli-Palestinian Impasse"
A Talk by Ali Abunimah
 
Saturday, October 14th, 2:00 pm

Clear-eyed, sharply reasoned, and compassionate,
One Country proposes a radical alternative: to revive
an old and neglected idea of one state shared by two
peoples.

Ali Abunimah shows how the two are by now
so intertwined—geographically and economically—
that separation cannot lead to the security Israelis
need or the rights Palestinians must have.

Ali Abunimah is a prominent Palestinian author, media
voice, and frequent commentator on KPFA. He is the
founder of Electronic Intifada, electronicintifada.net,
an internet gateway about Palestine and the Palestine
– Israeli conflict.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Urgent call from October 22 Coalition against Police Brutality, SF
October 22 Coalition against Police Brutality, Repression
and Criinalization of a generation
National Day of Protest, March and Rally in SF, Planning
NO MORE STOLEN LIVES ! NO MAS VIDAS ROBADAS !
Contact:
mesha Monge-Irizarry
Idriss Stelley Foundation
(415) 595-8251 24HR Bilingual Spa. Crisis line
iolmisha@cs. com
How: Already involved are : October 22 Bay Area, Idriss
Stelley Foundation, SF CEDP (Campaign to End the Death
Penalty, ISO (International Socialist Organization, Bay Area),
Bay Area Families of Victims and Survivors of Police brutality,
Code Pink
http://www.october22.org/
GET INVOLVED: To join our mailing list, please write to:
sf1022-talk-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

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U.S. Out of Iraq Now! We Are the Majority!
End Colonial Occupation from Iraq,
to Palestine, Haiti, and Everywhere!
October 28, 2006, 12 Noon, U.N. Plaza, S.F.
Part of the Locally Coordinated Anti-War Protests from Coast to Coast
Vote With Your Feet … and Your Voices, and Banners, and Signs!
Let Every Politician Feel the Power of the People!
http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7836

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

End Canada's Occupation of Afghanistan!
Call for action on October 28, 2006

This call for a pan-Canadian day of action, co-signed by the
Canadian Peace Alliance, the Canadian Islamic Congress, the
Canadian Labour Congress and the Montreal coalition Echec
a la Guerre, is being distributed and discussed at the World Peace
Forum now taking place in Vancouver. -SV The Collectif Échec
à la guerre, Canadian Peace Alliance, the Canadian Labour Congress,
and the Canadian Islamic Congress are jointly calling for a pan-
Canadian day of protest this October 28th, 2006, to bring Canadian
troops home from Afghanistan.

On that day, people all across the country will unite to tell
Stephen Harper that we are opposed to
his wholehearted support for Canadian and U.S. militarism.
This October marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion and
occupation of Afghanistan, and the people of that country are
still suffering from the ravages of war. Reconstruction in the
country is at a standstill and the needs of the Afghan people
are not being met. The rule of the new Afghan State, made
up largely of drug running warlords, will not realize the
democratic aspirations of the people there. In fact, according
to Human Rights Watch reports, the human rights record
of those warlords in recent years has not been better than
the Taliban.

We are told that the purpose of this war is to root out terrorism
and protect our societies, yet the heavy-handed approach of
a military occupation trying to impose a US-friendly
government on the Afghan people will force more Afghans
to become part of the resistance movement. It will also
make our societies more -- not less -- likely to see terrorist
attacks.

No discussion on military tactics in the House of Commons
will change that reality. Indeed, violence is increasing with
more attacks on both coalition troops and on Afghan civilians.
While individual Canadian soldiers may have gone to Afghanistan
with the best of intentions, they are operating under the
auspices of a US-led state building project that cares little
or the needs of the Afghan people. US and Canadian interests
rest with the massive $3.2 billion Trans Afghan Pipeline (TAP)
project, which will bring oil from the Caspian region through
southern Afghanistan (where Canada is stationed) and onto the
ports of Pakistan.

It has been no secret that the TAP has dominated US foreign
policy towards Afghanistan for the last decade. Now Canadian
oil and gas corporations have their own interests in the TAP.
Over the last decade, the role of the Canadian Armed Forces
abroad has changed, and Canadian foreign policy has become
a replica of the US empire-building rhetoric. The end result
of this process is now plain to see with the role of our troops
in Southern Afghanistan, with the enormous budget increases
for war expenditures and "security," with the Bush-style speeches
of Stephen Harper, and with the fear campaigns around
"homegrown terrorism" to foster support for those nefarious
changes.

It is this very course that will get young Canadian soldiers killed,
that will endanger our society and consume more and more
of its resources for destruction and death in Afghanistan.
We demand a freeze in defense and security budgets until
an in-depth public discussion is held on those issues across
Canada. The mission in Afghanistan has already cost Canadians
more than $4 billion. That money could have been used to fund
human needs in Canada or abroad. Instead it is being used
to kill civilians in Afghanistan and advance the interests
of corporations.

On October 28th, stand up and be counted.
Canadian Troops Out of Afghanistan Now!

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VOICES OF A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
Thursday, November 9, 2006 - 7:30 pm
Berkeley Community Theatre, 1930 Allston Way
Voices of a People's History of the United States
Dramatic Readings Celebrating the Enduring Spirit of Dissent
The Middle East Children's Alliance, Speak Out,
Vanguard Public Foundation and KPFA 94.1FM present:
The Bay Area Premiere of Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's

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San Francisco Board of Education Meeting
Tuesday, November 14th, 7PM
555 Franklin Street, 1st Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
415/241-6427
The Board will vote on a resolution to phase out JROTC.

JROTC facts:

Review of the JROTC Curriculum
http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/militarism-in-schools/JROTC-review.htm

Making Soldiers - PDF
http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/militarism-in-schools/msitps.pdf

Report Says JROTC Benefits Students; Calls for More Funding for Programs
By Julie Blair
September 29, 1999
http://www.jrotc.org/jrotc_benifits.htm

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Close the SOA and Change Oppressive U.S. Foreign Policy
Nov. 17-19, 2006 - Converge on Fort Benning, Georgia

People's Movements across the Americas are becoming increasingly more
powerful. Military "solutions" to social problems as supported by
institutions like the School of the Americas were unable to squash their
voices, and the call for justice and accountability is getting louder each
day.

Add your voice to the chorus, demand justice for all the people of the
Americas and engage in nonviolent direct action to close the SOA and
change oppressive U.S. foreign policy.

With former SOA graduates being unmasked in Chile, Argentina, Colombia,
Paraguay, Honduras, and Peru for their crimes against humanity, and with
the blatant similarities between the interrogation methods and torture
methods used at Abu Ghraib and those described in human rights abuse cases
in Latin America, the SOA/WHINSEC must be held accountable!

Visit http://www.soaw.org to learn more about the November Vigil, hotel
and travel information, the November Organizing Packet, and more.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Shop for a Donation at Al-Awda!

Interested in furthering your knowledge about Palestine
and its people?

Want to help make the Palestinian Right to Return a reality?

Looking for ways to show your support for Palestine and
Palestinian refugees?

Why not shop for a donation at Al-Awda
http://al-awda.org/shop.html
and help support a great organization and cause!!

Al-Awda offers a variety of educational materials including interesting
and unique books on everything from oral histories, photo books
on Palestinian refugees, to autobiographies, narratives, political
analysis, and culture. We also have historical maps of Palestine
(in Arabic and English), educational films, flags of various sizes,
and colorful greeting cards created by Palestinian children.

You can also show your support for a Free Palestine, and wear with
pride, great looking T-shirts, pendants, and a variety of Palestine pins.

Shop for a Donation at Al-Awda!

Visit http://al-awda.org/shop.html for these great items, and more!

