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BAUAW NEWSLETTER Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Friday, August 18, 2006
BAUAW NEWSLETTER - SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2006
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SCROLL DOWN TO READ: EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS ARTICLES IN FULL LINKS ONLY ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Aug 20 SF BayviewCoalition BuildingMark your CalendarEnough is Enough !END LAW ENFORCEMENT WAR AGAINST BLACK &BROWN ! WHAT: Fundraising Benefit and Cookout, Coalition Building Justice4BigO, (RIP Oliver Lefiti, Killed by SFPD 6-24-06) Justice4ASA, (RIP Asa Sullivan, Killed by SFPD 6-6-06) Bayview CEDP (RIP Tookie Williams/Campaign to End the Death Penalty) WHEN: Idriss Stelley's B-Day (Killed by SFPD 6-13-01), "E" would turn 29... Sunday 8-20-06 3 P.M. WHERE: Children Playground behind Brett Hart Elementary School, on Gillman, SF.Take Gillman from 3rd St., going towards Candlestick Park by the Bay WHY: Show your love and support to the Families of SFPD innocent victims. Under impending Capital Punishment Federal Law, 12 Bayview Brothers might become "Death Eligible" this year. Bayview is only 0,0001% of California, but would become 5,65% of California death row! Death row on the street through police Murders of our Black and Brown Brothers &Sisters and death row in the correctional system must GO! To volunteer, or more info: please email iiolmisha@cs.comor call (415) 595-8251 WHAT CAN YOU DO? Distribute flyers in your Hood, Donate Food, Donate performance (Spoken words, dance, songs), Help on Set up and clean up crew, Chaperon the Youth at the event for safety, Disseminate the info on the event through email and Fax blasts, Invite all your friends! Make banners and signs (Supplies available at ISF, 4921 3rd Street SF, Be the chef at the grill! Donate paper plates, napkins, Lend 2 additional bullhorns, forward this Invite to all your friends and contacts! ARE YOU WITH US? Black &Brown UNITY! ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- This convention is for all peace partners. Please circulate widely. Reserve you seat today by sending us an email at samina_faheem@yahoo.com. Hope to see all of you on August 20th 2006. Thanks, Samina American Muslim Voice Foundation creating a culture of peace, acceptance, mutual respect and harmony Phone: 650-387-1994 Email: amvoice@amuslimvoice.org Website: www.amuslimvoice.org 3rd Annual Convention Ordinary People, Extraordinary Heroes AMV needs your support urgently Limited seating. Please purchase your ticket today. When: Sunday – August 20th, 2006 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM Where: Chandni 5748 Mowry School Road Newark, CA 94560 Ticket price $25.00 (Includes Luncheon) Special request: Could you please enrich this event by dressing in your traditional clothing? We are very grateful for your support and friendship. Looking forward to see you.The AMV Team For more information visit www.amuslimvoice.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- San Francisco Board of Education Meeting Tuesday, August 22, 7:00 P.M. Irving G. Breyer Board Meeting Room 555 Franklin Street, 1st Floor San Francisco, CA 94102 415/241-6427 The vote that was to take place Tuesday, August 22 on a resolution to phase out JROTC will be postponed until later this year. SEE: Why queers should oppose JROTC Guest Opinion Published 07/27/2006 Bay Area Reporter by Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca] http://www.ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Mumia Abu-Jamal Is In Danger Rally In Oakland To FREE MUMIA! 4 PM Friday September 15th 2006, Alameda County Courthouse, 12th and Fallon Sts, south side Mumia Abu-Jamal Is Innocent! For Labor Action To Free Mumia! End the Racist Death Penalty! Award-winning journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal has been on death row for almost a quarter of a century, for a crime he didn't commit. The State of Pennsylvania still wants to execute him, and his case has been put on a "fast track" to a final resolution. What may be his last appeal is now before the 3rd Circuit Court. But we cannot rely on the courts to free Mumia; the courts are still refusing to hear MOUNTAINS of evidence which conclusively shows his innocence! In 1995, we mobilized by the thousands to save Mumia from a date with death. In 1999, longshore workers shut down West Coast ports to free Mumia. In 2006, it's time to get back into action to free Mumia! The victim of a politically motivated frame-up of monumental proportions, Mumia is an anti-war, anti-imperialist, social justice spokesman with the courage to defy the system from his jail cell despite a determined conspiracy to silence him forever. Known as the "Voice of the Voiceless," Mumia is the first to point out that his case is just one among many injustices of this racist, capitalist system. Perpetrated by notoriously racist and corrupt Philadelphia police and prosecutors, the frame-up of Mumia Abu-Jamal is supported by leading elements in both the Democrat and Republican parties. The US ruling class is so committed to murdering this "dangerous" inspirational figure that a resolution--full of lies about Mumia's case--has been introduced in Congress to demand that the city of St Denis, France re-name a street which was dubbed "Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal" in a recent ceremony! In the US, Mumia Abu-Jamal has been made the "poster boy" for maintaining the death penalty by the powerful few. But to the world, Mumia is a hero and symbol of resistance to racist oppression and injustice. All those who are involved in social justice movements should help champion his freedom and publicize actions for his freedom. Rally initiated by the Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal (LAC), PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610. 510 763-2347 or LACFreeMumia@aol.com. Initial endorsers include: The Mobilization To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal; Frances Goldin, Mumia's literary agent; Marsha Feinland, Peace and Freedom Party candidate*; Todd Chretien, Green Party candidate*; Robert Irminger, Inland Boatmen‚s Union, ILWU*; Jack Heyman, ILWU*; Bob Mandel, exec bd, Oakland Education Association*; Bill Mandel,37 years on KPFA*; Workers World Party of SF; Nat Weinstein; Socialist Viewpoint Magazine; Cristina Gutierrez; Bario Unido por una Amnistia General; Fred Hirsch, Plumbers & Fitters 393*; Jack Ford, past president Teamsters 921*; Patricia Maginnis; Emily Maloney. Bay Area United Against War endorses this action. *organization listed for purposes of identification only. (Endorsers support FREE MUMIA and the three slogans listed above. They do not necessarily agree with any other statement in this announcement or with any other LAC statement.) Endorse the rally! Send your individual or organizational endorsement by return email to LACFreeMumia@aol.com, or write to LAC at PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610. Let us know if you can help build the rally! Mumia's legal defense needs funds in this critical time. Please help! Make checks payable to: Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, and send them to: PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610. Seventy-five percent (75%) of all contributions received under this appeal will go directly to Mumia's legal defense fund. The remainder will support the work of the LAC. For more information on Mumia's case, go to the following web sites: www.mumia.org, www.freemumia.org, www.chicagofreemumia.org, www.laboractionmumia.org. - Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- CELEBRATE MEXICAN-LATIN AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY RALLY FOR GENERAL AND UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY FOR ALL! SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH, 1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. 24TH AND MISSION STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CA PEOPLE UNITED FOR GENERAL AMNESTY FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 415-431-9925 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Free the Cuban Five! September 23, 2006 Washington, DC Breaking News... On Aug. 9, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its en banc decision denying a new trial to the Cuban Five. On August 10, the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, together with the National Lawyers Guild, sponsored an emergency press conference in Washington in response to the decision. A partial transcript to that press conference, in English and Spanish, is here. A March on the White House will be held on September 23 to continue to press forward with efforts to free the Five. We urge all supporters to make every effort to join us on that march. A public demonstration of support for the Five, and outrage at their continued imprisonment, has never been more vital. Details of the march are found at the website below. Join us in Washington on Sept. 23! Free the Cuban Five! http://www.freethefive.org/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- U.S. Out of Iraq Now! We Are the Majority! End Colonial Occupation from Iraq, to Palestine, Haiti, and Everywhere! October 28 National Day of Action 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 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- October 28 National Day of Action 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 http://www.actionsf.org/ http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7869 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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! ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- SUPPORT "TAKING AIM": KPFA RADIO is considering airing the very informative program, "Taking Aim," produced by Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone. We encourage everyone who has heard and appreciated this show to contact KPFA's Tracy Rose and let her know you want the show to air: tracyrose@gmail.com Here's my letter: In solidarity, Bonnie Weinstein Dear Tracy, The program, "Taking Aim", with Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone is a one-of-a-kind, powerfully informative program. Schoenman and Shone are leading experts in the history of the Middle East with years of experience living in the region. They are both important reporters for news that the mainstream media tries to hide or distort. "Taking Aim" would be a very valuable addition to the fine programing already on KPFA. More importantly, the information disseminating from this program and the serious work of Schoenman and Shone, provide invaluable facts that KPFA listeners need to hear--truth that is told nowhere else. The more in-depth information that is made available to the general public--your listeners--from "Taking Aim" will help to further educate your well-informed audience. I strongly urge you to add this program to your broadcasts. In my opinion, "Taking Aim" and the work of Schoenman and Shone compares well with Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now." I wish it could be on every day. Sincerely, Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War www.bauaw.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Sign the petition to save Bayview Hunters Point: No more Fillmore! Editorial by Willie Ratcliff, http://www.sfbayview.com/060706/signthepetition060706.shtml As urban Black displacement grows, Bayview kicks off referendum drive to stop Redevelopment by Randy Shaw, http://www.sfbayview.com/060706/displacement060706.shtml Hands off Bayview Hunters Point! An open letter to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors http://www.sfbayview.com/050306/handsoff050306.shtml Shattering the myth that our community is divided, people – especially Black people – are lining up to sign, but we need lots more signature gatherers. Can you commit to a few hours with a clipboard or to passing petitions among your co-workers, friends and family? Give us a call at (415) 671-0789 or an email at editor@sfbayview.com. Now for what we’re up against: The Bay View newspaper has been too broke to help finance the petition campaign, very few contributions have come in and bills are overdue. So the petition drive needs financial help … and so does the Bay View newspaper, desperately. The Bay View has faced many crises in the over 14 years we’ve published it – eviction, death threats, never enough money – yet readers have always come through, enabling us to bounce back, tackle bigger issues and fight harder than ever. We hate to beg, but WE NEED YOU NOW. WITHOUT AN IMMEDIATE AND SUBSTANTIAL LOAN, THE BAY VIEW CANNOT CONTINUE. To discuss a loan, which we can amply collateralize, please call us at (415) 671-0789; we’re here 24/7. Tax-deductible contributions to our nonprofit arm, the Hurricane Relief Information Network, are also a big help to save the hopes and the lives of survivors who depend on the Bay View for news and resources. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- New Flash Film From Young Ava Over At 'Peace Takes Courage' http://www.peacetakescourage.com/page-blog.htm http://letter.cf.huffingtonpost.com/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Save the Lebanese Civilians Petition http://epetitions.net/julywar/index.php http://donations.tayyar.org/ To The Concerned Citizen of The World: http://epetitions.net/julywar/index.php ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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://www.marxists.de/middleast/schoenman/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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) The case against the JROTC By Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1356&catid=4&volume_id=147&issue_id=245&volume_num=40&issue_num=46 2) The Tyranny of Fear By BOB HERBERT August 17, 2006 http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/opinion/17herbert.html?hp 3) New Limits Set Over Marketing for Cigarettes Wall Street analysts hailed the case as a big victory for the companies. “There’s nothing in this ruling that is going to hurt the profitability of the businesses,” said David Adelman, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. By PHILIP SHENON August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/washington/18tobacco.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=154cb68fbbd1bffb&ei=5094&partner=homepage 4) Ford to Slash Production and Shutter Plants By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:28 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Ford-Production-Cuts.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=301a46b454e1abe2&ei=5094&partner=homepage 5) Raul Castro Makes 1st Public Comments By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 8:26 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Cuba-Raul-Castro.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=c4fad85307236586&ei=5094&partner=homepage 6) Bush Signs Law to Overhaul Pension Rules At the same time, the law recognizes the evolution in workers' benefits -- a gradual disappearance of pensions in favor of savings accounts such as 401(k)s that require workers to amass their own retirement savings. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 2:20 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Pensions-Overhaul.html 7) It’s the Law, but Is the Law Meaningless? WHEN corporations do well, the bosses do much, much better than the workers. But what happens if everything goes wrong? By FLOYD NORRIS August 18, 2006 http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/business/18norris.html?ref=business 8) No enemy can defeat us Raul Castro's previous major public commentary, made June 14, 2006: GRANMA DIARIO August 18, 2006 http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul-45ejercito/raul03.html http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul_entrevista/raul_entrevista02.html 9) Reservists: Officers stopped us from attending anti-war protest By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 07:51 18/08/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/752120.html 10) Rural Oregon Town Feels Pinch of Poverty By ERIK ECKHOLM August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/us/20poverty.html?hp&ex=1156046400&en=87d2fc4dfdb35536&ei=5094&partner=homepage 11) Hold the Champagne New York Times Editorial August 19, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/opinion/19sat2.html?hp 12) Chicago Woman’s Stand Stirs Immigration Debate By GRETCHEN RUETHLING August 19, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/us/19immigrant.html 13) On Technical Grounds, Judge Sets Aside Verdict of Billing Fraud in Iraq Rebuilding By ERIK ECKHOLM August 19, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/world/middleeast/19reconstruct.html?ref=business 14) Immigration May Tip Vote in California By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/us/20arnold.ready.html?hp&ex=1156132800&en=5bd4ddf9a3ef3a34&ei=5094&partner=homepage 15) Israel Committed to Block Arms and Kill Nasrallah By STEVEN ERLANGER August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/middleeast/20mideast.html?ref=world 16) Venezuela Says It Seized 4 Spies; U.S. Embassy Denies Knowledge By SIMON ROMERO August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/americas/20venezuela.html 17) Subdued Growth, Cheerful Rallies By CONRAD DE AENLLE August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/business/yourmoney/20mark.html ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 1) The case against the JROTC By Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1356&catid=4&volume_id=147&issue_id=245&volume_num=40&issue_num=46 Make no bones about it: the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) is a program of the US Department of Defense. Its purpose is clear: to recruit high school students into the military. Two years ago, 59 percent of San Franciscans demonstrated their disapproval of that sort of recruiting by supporting Proposition I. It's time for the Board of Education to follow the wishes of those voters and phase out the JROTC in favor of a nonmilitary program. On Aug. 22, [This vote has been postponed...bw] it's very likely that the San Francisco school board will do just that. Before the board is a proposal to not only ease out the JROTC but also form a blue-ribbon panel to find an alternative. It's not a new idea. In the mid-1990s, a similar board proposal failed by a 4–3 vote. This time the vote will probably be reversed. Phasing out the JROTC in San Francisco should be a breeze. Two years ago, a measure to put the city on record as wanting to bring the troops home from Iraq passed by 64 percent. Since Sept. 11, hundreds of thousands of San Franciscans have protested the wars in the Middle East. There's no other city in this country with so much antiwar activity. So what's the problem? It's the kids. The JROTC has successfully organized scores of young people (mostly white and Asian) to attend school board meetings to testify about the benefits of the program. A few LGBT kids have said that the local chapter of the JROTC does not discriminate, which JROTC officials confirm. What they don't talk about is the fact that a queer kid can't be out (or found out) in the armed forces. Since 1994, when "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was first implemented, more than 11,182 queers have received the boot. There are also beatings and harassment to contend with in the military if you're suspected of being queer. It's not a pretty picture. The JROTC doesn't tell kids that a lot of what the recruiters promise is a lie — the kids might not get the educational benefits and job training promised in all the promotional materials. As Z Magazine reported (August 2005), 57 percent of military personnel receive absolutely no educational benefits. What's more, only 12 percent of men and 6 percent of women who have served in the military ever use job skills obtained from their service. As Lucinda Marshall noted in an Aug. 24, 2005, article on ZNet, "According to the Veterans Administration, veterans earn less, make up 1/3 of homeless men and 20% of the nation's prison population." Be all that you can be? Education was never the point of the military, of course. As former secretary of defense Dick Cheney once said, "The reason to have a military is to be prepared to fight and win wars.... It's not a social welfare agency, it's not a jobs program." Let's not sell our youth short. Or make them fodder for oil wars. Or subject them to antiqueer discrimination and hate crimes. Let's give them all the skills they need to make their lives the best they can be. We can do that without the military. SFBG Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca Tom Ammiano is a queer former school board president and current supervisor of District 9. Mark Sanchez, the only queer member of the current San Francisco Board of Education, authored the current anti-JROTC resolution. Tommi Avicolli Mecca is a queer antiwar activist who was recently honored by the American Friends Service Committee. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 2) The Tyranny of Fear By BOB HERBERT August 17, 2006 http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/opinion/17herbert.html?hp Abdallah Higazy was on the phone from Cairo. “To describe it as frustrating would be an understatement,” he said, “because you know you’re telling the truth. And you know the people speaking to you have incorrect information about you.” On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Higazy, the son of a former Egyptian diplomat, was in a room on the 51st floor of the Millenium Hilton Hotel, directly across the street from the World Trade Center. He was a student at the time, having won a scholarship to study computer engineering at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn. The Institute of International Education had arranged for him to stay at the hotel while he looked for permanent housing. Like everyone else, Mr. Higazy fled the hotel after the planes hit the towers. He left behind his passport and other personal items. When he returned to collect his belongings three months later, he was arrested by the F.B.I. A hotel security guard claimed to have found an aviation radio, which could be used to communicate with airborne pilots, in the safe in Mr. Higazy’s room. “That’s impossible,” said Mr. Higazy. It’s a fact, said the F.B.I. Mr. Higazy was handcuffed, strip-searched and thrown into prison — as a material witness. No one knew what to charge him with. They just knew they wanted to hold him. Mr. Higazy was all but overwhelmed with fear. “I didn’t sleep that first night,” he told me. “I was shivering, and it wasn’t from the cold.” Like an accused witch in Salem, Mr. Higazy was dangerously close to being sacrificed on the altar of hysteria. He kept telling authorities he knew nothing about the radio. But the assumption was that he was lying. As there was no evidence that he had committed a crime, it was considered important that Mr. Higazy confess to something. He said an F.B.I. agent, Michael Templeton, told him during an interview that if he didn’t cooperate, his family in Cairo would be put at the mercy of Egyptian security, which Mr. Templeton would later acknowledge has a reputation for torture. He said the agent also threatened to report that in his “expert opinion” Mr. Higazy was a terrorist. Fear turned to panic. Mr. Higazy began to search frantically for a story that would satisfy Mr. Templeton. His first few attempts were preposterous. He said he had found the radio outside J&R Music World in lower Manhattan. Then he said he’d stumbled across it on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The story finally decided upon was that he had stolen the radio from the Egyptian Air Force. He was charged with lying to federal agents — the lie being his initial claim that the radio wasn’t his. Clueless prosecutors stressed in court that Mr. Higazy should be subject to more than 20 years imprisonment. A month after Mr. Higazy was arrested, a miracle occurred — in the form of a pilot who strolled into the Millenium Hilton Hotel, looking for his radio. The pilot was an American citizen, and thus believable. He had left the radio in his room on the 50th floor, one flight down from Mr. Higazy’s room. Mr. Higazy had been telling the truth all along. It turned out that the security guard, Ronald Ferry, had been lying. He hadn’t found the radio in Mr. Higazy’s safe. He had made up that story, hoping to steal a bit part in one of the biggest investigations ever. It seems a co-worker had actually found the radio, on a table somewhere. Mr. Ferry was charged with making false statements to the F.B.I. and sentenced to six months of weekends in prison. Mr. Higazy filed a lawsuit against Mr. Templeton, claiming he had illegally coerced his confession. But an in-house investigation by the F.B.I. found there was no evidence of wrongdoing, and a federal judge — while acknowledging that the confession had been coerced — threw out the suit. All the authorities have to do nowadays is claim that a case is linked to terror and they can get away with just about anything. The rule of law is succumbing to the tyranny of fear. (There’s no telling how many Abdallah Higazys have been swept up in the so-called war on terror and imprisoned, or worse.) Jonathan Abady, a lawyer for Mr. Higazy, said an appeal has been filed on his behalf. Mr. Higazy, who has since married and is now a teacher in Cairo, told me he is angry with Mr. Ferry and Mr. Templeton, but that he’s not bitter. He offered his thanks to those Americans “who stood by me and believed in my innocence.” ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 3) New Limits Set Over Marketing for Cigarettes Wall Street analysts hailed the case as a big victory for the companies. “There’s nothing in this ruling that is going to hurt the profitability of the businesses,” said David Adelman, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. By PHILIP SHENON August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/washington/18tobacco.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=154cb68fbbd1bffb&ei=5094&partner=homepage WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 — A federal judge ordered strict new limitations on tobacco marketing on Thursday after finding that cigarette makers deserved to be punished for a decades-old conspiracy to deceive the public about the dangers of smoking. The deception, Judge Gladys Kessler of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia said, resulted in “an immeasurable amount of human suffering.” But in her ruling here in a racketeering suit brought by the Justice Department against the industry, Judge Kessler also had good news for the leading tobacco companies. Judge Kessler ordered the companies to stop labeling cigarettes as “low tar” or “light” or “natural” or with other “deceptive brand descriptors which implicitly or explicitly convey to the smoker and potential smoker that they are less hazardous to health than full-flavor cigarettes.” She rejected a government proposal that the industry be forced to underwrite a multibillion-dollar program to help smokers quit and to educate young people about the hazards of tobacco. Judge Kessler said that under a recent appeals court ruling she had no power to impose such large financial damages. The judge said she regretted not being able to punish the companies further. Her ruling said they were shown in a nine-month trial to have “marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted.” Her 1,742-page decision amounted to a detailed history of the efforts of the industry — and, notably, its lawyers — over almost 50 years to confuse the public about a danger that was evident to the health professions. Cigarette makers, the judge said, profit from “selling a highly addictive product which causes diseases that lead to a staggering number of deaths per year, an immeasurable amount of human suffering and economic loss and a profound burden our national health care system.” Although the failure to impose tougher penalties disappointed antitobacco groups, the decision could force tobacco companies to overhaul some ways of doing business, especially in marketing and advertising cigarettes and other tobacco products. Judge Kessler also ordered the companies to begin an advertising campaign in newspapers and on television networks on “the adverse health effects of smoking.” The remedies apply to Batco; Brown & Williamson; Lorillard; Philip Morris and its parent, Altria; and R. J. Reynolds, part of Reynolds American. Another defendant, Liggett, was excluded. The judge said it did “not have a reasonable likelihood of future violations.” The Justice Department, which brought the case in 1999 in the Clinton administration and had seemed less eager to pursue it under President Bush, said in a statement it was disappointed that the court did not impose all of the penalties the department had recommended. But the department said that it was “hopeful that the remedies that were imposed by the court have a significant, positive impact on the health of the American people.’’ In a statement on Thursday night, William S. Ohlemeyer, an Altria vice president and lawyer, said the companies believed that many parts of the decision were “not supported by the law or the evidence presented at trial, and appear to be constitutionally impermissible or infringe on Congress’ sole right to provide for the regulation of tobacco products.” Wall Street analysts hailed the case as a big victory for the companies. “There’s nothing in this ruling that is going to hurt the profitability of the businesses,” said David Adelman, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Adelman said the ruling threw into question the fate of major brands like Marlboro Lights and Camel Lights. Sales of light brands constitute more than 50 percent of the cigarette market in the United States, according to Mr. Adelman. Analysts also said they believed that the companies had strong legal grounds for a successful appeal. “The likelihood that the ‘light’ issue ends here is low,” said Marc Greenberg, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. “I think this will get appealed to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and there may even be issues here for the Supreme Court.” William V. Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an antismoking group linked to the government suit, said he had hoped for tougher penalties. But Mr. Corr said he was pleased that that the judge had identified the tobacco companies as a “rogue industry” that was guilty of “50 years of lying to the American people.” Mr. Adelman said he did not think that the companies would be damaged by the finding that they were deceptive. “This industry is not a bunch of Boy Scouts,” he said. “It’s an industry that was not well regarded by the public, anyway. So I don’t think there are significant public relations or legal ramifications from the decision.” The decision was issued after American stock markets had closed. In early after-hours trading, the stocks of Altria, Reynolds American and other tobacco makers rose. Among the companies named in the suit, Altria, the country’s largest maker of cigarettes, stands to gain the most, as the ruling clears the way for a much anticipated spinoff of its Kraft Foods unit. The Associated Press reported that a spokesman for Reynolds, Mark Smith, said executives were “gratified that the court did not award unjustified and extraordinarily expensive monetary penalties.” Mr. Smith said Reynolds was disappointed by other parts of the ruling, which its lawyers will analyze before suggesting action. Representatives at Brown & Williamson did not return calls. Before the ruling, tobacco companies had won a string of victories in cases involving the dangers of smoking. Last month, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a decision to toss out a $145 billion judgment in a class-action suit. In December, the Illinois Supreme Court threw out a similar $10 billion judgment against Philip Morris. Cigarette makers have argued that it was unfair for the federal government to seek additional penalties in light of their $246 billion settlement in 1998 with state governments. The federal case dates from 1999, when President Bill Clinton promised in his State of the Union address to unleash the Justice Department to bring a civil racketeering suit against tobacco manufacturers. The suit filed that year was one of the government’s largest in the scope of charges and the resources devoted to it, accusing cigarette makers of decades of fraud, deceptive advertising and dangerous marketing. But the election of Mr. Bush, a major recipient of campaign donations from the industry, brought a re-examination of the case. John Ashcroft, the new attorney general, called the suit weak and pushed for an out-of-court settlement. Career prosecutors working on the case protested a Justice Department decision last year to scale back its request for the companies to finance the national stop-smoking campaign, to $10 billion from $130 billion. The department said it was forced to reduce the amount because of an appeals court decision last year that blocked the department from trying to seize ill-gotten profits from the tobacco industry’s past practices. At the time, Judge Kessler said the appeals court decision was a “body blow to the government’s case.” Melanie Warner contributed reporting from Boulder, Colo., for this article. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 4) Ford to Slash Production and Shutter Plants By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:28 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Ford-Production-Cuts.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=301a46b454e1abe2&ei=5094&partner=homepage DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. on Friday announced sharp cuts in its North American production that would force it to partially shut down plants in the United States and Canada in the fourth quarter. The company said fourth-quarter production would be down 21 percent, or 168,000 units, from last year. Third-quarter production will be 20,000 units below what was previously announced. For the full year, Ford plans to produce about 9 percent fewer vehicles than last year. ''We know this decision will have a dramatic impact on our employees, as well as our suppliers,'' Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford said in a note to employees. ''This is, however, the right call for our customers, our dealers and our long-term future.'' Dearborn-based Ford, which lost $254 million in the second quarter, vowed last month to speed up its North American restructuring. Bill Ford told employees the cuts are part of that acceleration and said full details of more actions will be announced in September. The nation's second-largest automaker said the cuts are an effort to match inventories to demand and avoid costly incentives. The plan also reflects reduced expectations for big trucks and sport utility vehicles considering high gas prices, the company said. The new production plan will result in downtime this year at assembly plants in St. Thomas, Ontario; Chicago; Wixom, Mich.; Louisville, Ky.; Wayne, Mich.; St. Paul, Minn.; Kansas City, Mo.; Norfolk, Va.; and Dearborn, Mich., Ford said The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified sources, reported Friday that Ford is considering shutting down more factories and cutting salaried jobs and benefits by 10 percent to 30 percent. Ford spokesman Oscar Suris declined to comment on the report. Company officials would not say what specific impact the production cuts would have on workers. In general, hourly workers placed on temporary layoff receive 95 percent of their wages through state unemployment benefits and a supplement by Ford. The United Auto Workers had no immediate comment on the announcement. Ford shares dropped 20 cents, or 2.45 percent, to $7.97 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 5) Raul Castro Makes 1st Public Comments By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 8:26 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Cuba-Raul-Castro.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=c4fad85307236586&ei=5094&partner=homepage HAVANA (AP) -- In his first public comments since becoming Cuba's acting president, Raul Castro said his brother Fidel is recovering and that thousands of troops were mobilized soon after his illness was announced, according to an interview published Friday. Raul Castro, 75, thanked the doctors and others who have cared for his brother, saying they ''have attended to him in an excellent manner ... with much love and dedication. This has been a very important factor in Fidel's progressive recovery.'' Raul Castro, the nation's Defense Minister, said he mobilized the island nation's troops in the hours after his brother's illness was announced July 31. ''We could not rule out the risk of somebody going crazy, or even crazier, within the U.S. government,'' he told Lazaro Barredo, editor of the Communist Party's Granma newspaper. ''I decided to substantially raise our combative capacity ... including the mobilization of several tens of thousands of reservists and militia members,'' he said. A noticeable but still discreet increase in the number of reservists on Cuba's streets was evident in the first days after it was announced Fidel had undergone intestinal surgery. Cubans were asked to affirm their allegiance to the government and willingness to fight for it in the event of an attack. Raul Castro, has been at his brother's side since launching the revolution with the attack on the Moncada military barracks in 1953 and fought with him in the Sierra Maestra mountains against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. As No. 2 man in the government, the younger Castro is constitutionally designated to replace his brother should he die or become incapacitated. The government has treated Fidel Castro's ailment, his exact condition and the type of surgery he underwent as a ''state secret.'' While Fidel Castro recovers, ''absolute tranquility is reigning in the country,'' the younger brother said. The younger Castro said that the Cuban people's calm manner in the more than two weeks following his brother's illness ''reminded me of the conduct of the Cuban people during the heroic days of the so-called Missile Crisis in October 1962.'' Raul Castro noted that international media had commented on his absence from public view in the days after he took provisional power, adding that ''those comments don't bother me in the slightest.'' He said he did care about what the Cuban people are thinking, however, and pointed out that he appeared on state television on Sunday, his brother's 80th birthday, to greet visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the airport. He also appeared in photographs of a birthday gathering with his brother and Chavez. ''As a point of fact, I am not used to making frequent appearances in public, except at times when it is required,'' Raul Castro said in the interview. ''Many tasks related to defense should not be made public and have to be handled with maximum care, and that has been one of my fundamental responsibilities'' as Defense Minister. He also noted that ''I have always been discreet, that is my way, and in passing I will clarify that I am thinking of continuing in that way,'' Raul Castro added. ''But that has not been the fundamental reason why I don't appear very often in the mass media; simply, it has not been necessary.'' ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 6) Bush Signs Law to Overhaul Pension Rules At the same time, the law recognizes the evolution in workers' benefits -- a gradual disappearance of pensions in favor of savings accounts such as 401(k)s that require workers to amass their own retirement savings. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 2:20 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Pensions-Overhaul.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush signed a broad overhaul of pension and savings rules Thursday, giving millions of people a better chance of getting the retirement benefits they have earned. The law, passed with fanfare by Congress two weeks ago, gives companies seven years to shore up funding of their traditional pensions, also known as defined benefit plans. Special rules for seriously underfunded companies require them to catch up faster. The 30,000 such plans run by employers are estimated to be underfunded by $450 billion. ''Americans who spent a lifetime working hard should be confident that their pensions will be there when they retire,'' Bush said. He added a stern instruction to corporate America. ''You should keep the promises you make to your workers,'' the president said. ''If you offer a private pension plan to your employees, you have a duty to set aside enough money now so your workers will get what they've been promised when they retire.'' At the same time, the law recognizes the evolution in workers' benefits -- a gradual disappearance of pensions in favor of savings accounts such as 401(k)s that require workers to amass their own retirement savings. Those accounts, also known as defined contribution plans, got a boost in the new law. It is this step that many expect will do the most over time to help people working toward retirement. The law lets employers automatically enroll workers in 401(k) plans. In addition, there is a mechanism to increase gradually the amount saved, and employers are encouraged to match some of the dollars that workers stash away. A nonprofit research organization, the Retirement Security Project, estimated that the change, when fully in effect, could mean employees will save an additional $10 billion to $15 billion in 401(k) accounts each year. ''Those additional contributions will bolster retirement security for millions of workers,'' said Peter Orszag, director of the project, which works to improve retirement benefits for low- and middle-income workers. Some changes were sparked by corporate scandals that saw workers, who had put much of their nest egg in company stock, lose their retirement savings. The new law requires companies to give their workers more investment options. The law is not without its critics, some of whom say it does nothing to encourage employers to offer pension benefits and the reliable income they give retirees. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said lawmakers may look back at the law as the ''Trojan horse that brought the end of the defined benefit pension system.'' ''Erosion of the defined benefit pension system represents a dangerous shift from a 'we' society to a 'me' society, where every worker is on his or her own,'' he said. The ERISA Industry Committee, which represents the retirement, health and compensation plans of the nation's largest employers, said the number of defined benefit pension plans fell from 112,000 in 1985 to fewer than 30,000 in 2004. Of those still in place, the group said, many are closed to new participants or frozen, preventing employees from earning new benefits. ''With each past reform -- often based on government revenue needs -- employers have exited the defined benefit system as a result of the governments changes, which often resulted in burdensome and costly regulations,'' said Mark Ugoretz, the committee's president. Leaders hope these revisions will prevent a costly taxpayer bailout of the federal agency that insures the pension system, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Some fear taxpayers will pay if too many companies dump their plans at once. ''Every American has an interest in seeing this system fixed, whether you're a worker at a company with an underfunded pension or a taxpayer who might get stuck with the bill,'' Bush said. The law also: --gives airlines that are in bankruptcy proceedings and have frozen their pensions an extra 10 years, or 17 years total, to meet their funding obligations. Others with active plans get 10 years to meet their obligations. --requires companies to give employees more information about their pensions. --puts certain ''hybrid'' plans, which have been challenged as discriminating against older workers, on stronger legal footing. --says companies with seriously underfunded plans cannot promise their workers bigger benefits. --makes permanent the higher savings contribution limits that were set to expire in the next decade. People can now put more money in their IRA and 401(k) accounts in the coming years. That includes a new option made available this year known as Roth 401(k)s. Those accounts let workers pay tax on their earnings before saving, but the money then accumulates and can be spent in retirement tax-free. The Human Rights Campaign praised the law for changes that the group said will help same-sex couples by expanding benefits once only allowed for spouses or dependents. Bush praised the measure for enacting the most sweeping overhaul in more than 30 years. But he said the changes must be coupled with revisions to the two government programs that benefit retirees, Social Security and Medicare. ''As more baby boomers stop contributing payroll taxes and start collecting benefits -- people like me -- it will create an enormous strain on our programs,'' said Bush, who turned 60 last month. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 7) It’s the Law, but Is the Law Meaningless? WHEN corporations do well, the bosses do much, much better than the workers. But what happens if everything goes wrong? By FLOYD NORRIS August 18, 2006 http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/business/18norris.html?ref=business WHEN corporations do well, the bosses do much, much better than the workers. But what happens if everything goes wrong? The Dana Corporation, an auto parts maker, is facing lawsuits claiming that it manipulated its books to hide rising costs before it filed for bankruptcy early this year. It is considering reducing or eliminating retiree health benefits. But at the same time, the bosses, including the chief executive, Michael J. Burns, want guaranteed multimillion-dollar payouts. This week, the creditors committees asked a bankruptcy court to block the contracts, which would entitle Mr. Burns to a $3 million bonus just for staying on the job until the bankruptcy is over. If the company’s value stays where it is now, he gets another $3 million, but he would get less if it declined. His $5.9 million pension — which now could be reduced if other creditors take haircuts — would be guaranteed. John Dempsey, a principal at Mercer Consulting, which helped devise the pay package, told the court that even if Mr. Burns did a great job this year, his current contract would reward him with only $3.1 million, about half the amount contemplated when he was hired in 2004 and just a third of what bosses get at comparable companies that are not in bankruptcy. He said something needed to be done to offset the fact that Mr. Burns’s stock and options are now close to worthless. It is remarkable that when unexpected good news makes a chief executive’s options worth hundreds of millions more than was anticipated, no board ever considers reducing future payments to compensate for the windfall. But when companies fail to do well, executives need new pay structures to, as Mr. Dempsey put it, “incentivize them to focus on and complete the restructuring expeditiously.” Those complaining say that Dana ignored a provision of the bankruptcy law passed by Congress last year. That bill, whose main purpose was to make it easier for credit card companies to be repaid, also contained a section that was supposed to prevent companies from rewarding top executives with rich retention payments while others were suffering. To pay a retention bonus, the company must show that the executive is “essential to the survival of the business” and that he or she has a bona fide competing offer from another company offering at least the same pay. Even then, the law puts limits on the amount. There is no claim that Mr. Burns or his colleagues have other job offers, and some creditors heap scorn on the idea, questioning, in the words of a lawyer for one group of creditors, whether competitors are “actively seeking members of a management team that led Dana to financial distress.” The company evidently deems the new section of the law irrelevant, and figures that so long as it does not call a retention payment by that name, it can hand out big bonuses based on no more success than getting through the bankruptcy process, even if shareholders and creditors are wiped out. It wants the judge to bow to the business judgment of the company’s board. That would be the same board that doubled the company’s dividend a few days after hiring Mr. Burns in early 2004, two years before it filed for bankruptcy protection. Dana views it as unfair to blame Mr. Burns for the bankruptcy, and no one doubts the company faced real problems as its customers cut purchases and demanded to pay less while Dana’s costs were rising. But more is at stake than just how many millions will go to Mr. Burns, who declined an interview request. The issue is whether the new bankruptcy law will mean anything at all, or whether it will be another law that sounded good but was easily evaded. In a decision in the US Airways case last year, a bankruptcy judge in Virginia delayed a decision on retention and severance payments for top officers until after the case was concluded. He pointed to the new law, although it was not then in effect, and said it was a reaction to the “shady reputation” of executive retention plans in some bankruptcies. “All too often,” wrote Judge Stephen S. Mitchell, the plans “have been used to reward the very executives whose bad decisions or lack of foresight were responsible for the debtors’ financial plight. “But even when external circumstances rather than the executives are to blame,” the judge added, “there is something inherently unseemly in the effort to insulate the executives from the financial risks all other stakeholders face in the bankruptcy process.” Congress tried to do something about that. It is now up to the courts to decide whether it succeeded. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 8) No enemy can defeat us Raul Castro's previous major public commentary, made June 14, 2006: GRANMA DIARIO August 18, 2006 http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul-45ejercito/raul03.html http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul_entrevista/raul_entrevista02.html Affirms Raúl in a statement to Granma. He affirmed that Fidel continues to improve and thanked people for the thousands of messages of solidarity and support from our country and abroad. Measures have been taken to prevent any attempt at aggression. The people are giving a conclusive demonstration of confidence in themselves BY LAZARO BARREDO MEDINA Foto: JORGE LUIS GONZÁLEZThe General of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz has offered an interview to Granma daily. The conversation took place in his office at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) and focused on the principal events of recent days. Comrade Raúl, our people joyfully received the message and photographs of the Comandante en Jefe published in the press and the subsequent television report of the encounter with president Chávez. Nevertheless, taking advantage of this opportunity, it would be greatly appreciated by millions of people who have attentively followed information on the state of health of compañero Fidel, to hear your personal assessment, as someone always so united to him. Without any doubt, what most interests all of us at this time is the Jefe‚s health. On behalf of all the people, I will begin by congratulating and thanking the doctors and the other compañeros and compañeras who have attended to him in an excellent manner, with an unsurpassable professionalism and, above all, with much love and dedication. This has been a very important factor in Fidel‚s progressive recovery. Moreover, I think that his exceptional physical and mental nature has also been essential to his satisfactory and gradual recovery. We Cubans, even when we don‚t see you for a while on television or in the written press, know that you are there, at your combat post as always. But I think that these words of yours will also disarm the speculation and lies present in some of the foreign media. If you are referring to those in other countries who entertain themselves by speculating about if I am going to appear on television or in the papers or not; well, I appeared with Fidel on Sunday (August 13) and when I received President Chávez , although really those comments don‚t bother me in the slightest. What does interest me greatly is what our people are thinking, although, fortunately, we live in this geographically small island, where everything that we are doing is known. I can confirm that when I talk with the population or other local leaders in my tours of the country. As a point of fact, I am not used to making frequent appearances in public, except at times when it is required. Many tasks related to defense should not be made public and have to be handled with maximum care, and that has been one of my fundamental responsibilities as FAR minister. Moreover, I have always been discreet, that is my way, and in passing I will clarify that I am thinking of continuing in that way. But that has not been the fundamental reason why I don‚t appear very often in the mass media; simply, it has not been necessary. No essential orientation has been overlooked Effectively, the Comandante en Jefe‚s Proclamation gave the information that could be given at that time and moreover, proposed specific tasks for everyone. The main thing is to dedicate oneself in body and soul to fulfilling them. That is what all the leaders at different levels have been doing, together with our people who have known how to maintain an exemplary discipline, vigilance and working spirit. On behalf of the Comandante en Jefe and the Party leadership, I will take the opportunity of thanking everyone for the innumerable displays of support for the Revolution and for the content of his Proclamation, as well as the demonstrations of affection that have been expressed by figures from the cultural sector; professionals and workers in all sectors; campesinos, soldiers, housewives, students, pioneers; among them numerous believers, public figures and religious institutions from the overwhelming majority of denominations; finally, the people of Cuba. It has been a conclusive demonstration of their unbreakable unity and their revolutionary consciousness, essential pillars of the fortitude of our country. The breadth of support coming from all over the world has also been impressive. Yes, really heartening. That is why I should also like to express thanks for the numerous messages of solidarity and respect from all over the world, from people of the most diverse social categories, from simple workers to intellectual and political figures, as well as a significant and representative number of religious institutions and figures. All of them have done so without any conditions whatsoever. Messages from the few who did not act in that way were not accepted or acknowledged. Foto: JORGE LUIS GONZÁLEZAlso, they have been joined to date (August 17) by some 12,000 signatories supporting the call made 10 days ago by prominent cultural personalities from more than 100 countries, among them various Nobel Prize winners, condemning the interfering and aggressive statements of the government of the United States, and which also exposes the openly interventionist nature of the Bush Plan, as we are calling that monster that would seem to be dusted off from the times when ˆ as at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th ˆ they frustrated the independence of Cuba and imposed their administrators on us. Now they have also designed one for the supposed "transition." One McCarry, who recently stated that the United States does not accept the continuity of the Cuban Revolution, although he didn‚t say how they are thinking of averting that. One gets the impression that the enemies of the Revolution have been left speechless by the conclusive reaction of the Cuban population, immune to their giant and disgraceful campaign of offenses and lies. They are talking with surprise at the calm reigning in Cuba, as if it was something unusual and not exactly normal, and which all of us here knew would happen in a situation such as this. Yes, it would seem that they have come to believe their own lies. The most probable is that their "think tanks" and many of their analysts are now drawing other conclusions. As you were saying, absolute tranquility is reigning in the country. And something even more important, the serene, disciplined and decisive attitude that can be felt in every workplace, in every city, in every neighborhood. The same one that our people always assume in moments of difficulty. If we were to be guided solely by the internal situation, I am not exaggerating in affirming that it would not have been necessary to mobilize even one pioneer from among those who guard the ballot boxes in the elections. But we have never ignored a threat from the enemy. It would be irresponsible to do so when faced with a government like that of the United States, which has is declaring with the greatest audacity that it does not accept what is established in the Cuban Constitution. >From over there, as if they were the rulers of the planet, they are saying that there must be a transition to a social regime of their liking and that they "would take note of those who oppose that." Although it seems incredible, this boorish and at the same time stupid attitude was assumed by President Bush a few days ago. They‚ll have to waste a lot of paper and ink... A lot. For that reason I would advise them to do the opposite. To "take note," as they say, of the annexationists on the payroll of the U.S. Interest Section here in Havana, those who are going to receive the crumbs of the announced $80 million earmarked for subversion, because the bulk of it will be distributed in Miami, as is usually the case. On the contrary, the list is going to be interminable. They would have to list the names of millions and millions of Cuban men and women, the same ones who are ready to receive their designated administrator with rifles in hand. At this juncture, they should be very clear that it is not possible to achieve anything in Cuba with impositions and threats. On the contrary, we have always been disposed to normalize relations on an equal plane. What we do not accept is the arrogant and interventionist policy frequently assumed by the current administration of that country. Recently rereading Party Congress documents, I found ideas that seemed to have been written today. For example, this excerpt from the Central Report presented by Fidel to the Third Congress in February 1986: "As we have demonstrated many times, Cuba is not remiss to discussing its prolonged differences with the United States and to go out in search of peace and better relations between our people." And he continued: "But that would have to be on the basis of the most unrestricted respect for our condition as a country that does not tolerate shadows on its independence, for whose dignity and sovereignty entire generations of Cubans have fought and sacrificed themselves. This would be possible only when the United States decides to negotiate with seriousness and is willing to treat us with a spirit of equality, reciprocity and the fullest mutual respect." Foto: OTMARO RODRÍGUEZSimilar formulations are contained in the documents from the other Party Congresses and have also been reaffirmed by its first secretary on diverse occasions. Nevertheless they are continuing with the same aggressive and arrogant policy as always. That is the reality. More than 20 years have passed since Fidel pronounced the words that I have just cited; they have that 485-page interventionist plan that I already mentioned, approved in 2004, in which they detail how they propose to dismantle the achievements of the Revolution in health, education, social security; agrarian reform and urban reform; in other words, to kick the people off their land, out of their homes so as to hand them back to their former owners, etc. etc. etc. To cap it all, just a few days ago, on July 10, President Bush officially approved a document complementing the former one, and which they had posted with a very low profile on the Internet in June. They have openly stated that it includes a secret appendix that is not being published "for reasons of national security" and "to ensure its effective implementation;" those are literally the terms that they used, and which constitute a flagrant violation of international law. For a while now we have been adopting measures to confront those plans. These were reinforced particularly when the current U.S. government initiated the unbridled warmongering policy that it has maintained to date, including the announced intention to attack without previous warning any of those places that they call the "sixty or more dark corners of the world." A notable escalation of aggression Effectively, and in 2003 the plans became more explicit. On December 5 of that year, Mr. Roger Noriega, then assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, declared ˆ I don‚t know if it was intentional or a slip ˆ that "the transition in Cuba ˆ in other words ˆ the death of Fidel ˆ could happen at any moment and we have to be prepared to be agile and decisive." That "the United States wanted to be sure that the regime‚s cronies have no hope of holding onto power" and, so as to leave no doubt, he added that they were working "to ensure that there was no succession to the Castro regime." Subsequently he and other senior U.S. officials have returned to the theme insistently. What other form exists for obtaining these goals that is not military aggression? Thus, the country adopted the pertinent measures for counteracting that real danger. Faced with similar situations, Martí taught us what to do: "Plan against plan. Without a plan of resistance, a plan of attack cannot be defeated," he wrote in the newspaper Patria on June 11, 1892. The United States government is not revealing the contents of that appendix because it is illegal. Its publication must be demanded, above all now that they have spoken about its existence in order to threaten Cuba. On the contrary, our defense plans are transparent and legal, simply because they do not threaten anybody; their