The Educational Supplies Division
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://al-awda.org

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC), is a broad-
based, non-partisan, democratic, and charitable organization of
grassroots activists and students committed to comprehensive public
education about the rights of all Palestinian refugees to return to their
homes and lands of origin, and to full restitution for all their confiscated
and destroyed property in accordance with the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, International law and the numerous United Nations
Resolutions upholding such rights (see FactSheet). Al-Awda, PRRC
is a not for profit tax-exempt educational and charitable 501(c)(3)
organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the
United States of America. Under IRS guidelines, your donations
to Al-Awda, PRRC are tax-deductible.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Before You Enlist
Excellent flash film that should be shown to all students.
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=ZFsaGv6cefw

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

In an interview in March 1995 entitled, "Jesse Helms: Setting the
Record Straight" that appeared in the Middle East Quarterly, Helms
said, "I have long believed that if the United States is going to give
money to Israel, it should be paid out of the Department of Defense
budget. My question is this: If Israel did not exist, what would
U.S. defense costs in the Middle East be? Israel is at least the
equivalent of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Middle East. Without
Israel promoting its and America's common interests, we would
be badly off indeed."
(Jesse Helms was the senior senator from North Carolina and the
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time.)
http://www.meforum.org/article/244

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

A CALL TO SUPPORT THE CASE OF ELVIRA ARELLANO
Stand in solidarity with all immigrants, documented and undocumented

The IAC urges you to support the case of Elvira Arellano. Elvira is
an undocumented worker who is taking a heroic stand against
deportations and fighting for her rights. She is a native of Michoacán,
Mexico who came to the U.S. like many of the other 12 million
undocumented in this country, in search of work and a better life.

In 2002, Elvira was detained by Homeland Security agents in an
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweep at O’Hare Airport
in Chicago under the guise of allegedly looking for “terrorists”. She
was detained by the Department of Homeland Security for using
a false social security number on her job at O’Hare.

On August 18, 2006 Elvira Arellano and her seven year old son,
Saul who is a US citizen, took sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist
Church in Chicago instead of reporting for deportation, primarily
because Saul has health problems. She has pledged to live indefinitely
in the church until granted a reprieve.

Elvira is a well known activist, representing many families in
Congressional hearings and speaking on behalf of immigrant rights.
She worked to organize in July 2005 a march of 50,000 for immigrant
rights in Chicago, and went on a hunger strike to support workers who
were picked up by ICE prior to the historic May 1st boycott in 2006.
Arellano was a founder of both La Familia Latina Unida and the
Coalition of African Arab Asian European and Latino Immigrants
of Illinois (CAAAELII).

The case of Elvira Arellano is a just case

Elvira Arellano has become the symbol of resistance to the heartless
and callous deportations that are sweeping the country. Despite
a legislative standstill in Congress, not only are deportations
escalating, local officials around the nation are implementing
de facto immigration policy that amount to a witch-hunt against
immigrants. A case in point is the anti-immigrant ordinance that
passed in July in Hazelton, PA.

Due to her heroic stand, a group of Black ministers spoke last
week at Adalberto Methodist of the comparisons of Arellano
to Rosa Parks. Reverend Albert Tyson said he hopes “their
support would increase the bonds between Latinos and African-
Americans.” At the meeting Arellano said, “I don’t only speak
for me and my son, but for millions of families like mine.”
Supporters from the predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood
chanted, “Luchando mano y mano, Boriqua y Mexicano!”
(“Fighting hand in hand, Puerto Rican and Mexican!”)

Elvira Arellano is the perfect example that the anti-immigrant
hysteria sweeping the country is an inhumane situation that
has become intolerable. The human rights of immigrants are
being cruelly violated under the guise of fighting terrorism
or stopping “illegal” immigration. In fact, no human being
is illegal and whether in the U.S. documented or undocumented,
immigrants have a right to live in peace, without fear of evictions
from their homes or the country.

How you can help Elvira:

1. Write letters to Illinois Senators Richard Durbin and Barack
Obama as well as your own legislator urging them to prevent
her deportation.

For Senator Durbin visit: http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm#contact
For Senator Obama: http://obama.senate.gov/contact/index.php

2. Send Letters to the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune
asking them to stop demonizing Elvira as well as all immigrants.
Their emails are letters@suntimes.com and ctc-tribletter@tribune.com.

3. Send letters of support directly to Elvira at the organization she works
with and who has been spearheading her support, Sin Fronteras
at Centro Sin Fronteras 2300 S. Blue Island Ave., Chicago IL 60608
or visit the website: www.legalizationyes.com .
For Spanish speakers visit:
www.legalizacionsi.com

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

TWO AMICUS BRIEFS FILED FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL WITH
THE 3RD CIRCUIT FEDERAL APPEALS COURT IN JULY 2006

These pdf files can be found on Michael Schiffmann's web site at:

http://againstthecrimeofsilence.de/english/copy_of_mumia/legalarchive/

The first brief is from the National Lawyers Guild.
The second brief is from the NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund, Inc.

Howard Keylor
For the Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
www.laboractionmumia.org.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

SIR! NO SIR!
I urge everyone to get a copy of "Sir! No Sir!" at:
http://www.sirnosir.com/
It is an extremely informative and powerful film
of utmost importance today. I was a participant
in the anti-Vietnam war movement. What a
powerful thing it was to see troops in uniform
leading the march against the war! If you would
like to read more here are two very good
publications:

Out Now!: A Participant's Account of the Movement
in the United States Against the Vietnam War
by Fred Halstead (Hardcover - Jun 1978)

and:

GIs speak out against the war;: The case of the
Ft. Jackson 8; by Fred Halstead (Unknown Binding - 1970).

Both available at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/103-1123166-0136605?search-alias=books&rank=+availability,-proj-total-margin&field-author=Fred%20Halstead

In solidarity,

Bonnie Weinstein

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Endorse the following petition:
Don't Let Idaho Kill Endangered Wolves
Target: Fish and Wildlife Service
Sponsor: Defenders of Wildlife
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/664280276?z00m=99090&z00m=99090<l=1155834550

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

END ALL U.S. AID TO ISRAEL!
Stop funding Israel's war against Palestine
Complete the form at the website listed below with your information.
Personalize the message text on the right with
your own words, if you wish.
Click the Next Step button to send your letter
to these decision makers:
President George W. Bush
Vice President Richard 'Dick' B. Cheney
Your Senators
Your Representative
Go here to register your outrage:
https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Advocacy?
JServSessionIdr003=cga2p2o6x1.app2a&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=177

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Idriss Stelley Foundation is in critical financial crisis, please help !
ISF is in critical financial crisis, and might be forced to close
its doors in a couple of months due to lack of funds to cover
DSL, SBC and utilities, which is a disaster for our numerous
clients, since the are the only CBO providing direct services
to Victims (as well as extended failies) of police misconduct
for the whole city of SF. Any donation, big or small will help
us stay alive until we obtain our 501-c3 nonprofit Federal
Status! Checks can me made out to
ISF, ( 4921 3rd St , SF CA 94124 ). Please consider to volunteer
or apply for internship to help covering our 24HR Crisis line,
provide one on one couseling and co facilitate our support
groups, M.C a show on SF Village Voice, insure a 2hr block
of time at ISF, moderate one of our 26 websites for ISF clients !
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo9ewi/idrissstelleyfoundation/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/isf23/
Report Police Brutality
24HR Bilingual hotline
(415) 595-8251
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Justice4Asa/

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Appeal for funds:
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
Visit the Dahr Jamail Iraq website http://dahrjamailiraq.com
Request for Support
Dahr Jamail will soon return to the Middle East to continue his
independent reporting. As usual, reporting independently is a costly
enterprise; for example, an average hotel room is $50, a fixer runs $50
per day, and phone/food average $25 per day. Dahr will report from the
Middle East for one month, and thus needs to raise $5,750 in order to
cover his plane ticket and daily operating expenses.
A rare opportunity has arisen for Dahr to cover several stories
regarding the occupation of Iraq, as well as U.S. policy in the region,
which have been entirely absent from mainstream media.
With the need for independent, unfiltered information greater than ever,
your financial support is deeply appreciated. Without donations from
readers, ongoing independent reports from Dahr are simply not possible.
All donations go directly towards covering Dahr's on the ground
operating expenses.
(c)2006 Dahr Jamail.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Legal update on Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case
Excerpts from a letter written by Robert R. Bryan, the lead attorney
for death row political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal.
...On July 20, 2006, we filed the Brief of Appellee and Cross
Appellant, Mumia Abu-Jamal, in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia.
http://www.workers.org/2006/us/mumia-0810/

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Today in Palestine!
For up to date information on Israeli's brutal attack on
human rights and freedom in Palestine and Lebanon go to:
http://www.theheadlines.org

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

For a great car magnet--a black ribbon with the words, "Bring
the troops home now!" written in red, and it also comes in a
lapel pin!--go to:
(Put out by A.N.S.W.E.R.)
https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Ecommerce?store_id=1621

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF ZIONISM
BY RALPH SCHOENMAN
Essential reading for understanding the development of Zionism
and Israel in the service of British and USA imperialism.
The full text of the book can be found for free at:
http://takingaim.info/hhz/index.htm

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JOIN THE LYNNE STEWAR DEFENSE
For those of you who don't know who Lynne Stewart is, go to
www.lynnestewart.org and get acquainted with Lynne and her
cause. Lynne is a criminal defense attorney who is being persecuted
for representing people charged with heinous crimes. It is a bedrock
of our legal system that every criminal defendant has a right to a
lawyer. Persecuting Lynne is an attempt to terrorize and intimidate
all criminal defense attorneys in this country so they will stop
representing unpopular people. If this happens, the fascist takeover
of this nation will be complete. We urge you all to go the website,
familiarize yourselves with Lynne and her battle for justice
www.lynnestewart.org

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO FREE THE CUBAN FIVE
Comité Nacional por la Libertad de los Cinco Cubanos
Who are the Cuban Five?
The Cuban Five are five Cuban men who are in U.S. prison, serving
four life sentences and 75 years collectively, after being wrongly
convicted in U.S. federal court in Miami, on June 8, 2001.
They are Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero,
Fernando González and René González.
The Five were falsely accused by the U.S. government of committing
espionage conspiracy against the United States, and other related
charges.
But the Five pointed out vigorously in their defense that they were
involved in monitoring the actions of Miami-based terrorist groups,
in order to prevent terrorist attacks on their country of Cuba.
The Five’s actions were never directed at the U.S. government.
They never harmed anyone nor ever possessed nor used any
weapons while in the United States.
The Cuban Five’s mission was to stop terrorism
For more than 40 years, anti-Cuba terrorist organizations based
in Miami have engaged in countless terrorist activities against
Cuba, and against anyone who advocates a normalization
of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. More than 3,000 Cubans
have died as a result of these terrorists’ attacks.

Gerardo Hernández, 2 Life Sentences
Antonio Guerrero, Life Sentence
Ramon Labañino, Life Sentence
Fernando González, 19 Years
René González, 15 Years

Free The Cuban Five Held Unjustly In The U.S.!
http://www.freethefive.org/

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Eyewitness Account from Oaxaca
A website is now being circulated that has up-to-date info
and video that can be downloaded of the police action and
developments in Oaxaca. For those who have not seen it
elsewhere, the website is:
www.mexico.indymedia.org/oaxaca
http://www.mexico.indymedia.org/oaxaca

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

REMINDER TO ALL GROUPS: BE SURE AND POST ALL ACTIONS AND
EVENTS TO WWW.INDYBAY.ORG TO REACH THE MOST PEOPLE
AGAINST THE WAR IN THE BAY AREA!
http://www.indybay.org

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Iraq Body Count
For current totals, see our database page.
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/press/pr13.php

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

The Cost of War
[Over three-hundred-billion so far...bw]
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

"The Democrats always promise to help workers, and the don't!
The Republicans always promise to help business, and the do!"
- Mort Sahl

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
"It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees."
- Emilano Zapata
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Join the Campaign to
Shut Down the Guantanamo Torture Center
Go to:
http://www.shutitdown.org/
to send a letter to Congress and the White House:
Shut Down Guantanamo and all torture centers and prisons.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.ANSWERcoalition.org http://www.actionsf.org
sf@internationalanswer.org
2489 Mission St. Rm. 24
San Francisco: 415-821-6545

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Great Counter-Recruitment Website
http://notyoursoldier.org/article.php?list=type&type=14

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

DEFEND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS AND
CIVIL RIGHTS!

Last summer the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Shanti Sellz and
Daniel Strauss, both 23-year-old volunteers assisting immigrants
on the border, for medically evacuating 3 people in critical
condition from the Arizona desert.

Criminalization for aiding undocumented immigrants already
exists on the books in the state of Arizona. Daniel and Shanti
are targeted to be its first victims. Their arrest and subsequent
prosecution for providing humanitarian aid could result in
a 15-year prison sentence. Any Congressional compromise
with the Sensenbrenner bill (HR 4437) may include these
harmful criminalization provisions. Fight back NOW!

Help stop the criminalization of undocumented immigrants
and those who support them!

For more information call 415-821- 9683.
For information on the Daniel and Shanti Defense Campaign,
visit www.nomoredeaths.org.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

FYI
According to "Minimum Wage History" at
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html "

"Calculated in real 2005 dollars, the 1968 minimum wage was the
highest at $9.12. "The 8 dollar per hour Whole Foods employees
are being paid $1.12 less than the 1968 minimum wage.

"A federal minimum wage was first set in 1938. The graph shows
both nominal (red) and real (blue) minimum wage values. Nominal
values range from 25 cents per hour in 1938 to the current $5.15/hr.
The greatest percentage jump in the minimum wage was in 1950,
when it nearly doubled. The graph adjusts these wages to 2005
dollars (blue line) to show the real value of the minimum wage.
Calculated in real 2005 dollars, the 1968 minimum wage was the
highest at $9.12. Note how the real dollar minimum wage rises and
falls. This is because it gets periodically adjusted by Congress.
The period 1997-2006, is the longest period during which the
minimum wage has not been adjusted. States have departed from
the federal minimum wage. Washington has the highest minimum
wage in the country at $7.63 as of January 1, 2006. Oregon is next
at $7.50. Cities, too, have set minimum wages. Santa Fe, New
Mexico has a minimum wage of $9.50, which is more than double
the state minimum wage at $4.35."

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NO BORDERS! NO WALLS! NO FENCES! GENERAL AMNESTY FOR ALL!
OUR HOMELAND IS WHERE WE LIVE!

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

REPEAL THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT IN 2007!
Check out: 10 EXCELLENT REASONS NOT TO JOIN THE MILITARY
http://www.10reasonsbook.com/
Public Law print of PL 107-110, the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001 [1.8 MB]
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html
Also, the law is up before Congress again in 2007.
See this article from USA Today:
Bipartisan panel to study No Child Left Behind
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
February 13, 2006
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-02-13-education-panel_x.htm

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html
http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/decind.html
http://www.usconstitution.net/declar.html
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1805195.php

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

Bill of Rights
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1805182.php

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------
ARTICLES IN FULL:
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

1) Poor, Black and Dumped On
By BOB HERBERT
October 5, 2006
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/opinion/05herbert.html?hp

2) Police to Start Inspecting Bags on Boston Subway
By KATIE ZEZIMA
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/us/05boston.html?ref=us

3) U.S. Eavesdropping Is Allowed to Continue During Appeal
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/us/05nsa.html?ref=us

4) American Axle Offers Buyouts
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
October 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/business/05axle.html

5) Intelligent, Emotional, Ingenious: the Amazing Truth
about Whales and Dolphins
by Michael McCarthy
October 5, 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1799465.ece

6) Transcript of Sgt. Ricky Clousing describing war crimes in Iraq
On September 16th, Sgt. Ricky Clousing spoke on his witnessing of US war
crimes in Iraq and why he became a resister to this war. The transcript, with
the Q and A session, is available at http://www.traprockpeace.org

8) Deeper and Deeper
New York Times Editorial
October 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/opinion/05thu2.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fEditorials

9) The War Against Wages
By PAUL KRUGMAN
October 6, 2006
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/opinion/06krugman.html?hp

10) Kicked While Down
New York Times Editorial
October 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/opinion/07sat2.html?hp

11) ‘We Will Not Recognize Israel,’ Palestinian Premier Affirms
By GREG MYRE
October 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/world/middleeast/07mideast.html?ref=world

12) New Orleans Population Is Reduced Nearly 60%
By ADAM NOSSITER
October 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/us/07population.html?ref=us

13) After 21 Years, DNA Testing Sets Man Free in Rape Case
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
October 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/nyregion/07rape.html

14) An Economic War
The Truth About the "Embargo" on Cuba
By RICARDO ALARCÓN
"To bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government"
State Department, April 6, 1960
October 5, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/alarcon10052006.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

1) Poor, Black and Dumped On
By BOB HERBERT
October 5, 2006
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/opinion/05herbert.html?hp

Most of the carnage — the terrible illnesses and the premature
deaths — is hidden.

“The people in those agencies who issue the permits, and then
do very little monitoring and very little enforcement in our
communities, they don’t go with us to the emergency rooms
where the children are suffering from serious asthma attacks.
And they certainly don’t go with us to the funeral homes where
we bury people who are 40 years old and have died of cancer.
They don’t see the terrible damage that this stuff is doing.”

Monique Harden, a lawyer and director of a human rights
agency in New Orleans, was talking about a problem that will
get no attention at all in the Congressional elections, which
are primarily about foolishness and the compulsion to deceive.

The evidence has been before us for decades that black people,
other ethnic minorities and some poor whites have been getting
sick and enduring horrible deaths from the filth that they
breathe, eat, drink and otherwise ingest from the garbage
dumps, landfills, incinerators, toxic waste sites, oil refineries,
petrochemical plants and other world-class generators
of pollution that have been deliberately and relentlessly
installed in the neighborhoods where they live, work,
worship and go to school.

Two colossal environmental debacles occurred, for example,
in West Anniston, Ala., a neighborhood that is mostly black
and mostly poor. A chemical plant conveniently located there
produced thousands of pounds of potentially deadly
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) each year. For years
after the danger was apparent, residents were left uninformed.
Some were later found to have the highest concentrations
of PCB’s in their bloodstreams of anyone ever tested.

But the PCB’s from the chemical plant were just one of
many risks faced by the residents. In 2003 the military
began burning deadly chemical weapons stored at the
Anniston Army Depot in West Anniston. Emissions
associated with burning chemical weapons include
dioxins, PCB’s, furans, heavy metals and trace amounts
of nerve and mustard gas agents.

The Rev. Henry Sterling, a pastor in Anniston, told me
with great sadness how he had buried his niece who had
died from cancer when she was just 30, and then two
days later had to bury two other women in their 20’s,
and then the following week two more women in their
late 20’s.

He added, “My secretary was from here, and she was just
32 when she died from cancer. We have young men dying,
too. But during that short period it just happened to be
all women. ”

We’ve known — or should have known — since at least
1987, when a landmark study was published by the
Commission on Racial Justice of the United Church of
Christ, that wildly disproportionate numbers of hazardous
waste sites have been placed in communities with large
concentrations of black and Latino residents.

Since then an enormous amount of data has been compiled
showing that government and industry alike have used
black and poor neighborhoods as dumping grounds
for the vilest and most dangerous of pollutants. You
go to these communities, where the air can be thick
enough to make you gag, and you find that the rates
of cancer, heart disease, stroke and the like are off
the charts.

The largest hazardous waste landfill in America is near
the small, rural town of Emelle, in Sumter County, which
is part of the so-called “black belt” of Alabama. It takes
in hazardous materials from 48 states and some foreign
countries. More than 70 percent of the Sumter County
population, and more than 90 percent of the population
of Emelle, is black.

The systematic placement of garbage dumps, chemical
plants, oil refineries and other hazardous facilities
in communities inhabited primarily by blacks and other
disadvantaged groups is nothing less than an unconscionable
extension of the devastating Jim Crow policies that have
existed in one form or another, legally or illegally,
since slavery.

More than 70 environmental, human rights and public
health groups participated in a bus tour last week —
dubbed “The Environmental Justice for All Tour” —
that visited communities across the country that have
suffered terrible damage from these blatantly
discriminatory policies.

The tour was enthusiastically received at each stop,
but got hardly any attention from the larger society.
The message to blacks and others struggling with these
hideous policies could not have been clearer: we are not
in the least interested in you.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

2) Police to Start Inspecting Bags on Boston Subway
By KATIE ZEZIMA
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/us/05boston.html?ref=us

BOSTON, Oct. 4 — The police will begin inspecting passengers’
bags on the Boston subway system in the next few days,
Gov. Mitt Romney said on Wednesday.

The inspections will be random for the most part, but could
be mandatory at some stations, Mr. Romney said in an interview.
The program was not in response to a specific threat against
the transit system here, he said, but to the general threat
of terrorism.

“I think we recognize globally that transit systems, airport
systems and the like have been targets,” Mr. Romney said, “and
therefore we have to adjust our security parameters to no longer
focus on just crime, but to add the additional threat of terror.”

Boston was the first American city to randomly inspect bags
on its subways. At the Democratic National Convention
in 2004, police officers inspected bags on the subway
and searched the bags of people standing in lines near
the convention site. Both practices were stopped after
the inspections, which were compulsory, were challenged
in federal court.

The decision to resume inspections comes nearly two months
after a federal appeals court upheld the constitutionality
of random visual inspection of bags on the New York City
subway system, which started in July 2005 in response
to the London train bombings.

Rather than conduct visual searches, Boston police officers
will swab a bag, its seams and its handles with an electronic
device that checks for traces of explosives. They will search
a bag if they think there is probable cause.

In addition, behavior-recognition teams will be dispatched
throughout the subway and bus system as part of the program.
Those officers will be authorized to search a person’s bag
if they believe it is warranted.

Mr. Romney, a Republican, and Joseph C. Carter, chief of the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority police, which will
be conducting the searches, said they believed the Boston
system was in line with the system ruled constitutional
in New York, because the searches would be short and
would be done in public and with advance notice.

“They affirmed the right of transit agencies to carry out this
kind of a security program,” Mr. Romney said. “We believe
the program will fall within the parameters the court outlined.
It is not discrimination based on racial profiling. The hallmark
of the program is the lack of predictability.”

Mr. Romney said there would be no pattern to where police
officers were stationed or how many of a person’s bags
would be searched.

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3) U.S. Eavesdropping Is Allowed to Continue During Appeal
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/us/05nsa.html?ref=us

CINCINNATI, Oct. 4 (AP) — The Bush administration can continue
eavesdropping on the international communications of some
Americans without a court warrant while it appeals a judge’s
ruling that the program is unconstitutional, the federal appeals
court here ruled Wednesday.

President Bush has said the wiretapping program is needed
in the campaign against terrorism; opponents say it oversteps
constitutional boundaries on free speech, privacy and
executive powers.

The unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit gave
little explanation for the decision. In the three-paragraph
ruling, the judges said they considered the likelihood that
an appeal would succeed, the potential damage to both
sides and the public interest.

Judge Anna Diggs Taylor of Federal District Court in Detroit
ruled on Aug. 17 that the program was unconstitutional,
saying it violated the rights to free speech and privacy
and the separation of powers in the Constitution.

The Justice Department had urged the appeals court to
allow it to keep the program in place while it argued its
appeal, claiming that the nation faced “potential irreparable
harm.” The appeal is likely to take months.

The program monitors international phone calls and e-mail
messages to or from the United States involving people whom
the government says it suspects of having links to terrorism.
A secret court can grant warrants for such surveillance, but
the government says it cannot always wait for that court
to take action.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit seeking
to stop the program on behalf of journalists, scholars and
lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them
to do their jobs because of concerns that telephone
conversations with overseas contacts will be monitored.

Similar lawsuits challenging the program have been filed
by other groups, too.

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4) American Axle Offers Buyouts
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
October 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/business/05axle.html

American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings is offering union workers
at five auto parts plants up to $100,000 to leave the company
because of declining demand from automakers.

About 6,000 members of the United Automobile Workers union
in New York and Michigan are eligible for buyout or retirement
packages, American Axle, which is based in Detroit, said yesterday.
Plans also call for salaried jobs to be cut as part of a North
American restructuring. No plants are scheduled to close.

American Axle withdrew its earnings and cash-flow guidance
for the year and said it would spend $150 million to $250 million
on restructuring in 2006. The company gets 77 percent of its
sales from General Motors, which along with other American
automakers plans to build fewer vehicles in the second half of 2006.

American Axle builds almost all of the axles for G.M.’s light
trucks and its sales in that category have declined 13 percent this year.

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5) Intelligent, Emotional, Ingenious: the Amazing Truth
about Whales and Dolphins
by Michael McCarthy
October 5, 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1799465.ece

Jumping through watery hoops? Forget it. They can solve problems and
use tools. They exhibit joy and grief. They live in complex societies.

And although we have always instinctively thought that cetaceans -
whales, dolphins and porpoises - are special members of the animal
kingdom, scientific evidence is piling up that they are truly out of
the ordinary in terms of their intelligence.

A growing number of behavioural studies strongly suggest that whale
and dolphin brain power is matched only by the higher primates,
including man, according to a new review of the scientific literature
by one of Britain's leading save-the-whale campaigners.

It means that the potential impact of whaling may be far greater than
it appears, and we should adopt a new approach to the conservation of
these species which takes into account their intelligence, societies,
culture - and potential to suffer, says Mark Simmonds, director of
science for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

In a scientific paper published this month, Mr Simmonds surveys
recent cetacean research and highlights striking examples which have
been observed of whale and dolphin behaviour. For instance, captive
animals have been shown unequivocally to be able to recognise
themselves in a mirror, which was previously known to be the domain
only of humans and the great apes.

There are many other examples of intelligence, Mr Simmonds reports in
his paper Into the brains of whales, being published in the journal
Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

Dolphins can "point" at objects with their heads to guide humans to
them, and they can also manipulate objects spontaneously, despite
their lack of fingers and thumbs. There is a well-documented use of
tools in an Australian population of wild Indo-Pacific bottlenose
dolphins, he says. "The animals (almost exclusively females) are
often seen carrying sponges on the ends of their beaks, probably to
protect them while they forage in the sediments on the sea floor
where spiny sea urchins might otherwise cause puncture wounds."

They show remarkably human-like emotions, ranging from joy to grief
to care for the injured. Mr Simmonds quotes a case of a 30-strong pod
of false killer whales which remained with an injured member in
shallows for three days, exposing themselves to sunburn and the risk
of stranding, until it died.

Group living, in fact, is at the centre of cetacean existence,
perhaps because the sea has few refuges from predators, and many
species "have nothing to hide behind but each other". It has led to
the evolution of many types of sophisticated co-operative behaviour,
from hunting, to young males banding together to secure mating
partners. And there is an "emerging but compelling argument", Mr
Simmonds says, that some cetacean species exhibit culture - behaviour
that is acquired through social learning.

He points out that since commercial whaling was put on hold in 1986,
some of the devastated populations have recovered, but some have not.
It is plausible, he says, that the whalers destroyed "not just
numerous individuals, but also the cultural knowledge that they
harboured relating to how to exploit certain habitats and areas."

But the jury is still out, he says, on whether the vast range of
sounds emitted by whales and dolphins constitutes language.

© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited

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6) Transcript of Sgt. Ricky Clousing describing war crimes in Iraq
On September 16th, Sgt. Ricky Clousing spoke on his witnessing of US war
crimes in Iraq and why he became a resister to this war. The transcript, with
the Q and A session, is available at http://www.traprockpeace.org

"Like I told commanders that their soldiers are creating the insurgency. The
behavior that the U.S. is inflicting upon the Iraqi population is creating the same
people that we're trying to stop. It's a cycle of nonsense that nobody seems to
understand how it's happening. And so it's this crazy, mindless cycle of violence
and death and killing and wasted money, and nobody seems to understand the
big picture." - Sgt. Ricky Clousing, 9/16/06

He is facing court martial on a charge of desertion. He spoke at Camp Democracy's
encampment at the National Mall in Washington, DC. before an overflow audience
that included activists from across the nation as well as many tourists.

More excerpts:

"I've never seen anybody die. I've never seen a dead body before in my whole life.
But I was looking down at this kid, this young boy who was trying to just drive
around town and took a wrong turn and tried to go the other direction, was shot at
and killed, and I'm looking down at him now. And we made eye contact for about
five seconds, and he just looked at me with the most empty, terrified, confused look
in his face that will never leave me in my whole life I'm sure. There was no dialogue
traded between us, but I could just feel the words inside of his head, just wondering
'why did this happen and what's going on? Why does this hurt so bad? What did I do?
What's happening now? I don't understand what is going on right now.' Really just
put me in shock, and I was glued standing there."

"I'm freaking out, like what? I look out the window, and we're slamming into vehicles
on the side of the road. I looked up at the vehicle in front of us, and they're driving
normally in the middle of the road, no problems, in the other lane. And then the driver
swerves back in the road, and they're laughing in the front seat. And then the guy in
the ... passenger rolls the window down, extends his baton, the driver smashes back into
the vehicle, side-swiping them, and they're smashing out windows as they're driving by.
And I just could not believe this was happening. So I yelled at the people in the vehicle,
like what the hell are you doing? Not only is that wrong, and they were harassing people,
but, from your own safety, they could have bombs in their car, and you're totally pissing
them off, and I don't understand why. So I yelled at the guys, and we kept driving. And
then, later on in that trip, it didn't even stop there, later on in that trip, the guys I was with,
there are four people in a Humvee and one of them on the turret standing up on the top of
the vehicle. We came to a point just before the base where there was an Iraqi man walking
his herd of sheep across the road. And I heard a couple rounds pop off from the turret. I
just heard *pop pop pop*, like two or three rounds. And then the soldier standing in the
turret ducks down and kind of says jokingly that he just shot a couple of the guy's sheep,
and I was livid. I could not believe that this was happening."

The audio recording of his talk may also be downloaded at http://www.traprockpeace.org
The audio is 1:09:54 in length (with Q and A) and recorded at 64 kbps mono and may be
replayed by radio and website. Attribution only is requested, with notice of its airplay.

In a stunning video clip (4:12 minutes), in high quality Quicktime format, Sgt. Clousing
describes a war crime - the gunning down of an innocent Iraqi teenager.
The video is available at http://www.traprockpeace.org

Learn more about Sgt. Ricky Clousing and his impending court martial
at http://www.sdmcc.org/rickyclousing/

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7) Israeli Bomblets Plague Lebanon
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
October 6, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/world/middleeast/06cluster.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 29 — Since the war between Israel and
Hezbollah ended in August, nearly three people have been wounded
or killed each day by cluster bombs Israel dropped in the waning
days of the war, and officials now say it will take more than a year
to clear the region of them.

United Nations officials estimate that southern Lebanon is littered
with one million unexploded bomblets, far outnumbering the
650,000 people living in the region. They are stuck in the
branches of olive trees and the broad leaves of banana trees.
They are on rooftops, mixed in with rubble and littered across
fields, farms, driveways, roads and outside schools.

As of Sept. 28, officials here said cluster bombs had severely
wounded 109 people — and killed 18 others.

Muhammad Hassan Sultan, a slender brown-haired 12-year-old,
became a postwar casualty when the shrapnel from a cluster
bomb cut into his head and neck. He was from Sawane, a hillside
village with a panoramic view of terraced olive farms and rolling
hills. Muhammad was sitting on a hip-high wall, watching
a bulldozer clear rubble, when the machine bumped into a tree.

A flash of a second later he was fatally injured when a cluster
bomblet dropped from the branches. “I took Muhammad
to the hospital in my car, but he was already dead,” said
Yousef Ftouni, a resident of the village.

The entire village was littered with the bomblets, and
as Mr. Ftouni recounted Muhammad’s death, the Lebanese
Army worked its way through an olive grove, blowing
up unexploded munitions in a painfully slow process
of clearance.

Cluster bombs are legal if aimed at military targets and
are very effective, military experts say. Nonetheless,
Israel has been heavily criticized by United Nations officials,
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for using
cluster bombs, because they are difficult to focus exclusively
on military targets. Israel was also criticized because
it fired most of its cluster bombs in the last days
of the war, when the United Nations Security Council
was negotiating a resolution to end the conflict.

Officials calculate that if they are lucky, and money
from international donors does not run out, it will take
15 months to clear the area. There are now about
300 Lebanese Army soldiers and 30 other clearance teams,
each of up to 30 experts, working on the problem
of unexploded bomblets.

The United Nations Mine Action Coordination Center in
southern Lebanon recorded 745 locations across the south
where unexploded bombs had been found. Of the million
estimated to be scattered around, so far 4,500 have been
disposed of, according to the center.

“Our priority at the moment is to clean houses, main roads
and gardens so that the displaced people can return to their
villages,” said Col. Mohammad Fahmy, head of the national
mine clearing office. “The next stage will be cleaning
agricultural lands.”

In Lebanon there are two explanations of why Israel unleashed
cluster bombs at the end of the war: to inflict as much damage
as possible on Hezbollah before withdrawing, or to litter the
south with unexploded cluster bombs as a strategy to keep
people from returning right away.

The United States has sold cluster bombs to Israel in the past
and says it is investigating whether Israel’s use of cluster bombs
in its war with Hezbollah violated a secret agreement that
restricted when they could be used.

The final days of the war — a conflict that began when
Hezbollah launched rockets from Lebanon into northern
Israel and sent militiamen across the border to capture
Israeli soldiers — were marked by a huge Israeli offensive.
Israel hoped its final push would, in part, help force the
Security Council to adopt a tougher resolution on Hezbollah
than appeared to be taking shape.

Israel has said it leafleted areas before bombing and provided
Lebanon with maps of potential cluster bomb locations
to help with the clearing process. United Nations officials
in Lebanon say the maps are useless.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article on Sept. 12
anonymously quoting the head of a rocket unit in Lebanon who
was critical of the decision to use cluster bombs. “What we did
was insane and monstrous; we covered entire towns in cluster
bombs,” Haaretz quoted the commander as saying.

Repeated efforts to get Israeli officials to explain the rationale
behind the use of the bombs have proved fruitless, with
spokesmen referring all queries to short official statements
arguing that everything done conformed with international law.

In Lebanon the problem of the unexploded munitions
is magnified by the desire to return to villages and lives
in a region that is effectively booby-trapped. People want
to begin rebuilding and harvest their crops. In some cases
they have tried to clear the bomblets themselves, and some
people have begun charging a small fee to clear away bombs
— a practice that officials have discouraged as dangerous.

But the people are desperate.

“If I lost the season for olives and the wheat, I have no money
for the winter,”‘ said Rida Noureddine, 54, who farms a small
patch of land on the main road in the village of Kherbet Salem.
There was a small black object at the entrance to his farm,
and he thought it was a cluster bomb.

“I feel as if someone has tied my arms, or is holding me
by my neck, suffocating me because this land is my soul,”
he said.

The bomblets, about the size of a D battery, can be packed
into bombs, missiles or artillery shells. When the delivery
system detonates, the bomblets spread like buckshot across
a large area, making them difficult to aim with precision.
A fact sheet issued by the Mine Action Coordination Center
says cluster bombs have an official failure rate of 15 percent.

That means that 15 percent of the bomblets remain as hazards.
According to the fact sheet, the failure rate in this war is estimated
to be around 40 percent. “We estimate there are one million,”
said Dalya Farran, the community liaison officer of the mine
action center.

Ms. Farran has worked at the center for nearly three years.
It was set up in 2000 to help deal with the mines and unexploded
ordnance left behind after the Israeli occupation of southern
Lebanon and from other wars.

After this war, Ms. Farran said, there are two types of cluster
bomb fragments across the south. The most commonly found
type is known as M42, a deceptively small device resembling
a light socket.

She said a large percentage of the unexploded bomblets were
made in America, while some were produced in Israel. Each one
has a white tail dangling off the back, like the tail of a kite.
As they fall to the ground, the tail spins and unscrews the
firing pin.

When the device hits, the front end fires a huge slug while the
casing blasts apart into a spray of deadly metal fragments.
When they fail to detonate they cling to the ground, and with
their white tails look deceptively like toys, so children are
often those who are injured.

“This is what they are living with every day,” said Simon Lovell,
a supervisor with one of the clearance teams as he looked
at five unexploded bomblets poking out of the soft, rocky
soil of the Hussein family farm.

Across the street, Hussein Muhammad, 48, at home with his
wife and four children, waited for the clearance team.
His olive trees were heavy with fruit, but he could not
tend to the harvest.

“I feel that the land has become my enemy,” he said.
“It represents a danger to my life and my kids’ lives.”

Nada Bakri contributed reporting from Lebanon.

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8) Deeper and Deeper
New York Times Editorial
October 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/opinion/05thu2.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fEditorials

There is fresh evidence, if any more were needed, that excessive
borrowing during the Bush years will make the nation poorer.

For most of the past five and a half years, interest rates have
been low, allowing the government to borrow more and more —
to cut taxes while fighting two expensive wars — without having
to shoulder higher interest payments.

That’s over now. For the first time during President Bush’s
tenure, the government’s interest bill is expected to rise in
2006, from $184 billion in 2005 to $220 billion this year,
up nearly 20 percent. That increase — $36 billion — makes
interest the fastest-growing component of federal spending,
and continued brisk growth is likely. According to projections
by Congress’s budget office, the interest bill will grow to
$249 billion in 2007, and $270 billion in 2008.

All of that is money the government won’t have available
to spend on other needs and priorities. And much of it won’t
even be recycled back into the United States economy. That’s
because borrowing from foreign countries has exploded
during the Bush years. In 2005, the government paid about
$77 billion in interest to foreign creditors in China, Japan
and elsewhere.

And that’s not the worst of it. While foreign investors were
putting up most of the $1.5 trillion the federal government
has borrowed since 2001, they were also snapping up
hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector securities,
transactions that have been a big source of the easy money
that allowed Americans to borrow heavily against their homes.

The result, as The Wall Street Journal reported last week,
is that for the first time in at least 90 years, the United States
is now paying noticeably more to foreign creditors than
it receives from its investments abroad. That is a momentous
shift. It means that a growing share of America’s future
collective income will flow abroad, leading to a lower
standard of living in the United States than would otherwise
have been achieved. Americans deserve better than
this financial mess.

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9) The War Against Wages
By PAUL KRUGMAN
October 6, 2006
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/opinion/06krugman.html?hp

Should we be cheering over the fact that the Dow Jones Industrial
Average has finally set a new record? No. The Dow is doing well
largely because American employers are waging a successful war
against wages. Economic growth since early 2000, when the Dow
reached its previous peak, hasn’t been exceptional. But after-tax
corporate profits have more than doubled, because workers’
productivity is up, but their wages aren’t — and because companies
have dealt with rising health insurance premiums by denying
insurance to ever more workers.

If you want to see how the war against wages is being fought,
and what it’s doing to working Americans and their families,
consider the latest news from Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart already has a well-deserved reputation for paying
low wages and offering few benefits to its employees; last year,
an internal Wal-Mart memo conceded that 46 percent of
its workers’ children were either on Medicaid or lacked health
insurance. Nonetheless, the memo expressed concern that
wages and benefits were rising, in part “because we pay an
associate more in salary and benefits as his or her tenure
increases.”

The problem from the company’s point of view, then,
is that its workers are too loyal; it wants cheap labor that
doesn’t hang around too long, but not enough workers
quit before acquiring the right to higher wages and benefits.
Among the policy changes the memo suggested to deal with
this problem was a shift to hiring more part-time workers,
which “will lower Wal-Mart’s health care enrollment.”

And the strategy is being put into effect. “Investment
analysts and store managers,” reports The New York Times,
“say Wal-Mart executives have told them the company wants
to transform its work force to 40 percent part-time from
20 percent.” Another leaked Wal-Mart memo describes
a plan to impose wage caps, so that long-term employees
won’t get raises. And the company is taking other steps
to keep workers from staying too long: in some stores,
according to workers, “managers have suddenly barred
older employees with back or leg problems from sitting
on stools.”

It’s a brutal strategy. Once upon a time a company that
treated its workers this badly would have made itself
a prime target for union organizers. But Wal-Mart doesn’t
have to worry about that, because it knows that these days
the people who are supposed to enforce labor laws are
on the side of the employers, not the workers.

Since 1935, U.S. workers considering whether to join
a union have been protected by the National Labor Relations
Act, which bars employers from firing workers for engaging
in union activities. For a long time the law was effective:
workers were reasonably well protected against employer
intimidation, and the union movement flourished.

In the 1970’s, however, employers began a successful
campaign to roll back unions. This campaign depended
on routine violation of labor law: experts estimate that by
1980 employers were illegally firing at least one out of
every 20 workers who voted for a union. But employers
rarely faced serious consequences for their lawbreaking,
thanks to America’s political shift to the right. And now
that the shift to the right has gone even further, political
appointees are seeking to remove whatever protection
for workers’ rights that the labor relations law still provides.

The Republican majority on the National Labor Relations
Board, which is responsible for enforcing the law, has just
declared that millions of workers who thought they had the
right to join unions don’t. You see, the act grants that right
only to workers who aren’t supervisors. And the board,
ruling on a case involving nurses, has declared that millions
of workers who occasionally give other workers instructions
can now be considered supervisors.

As the dissent from the Democrats on the board makes clear,
the majority bent over backward, violating the spirit of the
law, to reduce workers’ bargaining power.

So what’s keeping paychecks down? Major employers like
Wal-Mart have decided that their interests are best served
by treating workers as a disposable commodity, paid as little
as possible and encouraged to leave after a year or two. And
these employers don’t worry that angry workers will respond
to their war on wages by forming unions, because they know
that government officials, who are supposed to protect workers’
rights, will do everything they can to come down on the side
of the wage-cutters.

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10) Kicked While Down
New York Times Editorial
October 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/opinion/07sat2.html?hp

In a blow to labor unions, the National Labor Relations Board recently
expanded the pool of workers exempted from union membership.
Specifically, the labor board found that registered nurses who
assigned others to some shifts or tasks were supervisors, and
thus not eligible to join unions. It was a bad decision, not only
because of the specifics of the case, but also in its broader
ramifications.

There are good reasons to bar managers from unionizing. It is
extremely difficult to run a large organization efficiently if the
people at the top are unable to easily hold their managers
accountable for overall success or failure. But responsibilities
like making out a schedule do not amount to management.
If they did, interns would be the only non- managers in many
of today’s workplaces.

Companies facing unionization drives have long found it
convenient to discover that employees who are basically rank-
and-file workers are actually managers. That seems to be the
case with the nurses. The board’s decision opens the door for
possibly millions of health-care workers and other professionals
to be disqualified from the option of union protection.

This is one more step curbing the power of organized labor
since President Bush came to office. The administration’s
philosophical vendetta against unions has come at a time
when their power is already on the wane. Membership has
fallen to 7.8 percent of the private work force in this country,
from over a third in the 1950’s. Far from balancing the scales,
the anti-union drive comes when workers are already at
a historic low in bargaining strength. Despite a growing economy
and rising productivity, hourly wages adjusted for inflation
have declined 2 percent since 2003. Corporate profits,
meanwhile, are at their highest share of gross domestic
product since the 1960’s.

We are getting closer and closer to a work force with no benefits
and no substantive protections. Some unions succumbed
to corruption and contributed to their own decline. But their
role in giving common workers a voice is essential to
a functioning society.

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11) ‘We Will Not Recognize Israel,’ Palestinian Premier Affirms
By GREG MYRE
October 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/world/middleeast/07mideast.html?ref=world

JERUSALEM, Oct. 6 — In a defiant speech delivered to a teeming
crowd of Hamas supporters, the Palestinian prime minister,
Ismail Haniya, insisted on Friday that his Hamas movement would
not recognize Israel despite the cutoff in Western aid that has
strangled his government.

“I tell you with all honesty, we will not recognize Israel, we will
not recognize Israel, we will not recognize Israel,” Mr. Haniya
said to thunderous applause from tens of thousands of
supporters, many waving green Hamas flags, at the
Yarmouk soccer stadium in Gaza City.

Mr. Haniya’s remarks appeared to be aimed at the Palestinian
Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, who met Wednesday in the West Bank.
At that time, Mr. Abbas declared that talks between his secular
Fatah movement and Hamas on a Palestinian unity government
had broken down, and that the political stalemate could not
go on indefinitely.

Mr. Abbas says there is a need for a new Palestinian government
that will recognize Israel and deal with it. He also indicated that
he was prepared to invoke his presidential powers and dismiss
the current government, which is dominated by Hamas,
the radical Islamic movement.

Less than a month ago, on Sept. 11, Mr. Abbas and Mr. Haniya
agreed in principle to form a unity government in an effort to find
a way out of the worsening political and economic crisis facing
the Palestinians. The goal was to bring Fatah and other political
factions into the government. And the hope was that this would
persuade Israel, the United States and the European Union to
resume the flow of money that had been cut off when Hamas
assumed power.

Without that aid the Palestinian Authority has been unable to
pay salaries, provide services or govern in any meaningful way.

But the blunt public remarks by Mr. Abbas on Wednesday
and Mr. Haniya on Friday reflected what seems to be an
increasingly bitter power struggle that could dim the
prospects for a compromise.

Still, Mr. Haniya called on Mr. Abbas, who works in the
West Bank city of Ramallah, to return to Gaza to resume
talks on a broad-based government. “Come down to Gaza
to protect our people and declare our commitment
to a national unity government,” Mr. Haniya said.

But Mr. Abbas has given no indication that he plans
to accept the invitation any time soon. Mr. Haniya and
other senior Hamas officials are based in Gaza, and
Israel does not permit them to travel to the West Bank.

During the lengthy speech on a sweltering afternoon,
Mr. Haniya appeared on the verge of collapse at one
point and could not continue his remarks. Bodyguards
rushed to physically support him and whisked him
off the stage. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan,
Mr. Haniya, like many Muslims, observes a dawn-to-dusk
fast, which apparently caused his weakness.

He re-emerged about 10 minutes later and continued.
“Our bodies may get tired, but our souls will not,”
Mr. Haniya said as the crowd roared.

The United States and the European Union are demanding
that the Palestinian government recognize Israel, renounce
violence and accept previous Israeli-Palestinian accords.

In negotiations, Fatah and Hamas have sought a formula
under which a new government would accept such positions,
though Hamas as a political party would not be forced
to endorse them. But Hamas has repeatedly rejected
the Western demands, and Fatah leaders say they see
no rationale for joining a unity government that will
continue to be ostracized by the Western countries
and much of the international community.

Israel, which is withholding more than $50 million a month
in taxes and customs duties it collects for the Palestinians,
refuses to deal with the Hamas government. Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert says he is willing to meet with Mr. Abbas, but
stresses that there is no prospect for progress until the
Palestinians release an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian
militants and taken to Gaza on June 25.

Mr. Haniya, meanwhile, said that the Palestinians faced an
“unethical and unjust siege led by the United States administration,”
and that “many parties, internal and external, colluded in an
attempt to force us to surrender.” He noted that even Arab
governments had not invited him to visit, aside from Qatar.

The Fatah-Hamas friction boiled over into street fighting in
Gaza on Sunday and Monday, leaving 10 Palestinians dead
and more than 100 wounded in some of the worst internal
fighting in recent years. The violence has subsided, but the
tension remains.

Taghreed El-Khodary contributed reporting from Gaza.

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12) New Orleans Population Is Reduced Nearly 60%
By ADAM NOSSITER
October 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/us/07population.html?ref=us

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 6 — The city’s population has dropped by nearly
60 percent since Hurricane Katrina, far more sharply than recent
optimistic estimates had suggested, according to an authoritative
post-storm survey released this week.

The population of New Orleans is now only 187,525, well under
half the pre-storm population of 454,863, according to the survey,
commissioned by several state agencies. The United States Census
Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised
those who carried out the door-to-door population count this summer.

“We actually knocked on doors and asked how many people
lived there,” said Dr. Alden Henderson of the centers. About
490 households were surveyed, and researchers went to more
than 1,100 dwellings, he said.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin has suggested that about half of New
Orleans’s former residents had returned, basing his projections
partly on utility users. But the new numbers indicate that
repopulation will take awhile to reach that level.

“The recovery is going to be slower than we anticipated,”
said David Bowman, an official with the Louisiana Recovery
Authority, which helped commission the survey. “It’s going
to take time to get the housing stock back online.”

The margin of error for the survey was relatively high, plus
or minus 12 percentage points.

The new figures also suggest that many more whites than
blacks have returned to New Orleans. The white and black
populations here are now separated by less than three
percentage points, according to the survey — a gap much
smaller than previously thought, and far less than the pre-
hurricane divide, when New Orleans was 67 percent black.
Whites now make up 44 percent of the population and blacks
46 percent, according to the new survey.

For months, neighborhood activists and housing advocates
have suggested that the city’s African-American population
has had a difficult time re-establishing itself. Much of the rental
housing was destroyed by the storm, rents have risen significantly
and federal housing aid has barely begun to flow. The new
numbers appear to bear out these concerns. They also suggest
that the relatively high black vote in last spring’s city elections
— as much as 57 percent of the electorate — was elevated
by citizens making the trip specifically to vote.

Still, officials expect these population figures to go up, eventually.
More than 11,000 people from New Orleans have applied for
federal rebuilding aid through the state’s Road Home program.
Some 80,000 housing units were destroyed in Orleans Parish
alone, and their reconstruction has hardly begun.

The new population count has taken analysts here somewhat
aback.

“The conventional wisdom was higher,” said Richard Campanella,
a Tulane University geographer. “It’s a little bit of a disappointment.
I don’t question the numbers, that’s for sure. This is the most
authoritative survey yet.”

Though officials acknowledged the new survey might not fully
account for all of the city’s daytime population — many are still
commuting in to work on their houses — they emphasized that
it was likely to be far more reliable than previous efforts, which
relied on measures like school enrollment and electricity use.

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13) After 21 Years, DNA Testing Sets Man Free in Rape Case
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
October 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/nyregion/07rape.html

If not for a chance inventory of DNA samples gathering dust
in a Connecticut warehouse, Scott Fappiano might still be lifting
weights in prison.

But after the samples were discovered by his lawyers last year,
Mr. Fappiano finally had the evidence he had sought for half
of his life. Yesterday, a State Supreme Court judge vacated his
conviction for the 1983 rape of a Brooklyn woman, after the
tests showed he had not committed the crime for which he
spent more than two decades in prison.

Several hours after the judge’s ruling, Mr. Fappiano shuffled
out a steel door into the hallway of a Brooklyn courthouse,
clutching a brown paper bag of personal items in one hand
along with every relative within arm’s length with the other.

“I just kept waiting,” said Mr. Fappiano, 44, stuffing his hands
into the pockets of his gray sweat pants as his mother,
a brother and several cousins looked on. “I’m just happy
that it’s over.”

His family and lawyers were less forgiving, their elation
warring with anger and frustration as they mulled the long
path that Mr. Fappiano traveled between conviction
and redemption, with 21 years of it in prison.

“The only thing I feel is that my son was kidnapped,”
said Rose Fappiano, his 69-year-old mother. “I couldn’t
believe this day had come.”

Mr. Fappiano was represented by lawyers from the Innocence
Project, a nonprofit legal clinic that works to exonerate
the wrongfully convicted through DNA testing. He was
the fourth person in the last year in New York State
to be exonerated by testing arranged by the project’s
lawyers, who yesterday called for a full-scale reform
of the city’s procedures for storing evidence.

“It is no small miracle that Scott is here today,” said Nina
Morrison, his Innocence Project lawyer. “Had Scott’s case
depended on the evidence storage and collection inventory
procedures of the New York City Police Department,
he would still be in prison today.”

In a statement, Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s
deputy commissioner for public information, said that the
department had requested proposals for a more advanced
evidence tracking system to replace the current one. “The
advanced system will be used, in part, to improve retrieval
of old evidence, which has sometimes proven difficult
considering the extraordinary volume and the lack
of an automated system in the 1980’s and 1990’s,”
he said.

In a separate statement, the Brooklyn district attorney,
Charles J. Hynes, called Mr. Fappiano’s imprisonment
a “tragedy.” Mr. Hynes also said that while Mr. Fappiano
was convicted long before his t