sole objective is to guarantee the sovereignty and independence of the homeland; they do not violate any national or international law whatsoever. The country‚s media has informed about the seriousness and reach of the measures that we have been adopting recently to steadily strengthen our defense. Just over a month ago, on July 1, the issue was analyzed extensively by the Fifth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party. Some of the empire‚s war hawks thought that the moment had come to destroy the Revolution this past July 31. We could not rule out the risk of somebody going crazy, or even crazier, within the U.S. government. Consequently, at 3 a.m. on August 1, in fulfillment of the plans approved and signed on January 13, 2005 by compañero Fidel, and after having made the established consultations, I decided to substantially raise our combative capacity and readiness via the implementation of the projected measures, including the mobilization of several tens of thousands of reservists and militia members, and the proposal to our principal units of regular troops, including the Special Troops, of missions demanded by the political/military situation that has been created. All of the mobilized personnel has completed or is currently completing an important cycle of combat training and cohesion, part of that under campaign conditions. These troops will rotate, in approximately equal numbers, as the proposed objectives are attained. All of the reservists and militia members who are to participate in these activities will be informed, with the necessary anticipation, of the date of incorporation into their units and the time that they will remain in these to fulfill their guard duty to the homeland. To date, the mobilization that we began on August 1 has developed satisfactorily, thanks to the magnificent response by our reservists and militia members, as well as the commendable labor undertaken by the military commands and especially by the Defense Councils, under the leadership of the Party, at every level. It is not my intention to exaggerate the danger. I never have done so. Up until now, the attacks during these days have not gone further than rhetorical ones, except for the substantial increase in subversive anti-Cuba broadcasts over radio and television. They have announced the use of a new airplane... Previously, they were using, at varying intervals, a military airplane known as Comando Solo. From this past August 5, they began using another type of aircraft that has effected daily transmissions. On August 11, it did so in conjunction with the aforementioned Comando Solo. In fact, on the 5th and 6th, our radars detected that transmissions were being made from international waters, in outright violation of the agreements of the International Telecommunications Union, to which the United States is a signatory, which once again we are condemning via the corresponding channels and agencies, given that moreover these transmissions are affecting broadcasting in our country. In reality, we are totally unconcerned at the hypothetical influence of this crude and abysmally-made propaganda, very much below the cultural and political levels of the Cuban population and which moreover our people reject, just as they reject the little signs on the U.S. Interests Section. That is not what this is about; it is above all a matter of sovereignty and of dignity. We would never passively allow the consummation of that aggressive act, and that is why we interfere with it. All things considered, they are spending millions in U.S. taxpayers‚ money to achieve the same result as ever: a TV that is not seen. I add to these reflections on the country‚s defense an idea expressed by Fidel in 1975, in his Central Report to the First Party Congress, which I have quoted so much that I know it by heart: "As long as imperialism exists, the Party, the State and the people will give their utmost attention to the services of defense. The revolutionary guard will never be neglected. History shows with too much eloquence that those who forget this principle do not survive the error." That has been our guide throughout many years, and continues to be today for more than enough reasons. I think that we Cubans have shown during these days that we all share that conviction. I agree with you, and that is why I conclude by ratifying my congratulations to the Cuban people for their overwhelming demonstration of confidence in themselves; a demonstration of maturity, serenity, monolithic unity, discipline, revolutionary consciousness and ˜ put this in capital letters ˜ FIRMNESS, which reminded me of the conduct of the Cuban people during the heroic days of the so-called Missile Crisis in October 1962. They are the fruits of a Revolution whose concept Fidel summed up in his speech of May 1, 2000, in 20 basic ideas that constitute the quintessence of ideological political work. They are the results of many years of combat that, under his leadership, we have waged. Let nobody doubt, as long as we remain like that, no enemy will be able to defeat us. REVOLUTION is a sense of the historic moment; it is changing everything that should be changed; it is complete equality and freedom; it is being treated and treating others like human beings; it is emancipating ourselves through ourselves, and through our own efforts; it is defying powerful dominating forces inside and outside of the social and national sphere; it is defending values that are believed in at the cost of any sacrifice; it is modesty, selflessness, altruism, solidarity and heroism; it is fighting with audacity, intelligence and realism; it is never lying or violating ethical principles; it is the profound conviction that there is no force in the world capable of crushing the strength of truth and ideas. Revolution is unity, it is independence, it is fighting for our dreams for justice for Cuba and for the world, which is the foundation of our patriotism, our socialism and our internationalism. Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz May 1, 2000 Raul Castro's previous major public commentary (June 14, 2006) http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul-45ejercito/raul03.html ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 9) Reservists: Officers stopped us from attending anti-war protest By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 07:51 18/08/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/752120.html Some 160 infantry reserve soldiers are accusing their commanders of preventing them from participating in a demonstration against the war in Lebanon, which they called a "debacle." The soldiers said they had been used as "sitting ducks." "I've been in the army and reserves for 26 years and what happened this time was not merely a fiasco, it was a complete debacle. We felt like tin soldiers in a game of Olmert and Peretz's assistants and spin masters," said Avi, a soldier in the brigade. At noon Thursday 160 brigade soldiers signed a request to take part in the demonstration that would call on the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz. However, their release was put off until Friday, preventing them from reaching the protest. They wanted to protest not only the army's moves in Lebanon but the decisions of their commanders, whom they accuse of sending them needlessly to their death. "They sent us into a village they knew 15 Hezbollah fighters were holed up in at mid-day, we were like sitting ducks, it was total insanity. Two of our comrades were killed because of that. We are being used as though we were in the Chinese army, where it doesn't matter how many are killed," he said. A few dozen demonstrators arrived at Rabin Square Thursday to take part in the protest that had been organized on Internet sites. They called for Olmert's resignation and blasted halting the war before its goals were achieved. Ariella Miller, one of the protest's initiators, said she was not acting on behalf of any political body. "We are family people who used the Internet to form a group. When we went to war they promised us to bring back the soldiers and restore Israel's deterrent force." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 10) Rural Oregon Town Feels Pinch of Poverty By ERIK ECKHOLM August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/us/20poverty.html?hp&ex=1156046400&en=87d2fc4dfdb35536&ei=5094&partner=homepage OAKRIDGE, Ore. — For a few decades, this little town on the western slope of the Cascades hopped with blue-collar prosperity, its residents cutting fat Douglas fir trees and processing them at two local mills. Into the 1980’s, people joked that poverty meant you didn’t have an RV or a boat. A high school degree wasn’t necessary to earn a living through logging or mill work, with wages roughly equal to $20 or $30 an hour in today’s terms. But by 1990 the last mill had closed, a result of shifting markets and a dwindling supply of logs because of depletion and tighter environmental rules. Oakridge was wrenched through the rural version of deindustrialization, sending its population of 4,000 reeling in ways that are still playing out. Residents now live with lowered expectations, and a share of them have felt the sharp pinch of rural poverty. The town is an acute example of a national trend, the widening gap in pay between workers in urban areas and those in rural locales, where much of any job growth has been in low-end retailing and services. Most parents here, said Shelley Miller, who heads the family resource center at the public schools, are “juggling paycheck to paycheck.” Ms. Miller included herself. She makes $20,000 a year, and when she and her 16-year-old daughter make the hourlong drive to Eugene, she said, “It’s a treat.” They go to Subway for dinner, then to Wal-Mart to shop at far lower prices than they could at Oakridge’s single supermarket. Expressed in 2005 dollars, the average pay for a full-time worker in rural Oregon fell to $27,600 in 2005 from $34,200 in 1976. Over the same period, average pay in urban counties in Oregon climbed to $37,800, putting the rural-urban gap at $10,200 and rising, according to the Oregon Employment Department. About 700 Oakridge residents, from a population of about 4,500 in Oakridge and the surrounding area, visit a charity food pantry each month to pick up boxes of groceries worth $100 apiece. Two-thirds of public school students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, meaning their families are near the poverty line or below it. About 260 of the town’s 1,200 housing units are single-width trailers. “Every fall we discover that a few families have lost it over the summer and are camping out in the woods,” Ms. Miller said. “So we help them find some kind of housing in town.” Above the fog line and below the snow line, with herds of elk in the surrounding hills, the town offers a peaceful beauty, and residents say it is a perfect place to live, except for the lack of jobs. Today, a latte-serving cafe caters to mountain bikers and travelers on their way to a ski slope or parts farther west. A few new fast-food outlets are interspersed with graying motels and empty storefronts. Former workers fondly recall how the town’s 10 bars were mobbed every payday; now, a few old-timers gather in one of three tired bars and a dingy Moose Lodge, needing little prompting to carp about the Forest Service and environmentalists. Oakridge has struggled to find a new economic base. On the edge of town, where the old Pope and Talbot mill burned down in 1991, an industrial park was created, but it is covered largely with weeds. The town has authorized water and sewer services for up to 200 prime home sites in the hills above, and it hopes to attract retirees and commuters from the Eugene area, said Don Hampton, a City Council member. Along with a growing trade in outdoor recreation, becoming a distant bedroom and retirement community may be the town’s best hope, bringing tax revenue and service jobs, though it is not clear how much opportunity this will offer ambitious young people. “There’s no substitute for having a payroll,” said Dan Rehwalt, 77, who worked for decades as a machinist with lumber mills and the railroad. When the logging and mill jobs dried up, many of the more enterprising families left. Some fathers commuted for nine months at a time to log in Alaska. Others found jobs an hour or two away in Eugene and other towns, but almost always at lower wages. Karen Kephart, 63, who has five great-grandchildren, was one of the first women to work alongside men at the giant Pope and Talbot mill. When she was laid off in 1989, she was running a saw for $13 an hour, equal to $21 in 2005 dollars. Her husband tried other mill work in the region, then retired. To make ends meet, Mrs. Kephart turned to caring for the elderly in Eugene, sometimes for $7 an hour. “We had to use our savings to live on,” Mrs. Kephart said in the trailer park that she and her husband moved into after selling their house on the hill, and where they get by on Social Security and modest pensions. “It changed our retirement considerably.” Their daughter Tami Parrish, 44, the second oldest of five children, remembers having “to scrimp and save everything we had” after the mills closed. Ms. Parrish and her two sisters live in the same trailer park as their parents. She too has worked as a caregiver in Eugene, in a home for Alzheimer’s patients. She grossed $1,900 a month, but she recently had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome and is not working. Crowding into her trailer are her husband, an unemployed cook; her 22-year-old daughter, who just started a waitress job making Oregon’s $7.50 minimum wage, and tips; and the daughter’s baby boy, who receives medical care under a federal medical program for poor infants. The two Kephart sons have fared better: one, after leaving the mills, was hired as a railroad conductor, rose to engineer and lives “uptown” in Oakridge with his wife and five children. The other works in a fiberglass plant in North Carolina and helps out with money sometimes, Mrs. Kephart said. Dazzle Deal, 26, with tattooed arms and a pink pony tail, has three children, ages 7, 5 and 3. She is part of a more recent influx of poor people who moved to Oakridge because it seemed a safe place to raise kids on little money. Ms. Deal moved from Las Vegas four years ago, paying $3,000 for a dilapidated trailer in the park where the Kepharts live and fixing it up as best she could. For nine months she worked at a charity in Eugene, hitchhiking 55 miles each way because she had no car. Then the charity closed. More recently, she has occasionally found work cleaning motel rooms and braiding hair. “If I worked at McDonald’s or Dairy Queen, it would almost cost me more to pay someone to care for the kids,” she said. She gets $400 worth of food stamps and is on Medicaid; her main challenge is coming up with $205 each month for lot rental in the trailer park. A swing set outside her trailer attracts other children from the trailer park, and on a recent warm day she took a group of them to wade in the nearby river. One family, the Hyltons, live in an RV in the forest and describe themselves as transients, after returning to Oregon from a spell in the Southeast. But it is not clear how and when they might move on. Robert Hylton, 42, was living hand to mouth on a river bank with his 30-year-old wife, Shella, 30, and their daughters, ages 1 and 2. Strain showed on the face of Mrs. Hylton as she washed clothes in a tub. The family catches trout to eat three times a week. Mr. Hylton drives, or bikes when there is no gas money, into Oakridge for food baskets and the occasional construction job. “We’re trying,” he said, “to figure out what to do next.” ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 11) Hold the Champagne New York Times Editorial August 19, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/opinion/19sat2.html?hp When this week’s government reports showed tamer inflation than had been anticipated, investors almost certainly overreacted, pushing up stocks and bonds as if all was right with the economy. A slowdown is certainly preferable to an overheating economy, which raises the likelihood of much higher interest rates and widespread unemployment. But a slowdown is still bound to be painful, especially for the Americans — and they are the majority — whose wages have been stagnating through much of the current economic cycle. Investors’ jubilation was also likely a reflection of their own relief. This week’s evidence of decelerating inflation has vindicated the judgment of Ben Bernanke, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, who decided last week to pause in the two-year-old campaign to raise interest rates. That display of acumen boosted investors’ confidence in his ability to correctly call the shots. What the market doesn’t seem to be considering is the possibility of problems for which the Fed has no good answers. The depth and duration of an economic slowdown will depend in large part on the ultimate fate of the housing boom. As the housing sector continues to weaken, employment could take a big hit; the Economic Policy Institute calculates that housing-related jobs accounted for 15 percent of the nation’s job growth in 2005. Consumer spending could also be affected, via higher unemployment, less home-equity borrowing and a general reversal in the wealth effect — that free-spending feeling people get when their assets are appreciating. At the same time, the slowdown is likely to weaken the dollar. Theoretically, a weaker dollar should help the economy over time by increasing American exports. But that assumes that the economies of other countries will continue to chug along, even prosper, as the United States endures a slowdown. Moreover, the ill effects of a housing decline could soon be upon us, while the potentially beneficial effects of a weaker dollar would most likely need time to take hold. The result could be a slowdown that is more severe than currently anticipated and that could be impervious to interest rate calibrations. Of course, that is a scenario, not a prediction. The important point is that today’s economy has problems that go beyond price inflation. The last time the Fed successfully orchestrated a slowdown — in the mid-1990’s — the economy was not coming off a housing boom. The federal budget was heading toward the black, the trade deficit was a fraction of its current size as a share of the economy, and oil prices, while volatile, were relatively low. Now is a time for watchful waiting, not uncorking the Champagne. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 12) Chicago Woman’s Stand Stirs Immigration Debate By GRETCHEN RUETHLING August 19, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/us/19immigrant.html CHICAGO, Aug. 18 — In a small storefront church in a Puerto Rican neighborhood on the city’s West Side, Elvira Arellano, a fugitive from the government, waits with her 7-year-old son and prays. Ms. Arellano, 31, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, defied an order to report to the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday to be deported and is instead seeking sanctuary in her church. Ms. Arellano is hoping Congress will act on a private relief bill that would allow her and her son, Saul, a United States citizen who has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, to stay in the country, where she says he can get better medical treatment. “I’m not a terrorist,” said Ms. Arellano, who came to the United States illegally nine years ago and is facing her second deportation. “I’m only a single mother with a son who’s an American citizen.” Ms. Arellano, president of an advocacy group called La Familia Latina Unida, said she hoped her action would help to bring about legislation to protect families that could be torn apart by deportation. Immigrants’ rights groups and critics of illegal immigration are closely watching her case. Some supporters have likened her to Rosa Parks, while detractors say Ms. Arellano broke the law and should face the consequences. Critics say illegal immigrants have children with the hope that they will be allowed to stay in the United States. “She had an anchor baby, that’s what she did,” said Mike McGarry, acting director of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform. “If she was so concerned about her child, she’d take him with her.” Emma Lozano, director of Centro Sin Fronteras, an advocacy group in Chicago, sees it differently. “She became for all of us a symbol of resistance to the unjust, broken laws of this country,” Ms. Lozano said. “This cross that she bears for all the undocumented is because she’s been chosen.” Ms. Arellano has received supportive calls and e-mail from across the country and beyond. Dolores Huerta, 76, a laborers’ advocate who founded the United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez, flew to Chicago from California on Thursday to show her support. “Legislation must be proposed so these children don’t stay without their parents,” she said. Ms. Arellano was deported in 1997 after crossing from Mexico illegally. She returned and had Saul, working in Washington State before moving to Chicago in 2000. She was arrested in 2002 at O’Hare International Airport, where she cleaned planes, for using a false Social Security number. She was granted a stay of deportation after a private relief bill was introduced in the Senate in 2003 because of her son’s medical needs. Last year, two similar bills were introduced in the House, but no action has been taken. At Adalberto United Methodist Church, where Ms. Arellano has been staying, the windows are plastered with copies of letters of support from Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, who introduced the House legislation, and Mayor Richard M. Daley. Ms. Arellano also posted a statement, saying if she is arrested on “holy ground,” she “will know that God wants me to be an example of the hatred and hypocrisy of the current policy of this government.” Such talk offends people like Rosanna Pulido, director of the Illinois Minuteman Project. “She’s spewing all this anti-American stuff,” Ms. Pulido said. “The thing that scares me the most is her defiance, it really does.” The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said it has the authority to arrest anyone in the country in violation of immigration law. But an immigration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because policy prohibits discussing agency plans, said Friday that the authorities had other priorities and did not plan an arrest at the church. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Walter Coleman, said helping Ms. Arellano was part of his calling. “There’s a tradition in this country as well as around the world that governments respect the dignity and the faith of the church and don’t trample on that,” Mr. Coleman said. “I’m much more afraid of God than I am of Homeland Security.” Ira Mehlman, media director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said the law holds parents responsible for their actions regardless of their children’s situation. “However sympathetic her child may be, you can’t allow someone to hide behind their children,” Mr. Mehlman said. Jaime P. Martinez, national treasurer of the League of United Latin American Citizens, an advocacy group in Washington, said Ms. Arellano’s case was mobilizing the movement as the government seems to be cracking down. “I have never seen these type of deportations in my life,” said Mr. Martinez, 50, who visited Ms. Arellano on Thursday. “I believe it’s an agenda that they have to turn away the progress that was being made.” But Carlina Tapia-Ruano, an immigration lawyer in Chicago, said she doubted that Ms. Arellano’s actions would change anyone’s mind. “My concern is that when we have individuals who so publicly voice their disregard of our laws,” Ms. Tapia-Ruano said, “I believe that that gives greater ammunition for those who are on the extremes.” But Ms. Arellano is confident. “I didn’t allow them to deport me, and the community is supporting me,” she said. “I’m not afraid of anything because I’m in the house of God.” ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 13) On Technical Grounds, Judge Sets Aside Verdict of Billing Fraud in Iraq Rebuilding By ERIK ECKHOLM August 19, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/world/middleeast/19reconstruct.html?ref=business [The company's founders are Scott Custer, a former Army Ranger and defense consultant, and former CIA officer Michael Battles, who ran for Congress in Rhode Island in 2002 and was defeated in the Republican primary. Battles is a Fox News Channel commentator. [1].... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custer_Battles ...bw] A federal judge has set aside a verdict of corporate fraud in Iraq on disputed technical grounds, raising questions about the ability of whistleblowers and the United States government to pursue companies that profited illegally in Iraq during the chaotic year after the invasion. Last March, based on evidence provided by two company whistleblowers, a federal jury in Virginia found that the contractor Custer Battles L.L.C. had filed grossly inflated invoices to the Coalition Provisional Authority. In the civil suit, the first Iraq-related case to be brought under the False Claims Act, the company was declared liable for more than $10 million in damages and penalties. The case was expected to be the first of dozens to be filed under the act, a crucial tool against government fraud that allows company insiders to sue and share any damages awarded to the government. Numerous such cases from Iraq have been filed and are under seal while the Justice Department completes its initial investigations, lawyers and federal officials say. But an underlying issue, raised by Custer Battles during its trial and on appeal, was whether bills submitted to the Coalition Provisional Authority could be regarded as bills presented to the United States government. The coalition authority was an entity created and largely financed by the United States to run Iraq, and largely staffed by American officials, but with an ambiguous legal status. The Justice Department in an advisory opinion, and the jury in the Custer Battles case, said that some of the Custer Battles invoices were indeed claims against the American treasury and that the False Claims Act applied. But in an opinion issued Wednesday and posted yesterday, Judge T. S. Ellis III, of the Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., said the plaintiffs had “failed to prove that the claims were presented to the United States.” The coalition authority, the judge ruled, was an international entity, and bills presented to American officials then detailed to the authority were not subject to the False Claims Act. The judge did not address the appeal to overturn the fraud findings, saying this was not necessary if the act did not apply. The lead lawyer for the whistleblowers, Alan Grayson, of Grayson & Kubli in McLean, Va., said they would appeal the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va. “If this turns out the way the law ends up, it will make it more difficult to prosecute fraudulent contractors in Iraq,” Mr. Grayson said in a telephone interview. “But this is clearly not the final word on the subject.” Judge Ellis did let one part of the original verdict stand, the finding that one of the former Custer Battles officials who brought the charges, William D. Baldwin, had been fired illegally for complaining about illegal billing. Mr. Baldwin was awarded $230,000 in damages. In a news release issued yesterday, lawyers for Custer Battles, from the Washington office of Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, praised the judge for setting aside the jury verdict and repeated that Scott Custer, Mike Battles and their company were innocent of any fraud. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 14) Immigration May Tip Vote in California By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/us/20arnold.ready.html?hp&ex=1156132800&en=5bd4ddf9a3ef3a34&ei=5094&partner=homepage LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19 — Illegal immigration has long been a political minefield in California, making and breaking political careers. Now, with Congress considering the most sweeping changes to immigration laws in two decades, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is learning just how troublesome that terrain can be in an election year. No Republican candidate for governor or president since the 1970’s has won in California without getting at least one-third of the Hispanic vote, which Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, achieved in a wide-open recall election in 2003. In his bid for re-election in November, he faces the difficult task of courting both Latino voters and his core conservative supporters, two groups that are often far apart on immigration. The immigration debate in Congress has also rippled into several other races for governor, including those in Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Colorado and Arizona. Democrats and Republicans are carefully staking out their positions, often with intense political calculation. Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, a Democrat, has sought to appear tough, declaring a state of emergency last year in the four border counties that bear the brunt of the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico. But this spring, with a commanding lead in the polls, Ms. Napolitano rejected bills from the Republican-dominated Legislature intended to make life harder for illegal residents and the businesses that employ them, questioning the legality and effectiveness of the proposals. In Massachusetts, two of the three Democrats in the primary race for governor have said they would consider using state troopers to enforce immigration law, as Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, has proposed. “It’s like Iraq,” said Jennifer E. Duffy, who tracks governors’ races for The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter in Washington. “It may not be the driving issue of a campaign, but every candidate has a position that has been articulated.” As a Republican in a state dominated by Democrats, Mr. Schwarzenegger has a difficult task in balancing the two competing constituencies, Ms. Duffy said, because “if just Republicans vote for him, he loses.” So one week Mr. Schwarzenegger defends his support for the Minutemen civilian patrols on the border that many conservatives strongly endorse, and the next he distances himself from an anti- illegal-immigrant ballot initiative passed in 1994 that galvanized Latino political involvement on the side of Democrats. At a recent town-hall-style campaign appearance by Mr. Schwarzenegger in Orange County, Larry Collins, vice president of a local Republican club, asked the first question, and it was about border security. Mr. Collins said later that although he supported Mr. Schwarzenegger, he wanted the governor to take a harder line on immigration. He said he could not bear hearing more and more Spanish being spoken in the county, and he wondered about the legality of the newcomers. “We are being overloaded with a potential hazard,” Mr. Collins said. Even as Mr. Schwarzenegger seeks to hold on to voters like Mr. Collins, he is striving to attract Latinos. His aides concede that if the election is close, Latino voters could prove vital, and so they have embarked on a campaign to attract them, particularly native-born middle-class and professional Latinos. The aides predict that these Latinos are more likely to approve of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s stance on other issues, such as his advocacy for small businesses and tax cuts and his promises to improve education and health care. On Monday, Mr. Schwarzenegger sent one of the nation’s most prominent Latino Republican businessmen, Hector V. Barreto, the former head of the Small Business Administration and a board member of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, to court Latino business owners and others in San Francisco. “This will be an example of how we’re going to run campaigns differently in the Latino community for both Republicans and Democrats,” said Matthew Dowd, Mr. Schwarzenegger’s chief strategist, who has set a goal of getting 35 percent of the Latino vote. Mr. Schwarzenegger has given no speeches specifically on immigration reform. But in newspaper opinion articles and at campaign stops he has said that he generally supports President Bush’s advocacy of more border security, while he also backs measures that would steer some illegal immigrants toward citizenship. As the governor of California, he reluctantly sent National Guard troops to the border this summer at the request of Mr. Bush, but rejected another request for more troops. Still, at a speech on Saturday at the state Republican Party’s summer convention in Los Angeles, Mr. Schwarzenegger sought to rally the party faithful in part by criticizing his Democratic opponent’s objection to having the Guard at the border. He also attacked his opponent, Phil Angelides, the state treasurer, for his support for allowing illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses, as a public safety measure. “My opponent wants to pull the National Guard off the border,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said. “He wants to give undocumented workers California driver’s licenses. His policies are disastrous.” Mr. Schwarzenegger also urged immigrants to learn English, offering himself, tongue in cheek, as an example. “Being an American means learning English,’’ said Mr. Schwarzenegger, a naturalized citizen from Austria whose accent supplies late-night comediens with endless material. “I know because I did, not that it is perfect nearly mind you, but I did. And we must also help immigrants get the same tutoring I got so they can learn English as quickly as possible.’’ Democrats are quick to point out that Mr. Schwarzenegger once said the United States should “close our borders,” only to clarify the statement to “secure our borders” after being criticized. Democrats view his back and forth as political expediency. “We have seen the governor waffle and flip-flop,” State Senator Gil Cedillo, Democrat of Los Angeles, said in a conference call with reporters last week. He called on Mr. Schwarzenegger to debate Mr. Angelides on Spanish-language television. Mr. Angelides is expected to get most of the Latino vote and has endorsements from several high-ranking elected Latino Democrats, with the glaring exception of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, a Democrat and Mexican-American. To the consternation of Mr. Angelides’s supporters, the mayor has withheld a promised endorsement while he rallies bipartisan support, including Mr. Schwarzenegger’s, for legislation to give him a role in running the public schools. A Field Poll in July showed Mr. Angelides leading Mr. Schwarzenegger among Latinos by 58 percent to 22 percent, with 20 percent undecided or supporting other candidates. The poll, which sampled 992 registered voters from July 10 to 23 and has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points, showed Mr. Schwarzenegger leading over all among likely voters, 45 percent to 37 percent. Everywhere he stops, Mr. Schwarzenegger is mobbed for autographs, and it is no different among Hispanic voters (the governor has let it be known that he has starred in movies filmed in Mexico). In July, Mr. Schwarzenegger fixed tortillas at the Olvera Street market, where tourists flock for a carefully constructed taste of old Mexican Los Angeles. The visit came days after news photographers snapped him grinning with Mr. Villaraigosa at the National Council of La Raza convention here. Mr. Schwarzenegger rarely fails to highlight his own immigrant tale of arriving nearly penniless from Austria in 1968 — he is a naturalized United States citizen — and finding success in bodybuilding and Hollywood. “I was able to make my dream turn into reality,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said at a stop in Orange County. He has also appointed several Hispanics to his campaign and administration staff, including Arnoldo Torres, a former political analyst at the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, who is a senior adviser to the campaign. Mr. Schwarzenegger has also visited several heavily Latino neighborhoods and has made himself especially accessible to Spanish-language news media. (Mr. Schwarzenegger declined to be interviewed for this article). “I’m glad he is working toward getting the Latino community,” said Martin Gonzalez, 35, an independent voter who watched Mr. Schwarzenegger campaign recently at a bakery started by Cuban immigrants in Glendale. “He is doing it now because now he knows we are important.” Will he vote for Mr. Schwarzenegger? “I just don’t know, but maybe,” Mr. Gonzalez said, adding with a laugh, “My kids like his movies.” ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 15) Israel Committed to Block Arms and Kill Nasrallah By STEVEN ERLANGER August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/middleeast/20mideast.html?ref=world JERUSALEM, Aug. 19 — Despite a cease-fire agreement, Israel intends to do its best to keep Iran and Syria from rearming Hezbollah and to kill the militia’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, says a senior Israeli commander. International commitments to exclude the Hezbollah militia from southern Lebanon and to disarm it already seem hollow, said the commander, who had a well-placed view of the war and its planning and has extensive experience in Lebanon. The officer would only speak on the condition of anonymity in an interview on Friday. But, speaking one day before commandos carried out a raid that Israeli officials said was to disrupt arms shipments for Hezbollah from Syria and Iran, he was explicit that Israel would continue to seek out and block any such attempts. He also emphasized that, despite criticism from the Israeli public and even troops of the performance of the Army and government, he considered the threat and the fighting ability of Hezbollah to have been severely diminished. Furthermore, he made it clear that Sheik Nasrallah remained a target as the leader of a group that Israel and the United States have labeled terrorist. “There’s only one solution for him,” he said. At another point, he said simply, “This man must die.” Mr. Nasrallah is regarded as a hero in much of the Muslim world. The pro-Syrian president of Lebanon, Émile Lahoud, praised him and Hezbollah this week for what he called their victory over Israel. Israel and the United States, however, view Hezbollah as a tool of non-Arab Iran, which created it, and of Syria, which supports and helps to supply it, rather than being loyal to Lebanon and its multireligious government. Israel, the officer said, views Hezbollah as “Iran’s western front’’ and, regardless of how poorly the new United Nations forces may perform, he argued, Israel will benefit from new international support for the extension of Lebanese sovereignty to the Israeli border, made most visible in the deployment of the Lebanese Army. “I don’t care about the capability of the Lebanese Army,” he said. “What is more important, and here I’m not speaking for the Israeli government, is the understanding that the Lebanese government took control of southern Lebanon. Now we can deal with them as a country and a government, and speak and compromise. This is the huge change this operation created.” Hezbollah, he said, is no longer just Israel’s problem, and “the world understands that we are helping to stop the influence of Iran,” at least in the longer term. The army was planning on 15 days of air war before any ground forces were considered, he said. “We didn’t want to do any ground assault and thought we could create the conditions for a cease-fire without a major ground assault.” But the army miscalculated, and Hezbollah did not break. The air orce failed to kill Sheik Nasrallah or to destroy the Hezbollah leadership. The army was also surprised, he said, by the sheer numbers of the advanced antitank missiles Hezbollah possessed, including Russian Metis-M and Kornet missiles that were sold to Syria and passed on to Hezbollah, he said, and which caused most of Israel’s military casualties. The United Nations was also “too soft and too late” in negotiating a cease-fire, and Israel then felt it had to act to stop the short-range Katyusha rockets that the army and the government knew, he insisted, could not be stopped with air power alone. “We tried to postpone it until we had no other choice,” the officer said. The army asked the government for a five-day ground operation to reach the Litani River and was ready on Monday, Aug. 7, the commander said. “The government asked us to wait because of the negotiations, and we waited Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and most of Friday,” he said. Only then, when the negotiations at the United Nations were going against Israel, did Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz order the expanded ground operation, which had only been approved by the cabinet on Aug. 9. In the end, the army had two days of fighting, not five, before the cease-fire took effect last Monday at 8 a.m. Israelis have been extremely critical of Mr. Olmert, Mr. Peretz and, to some degree, the army leadership. Israelis overwhelmingly supported the decision to go to war against Hezbollah after its cross-border raid on July 12, when it captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight people. But the war dragged on, the government seemed indecisive and Hezbollah was fighting well. Israelis felt there was too much reliance on air power, the ground war was too long delayed and then too modest, and the cease-fire agreement did not even secure the soldiers’ release or guarantee the disarming of Hezbollah. The lifeline of the three-month-old government appears shortened, and the future of the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, is uncertain. Still, the Israeli Army feels it fought well within the limits set for it, and the commander insisted that the Israelis won every battle with Hezbollah, despite its good training and equipment and the underground tunnels, barracks and command posts it constructed with Iranian help. “We believe it was important to stop the war with Hezbollah understanding that we can beat them anywhere, any time, and we did that,” he said. “I believe it will change the situation for a long time.” Israelis are spoiled by the 1967 and 1973 wars, he said, but there is no decisive victory against terrorism. In Washington, too, he said, “I believe the military and security professionals understand what we did, and they are not disappointed.” The Israeli Army scored two important achievements, he confirmed. First, good intelligence allowed it to knock out up to 80 percent of Hezbollah’s medium- and long-range missile launchers in the first two days of the air war, preventing Sheik Nasrallah from firing a longer-range Iranian Zelzal missile on Tel Aviv. More important, Israel was able to destroy launchers within 45 seconds to a minute after they were used, which no other army in the world can do with regularity, he said. Employing drones, radar, precision weapons and artillery, Israel could track a launching and bomb it. But it could not do that with the thousands of short-range Katyusha rockets. They are small and easily portable, can be fired from buildings or simple metal tripods or even fired with a simple timer. There are other tactical lessons, the commander said: more armor plating underneath tanks, better supplies, more money to be spent on reserves and training. “But in the long run, if we see Hezbollah rearming itself and running southern Lebanon, I believe the next round is coming.” After all, “this is the Middle East,” the officer said. “One war ends, and the next one is already at the door.” In the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Israel arrested the Palestinian deputy prime minister, Nasser al-Shaer of Hamas, at his home. Israeli has arrested more than two dozen Hamas cabinet ministers and legislators in the West Bank, including the parliament’s speaker, Aziz Dweik, since late June, when Hamas took part in the capture of an Israeli soldier. Also on Saturday, an Israeli soldier was killed at a checkpoint east of Nablus by an armed Palestinian, who was killed in turn by other soldiers, the Israeli Army said. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 16) Venezuela Says It Seized 4 Spies; U.S. Embassy Denies Knowledge By SIMON ROMERO August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/americas/20venezuela.html CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 19 — President Hugo Chávez said that the authorities here had captured four people who were spying for the United States, and he taunted the Bush administration for making Venezuela a target of high-level intelligence scrutiny. Speaking at a campaign rally on Friday night in western Venezuela, Mr. Chávez, who has made attacks on the United States a staple of his re-election campaign, ridiculed the administration’s establishment of a mission manager for intelligence on Venezuela and Cuba. J. Patrick Maher, a longtime veteran of the C.I.A., was named to the post on Friday. Iran and North Korea are the only other countries assigned such senior intelligence managers, who are not expected to directly oversee intelligence operations or analysis but rather guide these activities on a strategic level. “They selected Jack the Ripper,” Mr. Chávez said, referring to Mr. Maher. “Whatever their plan is, we stand ready to defeat it.” Accusations of spying have become commonplace in Venezuela in the past two years, as Mr. Chávez’s government grows more explicit in its criticism of the United States, emboldened by climbing oil revenues and a perception that his opponents stand little chance of defeating him in the December election. Authorities have offered little evidence in relation to the various spying charges, but the government has often pointed to the tacit support the Bush administration gave to a coup that briefly ousted Mr. Chávez in 2002. The new accusations contained few details, though Mr. Chávez did say: “I’ve caught four of their spies, four, and I’ve put them back in their hands. Not long ago we caught a very beautiful woman in Valencia, taking photos.” American officials here appear to be growing used to such charges, after Venezuela’s expulsion in February of a naval attaché, contending he was a spy. “We have no idea what the president is talking about,” Brian Penn, a United States Embassy spokesman, said Saturday of the new charges. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 17) Subdued Growth, Cheerful Rallies By CONRAD DE AENLLE August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/business/yourmoney/20mark.html INVESTORS who are already inclined to think that this round of Federal Reserve rate increases is over — or nearly over — may find more evidence to bolster their position this week. Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at the fund manager Eaton Vance, anticipates investor-friendly reports on the housing market, even if they may not seem so at first. “We’re looking for them to be down,” Mr. MacIntosh said. “We’re seeing a very consistent pattern — it may even be accelerating — of housing figures going down month after month.” He expects that to continue, and so does a Bloomberg News poll of economists, which foresees a decline in sales of existing homes, to an annual rate of 6.55 million units for July, from 6.62 million for June. The report is due on Wednesday. Sales of new homes in July, to be announced the next day, are estimated to have fallen to an annual rate of 1.10 million units from 1.13 million. Declining housing numbers would add to the weight of evidence that the Fed is done raising interest rates, keeping asset prices moving higher, Mr. MacIntosh predicted. At the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, on Aug. 8, policymakers did not raise rates after 17 consecutive quarter-point increases. Since that meeting, most data on inflation has been benign, and the stock and bond markets have strengthened. “Historically when the market feels the Fed is about to stop tightening, you see pretty good rallies across stocks and bonds,” Mr. MacIntosh said. “I think we’re going to continue to be in the mode for quite a while of weak economic numbers being good for the markets,” he added. The rosy outlook, he said, should last at least until the Fed’s next rate decision on Sept. 20. But how long it will linger after that is unclear, he warned, even if the Fed remains on hold. “Equities are going to want to see some kind of life in the economy,” Mr. MacIntosh said. Bondholders are always happy to see subdued economic growth, but it may not be long until “equity investors start shifting to, ‘Gee, we don’t want to see the economy too weak,’ ” he said, cautioning that any cheeriness resulting from slack economic numbers was likely to be “a temporary situation.” DATA WATCH Further confirmation of a downshifting economy could come on Thursday, in the report on July orders for durable goods, those big household and industrial items with long lives. The economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict a decline of 0.5 percent, after a 2.9 percent gain in June. Excluding transportation orders — when an airline commissions a few hundred million dollars’ worth of jets, it can distort the data — the economists predict an increase of 0.3 percent for the month after a 1.1 percent climb in June. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- LINKS ONLY ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Radioactive Leak Reaches Nuclear Plant's Groundwater At San Onofre, the cancer-causing tritium isn't known to infect drinking water, but experts are checking. By Seema Mehta and Dave McKibben Times Staff Writer August 18, 2006 www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-radioactive18aug18,0,3580491.story?track=mostviewed-sectionfront Iraq war first hard look at women's level of combat post-traumatic stress disorder - Donna St. George, Washington Post Sunday, August 20, 2006 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/20/MNGK9KLV8L1.DTL&feed=rss.news Cannabis Cafes Get Nudge to Fringes of a Dutch City By MARLISE SIMONS August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/europe/20dutch.html Top Police Spar in London Over Muslims as ‘Victims’ Roughly 90 percent of the 30,000-plus Metropolitan Police force is made up of white officers, but the number of nonwhite officers in training is about 17 percent. By ALAN COWELL August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/europe/20britain.html In British Inquiry, a Family Caught in 2 Worlds By IAN FISHER and SERGE F. KOVALESKI August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/europe/20family.html?ref=world Costly Promises New York Gets Sobering Look at Its Pensions By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH and MICHAEL COOPER August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/nyregion/20pension.html?hp&ex=1156132800&en=e7e6583c38403e37&ei=5094&partner=homepage FOCUS | US Names Spy Operations 'Manager' for Cuba, Venezuela The United States has named a special "manager" for its intelligence operations against Cuba and Venezuela, in effect putting the two Latin American nations on a par with "axis of evil" states confronted on multiple levels by the administration of President George W. Bush. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081906X.shtml VIDEO | Dahr Jamail on Iraq and Lebanon A Film by Geoffrey Millard and Sari Gelzer Independent reporter Dahr Jamail speaks with Truthout's Geoffrey Millard in Seattle at the Veterans for Peace Convention, where he was invited to speak about his time in Iraq and, because of recent events, in Lebanon. Jamail went to Iraq because he said the coverage by corporate news was insufficient. Jamail presents his take on Iraq's civil war and politics, Lebanon's humanitarian crisis, Hezbollah's increased popularity, US/Iran relations, and the peace movement in America. http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm VIDEO | Keith Olbermann: Terror and Politics in America Keith Olbermann does a stunning job of laying out a five year history of Bush administration Terror Alerts that came at moments when the administration may have wanted to change the subject. http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm Truce Strained as Israelis Raid Site in Lebanon By ROBERT F. WORTH and JOHN KIFNER August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/world/middleeast/20lebanon.html?hp&ex=1156046400&en=29d5a780e1d505a5&ei=5094&partner=homepage I.R.S. Hires Debt Collectors By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON If you owe back taxes to the federal government, the next call asking you to pay may come not from an Internal Revenue Service officer, but from a private debt collector. August 20, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/business/20tax.html?hp&ex=1156046400&en=c9462e925e79e193&ei=5094&partner=homepage Israel Carries Out Raid Deep Into Lebanon By STEVEN ERLANGER August 19, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/world/middleeast/19cnd-mideast.html?hp&ex=1156046400&en=a6aa4791c1db0db1&ei=5094&partner=homepage Colombia’s Coca Survives U.S. Plan to Uproot It By JUAN FORERO [This article talks about the massive spraying August 19, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/world/americas/19coca.html?hp&ex=1156046400&en=4dee6ec14ac62d99&ei=5094&partner=homepage Review of Landmark Study Finds Fewer Vietnam Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress By BENEDICT CAREY August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/health/policy/18psych.html?ref=us Judge Finds Wiretap Actions Violate the Law By ADAM LIPTAK and ERIC LICHTBLAU August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/washington/18nsa.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=213a53bdd3cbda3e&ei=5094&partner=homepage Marines May Have Excised Evidence on 24 Iraqi Deaths By DAVID S. CLOUD August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/world/middleeast/18haditha.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=1d7763a7a829867a&ei=5094&partner=homepage BREAKING | Judge Rules Bush's Surveillance Program Unconstitutional A federal judge in Detroit has ruled that the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program violates the Constitution. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706Y.shtml Hey Folks, Throw TO a Bone! Thursday 17 August 2006 Wow - it's hard to get donations from our readers. The same people help out month after month, and they're the only ones who keep Truthout going. Help them, help us, help you. TIA! Just click this link for our secure donation form: https://secure.entango.com/donate/pkXd5Fr9GE4?mail VIDEO | Dahr Jamail on Iraq and Lebanon A Film by Geoffrey Millard and Sari Gelzer Independent reporter Dahr Jamail speaks with Truthout's Geoffrey Millard in Seattle at the Veterans for Peace Convention, where he was invited to speak about his time in Iraq and, because of recent events, in Lebanon. Jamail went to Iraq because he said the coverage by corporate news was insufficient. Jamail presents his take on Iraq's civil war and politics, Lebanon's humanitarian crisis, Hezbollah's increased popularity, US/Iran relations, and the peace movement in America. http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm VIDEO | Keith Olbermann: Terror and Politics in America Keith Olbermann does a stunning job of laying out a five year history of Bush administration Terror Alerts that came at moments when the administration may have wanted to change the subject. http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm Sarah Olson | Iraq War Vets' Support for Lt. Watada Growing "Geoffrey Millard is a sergeant in the Army National Guard and has no problem speaking publicly or supporting Lieutenant Watada," writes Sarah Olson. "He says GI resistance is a growing trend. 'American GIs are beginning to respect the Nuremberg principles. They are resisting orders; they are going to jail, going to Canada, and going AWOL. And they're talking about why they're doing it.'" http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606A.shtml Abu Ghraib Whistleblower Speaks Out In an interview by Wil S. Hylton, Joe Darby speaks out for the first time since exposing the atrocities at Abu Ghraib. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606B.shtml Matthew Rothschild | Preparing the Battlefield for Bush's War on Iran "The thought crossed my mind this weekend at a wedding party, when we were discussing the Israeli war on Lebanon: Maybe Bush's green light for this bloody war was part of his plan to bomb Tehran," writes Matthew Rothschild. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606C.shtml Fire, Flood, Famine: Global Warming and Our Future More than half of the world's major forests will be lost if global temperatures rise by an average of 3C or more by the end of the century. The prediction comes from the most comprehensive analysis yet of the potential effects of human-made global warming. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606D.shtml BREAKING | Judge Rules Bush's Surveillance Program Unconstitutional A federal judge in Detroit has ruled that the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program violates the Constitution. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706Y.shtml British Arms Merchant With Passport to the Pentagon http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0816-03.htm Israeli Army Chief Sold Stocks Hours before the War http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0816-06.htm Venezuela's Revolution of Hope By JOSHUA FRANK, SUNIL SHARMA and KIM PETERSON August 16, 2006 http://www.counterpunch.com/frank08162006.html Military recruiters turn to strong-arm tactics BY ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY ASSOCIATED PRESS August 15, 2006 WASHINGTON -- Military recruiters have increasingly resorted to overly aggressive tactics and criminal activity to attract young troops to the battlefield, congressional investigators say. Combat conditions in Iraq, a decent job market and tough monthly recruiting goals have made recruiters' jobs more difficult, the Government Accountability Office said Monday. According to data provided to the GAO, substantiated cases of wrongdoing jumped from about 400 cases in 2004 to almost 630 in 2005. Criminal cases -- such as sexual harassment or falsifying medical records -- more than doubled in those years, jumping from 30 incidents to 70. But the report warned that reports of misconduct are likely too low because the armed services don't track such cases and many incidents go unreported. The Defense Department is not "in a sound position to assure the general public that it knows the full extent to which recruiter irregularities are occurring," the GAO found. The military has about 14,000 recruiters on staff, and each of them is required to enlist two applicants a month. More than half the recruiting crimes reported in 2005 were by the Army. The Army said last week that it is on track to meet this year's recruiting goal of 80,000 applicants following a severe shortage last year. In a letter to the GAO included in the report, the Defense Department said it agreed the services must establish an internal system to track reports of recruiter wrongdoing. Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/NEWS07/608150355/1009 Bush is crap, says Prescott Deputy PM criticises US handling of Middle East, condemning ' cowboy' President at private meeting By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor Published: 17 August 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1219716.ece 6 Native Nations, and None Have a Word for ‘Suburbia’ By CHRISTOPHER MASON CALEDONIA, Ontario, Aug. 10 — Blame it on the American Revolution. August 17, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/world/americas/17canada.html?ref=world Coffee as a Health Drink? Studies Find Some Benefits By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Coffee is not usually thought of as health food, but a number of recent studies suggest that it can be a highly beneficial drink. Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments, including diabetes, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver. August 15, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/health/nutrition/15coff.html?ex=1155960000&en=6ff9232d72ee0e4f&ei=5087%0A Faces, Too, Are Searched at U.S. Airports By ERIC LIPTON DULLES, Va., Aug. 16 — As the man approached the airport security checkpoint here on Wednesday, he kept picking up and putting down his backpack, touching his fingers to his chin, rubbing some object in his hands and finally reaching for his pack of cigarettes, even though smoking was not allowed. August 17, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/washington/17screeners.html?hp&ex=1155873600&en=0d7d13a17ac78eb2&ei=5094&partner=homepage A Debt Unpaid New York Times Editorial Vieques, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico, made headlines a few years back when environmental activists engaged in civil disobedience aimed at forcing the Navy to stop using it for bombing practice. The Navy bowed to the pressure and departed in May 2003, leaving behind 60 years worth of bomb fragments and an untold amount of unexploded ordnance. August 17, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/opinion/17thur3.html?hp Hezbollah Leads Work to Rebuild, Gaining Stature By JOHN KIFNER In his victory speech on Monday night, Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, offered money for “decent and suitable furniture” and a year’s rent on a house to any Lebanese who lost his home in the month-long war. August 16, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/world/middleeast/16hezbollah.html Lt. Watada's Mother: My Son Needs Your Support Carolyn Ho, mother of conscientious objector Lt. Ehren Watada, asks for support during her son's pre-trial hearing on Aug 17 and 18. "Whether or not he is permitted to submit evidence supporting his refusal to deploy and his first amendment rights remains to be seen," she says. "Nevertheless, the military must know that the world is watching and that justice must be served." http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081506R.shtml Judge's Insurance Ruling Could Affect Hundreds of Katrina Victims A federal judge ruled Tuesday that an insurance company's policies do not cover damage from wind-driven water in a decision that could affect hundreds of upcoming cases related to property damage from Hurricane Katrina. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081506S.shtml Mexico Poll Protests Turn Violent For the first time, Mexican riot police fired tear gas and used clubs to break up a protest by supporters of presidential challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Some lawmakers were among at least 30 people injured in the scuffles outside Congress in Mexico City. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081506T.shtml Returning to Their Devastated Homes, the People of Lebanon Claim Victory http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0815-09.htm US Sending 300 Newly Returned Troops Back to Iraq http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0815-03.htm Military veterans stand behind "illegal war" refuser Lt. Watada Objector officer brings Veterans for Peace convention to its feet By Jeff Paterson. August 12, 2006 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/14/18297206.php Iraq combat vet Sgt. Ricky Clousing speaks out against illegal war AWOL soldier returns to military after press conference By Jeff Paterson. August 11, 2006 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/14/18297184.php Veterans picnic with U.S. troops who have taken refuge in Canada at border By Jeff Paterson. August 13, 2006 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/14/18297229.php Governors Oppose Federal Control of Guard The nation's governors, protesting what they call an unprecedented shift in authority from the states to the federal government, will urge Congress today to block legislation that would allow the president to take control of National Guard forces in the event of a natural disaster or a threat to homeland security. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081406R.shtml Census Shows Growth of Immigrants By RICK LYMAN August 15, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/us/15census.html?_r=1&oref=slogin THE BAY AREA'S MINORITY MIGRATION U.S. IMMIGRANTS: Census data find 16% rise in 5 years -- many go to new destinations Rick Lyman, New York Times Tuesday, August http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/15/MNG5KKIPQ71.DTL Military’s Discharges for Being Gay Rose in ’05 By JOHN FILES WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 — The Defense Department discharged 726 service members last year for being gay, up about 10 percent from 2004, figures released by a gay rights group show. August 15, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/washington/15discharge.html Tracing a Trail of Destruction: Report from Lebanon, August 13, 2006 BEIRUT, Lebanon - The wounds of war were evident shortly after we crossed the Syria-Lebanon border at 1130 in the morning on August 12. At Haissa, about three kilometers from the Dabboussiyeh border crossing, we come across the ruins of a bridge hit by Israeli war planes just the day before. Villagers tell us 12 people were killed and 10 wounded, all civilians. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732058.php An Interview with Dr. Ismail Zayid, President of the Canadian Palestinian Association Israel‚s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from 1947 to the present has caused monumental devastation to the exiled, those hundreds of thousands who were forced from their homes and never allowed to return. Dr. Ismail Zayid‚s family suffered this unspeakable horror in 1967 when their village of Beit Nuba was erased from the face of the earth by Israeli bulldozers. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732055.php Filipinos oppose U.S. Israeli Aggression The U.S. imperialists and their Zionist executioners are mistaken in thinking that the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples are easy prey for they are anything but easy pushovers. Puppet Arroyo is also mistaken in thinking that the Filipino people will allow her to get away with her own US-propped war of terror against them. Like the valiant resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, the world will eventually see the Filipino people rise up to oust their tyrant from power. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732054.php Rogue Israeli State Protested at White House Rally What are people of conscience suppose to do in response to the unspeakable acts of barbarism being perpetrated daily by Israel? In America, they can still go out on the streets and protest. This is what happened on Sat., Aug. 12, 2006, in Washington, D.C. A rally at Lafayette Park, near the White House, organized by Arab-Americans, protested the relentless terror bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). (includes JPEG image) http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732053.php FOCUS | Seymour M. Hersh: Watching Lebanon According to Seymour Hersh, President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah's heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American pre-emptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081306Y.shtml Robert Fisk: As the 6am ceasefire takes effect... the real war begins Published: 14 August 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1219037.ece WARFARE IN THE MIDDLE EAST Antiwar Camp in Israel Comes Out of Bunker The decision to expand the ground offensive galvanizes a dormant, wary peace movement. By Laura King Times Staff Writer August 11, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-izpeace11aug11,0,6106699.story?coll=la-home-headlines Robert Fisk: Hizbollah's iron discipline is match for military machine Published: 11 August 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1218405.ece 90 Miles and Light-Years Away New York Times Editorial August 10, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/opinion/10thu2.html "Toxic environment" making kids fat, study claims: Unhealthy, addictive food is behind today's obesity epidemic, a scientist says. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060811_toxicdiet.htm ‘None of the Above’ Stricken From Ballot By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 13, 2006 NASHVILLE, Aug. 12 (AP) — A man running for governor and the United States Senate does not have the right to use his middle name, None of the Above, on the November ballot, a court ruled Friday. The candidate, David Gatchell, filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court after the State Election Commission voted to bar his middle name from the ballot. The court handles lawsuits against state agencies. Chancellor Carol McCoy also ruled that Mr. Gatchell’s effort to add an issue-oriented notification on the ballot was against state law. And Ms. McCoy said the state had no constitutional requirement to place candidates’ full names on ballots. Mr. Gatchell, who changed his middle name from Leroy, said he would appeal. He argued that several state candidates, like Walt Combat Ward and Carl Twofeathers Whitaker, had been allowed to include their nicknames on ballots, and that his middle name was widely known. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13tennessee.html Bush Proposes Retroactive War Crime Protection http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006A.shtml The Bush administration drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would retroactively protect policymakers from possible criminal charges for authorizing any humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees, according to lawyers who have seen the proposal. The move by the administration is the latest effort to deal with treatment of those taken into custody in the war on terror. Hizballah: A Primer Lara Deeb July 31, 2006, 11 pages (Lara Deeb, a cultural anthropologist, is assistant professor of women’s studies at the University of California-Irvine. She is author of An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi’i Lebanon.) Hizballah, the Lebanese Shi’i movement whose militia is fighting the Israeli army in south Lebanon, has been cast misleadingly in much media coverage of the ongoing war. Much more than a militia, the movement is also a political party that is a powerful actor in Lebanese politics and a provider of important social services. Not a creature of Iranian and Syrian sponsorship, Hizballah arose to battle Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon from 1982-2000 and, more broadly, to advocate for Lebanon’s historically disenfranchised Shi’i Muslim community. While it has many political opponents in Lebanon, Hizballah is very much of Lebanon -- a fact that Israel’s military campaign is highlighting. http://www.merip.org/mero/mero073106.html Feeding Ourselves: Organic Urban Gardens in Caracas, Venezuela Written by April M. Howard Thursday, 10 August 2006 http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/869/ FOCUS | Baghdad Morgue Tallies 1,815 Bodies in July Figures compiled by the city morgue indicated Wednesday that the number of killings in the Iraqi capital reached a new high last month, and the US military said a new effort to bring security to Baghdad will succeed only if Iraqis "want it to work." The Baghdad morgue took in 1,815 bodies during July, according to the facility's assistant manager, Abdul Razzaq al-Obeidi. The previous month's tally was 1,595. Obeidi estimated that as many as 90 percent of the total died violent deaths. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006Z.shtml
Monday, August 14, 2006
BAUAW NEWSLETTER FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2006
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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 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- SUPPORT "TAKING AIM": KPFA RADIO is considering airing the very informative program, "Taking Aim," produced by Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone. We encourage everyone who has heard and appreciated this show to contact KPFA's Tracy Rose and let her know you want the show to air: tracyrose@gmail.com Here's my letter: In solidarity, Bonnie Weinstein Dear Tracy, The program, "Taking Aim", with Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone is a one-of-a-kind, powerfully informative program. Schoenman and Shone are leading experts in the history of the Middle East with years of experience living in the region. They are both important reporters for news that the mainstream media tries to hide or distort. "Taking Aim" would be a very valuable addition to the fine programing already on KPFA. More importantly, the information disseminating from this program and the serious work of Schoenman and Shone, provide invaluable facts that KPFA listeners need to hear--truth that is told nowhere else. The more in-depth information that is made available to the general public--your listeners--from "Taking Aim" will help to further educate your well-informed audience. I strongly urge you to add this program to your broadcasts. In my opinion, "Taking Aim" and the work of Schoenman and Shone compares well with Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now." I wish it could be on every day. Sincerely, Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War www.bauaw.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- SCROLL DOWN TO READ: EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS ARTICLES IN FULL LINKS ONLY ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Un-silent vigils on Aug 19 to remember Abeer Hamza, the 14-year-old Iraqi girl gang raped and brutally murdered In March of 2006 by the US military. Saturday, August 19th, 2006 from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM Berkeley, California - Willard Park @ Telegraph & Derby Street Hey all, I just forwarded you all the Not In Our Name national email - but wanted to write back to say why. You are either an artist, a media person, a teacher, a courageous resister, a poet, a lawyer, a revolutionary... We've all been in the streets to stop this endless war, to put an end to the brutal occupations of the United States...and we've all been high on the power of the people, and then demoralized by our apparent inability to stop the war machine. The anti-war movement isn't what it needs to be, but we just can't stop, right? Please join me in LA, Bay Area, New York on August 19 to call out the injustice of a 14 year old girl being gang raped by the US military. These guys are likely to go unpunished. Use your contacts, use your resources to spread the word. This vigil is being called for by some young women that have never organized anything before. It is inspiring. They are courageous. They would like 5 minutes on your radio show, or an article in your paper, or your voice on the mic that night, or your network of friends and connections to spread the word. Here's the info again. Thanks, Maya Jones Not In Our Name volunteer 510.710.6414 Un-silent vigils on Aug 19 to remember Abeer Hamza, Iraqi girl brutally murdered In March of 2006, Abeer Hamza, a 14-year old Iraqi girl from the village of Mahmudiya, witnessed the deaths of her father, mother, and sister, and afterwards was brutally raped, murdered, and set on fire. Five US soldiers have been charged with the crime, one of which has already confessed guilt. The soldiers allegedly pre-planned the attack, changed into civilian clothing, and then entered the home of Abeer Hamza. On August 19th, Abeer Hamza would have turned 15. On that day, we want to honor her life and remember her death. In doing so, we hope that some of the horror she experienced when leaving the earth, will be met with peace and mourning by those who denounce such violent crimes. In addition, we hope to draw awareness to the current protocol of immunity for Multinational Forces in Iraq. We believe that immunity nullifies necessary checks and balances in a psychologically precarious environment, and we support Amnesty International's request to the UN Security Council to reassess the granting of immunity to MNF's in Iraq. We hope that you can join us on Aug 19th, but if you are unable to attend, please light a candle on that night, and support our efforts to assist in ending immunity for MNF's in Iraq by checking out Amnesty International's statement or our myspace page. Saturday, August 19th, 2006 from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM Los Angeles, California - Macarthur Park @ 6th & Alvarado Street New York City, New York - Washington Square Park @ W. 4th Street & Macdougal Berkeley, California - Willard Park @ Telegraph & Derby Street www.myspace.com/abeerhamza Another World Is Possible! http://www.notinourname.net ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Aug 20 SF BayviewCoalition BuildingMark your CalendarEnough is Enough !END LAW ENFORCEMENT WAR AGAINST BLACK &BROWN ! WHAT: Fundraising Benefit and Cookout, Coalition Building Justice4BigO, (RIP Oliver Lefiti, Killed by SFPD 6-24-06) Justice4ASA, (RIP Asa Sullivan, Killed by SFPD 6-6-06) Bayview CEDP (RIP Tookie Williams/Campaign to End the Death Penalty) WHEN: Idriss Stelley's B-Day (Killed by SFPD 6-13-01), "E" would turn 29... Sunday 8-20-06 3 P.M. WHERE: Children Playground behind Brett Hart Elementary School, on Gillman, SF.Take Gillman from 3rd St., going towards Candlestick Park by the Bay WHY: Show your love and support to the Families of SFPD innocent victims. Under impending Capital Punishment Federal Law, 12 Bayview Brothers might become "Death Eligible" this year. Bayview is only 0,0001% of California, but would become 5,65% of California death row! Death row on the street through police Murders of our Black and Brown Brothers &Sisters and death row in the correctional system must GO! To volunteer, or more info: please email iiolmisha@cs.comor call (415) 595-8251 WHAT CAN YOU DO? Distribute flyers in your Hood, Donate Food, Donate performance (Spoken words, dance, songs), Help on Set up and clean up crew, Chaperon the Youth at the event for safety, Disseminate the info on the event through email and Fax blasts, Invite all your friends! Make banners and signs (Supplies available at ISF, 4921 3rd Street SF, Be the chef at the grill! Donate paper plates, napkins, Lend 2 additional bullhorns, forward this Invite to all your friends and contacts! ARE YOU WITH US? Black &Brown UNITY! ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- This convention is for all peace partners. Please circulate widely. Reserve you seat today by sending us an email at samina_faheem@yahoo.com. Hope to see all of you on August 20th 2006. Thanks, Samina American Muslim Voice Foundation creating a culture of peace, acceptance, mutual respect and harmony Phone: 650-387-1994 Email: amvoice@amuslimvoice.org Website: www.amuslimvoice.org 3rd Annual Convention Ordinary People, Extraordinary Heroes AMV needs your support urgently Limited seating. Please purchase your ticket today. When: Sunday – August 20th, 2006 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM Where: Chandni 5748 Mowry School Road Newark, CA 94560 Ticket price $25.00 (Includes Luncheon) Special request: Could you please enrich this event by dressing in your traditional clothing? We are very grateful for your support and friendship. Looking forward to see you.The AMV Team For more information visit www.amuslimvoice.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- San Francisco Board of Education Meeting Tuesday, August 22, 7:00 P.M. Irving G. Breyer Board Meeting Room 555 Franklin Street, 1st Floor San Francisco, CA 94102 415/241-6427 The vote that was to take place Tuesday, August 22 on a resolution to phase out JROTC will be postponed until later this year. SEE: Why queers should oppose JROTC Guest Opinion Published 07/27/2006 Bay Area Reporter by Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca] http://www.ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Mumia Abu-Jamal Is In Danger Rally In Oakland To FREE MUMIA! 4 PM Friday September 15th 2006, Alameda County Courthouse, 12th and Fallon Sts, south side Mumia Abu-Jamal Is Innocent! For Labor Action To Free Mumia! End the Racist Death Penalty! Award-winning journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal has been on death row for almost a quarter of a century, for a crime he didn't commit. The State of Pennsylvania still wants to execute him, and his case has been put on a "fast track" to a final resolution. What may be his last appeal is now before the 3rd Circuit Court. But we cannot rely on the courts to free Mumia; the courts are still refusing to hear MOUNTAINS of evidence which conclusively shows his innocence! In 1995, we mobilized by the thousands to save Mumia from a date with death. In 1999, longshore workers shut down West Coast ports to free Mumia. In 2006, it's time to get back into action to free Mumia! The victim of a politically motivated frame-up of monumental proportions, Mumia is an anti-war, anti-imperialist, social justice spokesman with the courage to defy the system from his jail cell despite a determined conspiracy to silence him forever. Known as the "Voice of the Voiceless," Mumia is the first to point out that his case is just one among many injustices of this racist, capitalist system. Perpetrated by notoriously racist and corrupt Philadelphia police and prosecutors, the frame-up of Mumia Abu-Jamal is supported by leading elements in both the Democrat and Republican parties. The US ruling class is so committed to murdering this "dangerous" inspirational figure that a resolution--full of lies about Mumia's case--has been introduced in Congress to demand that the city of St Denis, France re-name a street which was dubbed "Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal" in a recent ceremony! In the US, Mumia Abu-Jamal has been made the "poster boy" for maintaining the death penalty by the powerful few. But to the world, Mumia is a hero and symbol of resistance to racist oppression and injustice. All those who are involved in social justice movements should help champion his freedom and publicize actions for his freedom. Rally initiated by the Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal (LAC), PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610. 510 763-2347 or LACFreeMumia@aol.com. Initial endorsers include: The Mobilization To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal; Frances Goldin, Mumia's literary agent; Marsha Feinland, Peace and Freedom Party candidate*; Todd Chretien, Green Party candidate*; Robert Irminger, Inland Boatmen‚s Union, ILWU*; Jack Heyman, ILWU*; Bob Mandel, exec bd, Oakland Education Association*; Bill Mandel,37 years on KPFA*; Workers World Party of SF; Nat Weinstein; Socialist Viewpoint Magazine; Cristina Gutierrez; Bario Unido por una Amnistia General; Fred Hirsch, Plumbers & Fitters 393*; Jack Ford, past president Teamsters 921*; Patricia Maginnis; Emily Maloney. Bay Area United Against War endorses this action. *organization listed for purposes of identification only. (Endorsers support FREE MUMIA and the three slogans listed above. They do not necessarily agree with any other statement in this announcement or with any other LAC statement.) Endorse the rally! Send your individual or organizational endorsement by return email to LACFreeMumia@aol.com, or write to LAC at PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610. Let us know if you can help build the rally! Mumia's legal defense needs funds in this critical time. Please help! Make checks payable to: Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, and send them to: PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610. Seventy-five percent (75%) of all contributions received under this appeal will go directly to Mumia's legal defense fund. The remainder will support the work of the LAC. For more information on Mumia's case, go to the following web sites: www.mumia.org, www.freemumia.org, www.chicagofreemumia.org, www.laboractionmumia.org. - Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- CELEBRATE MEXICAN-LATIN AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY RALLY FOR GENERAL AND UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY FOR ALL! SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH, 1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. 24TH AND MISSION STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CA PEOPLE UNITED FOR GENERAL AMNESTY FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 415-431-9925 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Free the Cuban Five! September 23, 2006 Washington, DC Breaking News... On Aug. 9, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its en banc decision denying a new trial to the Cuban Five. On August 10, the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, together with the National Lawyers Guild, sponsored an emergency press conference in Washington in response to the decision. A partial transcript to that press conference, in English and Spanish, is here. A March on the White House will be held on September 23 to continue to press forward with efforts to free the Five. We urge all supporters to make every effort to join us on that march. A public demonstration of support for the Five, and outrage at their continued imprisonment, has never been more vital. Details of the march are found at the website below. Join us in Washington on Sept. 23! Free the Cuban Five! http://www.freethefive.org/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- U.S. Out of Iraq Now! We Are the Majority! End Colonial Occupation from Iraq, to Palestine, Haiti, and Everywhere! October 28 National Day of Action 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 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- October 28 National Day of Action 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 http://www.actionsf.org/ http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7869 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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! ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Sign the petition to save Bayview Hunters Point: No more Fillmore! Editorial by Willie Ratcliff, http://www.sfbayview.com/060706/signthepetition060706.shtml As urban Black displacement grows, Bayview kicks off referendum drive to stop Redevelopment by Randy Shaw, http://www.sfbayview.com/060706/displacement060706.shtml Hands off Bayview Hunters Point! An open letter to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors http://www.sfbayview.com/050306/handsoff050306.shtml Shattering the myth that our community is divided, people – especially Black people – are lining up to sign, but we need lots more signature gatherers. Can you commit to a few hours with a clipboard or to passing petitions among your co-workers, friends and family? Give us a call at (415) 671-0789 or an email at editor@sfbayview.com. Now for what we’re up against: The Bay View newspaper has been too broke to help finance the petition campaign, very few contributions have come in and bills are overdue. So the petition drive needs financial help … and so does the Bay View newspaper, desperately. The Bay View has faced many crises in the over 14 years we’ve published it – eviction, death threats, never enough money – yet readers have always come through, enabling us to bounce back, tackle bigger issues and fight harder than ever. We hate to beg, but WE NEED YOU NOW. WITHOUT AN IMMEDIATE AND SUBSTANTIAL LOAN, THE BAY VIEW CANNOT CONTINUE. To discuss a loan, which we can amply collateralize, please call us at (415) 671-0789; we’re here 24/7. Tax-deductible contributions to our nonprofit arm, the Hurricane Relief Information Network, are also a big help to save the hopes and the lives of survivors who depend on the Bay View for news and resources. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- New Flash Film From Young Ava Over At 'Peace Takes Courage' http://www.peacetakescourage.com/page-blog.htm http://letter.cf.huffingtonpost.com/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Save the Lebanese Civilians Petition http://epetitions.net/julywar/index.php http://donations.tayyar.org/ To The Concerned Citizen of The World: http://epetitions.net/julywar/index.php ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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://www.marxists.de/middleast/schoenman/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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) The case against the JROTC By Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1356&catid=4&volume_id=147&issue_id=245&volume_num=40&issue_num=46 2) The Tyranny of Fear By BOB HERBERT August 17, 2006 http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/opinion/17herbert.html?hp 3) New Limits Set Over Marketing for Cigarettes Wall Street analysts hailed the case as a big victory for the companies. “There’s nothing in this ruling that is going to hurt the profitability of the businesses,” said David Adelman, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. By PHILIP SHENON August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/washington/18tobacco.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=154cb68fbbd1bffb&ei=5094&partner=homepage 4) Ford to Slash Production and Shutter Plants By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:28 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Ford-Production-Cuts.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=301a46b454e1abe2&ei=5094&partner=homepage 5) Raul Castro Makes 1st Public Comments By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 8:26 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Cuba-Raul-Castro.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=c4fad85307236586&ei=5094&partner=homepage 6) Bush Signs Law to Overhaul Pension Rules At the same time, the law recognizes the evolution in workers' benefits -- a gradual disappearance of pensions in favor of savings accounts such as 401(k)s that require workers to amass their own retirement savings. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 2:20 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Pensions-Overhaul.html 7) It’s the Law, but Is the Law Meaningless? WHEN corporations do well, the bosses do much, much better than the workers. But what happens if everything goes wrong? By FLOYD NORRIS August 18, 2006 http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/business/18norris.html?ref=business 8) No enemy can defeat us Raul Castro's previous major public commentary, made June 14, 2006: GRANMA DIARIO August 18, 2006 http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul-45ejercito/raul03.html http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul_entrevista/raul_entrevista02.html 9) Reservists: Officers stopped us from attending anti-war protest By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 07:51 18/08/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/752120.html ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 1) The case against the JROTC By Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1356&catid=4&volume_id=147&issue_id=245&volume_num=40&issue_num=46 Make no bones about it: the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) is a program of the US Department of Defense. Its purpose is clear: to recruit high school students into the military. Two years ago, 59 percent of San Franciscans demonstrated their disapproval of that sort of recruiting by supporting Proposition I. It's time for the Board of Education to follow the wishes of those voters and phase out the JROTC in favor of a nonmilitary program. On Aug. 22, [This vote has been postponed...bw] it's very likely that the San Francisco school board will do just that. Before the board is a proposal to not only ease out the JROTC but also form a blue-ribbon panel to find an alternative. It's not a new idea. In the mid-1990s, a similar board proposal failed by a 4–3 vote. This time the vote will probably be reversed. Phasing out the JROTC in San Francisco should be a breeze. Two years ago, a measure to put the city on record as wanting to bring the troops home from Iraq passed by 64 percent. Since Sept. 11, hundreds of thousands of San Franciscans have protested the wars in the Middle East. There's no other city in this country with so much antiwar activity. So what's the problem? It's the kids. The JROTC has successfully organized scores of young people (mostly white and Asian) to attend school board meetings to testify about the benefits of the program. A few LGBT kids have said that the local chapter of the JROTC does not discriminate, which JROTC officials confirm. What they don't talk about is the fact that a queer kid can't be out (or found out) in the armed forces. Since 1994, when "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was first implemented, more than 11,182 queers have received the boot. There are also beatings and harassment to contend with in the military if you're suspected of being queer. It's not a pretty picture. The JROTC doesn't tell kids that a lot of what the recruiters promise is a lie — the kids might not get the educational benefits and job training promised in all the promotional materials. As Z Magazine reported (August 2005), 57 percent of military personnel receive absolutely no educational benefits. What's more, only 12 percent of men and 6 percent of women who have served in the military ever use job skills obtained from their service. As Lucinda Marshall noted in an Aug. 24, 2005, article on ZNet, "According to the Veterans Administration, veterans earn less, make up 1/3 of homeless men and 20% of the nation's prison population." Be all that you can be? Education was never the point of the military, of course. As former secretary of defense Dick Cheney once said, "The reason to have a military is to be prepared to fight and win wars.... It's not a social welfare agency, it's not a jobs program." Let's not sell our youth short. Or make them fodder for oil wars. Or subject them to antiqueer discrimination and hate crimes. Let's give them all the skills they need to make their lives the best they can be. We can do that without the military. SFBG Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca Tom Ammiano is a queer former school board president and current supervisor of District 9. Mark Sanchez, the only queer member of the current San Francisco Board of Education, authored the current anti-JROTC resolution. Tommi Avicolli Mecca is a queer antiwar activist who was recently honored by the American Friends Service Committee. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 2) The Tyranny of Fear By BOB HERBERT August 17, 2006 http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/opinion/17herbert.html?hp Abdallah Higazy was on the phone from Cairo. “To describe it as frustrating would be an understatement,” he said, “because you know you’re telling the truth. And you know the people speaking to you have incorrect information about you.” On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Higazy, the son of a former Egyptian diplomat, was in a room on the 51st floor of the Millenium Hilton Hotel, directly across the street from the World Trade Center. He was a student at the time, having won a scholarship to study computer engineering at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn. The Institute of International Education had arranged for him to stay at the hotel while he looked for permanent housing. Like everyone else, Mr. Higazy fled the hotel after the planes hit the towers. He left behind his passport and other personal items. When he returned to collect his belongings three months later, he was arrested by the F.B.I. A hotel security guard claimed to have found an aviation radio, which could be used to communicate with airborne pilots, in the safe in Mr. Higazy’s room. “That’s impossible,” said Mr. Higazy. It’s a fact, said the F.B.I. Mr. Higazy was handcuffed, strip-searched and thrown into prison — as a material witness. No one knew what to charge him with. They just knew they wanted to hold him. Mr. Higazy was all but overwhelmed with fear. “I didn’t sleep that first night,” he told me. “I was shivering, and it wasn’t from the cold.” Like an accused witch in Salem, Mr. Higazy was dangerously close to being sacrificed on the altar of hysteria. He kept telling authorities he knew nothing about the radio. But the assumption was that he was lying. As there was no evidence that he had committed a crime, it was considered important that Mr. Higazy confess to something. He said an F.B.I. agent, Michael Templeton, told him during an interview that if he didn’t cooperate, his family in Cairo would be put at the mercy of Egyptian security, which Mr. Templeton would later acknowledge has a reputation for torture. He said the agent also threatened to report that in his “expert opinion” Mr. Higazy was a terrorist. Fear turned to panic. Mr. Higazy began to search frantically for a story that would satisfy Mr. Templeton. His first few attempts were preposterous. He said he had found the radio outside J&R Music World in lower Manhattan. Then he said he’d stumbled across it on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The story finally decided upon was that he had stolen the radio from the Egyptian Air Force. He was charged with lying to federal agents — the lie being his initial claim that the radio wasn’t his. Clueless prosecutors stressed in court that Mr. Higazy should be subject to more than 20 years imprisonment. A month after Mr. Higazy was arrested, a miracle occurred — in the form of a pilot who strolled into the Millenium Hilton Hotel, looking for his radio. The pilot was an American citizen, and thus believable. He had left the radio in his room on the 50th floor, one flight down from Mr. Higazy’s room. Mr. Higazy had been telling the truth all along. It turned out that the security guard, Ronald Ferry, had been lying. He hadn’t found the radio in Mr. Higazy’s safe. He had made up that story, hoping to steal a bit part in one of the biggest investigations ever. It seems a co-worker had actually found the radio, on a table somewhere. Mr. Ferry was charged with making false statements to the F.B.I. and sentenced to six months of weekends in prison. Mr. Higazy filed a lawsuit against Mr. Templeton, claiming he had illegally coerced his confession. But an in-house investigation by the F.B.I. found there was no evidence of wrongdoing, and a federal judge — while acknowledging that the confession had been coerced — threw out the suit. All the authorities have to do nowadays is claim that a case is linked to terror and they can get away with just about anything. The rule of law is succumbing to the tyranny of fear. (There’s no telling how many Abdallah Higazys have been swept up in the so-called war on terror and imprisoned, or worse.) Jonathan Abady, a lawyer for Mr. Higazy, said an appeal has been filed on his behalf. Mr. Higazy, who has since married and is now a teacher in Cairo, told me he is angry with Mr. Ferry and Mr. Templeton, but that he’s not bitter. He offered his thanks to those Americans “who stood by me and believed in my innocence.” ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 3) New Limits Set Over Marketing for Cigarettes Wall Street analysts hailed the case as a big victory for the companies. “There’s nothing in this ruling that is going to hurt the profitability of the businesses,” said David Adelman, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. By PHILIP SHENON August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/washington/18tobacco.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=154cb68fbbd1bffb&ei=5094&partner=homepage WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 — A federal judge ordered strict new limitations on tobacco marketing on Thursday after finding that cigarette makers deserved to be punished for a decades-old conspiracy to deceive the public about the dangers of smoking. The deception, Judge Gladys Kessler of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia said, resulted in “an immeasurable amount of human suffering.” But in her ruling here in a racketeering suit brought by the Justice Department against the industry, Judge Kessler also had good news for the leading tobacco companies. Judge Kessler ordered the companies to stop labeling cigarettes as “low tar” or “light” or “natural” or with other “deceptive brand descriptors which implicitly or explicitly convey to the smoker and potential smoker that they are less hazardous to health than full-flavor cigarettes.” She rejected a government proposal that the industry be forced to underwrite a multibillion-dollar program to help smokers quit and to educate young people about the hazards of tobacco. Judge Kessler said that under a recent appeals court ruling she had no power to impose such large financial damages. The judge said she regretted not being able to punish the companies further. Her ruling said they were shown in a nine-month trial to have “marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted.” Her 1,742-page decision amounted to a detailed history of the efforts of the industry — and, notably, its lawyers — over almost 50 years to confuse the public about a danger that was evident to the health professions. Cigarette makers, the judge said, profit from “selling a highly addictive product which causes diseases that lead to a staggering number of deaths per year, an immeasurable amount of human suffering and economic loss and a profound burden our national health care system.” Although the failure to impose tougher penalties disappointed antitobacco groups, the decision could force tobacco companies to overhaul some ways of doing business, especially in marketing and advertising cigarettes and other tobacco products. Judge Kessler also ordered the companies to begin an advertising campaign in newspapers and on television networks on “the adverse health effects of smoking.” The remedies apply to Batco; Brown & Williamson; Lorillard; Philip Morris and its parent, Altria; and R. J. Reynolds, part of Reynolds American. Another defendant, Liggett, was excluded. The judge said it did “not have a reasonable likelihood of future violations.” The Justice Department, which brought the case in 1999 in the Clinton administration and had seemed less eager to pursue it under President Bush, said in a statement it was disappointed that the court did not impose all of the penalties the department had recommended. But the department said that it was “hopeful that the remedies that were imposed by the court have a significant, positive impact on the health of the American people.’’ In a statement on Thursday night, William S. Ohlemeyer, an Altria vice president and lawyer, said the companies believed that many parts of the decision were “not supported by the law or the evidence presented at trial, and appear to be constitutionally impermissible or infringe on Congress’ sole right to provide for the regulation of tobacco products.” Wall Street analysts hailed the case as a big victory for the companies. “There’s nothing in this ruling that is going to hurt the profitability of the businesses,” said David Adelman, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Adelman said the ruling threw into question the fate of major brands like Marlboro Lights and Camel Lights. Sales of light brands constitute more than 50 percent of the cigarette market in the United States, according to Mr. Adelman. Analysts also said they believed that the companies had strong legal grounds for a successful appeal. “The likelihood that the ‘light’ issue ends here is low,” said Marc Greenberg, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. “I think this will get appealed to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and there may even be issues here for the Supreme Court.” William V. Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an antismoking group linked to the government suit, said he had hoped for tougher penalties. But Mr. Corr said he was pleased that that the judge had identified the tobacco companies as a “rogue industry” that was guilty of “50 years of lying to the American people.” Mr. Adelman said he did not think that the companies would be damaged by the finding that they were deceptive. “This industry is not a bunch of Boy Scouts,” he said. “It’s an industry that was not well regarded by the public, anyway. So I don’t think there are significant public relations or legal ramifications from the decision.” The decision was issued after American stock markets had closed. In early after-hours trading, the stocks of Altria, Reynolds American and other tobacco makers rose. Among the companies named in the suit, Altria, the country’s largest maker of cigarettes, stands to gain the most, as the ruling clears the way for a much anticipated spinoff of its Kraft Foods unit. The Associated Press reported that a spokesman for Reynolds, Mark Smith, said executives were “gratified that the court did not award unjustified and extraordinarily expensive monetary penalties.” Mr. Smith said Reynolds was disappointed by other parts of the ruling, which its lawyers will analyze before suggesting action. Representatives at Brown & Williamson did not return calls. Before the ruling, tobacco companies had won a string of victories in cases involving the dangers of smoking. Last month, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a decision to toss out a $145 billion judgment in a class-action suit. In December, the Illinois Supreme Court threw out a similar $10 billion judgment against Philip Morris. Cigarette makers have argued that it was unfair for the federal government to seek additional penalties in light of their $246 billion settlement in 1998 with state governments. The federal case dates from 1999, when President Bill Clinton promised in his State of the Union address to unleash the Justice Department to bring a civil racketeering suit against tobacco manufacturers. The suit filed that year was one of the government’s largest in the scope of charges and the resources devoted to it, accusing cigarette makers of decades of fraud, deceptive advertising and dangerous marketing. But the election of Mr. Bush, a major recipient of campaign donations from the industry, brought a re-examination of the case. John Ashcroft, the new attorney general, called the suit weak and pushed for an out-of-court settlement. Career prosecutors working on the case protested a Justice Department decision last year to scale back its request for the companies to finance the national stop-smoking campaign, to $10 billion from $130 billion. The department said it was forced to reduce the amount because of an appeals court decision last year that blocked the department from trying to seize ill-gotten profits from the tobacco industry’s past practices. At the time, Judge Kessler said the appeals court decision was a “body blow to the government’s case.” Melanie Warner contributed reporting from Boulder, Colo., for this article. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 4) Ford to Slash Production and Shutter Plants By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:28 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Ford-Production-Cuts.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=301a46b454e1abe2&ei=5094&partner=homepage DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. on Friday announced sharp cuts in its North American production that would force it to partially shut down plants in the United States and Canada in the fourth quarter. The company said fourth-quarter production would be down 21 percent, or 168,000 units, from last year. Third-quarter production will be 20,000 units below what was previously announced. For the full year, Ford plans to produce about 9 percent fewer vehicles than last year. ''We know this decision will have a dramatic impact on our employees, as well as our suppliers,'' Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford said in a note to employees. ''This is, however, the right call for our customers, our dealers and our long-term future.'' Dearborn-based Ford, which lost $254 million in the second quarter, vowed last month to speed up its North American restructuring. Bill Ford told employees the cuts are part of that acceleration and said full details of more actions will be announced in September. The nation's second-largest automaker said the cuts are an effort to match inventories to demand and avoid costly incentives. The plan also reflects reduced expectations for big trucks and sport utility vehicles considering high gas prices, the company said. The new production plan will result in downtime this year at assembly plants in St. Thomas, Ontario; Chicago; Wixom, Mich.; Louisville, Ky.; Wayne, Mich.; St. Paul, Minn.; Kansas City, Mo.; Norfolk, Va.; and Dearborn, Mich., Ford said The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified sources, reported Friday that Ford is considering shutting down more factories and cutting salaried jobs and benefits by 10 percent to 30 percent. Ford spokesman Oscar Suris declined to comment on the report. Company officials would not say what specific impact the production cuts would have on workers. In general, hourly workers placed on temporary layoff receive 95 percent of their wages through state unemployment benefits and a supplement by Ford. The United Auto Workers had no immediate comment on the announcement. Ford shares dropped 20 cents, or 2.45 percent, to $7.97 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 5) Raul Castro Makes 1st Public Comments By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 8:26 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Cuba-Raul-Castro.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=c4fad85307236586&ei=5094&partner=homepage HAVANA (AP) -- In his first public comments since becoming Cuba's acting president, Raul Castro said his brother Fidel is recovering and that thousands of troops were mobilized soon after his illness was announced, according to an interview published Friday. Raul Castro, 75, thanked the doctors and others who have cared for his brother, saying they ''have attended to him in an excellent manner ... with much love and dedication. This has been a very important factor in Fidel's progressive recovery.'' Raul Castro, the nation's Defense Minister, said he mobilized the island nation's troops in the hours after his brother's illness was announced July 31. ''We could not rule out the risk of somebody going crazy, or even crazier, within the U.S. government,'' he told Lazaro Barredo, editor of the Communist Party's Granma newspaper. ''I decided to substantially raise our combative capacity ... including the mobilization of several tens of thousands of reservists and militia members,'' he said. A noticeable but still discreet increase in the number of reservists on Cuba's streets was evident in the first days after it was announced Fidel had undergone intestinal surgery. Cubans were asked to affirm their allegiance to the government and willingness to fight for it in the event of an attack. Raul Castro, has been at his brother's side since launching the revolution with the attack on the Moncada military barracks in 1953 and fought with him in the Sierra Maestra mountains against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. As No. 2 man in the government, the younger Castro is constitutionally designated to replace his brother should he die or become incapacitated. The government has treated Fidel Castro's ailment, his exact condition and the type of surgery he underwent as a ''state secret.'' While Fidel Castro recovers, ''absolute tranquility is reigning in the country,'' the younger brother said. The younger Castro said that the Cuban people's calm manner in the more than two weeks following his brother's illness ''reminded me of the conduct of the Cuban people during the heroic days of the so-called Missile Crisis in October 1962.'' Raul Castro noted that international media had commented on his absence from public view in the days after he took provisional power, adding that ''those comments don't bother me in the slightest.'' He said he did care about what the Cuban people are thinking, however, and pointed out that he appeared on state television on Sunday, his brother's 80th birthday, to greet visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the airport. He also appeared in photographs of a birthday gathering with his brother and Chavez. ''As a point of fact, I am not used to making frequent appearances in public, except at times when it is required,'' Raul Castro said in the interview. ''Many tasks related to defense should not be made public and have to be handled with maximum care, and that has been one of my fundamental responsibilities'' as Defense Minister. He also noted that ''I have always been discreet, that is my way, and in passing I will clarify that I am thinking of continuing in that way,'' Raul Castro added. ''But that has not been the fundamental reason why I don't appear very often in the mass media; simply, it has not been necessary.'' ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 6) Bush Signs Law to Overhaul Pension Rules At the same time, the law recognizes the evolution in workers' benefits -- a gradual disappearance of pensions in favor of savings accounts such as 401(k)s that require workers to amass their own retirement savings. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 2:20 a.m. ET August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Pensions-Overhaul.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush signed a broad overhaul of pension and savings rules Thursday, giving millions of people a better chance of getting the retirement benefits they have earned. The law, passed with fanfare by Congress two weeks ago, gives companies seven years to shore up funding of their traditional pensions, also known as defined benefit plans. Special rules for seriously underfunded companies require them to catch up faster. The 30,000 such plans run by employers are estimated to be underfunded by $450 billion. ''Americans who spent a lifetime working hard should be confident that their pensions will be there when they retire,'' Bush said. He added a stern instruction to corporate America. ''You should keep the promises you make to your workers,'' the president said. ''If you offer a private pension plan to your employees, you have a duty to set aside enough money now so your workers will get what they've been promised when they retire.'' At the same time, the law recognizes the evolution in workers' benefits -- a gradual disappearance of pensions in favor of savings accounts such as 401(k)s that require workers to amass their own retirement savings. Those accounts, also known as defined contribution plans, got a boost in the new law. It is this step that many expect will do the most over time to help people working toward retirement. The law lets employers automatically enroll workers in 401(k) plans. In addition, there is a mechanism to increase gradually the amount saved, and employers are encouraged to match some of the dollars that workers stash away. A nonprofit research organization, the Retirement Security Project, estimated that the change, when fully in effect, could mean employees will save an additional $10 billion to $15 billion in 401(k) accounts each year. ''Those additional contributions will bolster retirement security for millions of workers,'' said Peter Orszag, director of the project, which works to improve retirement benefits for low- and middle-income workers. Some changes were sparked by corporate scandals that saw workers, who had put much of their nest egg in company stock, lose their retirement savings. The new law requires companies to give their workers more investment options. The law is not without its critics, some of whom say it does nothing to encourage employers to offer pension benefits and the reliable income they give retirees. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said lawmakers may look back at the law as the ''Trojan horse that brought the end of the defined benefit pension system.'' ''Erosion of the defined benefit pension system represents a dangerous shift from a 'we' society to a 'me' society, where every worker is on his or her own,'' he said. The ERISA Industry Committee, which represents the retirement, health and compensation plans of the nation's largest employers, said the number of defined benefit pension plans fell from 112,000 in 1985 to fewer than 30,000 in 2004. Of those still in place, the group said, many are closed to new participants or frozen, preventing employees from earning new benefits. ''With each past reform -- often based on government revenue needs -- employers have exited the defined benefit system as a result of the governments changes, which often resulted in burdensome and costly regulations,'' said Mark Ugoretz, the committee's president. Leaders hope these revisions will prevent a costly taxpayer bailout of the federal agency that insures the pension system, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Some fear taxpayers will pay if too many companies dump their plans at once. ''Every American has an interest in seeing this system fixed, whether you're a worker at a company with an underfunded pension or a taxpayer who might get stuck with the bill,'' Bush said. The law also: --gives airlines that are in bankruptcy proceedings and have frozen their pensions an extra 10 years, or 17 years total, to meet their funding obligations. Others with active plans get 10 years to meet their obligations. --requires companies to give employees more information about their pensions. --puts certain ''hybrid'' plans, which have been challenged as discriminating against older workers, on stronger legal footing. --says companies with seriously underfunded plans cannot promise their workers bigger benefits. --makes permanent the higher savings contribution limits that were set to expire in the next decade. People can now put more money in their IRA and 401(k) accounts in the coming years. That includes a new option made available this year known as Roth 401(k)s. Those accounts let workers pay tax on their earnings before saving, but the money then accumulates and can be spent in retirement tax-free. The Human Rights Campaign praised the law for changes that the group said will help same-sex couples by expanding benefits once only allowed for spouses or dependents. Bush praised the measure for enacting the most sweeping overhaul in more than 30 years. But he said the changes must be coupled with revisions to the two government programs that benefit retirees, Social Security and Medicare. ''As more baby boomers stop contributing payroll taxes and start collecting benefits -- people like me -- it will create an enormous strain on our programs,'' said Bush, who turned 60 last month. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 7) It’s the Law, but Is the Law Meaningless? WHEN corporations do well, the bosses do much, much better than the workers. But what happens if everything goes wrong? By FLOYD NORRIS August 18, 2006 http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/business/18norris.html?ref=business WHEN corporations do well, the bosses do much, much better than the workers. But what happens if everything goes wrong? The Dana Corporation, an auto parts maker, is facing lawsuits claiming that it manipulated its books to hide rising costs before it filed for bankruptcy early this year. It is considering reducing or eliminating retiree health benefits. But at the same time, the bosses, including the chief executive, Michael J. Burns, want guaranteed multimillion-dollar payouts. This week, the creditors committees asked a bankruptcy court to block the contracts, which would entitle Mr. Burns to a $3 million bonus just for staying on the job until the bankruptcy is over. If the company’s value stays where it is now, he gets another $3 million, but he would get less if it declined. His $5.9 million pension — which now could be reduced if other creditors take haircuts — would be guaranteed. John Dempsey, a principal at Mercer Consulting, which helped devise the pay package, told the court that even if Mr. Burns did a great job this year, his current contract would reward him with only $3.1 million, about half the amount contemplated when he was hired in 2004 and just a third of what bosses get at comparable companies that are not in bankruptcy. He said something needed to be done to offset the fact that Mr. Burns’s stock and options are now close to worthless. It is remarkable that when unexpected good news makes a chief executive’s options worth hundreds of millions more than was anticipated, no board ever considers reducing future payments to compensate for the windfall. But when companies fail to do well, executives need new pay structures to, as Mr. Dempsey put it, “incentivize them to focus on and complete the restructuring expeditiously.” Those complaining say that Dana ignored a provision of the bankruptcy law passed by Congress last year. That bill, whose main purpose was to make it easier for credit card companies to be repaid, also contained a section that was supposed to prevent companies from rewarding top executives with rich retention payments while others were suffering. To pay a retention bonus, the company must show that the executive is “essential to the survival of the business” and that he or she has a bona fide competing offer from another company offering at least the same pay. Even then, the law puts limits on the amount. There is no claim that Mr. Burns or his colleagues have other job offers, and some creditors heap scorn on the idea, questioning, in the words of a lawyer for one group of creditors, whether competitors are “actively seeking members of a management team that led Dana to financial distress.” The company evidently deems the new section of the law irrelevant, and figures that so long as it does not call a retention payment by that name, it can hand out big bonuses based on no more success than getting through the bankruptcy process, even if shareholders and creditors are wiped out. It wants the judge to bow to the business judgment of the company’s board. That would be the same board that doubled the company’s dividend a few days after hiring Mr. Burns in early 2004, two years before it filed for bankruptcy protection. Dana views it as unfair to blame Mr. Burns for the bankruptcy, and no one doubts the company faced real problems as its customers cut purchases and demanded to pay less while Dana’s costs were rising. But more is at stake than just how many millions will go to Mr. Burns, who declined an interview request. The issue is whether the new bankruptcy law will mean anything at all, or whether it will be another law that sounded good but was easily evaded. In a decision in the US Airways case last year, a bankruptcy judge in Virginia delayed a decision on retention and severance payments for top officers until after the case was concluded. He pointed to the new law, although it was not then in effect, and said it was a reaction to the “shady reputation” of executive retention plans in some bankruptcies. “All too often,” wrote Judge Stephen S. Mitchell, the plans “have been used to reward the very executives whose bad decisions or lack of foresight were responsible for the debtors’ financial plight. “But even when external circumstances rather than the executives are to blame,” the judge added, “there is something inherently unseemly in the effort to insulate the executives from the financial risks all other stakeholders face in the bankruptcy process.” Congress tried to do something about that. It is now up to the courts to decide whether it succeeded. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 8) No enemy can defeat us Raul Castro's previous major public commentary, made June 14, 2006: GRANMA DIARIO August 18, 2006 http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul-45ejercito/raul03.html http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul_entrevista/raul_entrevista02.html Affirms Raúl in a statement to Granma. He affirmed that Fidel continues to improve and thanked people for the thousands of messages of solidarity and support from our country and abroad. Measures have been taken to prevent any attempt at aggression. The people are giving a conclusive demonstration of confidence in themselves BY LAZARO BARREDO MEDINA Foto: JORGE LUIS GONZÁLEZThe General of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz has offered an interview to Granma daily. The conversation took place in his office at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) and focused on the principal events of recent days. Comrade Raúl, our people joyfully received the message and photographs of the Comandante en Jefe published in the press and the subsequent television report of the encounter with president Chávez. Nevertheless, taking advantage of this opportunity, it would be greatly appreciated by millions of people who have attentively followed information on the state of health of compañero Fidel, to hear your personal assessment, as someone always so united to him. Without any doubt, what most interests all of us at this time is the Jefe‚s health. On behalf of all the people, I will begin by congratulating and thanking the doctors and the other compañeros and compañeras who have attended to him in an excellent manner, with an unsurpassable professionalism and, above all, with much love and dedication. This has been a very important factor in Fidel‚s progressive recovery. Moreover, I think that his exceptional physical and mental nature has also been essential to his satisfactory and gradual recovery. We Cubans, even when we don‚t see you for a while on television or in the written press, know that you are there, at your combat post as always. But I think that these words of yours will also disarm the speculation and lies present in some of the foreign media. If you are referring to those in other countries who entertain themselves by speculating about if I am going to appear on television or in the papers or not; well, I appeared with Fidel on Sunday (August 13) and when I received President Chávez , although really those comments don‚t bother me in the slightest. What does interest me greatly is what our people are thinking, although, fortunately, we live in this geographically small island, where everything that we are doing is known. I can confirm that when I talk with the population or other local leaders in my tours of the country. As a point of fact, I am not used to making frequent appearances in public, except at times when it is required. Many tasks related to defense should not be made public and have to be handled with maximum care, and that has been one of my fundamental responsibilities as FAR minister. Moreover, I have always been discreet, that is my way, and in passing I will clarify that I am thinking of continuing in that way. But that has not been the fundamental reason why I don‚t appear very often in the mass media; simply, it has not been necessary. No essential orientation has been overlooked Effectively, the Comandante en Jefe‚s Proclamation gave the information that could be given at that time and moreover, proposed specific tasks for everyone. The main thing is to dedicate oneself in body and soul to fulfilling them. That is what all the leaders at different levels have been doing, together with our people who have known how to maintain an exemplary discipline, vigilance and working spirit. On behalf of the Comandante en Jefe and the Party leadership, I will take the opportunity of thanking everyone for the innumerable displays of support for the Revolution and for the content of his Proclamation, as well as the demonstrations of affection that have been expressed by figures from the cultural sector; professionals and workers in all sectors; campesinos, soldiers, housewives, students, pioneers; among them numerous believers, public figures and religious institutions from the overwhelming majority of denominations; finally, the people of Cuba. It has been a conclusive demonstration of their unbreakable unity and their revolutionary consciousness, essential pillars of the fortitude of our country. The breadth of support coming from all over the world has also been impressive. Yes, really heartening. That is why I should also like to express thanks for the numerous messages of solidarity and respect from all over the world, from people of the most diverse social categories, from simple workers to intellectual and political figures, as well as a significant and representative number of religious institutions and figures. All of them have done so without any conditions whatsoever. Messages from the few who did not act in that way were not accepted or acknowledged. Foto: JORGE LUIS GONZÁLEZAlso, they have been joined to date (August 17) by some 12,000 signatories supporting the call made 10 days ago by prominent cultural personalities from more than 100 countries, among them various Nobel Prize winners, condemning the interfering and aggressive statements of the government of the United States, and which also exposes the openly interventionist nature of the Bush Plan, as we are calling that monster that would seem to be dusted off from the times when ˆ as at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th ˆ they frustrated the independence of Cuba and imposed their administrators on us. Now they have also designed one for the supposed "transition." One McCarry, who recently stated that the United States does not accept the continuity of the Cuban Revolution, although he didn‚t say how they are thinking of averting that. One gets the impression that the enemies of the Revolution have been left speechless by the conclusive reaction of the Cuban population, immune to their giant and disgraceful campaign of offenses and lies. They are talking with surprise at the calm reigning in Cuba, as if it was something unusual and not exactly normal, and which all of us here knew would happen in a situation such as this. Yes, it would seem that they have come to believe their own lies. The most probable is that their "think tanks" and many of their analysts are now drawing other conclusions. As you were saying, absolute tranquility is reigning in the country. And something even more important, the serene, disciplined and decisive attitude that can be felt in every workplace, in every city, in every neighborhood. The same one that our people always assume in moments of difficulty. If we were to be guided solely by the internal situation, I am not exaggerating in affirming that it would not have been necessary to mobilize even one pioneer from among those who guard the ballot boxes in the elections. But we have never ignored a threat from the enemy. It would be irresponsible to do so when faced with a government like that of the United States, which has is declaring with the greatest audacity that it does not accept what is established in the Cuban Constitution. >From over there, as if they were the rulers of the planet, they are saying that there must be a transition to a social regime of their liking and that they "would take note of those who oppose that." Although it seems incredible, this boorish and at the same time stupid attitude was assumed by President Bush a few days ago. They‚ll have to waste a lot of paper and ink... A lot. For that reason I would advise them to do the opposite. To "take note," as they say, of the annexationists on the payroll of the U.S. Interest Section here in Havana, those who are going to receive the crumbs of the announced $80 million earmarked for subversion, because the bulk of it will be distributed in Miami, as is usually the case. On the contrary, the list is going to be interminable. They would have to list the names of millions and millions of Cuban men and women, the same ones who are ready to receive their designated administrator with rifles in hand. At this juncture, they should be very clear that it is not possible to achieve anything in Cuba with impositions and threats. On the contrary, we have always been disposed to normalize relations on an equal plane. What we do not accept is the arrogant and interventionist policy frequently assumed by the current administration of that country. Recently rereading Party Congress documents, I found ideas that seemed to have been written today. For example, this excerpt from the Central Report presented by Fidel to the Third Congress in February 1986: "As we have demonstrated many times, Cuba is not remiss to discussing its prolonged differences with the United States and to go out in search of peace and better relations between our people." And he continued: "But that would have to be on the basis of the most unrestricted respect for our condition as a country that does not tolerate shadows on its independence, for whose dignity and sovereignty entire generations of Cubans have fought and sacrificed themselves. This would be possible only when the United States decides to negotiate with seriousness and is willing to treat us with a spirit of equality, reciprocity and the fullest mutual respect." Foto: OTMARO RODRÍGUEZSimilar formulations are contained in the documents from the other Party Congresses and have also been reaffirmed by its first secretary on diverse occasions. Nevertheless they are continuing with the same aggressive and arrogant policy as always. That is the reality. More than 20 years have passed since Fidel pronounced the words that I have just cited; they have that 485-page interventionist plan that I already mentioned, approved in 2004, in which they detail how they propose to dismantle the achievements of the Revolution in health, education, social security; agrarian reform and urban reform; in other words, to kick the people off their land, out of their homes so as to hand them back to their former owners, etc. etc. etc. To cap it all, just a few days ago, on July 10, President Bush officially approved a document complementing the former one, and which they had posted with a very low profile on the Internet in June. They have openly stated that it includes a secret appendix that is not being published "for reasons of national security" and "to ensure its effective implementation;" those are literally the terms that they used, and which constitute a flagrant violation of international law. For a while now we have been adopting measures to confront those plans. These were reinforced particularly when the current U.S. government initiated the unbridled warmongering policy that it has maintained to date, including the announced intention to attack without previous warning any of those places that they call the "sixty or more dark corners of the world." A notable escalation of aggression Effectively, and in 2003 the plans became more explicit. On December 5 of that year, Mr. Roger Noriega, then assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, declared ˆ I don‚t know if it was intentional or a slip ˆ that "the transition in Cuba ˆ in other words ˆ the death of Fidel ˆ could happen at any moment and we have to be prepared to be agile and decisive." That "the United States wanted to be sure that the regime‚s cronies have no hope of holding onto power" and, so as to leave no doubt, he added that they were working "to ensure that there was no succession to the Castro regime." Subsequently he and other senior U.S. officials have returned to the theme insistently. What other form exists for obtaining these goals that is not military aggression? Thus, the country adopted the pertinent measures for counteracting that real danger. Faced with similar situations, Martí taught us what to do: "Plan against plan. Without a plan of resistance, a plan of attack cannot be defeated," he wrote in the newspaper Patria on June 11, 1892. The United States government is not revealing the contents of that appendix because it is illegal. Its publication must be demanded, above all now that they have spoken about its existence in order to threaten Cuba. On the contrary, our defense plans are transparent and legal, simply because they do not threaten anybody; their sole objective is to guarantee the sovereignty and independence of the homeland; they do not violate any national or international law whatsoever. The country‚s media has informed about the seriousness and reach of the measures that we have been adopting recently to steadily strengthen our defense. Just over a month ago, on July 1, the issue was analyzed extensively by the Fifth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party. Some of the empire‚s war hawks thought that the moment had come to destroy the Revolution this past July 31. We could not rule out the risk of somebody going crazy, or even crazier, within the U.S. government. Consequently, at 3 a.m. on August 1, in fulfillment of the plans approved and signed on January 13, 2005 by compañero Fidel, and after having made the established consultations, I decided to substantially raise our combative capacity and readiness via the implementation of the projected measures, including the mobilization of several tens of thousands of reservists and militia members, and the proposal to our principal units of regular troops, including the Special Troops, of missions demanded by the political/military situation that has been created. All of the mobilized personnel has completed or is currently completing an important cycle of combat training and cohesion, part of that under campaign conditions. These troops will rotate, in approximately equal numbers, as the proposed objectives are attained. All of the reservists and militia members who are to participate in these activities will be informed, with the necessary anticipation, of the date of incorporation into their units and the time that they will remain in these to fulfill their guard duty to the homeland. To date, the mobilization that we began on August 1 has developed satisfactorily, thanks to the magnificent response by our reservists and militia members, as well as the commendable labor undertaken by the military commands and especially by the Defense Councils, under the leadership of the Party, at every level. It is not my intention to exaggerate the danger. I never have done so. Up until now, the attacks during these days have not gone further than rhetorical ones, except for the substantial increase in subversive anti-Cuba broadcasts over radio and television. They have announced the use of a new airplane... Previously, they were using, at varying intervals, a military airplane known as Comando Solo. From this past August 5, they began using another type of aircraft that has effected daily transmissions. On August 11, it did so in conjunction with the aforementioned Comando Solo. In fact, on the 5th and 6th, our radars detected that transmissions were being made from international waters, in outright violation of the agreements of the International Telecommunications Union, to which the United States is a signatory, which once again we are condemning via the corresponding channels and agencies, given that moreover these transmissions are affecting broadcasting in our country. In reality, we are totally unconcerned at the hypothetical influence of this crude and abysmally-made propaganda, very much below the cultural and political levels of the Cuban population and which moreover our people reject, just as they reject the little signs on the U.S. Interests Section. That is not what this is about; it is above all a matter of sovereignty and of dignity. We would never passively allow the consummation of that aggressive act, and that is why we interfere with it. All things considered, they are spending millions in U.S. taxpayers‚ money to achieve the same result as ever: a TV that is not seen. I add to these reflections on the country‚s defense an idea expressed by Fidel in 1975, in his Central Report to the First Party Congress, which I have quoted so much that I know it by heart: "As long as imperialism exists, the Party, the State and the people will give their utmost attention to the services of defense. The revolutionary guard will never be neglected. History shows with too much eloquence that those who forget this principle do not survive the error." That has been our guide throughout many years, and continues to be today for more than enough reasons. I think that we Cubans have shown during these days that we all share that conviction. I agree with you, and that is why I conclude by ratifying my congratulations to the Cuban people for their overwhelming demonstration of confidence in themselves; a demonstration of maturity, serenity, monolithic unity, discipline, revolutionary consciousness and ˜ put this in capital letters ˜ FIRMNESS, which reminded me of the conduct of the Cuban people during the heroic days of the so-called Missile Crisis in October 1962. They are the fruits of a Revolution whose concept Fidel summed up in his speech of May 1, 2000, in 20 basic ideas that constitute the quintessence of ideological political work. They are the results of many years of combat that, under his leadership, we have waged. Let nobody doubt, as long as we remain like that, no enemy will be able to defeat us. REVOLUTION is a sense of the historic moment; it is changing everything that should be changed; it is complete equality and freedom; it is being treated and treating others like human beings; it is emancipating ourselves through ourselves, and through our own efforts; it is defying powerful dominating forces inside and outside of the social and national sphere; it is defending values that are believed in at the cost of any sacrifice; it is modesty, selflessness, altruism, solidarity and heroism; it is fighting with audacity, intelligence and realism; it is never lying or violating ethical principles; it is the profound conviction that there is no force in the world capable of crushing the strength of truth and ideas. Revolution is unity, it is independence, it is fighting for our dreams for justice for Cuba and for the world, which is the foundation of our patriotism, our socialism and our internationalism. Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz May 1, 2000 Raul Castro's previous major public commentary (June 14, 2006) http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/raul-45ejercito/raul03.html ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 9) Reservists: Officers stopped us from attending anti-war protest By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 07:51 18/08/2006 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/752120.html Some 160 infantry reserve soldiers are accusing their commanders of preventing them from participating in a demonstration against the war in Lebanon, which they called a "debacle." The soldiers said they had been used as "sitting ducks." "I've been in the army and reserves for 26 years and what happened this time was not merely a fiasco, it was a complete debacle. We felt like tin soldiers in a game of Olmert and Peretz's assistants and spin masters," said Avi, a soldier in the brigade. At noon Thursday 160 brigade soldiers signed a request to take part in the demonstration that would call on the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz. However, their release was put off until Friday, preventing them from reaching the protest. They wanted to protest not only the army's moves in Lebanon but the decisions of their commanders, whom they accuse of sending them needlessly to their death. "They sent us into a village they knew 15 Hezbollah fighters were holed up in at mid-day, we were like sitting ducks, it was total insanity. Two of our comrades were killed because of that. We are being used as though we were in the Chinese army, where it doesn't matter how many are killed," he said. A few dozen demonstrators arrived at Rabin Square Thursday to take part in the protest that had been organized on Internet sites. They called for Olmert's resignation and blasted halting the war before its goals were achieved. Ariella Miller, one of the protest's initiators, said she was not acting on behalf of any political body. "We are family people who used the Internet to form a group. When we went to war they promised us to bring back the soldiers and restore Israel's deterrent force." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- LINKS ONLY ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Review of Landmark Study Finds Fewer Vietnam Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress By BENEDICT CAREY August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/health/policy/18psych.html?ref=us Judge Finds Wiretap Actions Violate the Law By ADAM LIPTAK and ERIC LICHTBLAU August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/washington/18nsa.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=213a53bdd3cbda3e&ei=5094&partner=homepage Marines May Have Excised Evidence on 24 Iraqi Deaths By DAVID S. CLOUD August 18, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/world/middleeast/18haditha.html?hp&ex=1155960000&en=1d7763a7a829867a&ei=5094&partner=homepage BREAKING | Judge Rules Bush's Surveillance Program Unconstitutional A federal judge in Detroit has ruled that the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program violates the Constitution. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706Y.shtml Hey Folks, Throw TO a Bone! Thursday 17 August 2006 Wow - it's hard to get donations from our readers. The same people help out month after month, and they're the only ones who keep Truthout going. Help them, help us, help you. TIA! Just click this link for our secure donation form: https://secure.entango.com/donate/pkXd5Fr9GE4?mail VIDEO | Dahr Jamail on Iraq and Lebanon A Film by Geoffrey Millard and Sari Gelzer Independent reporter Dahr Jamail speaks with Truthout's Geoffrey Millard in Seattle at the Veterans for Peace Convention, where he was invited to speak about his time in Iraq and, because of recent events, in Lebanon. Jamail went to Iraq because he said the coverage by corporate news was insufficient. Jamail presents his take on Iraq's civil war and politics, Lebanon's humanitarian crisis, Hezbollah's increased popularity, US/Iran relations, and the peace movement in America. http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm VIDEO | Keith Olbermann: Terror and Politics in America Keith Olbermann does a stunning job of laying out a five year history of Bush administration Terror Alerts that came at moments when the administration may have wanted to change the subject. http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm Sarah Olson | Iraq War Vets' Support for Lt. Watada Growing "Geoffrey Millard is a sergeant in the Army National Guard and has no problem speaking publicly or supporting Lieutenant Watada," writes Sarah Olson. "He says GI resistance is a growing trend. 'American GIs are beginning to respect the Nuremberg principles. They are resisting orders; they are going to jail, going to Canada, and going AWOL. And they're talking about why they're doing it.'" http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606A.shtml Abu Ghraib Whistleblower Speaks Out In an interview by Wil S. Hylton, Joe Darby speaks out for the first time since exposing the atrocities at Abu Ghraib. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606B.shtml Matthew Rothschild | Preparing the Battlefield for Bush's War on Iran "The thought crossed my mind this weekend at a wedding party, when we were discussing the Israeli war on Lebanon: Maybe Bush's green light for this bloody war was part of his plan to bomb Tehran," writes Matthew Rothschild. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606C.shtml Fire, Flood, Famine: Global Warming and Our Future More than half of the world's major forests will be lost if global temperatures rise by an average of 3C or more by the end of the century. The prediction comes from the most comprehensive analysis yet of the potential effects of human-made global warming. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606D.shtml BREAKING | Judge Rules Bush's Surveillance Program Unconstitutional A federal judge in Detroit has ruled that the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program violates the Constitution. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081706Y.shtml British Arms Merchant With Passport to the Pentagon http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0816-03.htm Israeli Army Chief Sold Stocks Hours before the War http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0816-06.htm Venezuela's Revolution of Hope By JOSHUA FRANK, SUNIL SHARMA and KIM PETERSON August 16, 2006 http://www.counterpunch.com/frank08162006.html Military recruiters turn to strong-arm tactics BY ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY ASSOCIATED PRESS August 15, 2006 WASHINGTON -- Military recruiters have increasingly resorted to overly aggressive tactics and criminal activity to attract young troops to the battlefield, congressional investigators say. Combat conditions in Iraq, a decent job market and tough monthly recruiting goals have made recruiters' jobs more difficult, the Government Accountability Office said Monday. According to data provided to the GAO, substantiated cases of wrongdoing jumped from about 400 cases in 2004 to almost 630 in 2005. Criminal cases -- such as sexual harassment or falsifying medical records -- more than doubled in those years, jumping from 30 incidents to 70. But the report warned that reports of misconduct are likely too low because the armed services don't track such cases and many incidents go unreported. The Defense Department is not "in a sound position to assure the general public that it knows the full extent to which recruiter irregularities are occurring," the GAO found. The military has about 14,000 recruiters on staff, and each of them is required to enlist two applicants a month. More than half the recruiting crimes reported in 2005 were by the Army. The Army said last week that it is on track to meet this year's recruiting goal of 80,000 applicants following a severe shortage last year. In a letter to the GAO included in the report, the Defense Department said it agreed the services must establish an internal system to track reports of recruiter wrongdoing. Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/NEWS07/608150355/1009 Bush is crap, says Prescott Deputy PM criticises US handling of Middle East, condemning ' cowboy' President at private meeting By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor Published: 17 August 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1219716.ece 6 Native Nations, and None Have a Word for ‘Suburbia’ By CHRISTOPHER MASON CALEDONIA, Ontario, Aug. 10 — Blame it on the American Revolution. August 17, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/world/americas/17canada.html?ref=world Coffee as a Health Drink? Studies Find Some Benefits By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Coffee is not usually thought of as health food, but a number of recent studies suggest that it can be a highly beneficial drink. Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments, including diabetes, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver. August 15, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/health/nutrition/15coff.html?ex=1155960000&en=6ff9232d72ee0e4f&ei=5087%0A Faces, Too, Are Searched at U.S. Airports By ERIC LIPTON DULLES, Va., Aug. 16 — As the man approached the airport security checkpoint here on Wednesday, he kept picking up and putting down his backpack, touching his fingers to his chin, rubbing some object in his hands and finally reaching for his pack of cigarettes, even though smoking was not allowed. August 17, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/washington/17screeners.html?hp&ex=1155873600&en=0d7d13a17ac78eb2&ei=5094&partner=homepage A Debt Unpaid New York Times Editorial Vieques, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico, made headlines a few years back when environmental activists engaged in civil disobedience aimed at forcing the Navy to stop using it for bombing practice. The Navy bowed to the pressure and departed in May 2003, leaving behind 60 years worth of bomb fragments and an untold amount of unexploded ordnance. August 17, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/opinion/17thur3.html?hp Hezbollah Leads Work to Rebuild, Gaining Stature By JOHN KIFNER In his victory speech on Monday night, Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, offered money for “decent and suitable furniture” and a year’s rent on a house to any Lebanese who lost his home in the month-long war. August 16, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/world/middleeast/16hezbollah.html Lt. Watada's Mother: My Son Needs Your Support Carolyn Ho, mother of conscientious objector Lt. Ehren Watada, asks for support during her son's pre-trial hearing on Aug 17 and 18. "Whether or not he is permitted to submit evidence supporting his refusal to deploy and his first amendment rights remains to be seen," she says. "Nevertheless, the military must know that the world is watching and that justice must be served." http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081506R.shtml Judge's Insurance Ruling Could Affect Hundreds of Katrina Victims A federal judge ruled Tuesday that an insurance company's policies do not cover damage from wind-driven water in a decision that could affect hundreds of upcoming cases related to property damage from Hurricane Katrina. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081506S.shtml Mexico Poll Protests Turn Violent For the first time, Mexican riot police fired tear gas and used clubs to break up a protest by supporters of presidential challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Some lawmakers were among at least 30 people injured in the scuffles outside Congress in Mexico City. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081506T.shtml Returning to Their Devastated Homes, the People of Lebanon Claim Victory http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0815-09.htm US Sending 300 Newly Returned Troops Back to Iraq http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0815-03.htm Military veterans stand behind "illegal war" refuser Lt. Watada Objector officer brings Veterans for Peace convention to its feet By Jeff Paterson. August 12, 2006 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/14/18297206.php Iraq combat vet Sgt. Ricky Clousing speaks out against illegal war AWOL soldier returns to military after press conference By Jeff Paterson. August 11, 2006 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/14/18297184.php Veterans picnic with U.S. troops who have taken refuge in Canada at border By Jeff Paterson. August 13, 2006 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/14/18297229.php Governors Oppose Federal Control of Guard The nation's governors, protesting what they call an unprecedented shift in authority from the states to the federal government, will urge Congress today to block legislation that would allow the president to take control of National Guard forces in the event of a natural disaster or a threat to homeland security. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081406R.shtml Census Shows Growth of Immigrants By RICK LYMAN August 15, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/us/15census.html?_r=1&oref=slogin THE BAY AREA'S MINORITY MIGRATION U.S. IMMIGRANTS: Census data find 16% rise in 5 years -- many go to new destinations Rick Lyman, New York Times Tuesday, August http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/15/MNG5KKIPQ71.DTL Military’s Discharges for Being Gay Rose in ’05 By JOHN FILES WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 — The Defense Department discharged 726 service members last year for being gay, up about 10 percent from 2004, figures released by a gay rights group show. August 15, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/washington/15discharge.html Tracing a Trail of Destruction: Report from Lebanon, August 13, 2006 BEIRUT, Lebanon - The wounds of war were evident shortly after we crossed the Syria-Lebanon border at 1130 in the morning on August 12. At Haissa, about three kilometers from the Dabboussiyeh border crossing, we come across the ruins of a bridge hit by Israeli war planes just the day before. Villagers tell us 12 people were killed and 10 wounded, all civilians. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732058.php An Interview with Dr. Ismail Zayid, President of the Canadian Palestinian Association Israel‚s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from 1947 to the present has caused monumental devastation to the exiled, those hundreds of thousands who were forced from their homes and never allowed to return. Dr. Ismail Zayid‚s family suffered this unspeakable horror in 1967 when their village of Beit Nuba was erased from the face of the earth by Israeli bulldozers. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732055.php Filipinos oppose U.S. Israeli Aggression The U.S. imperialists and their Zionist executioners are mistaken in thinking that the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples are easy prey for they are anything but easy pushovers. Puppet Arroyo is also mistaken in thinking that the Filipino people will allow her to get away with her own US-propped war of terror against them. Like the valiant resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, the world will eventually see the Filipino people rise up to oust their tyrant from power. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732054.php Rogue Israeli State Protested at White House Rally What are people of conscience suppose to do in response to the unspeakable acts of barbarism being perpetrated daily by Israel? In America, they can still go out on the streets and protest. This is what happened on Sat., Aug. 12, 2006, in Washington, D.C. A rally at Lafayette Park, near the White House, organized by Arab-Americans, protested the relentless terror bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). (includes JPEG image) http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732053.php FOCUS | Seymour M. Hersh: Watching Lebanon According to Seymour Hersh, President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah's heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American pre-emptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081306Y.shtml Robert Fisk: As the 6am ceasefire takes effect... the real war begins Published: 14 August 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1219037.ece WARFARE IN THE MIDDLE EAST Antiwar Camp in Israel Comes Out of Bunker The decision to expand the ground offensive galvanizes a dormant, wary peace movement. By Laura King Times Staff Writer August 11, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-izpeace11aug11,0,6106699.story?coll=la-home-headlines Robert Fisk: Hizbollah's iron discipline is match for military machine Published: 11 August 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1218405.ece 90 Miles and Light-Years Away New York Times Editorial August 10, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/opinion/10thu2.html "Toxic environment" making kids fat, study claims: Unhealthy, addictive food is behind today's obesity epidemic, a scientist says. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060811_toxicdiet.htm ‘None of the Above’ Stricken From Ballot By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 13, 2006 NASHVILLE, Aug. 12 (AP) — A man running for governor and the United States Senate does not have the right to use his middle name, None of the Above, on the November ballot, a court ruled Friday. The candidate, David Gatchell, filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court after the State Election Commission voted to bar his middle name from the ballot. The court handles lawsuits against state agencies. Chancellor Carol McCoy also ruled that Mr. Gatchell’s effort to add an issue-oriented notification on the ballot was against state law. And Ms. McCoy said the state had no constitutional requirement to place candidates’ full names on ballots. Mr. Gatchell, who changed his middle name from Leroy, said he would appeal. He argued that several state candidates, like Walt Combat Ward and Carl Twofeathers Whitaker, had been allowed to include their nicknames on ballots, and that his middle name was widely known. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13tennessee.html Bush Proposes Retroactive War Crime Protection http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006A.shtml The Bush administration drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would retroactively protect policymakers from possible criminal charges for authorizing any humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees, according to lawyers who have seen the proposal. The move by the administration is the latest effort to deal with treatment of those taken into custody in the war on terror. Hizballah: A Primer Lara Deeb July 31, 2006, 11 pages (Lara Deeb, a cultural anthropologist, is assistant professor of women’s studies at the University of California-Irvine. She is author of An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi’i Lebanon.) Hizballah, the Lebanese Shi’i movement whose militia is fighting the Israeli army in south Lebanon, has been cast misleadingly in much media coverage of the ongoing war. Much more than a militia, the movement is also a political party that is a powerful actor in Lebanese politics and a provider of important social services. Not a creature of Iranian and Syrian sponsorship, Hizballah arose to battle Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon from 1982-2000 and, more broadly, to advocate for Lebanon’s historically disenfranchised Shi’i Muslim community. While it has many political opponents in Lebanon, Hizballah is very much of Lebanon -- a fact that Israel’s military campaign is highlighting. http://www.merip.org/mero/mero073106.html Feeding Ourselves: Organic Urban Gardens in Caracas, Venezuela Written by April M. Howard Thursday, 10 August 2006 http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/869/ FOCUS | Baghdad Morgue Tallies 1,815 Bodies in July Figures compiled by the city morgue indicated Wednesday that the number of killings in the Iraqi capital reached a new high last month, and the US military said a new effort to bring security to Baghdad will succeed only if Iraqis "want it to work." The Baghdad morgue took in 1,815 bodies during July, according to the facility's assistant manager, Abdul Razzaq al-Obeidi. The previous month's tally was 1,595. Obeidi estimated that as many as 90 percent of the total died violent deaths. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081006Z.shtml
BAUAW NEWSLETTER-MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2006
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- U.S. HANDS OFF CUBA! In answer to the New York Times question, "What is Cuba’s political future and should the U.S. be involved in shaping it?" My answer to this question is number 483. Walter Lippmann's is number 503, at: http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=21 483. Bonnie Weinstein: Hasn't the U.S. government brought enough plunder into this world yet? And, for how many years have they tried to overturn the Cuban revolution? Are we, the American people and the people of the world, going to sit by as this government, in our name and with our tax dollars, attempts to rule the world with force and violence as they are currently doing in Afghanistan, Iraq and financing in Palestine? And just who is benefiting from this plunder? Not the American people who are seeing our wages, benefits and working conditions deteriorate at light-speed! Not the people of Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine who are being blown apart! And certainly, the Cuban people would not benefit from the demolition of their socialist security network that keeps Cubans from starving and from homelessness and provides free education and healthcare to all of its people--even under the economic sanctions and strangulation of the American embargo against them! American big business--the wealthiest big American businesses --are the ones who are profiting off of their powerful, marauding war machine bringing death and destruction the world over. It is they who stand to profit more from the domination of Cuba, Venezuela and the entire world--they are making billions more in profit off of their plunder and theft of the world's most valuable resources both material and human--that's what they do; that's what they care about. That is their only goal! What we, the American, Afghan, Iraqi, Palestinian, Cuban, Venezuelan--all hard-working people the world over need to do --is to organize ourselves in unity and solidarity with each other an in direct opposition to the U.S. war and profit machine. It is up to all of us to unite together to stop them. If we don't, the world will not survive their insatiable greed and quest for more wealth and power through the use of force and violence against we, the masses of humanity. This is the well-worn path taken by the wealthy elite throughout history that we-- the overwhelming majority of humanity--must finally block. The militarily fortified one-percent of humanity that is the wealthy elite that rules this government and is attempting to rule the world will not stop their plunder by themselves-- not even at the risk of all life on the planet--and that is really what we are up against! What we must finally realize is, that without our cooperation and acceptance of their superiority and position above us based on their ability to accumulate vast amounts of personal wealth, the wealthy elite have no real power of their own! Our sheer numbers are our power and strength over this tiny, vicious and malignant minority currently planted in the seat of world power. All of us together are the only force that can unseat them, topple and finally disarm them! The future of human life on Earth really is up to us! Sincerely, Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War, www.bauaw.org posted on August 14th, 2006 at 12:18 pm 503. Walter Lippmann: Thanks for opening up this forum to discussion of US policy toward Cuba. It’s obvious that our two countries are closely linked. As Wayne Smith so well described it, it’s that of “The Closest of Enemies”. That needs to and can change, if the United States would simply decide to allow Cuba the right to solve its own problems without further intervention. Cuba is completely unique on the planet in that it’s the only country on earth where a military base exists which belongs to a hostile foreign power which is committed by its national legislation to the overthrow of the Cuban government. Not only that, but Washington has propounded a nearly 500-page plan for what should happen to Cuba should the Cuban government somehow collapse. As an independent journalist who lives and works in Cuba for extended periods of time (I’ve been here ten weeks on this visit), I can assure you that there is nothing going on here among ordinary Cubans about any kind of “regime change” in this country. Fidel is essentially out on sick leave and his brother, as indicated in the island’s constitution, is minding the store. When I say nothing going on, I really mean NOTHING. Naturally, people are concerned about the health of their president, but they know he has the best doctors on the island and so ordinary people are simply going on about their business. Again, thanks for opening up this important discussion. Walter Lippmann Havana, Cuba posted on August 14th, 2006 at 12:30 pm ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone discuss: Apocalypse Now - The U.S. and Israeli Master Plan for the Middle East. Also, to be shown for the first time in the Bay Area: "The War in Lebanon: An Inside View" including harrowing photos of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila Massacre. Thursday, August 17 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita Berkeley, CA,. $10 suggested donation. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. For more information call 707.552.9992 or write takingaim@pacbell.net Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone, producers of the national radio show "Taking Aim," present a dramatic exposé of the current wave of U.S. coordinated and Israeli mass slaughter in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. They discuss in compelling and heart-rending detail the U.S. and Israeli murderous agenda, its timetable and the collusion of client Arab regimes in targeting the peoples of the region. From Rafah to, Ramallah and Nablus, from Bint Jbail, Tyre, Sidon and Beirut to Tripoli, from 1947, 1967 to 1982 and now, an ongoing genocide has been unleashed _ part of a plan to visit the identical agony on the people of Syria, Iran, Iraq and the region. This murderous agenda proceeds under the cover of the false category of terror for which 9/11 was planned, implemented and orchestrated by the U.S. ruling class and its Israeli cohorts. Heralded authors of “The Hidden History of Zionism”, “Prisoners of Israel” and “Homage to Palestine”, Schoenman and Shone, reveal through first hand testimony and shocking visuals the wholesale massacre and mass expulsion that emptied Palestine of its population in 1948 and was repeated in an identical operation in Lebanon in 1982. In 1982-83, Schoenman and Shone lived in the Palestinian refugee camps as these were reduced to rubble. They documented the round-up by the Israeli invaders of males from ages 7 to 70 across Lebanon and took 6,000 affidavits from the victims_ families. They witnessed and made a photo record of the mass murder and the mass graves from Ain El Helweh, Rashidieh, Bourj al Burajneh to Sabra and Shatila in Beirut. Schoenman and Shone draw from their experiences in Palestine and Lebanon, their testimony presented to the United Nations, Foreign Ministers and to the Nordic Commission in Oslo, Norway as well as their years of advocacy on behalf of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. Ralph Schoenman was Secretary General of the International Tribunal on U.S. War Crimes in Indochina. He worked with Malcolm X with respect to the battle for the Congo and has negotiated the release of political prisoners in many countries. He was the Executive Director of the Committee in Defense of the Palestinian and Lebanese Peoples and the Committee for a Democratic and Secular Palestine. He is the author of “The Hidden History of Zionism,” “Iraq and Kuwait: A History Suppressed,” and co-authored with Mya Shone “Prisoners of Israel (report for the United Nations)” and “Homage to Palestine.” Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone co-produce “Taking Aim with Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone” heard weekly on Pacifica’s WBAI-NY and nationally on the Progressive Radio Network. Mya Shone is an economist and has a long history as an activist involved in political, community and labor issues. She worked closely with Casa Nicaragua and Casa El Salvador during the struggles taking place in Central America, was the coordinator of the Tri-County (Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo) Labor Party chapter and co-coordinator of the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights. She was the coordinator of the Committee in Defense of the Palestinian and Lebanese Peoples and the Committee for a Democratic and Secular Palestine. Mya Shone was also an award-winning documentary filmmaker as well as a newscaster at KPFK in Los Angeles. --- The first two parts of Taking Aim's series on the Middle East, "Apocalypse Now: The U.S. and Israeli Master Plan for the Middle East" are available on our website archive http://www.takingaim.info Part 1: Death and Devastation in Lebanon Part 2: The Meaning of Qana --- Ben Gurion and the Final Aim: (an excerpt from "The Hidden History of Zionism" by Ralph Schoenman, available from Veritas Press --see http://www.takingaim.info and Amazon.com) In 1938, David Ben Gurion, who became the first Prime Minister of the Israeli state, wrote in a letter to his son: "A partial Jewish State is not the end, but only the beginning. I am certain that we can not be prevented from settling in the other parts of the country and the region." In 1937, he declaimed: "The boundaries of Zionist aspirations are the concern of the Jewish people and no external factor will be able to limit them." In 1938, he was more explicit: "The boundaries of Zionist aspirations," he told the World Council of Poale Zion in Tel Aviv, "include southern Lebanon, southern Syria, today's Jordan, all of Cis-Jordan [the West Bank] and the Sinai." ### SUPPORT "TAKING AIM": KPFA RADIO is considering airing the very informative program, "Taking Aim," produced by Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone. We encourage everyone who has heard and appreciated this show to contact KPFA's Tracy Rose and let her know you want the show to air: tracyrose@gmail.com Here's my letter: In solidarity, Bonnie Weinstein Dear Tracy, The program, "Taking Aim", with Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone is a one-of-a-kind, powerfully informative program. Schoenman and Shone are leading experts in the history of the Middle East with years of experience living in the region. They are both important reporters for news that the mainstream media tries to hide or distort. "Taking Aim" would be a very valuable addition to the fine programing already on KPFA. More importantly, the information disseminating from this program and the serious work of Schoenman and Shone, provide invaluable facts that KPFA listeners need to hear--truth that is told nowhere else. The more in-depth information that is made available to the general public--your listeners--from "Taking Aim" will help to further educate your well-informed audience. I strongly urge you to add this program to your broadcasts. In my opinion, "Taking Aim" and the work of Schoenman and Shone compares well with Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now." I wish it could be on every day. Sincerely, Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War www.bauaw.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Un-silent vigils on Aug 19 to remember Abeer Hamza, the 14-year-old Iraqi girl gang raped and brutally murdered In March of 2006 by the US military. Saturday, August 19th, 2006 from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM Berkeley, California - Willard Park @ Telegraph & Derby Street Hey all, I just forwarded you all the Not In Our Name national email - but wanted to write back to say why. You are either an artist, a media person, a teacher, a courageous resister, a poet, a lawyer, a revolutionary... We've all been in the streets to stop this endless war, to put an end to the brutal occupations of the United States...and we've all been high on the power of the people, and then demoralized by our apparent inability to stop the war machine. The anti-war movement isn't what it needs to be, but we just can't stop, right? Please join me in LA, Bay Area, New York on August 19 to call out the injustice of a 14 year old girl being gang raped by the US military. These guys are likely to go unpunished. Use your contacts, use your resources to spread the word. This vigil is being called for by some young women that have never organized anything before. It is inspiring. They are courageous. They would like 5 minutes on your radio show, or an article in your paper, or your voice on the mic that night, or your network of friends and connections to spread the word. Here's the info again. Thanks, Maya Jones Not In Our Name volunteer 510.710.6414 Un-silent vigils on Aug 19 to remember Abeer Hamza, Iraqi girl brutally murdered In March of 2006, Abeer Hamza, a 14-year old Iraqi girl from the village of Mahmudiya, witnessed the deaths of her father, mother, and sister, and afterwards was brutally raped, murdered, and set on fire. Five US soldiers have been charged with the crime, one of which has already confessed guilt. The soldiers allegedly pre-planned the attack, changed into civilian clothing, and then entered the home of Abeer Hamza. On August 19th, Abeer Hamza would have turned 15. On that day, we want to honor her life and remember her death. In doing so, we hope that some of the horror she experienced when leaving the earth, will be met with peace and mourning by those who denounce such violent crimes. In addition, we hope to draw awareness to the current protocol of immunity for Multinational Forces in Iraq. We believe that immunity nullifies necessary checks and balances in a psychologically precarious environment, and we support Amnesty International's request to the UN Security Council to reassess the granting of immunity to MNF's in Iraq. We hope that you can join us on Aug 19th, but if you are unable to attend, please light a candle on that night, and support our efforts to assist in ending immunity for MNF's in Iraq by checking out Amnesty International's statement or our myspace page. Saturday, August 19th, 2006 from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM Los Angeles, California - Macarthur Park @ 6th & Alvarado Street New York City, New York - Washington Square Park @ W. 4th Street & Macdougal Berkeley, California - Willard Park @ Telegraph & Derby Street www.myspace.com/abeerhamza Another World Is Possible! http://www.notinourname.net ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Aug 20 SF BayviewCoalition BuildingMark your CalendarEnough is Enough !END LAW ENFORCEMENT WAR AGAINST BLACK &BROWN ! WHAT: Fundraising Benefit and Cookout, Coalition Building Justice4BigO, (RIP Oliver Lefiti, Killed by SFPD 6-24-06) Justice4ASA, (RIP Asa Sullivan, Killed by SFPD 6-6-06) Bayview CEDP (RIP Tookie Williams/Campaign to End the Death Penalty) WHEN: Idriss Stelley's B-Day (Killed by SFPD 6-13-01), "E" would turn 29... Sunday 8-20-06 3 P.M. WHERE: Children Playground behind Brett Hart Elementary School, on Gillman, SF.Take Gillman from 3rd St., going towards Candlestick Park by the Bay WHY: Show your love and support to the Families of SFPD innocent victims. Under impending Capital Punishment Federal Law, 12 Bayview Brothers might become "Death Eligible" this year. Bayview is only 0,0001% of California, but would become 5,65% of California death row! Death row on the street through police Murders of our Black and Brown Brothers &Sisters and death row in the correctional system must GO! To volunteer, or more info: please email iiolmisha@cs.comor call (415) 595-8251 WHAT CAN YOU DO? Distribute flyers in your Hood, Donate Food, Donate performance (Spoken words, dance, songs), Help on Set up and clean up crew, Chaperon the Youth at the event for safety, Disseminate the info on the event through email and Fax blasts, Invite all your friends! Make banners and signs (Supplies available at ISF, 4921 3rd Street SF, Be the chef at the grill! Donate paper plates, napkins, Lend 2 additional bullhorns, forward this Invite to all your friends and contacts! ARE YOU WITH US? Black &Brown UNITY! ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- San Francisco Board of Education Meeting Tuesday, August 22, 7:00 P.M. Irving G. Breyer Board Meeting Room 555 Franklin Street, 1st Floor San Francisco, CA 94102 415/241-6427 San Francisco School board members are likely to vote Tuesday, August 22 on a resolution to phase out JROTC. If the proposal is approved, a blue-ribbon panel will be formed to find and implement a non-military program to replace JROTC. At present, the resolution has the support of the majority of school board members. SEE: Why queers should oppose JROTC Guest Opinion Published 07/27/2006 Bay Area Reporter by Tom Ammiano, Mark Sanchez, and Tommi Avicolli Mecca] http://www.ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Free the Cuban Five! September 23, 2006 Washington, DC Breaking News... On Aug. 9, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its en banc decision denying a new trial to the Cuban Five. On August 10, the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, together with the National Lawyers Guild, sponsored an emergency press conference in Washington in response to the decision. A partial transcript to that press conference, in English and Spanish, is here. A March on the White House will be held on September 23 to continue to press forward with efforts to free the Five. We urge all supporters to make every effort to join us on that march. A public demonstration of support for the Five, and outrage at their continued imprisonment, has never been more vital. Details of the march are found below. Join us in Washington on Sept. 23! Free the Cuban Five! http://www.freethefive.org/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Mumia Abu-Jamal Is In Danger Rally In Oakland To FREE MUMIA! 4 PM Friday September 15th 2006, Alameda County Courthouse, 12th and Fallon Sts, south side Mumia Abu-Jamal Is Innocent! For Labor Action To Free Mumia! End the Racist Death Penalty! Award-winning journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal has been on death row for almost a quarter of a century, for a crime he didn't commit. The State of Pennsylvania still wants to execute him, and his case has been put on a "fast track" to a final resolution. What may be his last appeal is now before the 3rd Circuit Court. But we cannot rely on the courts to free Mumia; the courts are still refusing to hear MOUNTAINS of evidence which conclusively shows his innocence! In 1995, we mobilized by the thousands to save Mumia from a date with death. In 1999, longshore workers shut down West Coast ports to free Mumia. In 2006, it's time to get back into action to free Mumia! The victim of a politically motivated frame-up of monumental proportions, Mumia is an anti-war, anti-imperialist, social justice spokesman with the courage to defy the system from his jail cell despite a determined conspiracy to silence him forever. Known as the "Voice of the Voiceless," Mumia is the first to point out that his case is just one among many injustices of this racist, capitalist system. Perpetrated by notoriously racist and corrupt Philadelphia police and prosecutors, the frame-up of Mumia Abu-Jamal is supported by leading elements in both the Democrat and Republican parties. The US ruling class is so committed to murdering this "dangerous" inspirational figure that a resolution--full of lies about Mumia's case--has been introduced in Congress to demand that the city of St Denis, France re-name a street which was dubbed "Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal" in a recent ceremony! In the US, Mumia Abu-Jamal has been made the "poster boy" for maintaining the death penalty by the powerful few. But to the world, Mumia is a hero and symbol of resistance to racist oppression and injustice. All those who are involved in social justice movements should help champion his freedom and publicize actions for his freedom. Rally initiated by the Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal (LAC), PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610. 510 763-2347 or LACFreeMumia@aol.com. Initial endorsers include: The Mobilization To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal; Frances Goldin, Mumia's literary agent; Marsha Feinland, Peace and Freedom Party candidate*; Todd Chretien, Green Party candidate*; Robert Irminger, Inland Boatmen‚s Union, ILWU*; Jack Heyman, ILWU*; Bob Mandel, exec bd, Oakland Education Association*; Bill Mandel,37 years on KPFA*; Workers World Party of SF; Nat Weinstein; Socialist Viewpoint Magazine; Cristina Gutierrez; Bario Unido por una Amnistia General; Fred Hirsch, Plumbers & Fitters 393*; Jack Ford, past president Teamsters 921*; Patricia Maginnis; Emily Maloney. Bay Area United Against War endorses this action. *organization listed for purposes of identification only. (Endorsers support FREE MUMIA and the three slogans listed above. They do not necessarily agree with any other statement in this announcement or with any other LAC statement.) Endorse the rally! Send your individual or organizational endorsement by return email to LACFreeMumia@aol.com, or write to LAC at PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610. Let us know if you can help build the rally! Mumia's legal defense needs funds in this critical time. Please help! Make checks payable to: Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, and send them to: PO Box 16222, Oakland CA 94610. Seventy-five percent (75%) of all contributions received under this appeal will go directly to Mumia's legal defense fund. The remainder will support the work of the LAC. For more information on Mumia's case, go to the following web sites: www.mumia.org, www.freemumia.org, www.chicagofreemumia.org, www.laboractionmumia.org. - Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- U.S. Out of Iraq Now! We Are the Majority! End Colonial Occupation from Iraq, to Palestine, Haiti, and Everywhere! October 28 National Day of Action 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 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- SCROLL DOWN TO READ: EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS ARTICLES IN FULL LINKS ONLY ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- This convention is for all peace partners. Please circulate widely. Reserve you seat today by sending us an email at samina_faheem@yahoo.com. Hope to see all of you on August 20th 2006. Thanks, Samina American Muslim Voice Foundation creating a culture of peace, acceptance, mutual respect and harmony Phone: 650-387-1994 Email: amvoice@amuslimvoice.org Website: www.amuslimvoice.org 3rd Annual Convention Ordinary People, Extraordinary Heroes AMV needs your support urgently Limited seating. Please purchase your ticket today. When: Sunday – August 20th, 2006 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM Where: Chandni 5748 Mowry School Road Newark, CA 94560 Ticket price $25.00 (Includes Luncheon) Special request: Could you please enrich this event by dressing in your traditional clothing? We are very grateful for your support and friendship. Looking forward to see you.The AMV Team For more information visit www.amuslimvoice.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- SAVE THE DATE AND JOIN US!!!!! THIS IS A RESIDENT-LED EFFORT BY SURVIVORS WHO HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE MOST IMPACTED BY THE KATRINA DISASTER AND WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE LEAST ASSISTANCE AND RESOURCES FROM FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ANDTHEIR AGENCIES. THEY WANT TO KNOW IF YOUR ADVOCACY, ACTIVIST, OR PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZATION WANTS TO SUPPORTTHIS AND HAVE ONE OF YOUR MEMBERS PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE ON BEHALF OF YOUR ORGANIZATION TO PULL THIS OFF THEY WANT OUR HELP AND SUPPORT!!! Come Back Home Campaign Washington, D.C. August 24, 25, and 26, 2006 Baton Rouge, August 27-28, 2006 New Orleans, August 29, 2006 On August 24-26, 2006, Survivors who are still displaced and scattered all across the U.S. will be traveling to D.C., pitching tents, and camping out on the federal government to demand their right to returnhome On August 27-28, 2006, these Survivors will be traveling to Baton Rouge, pitching their tents in front of the state capitol, and putting pressure on the state government of Louisiana for their right to return home On August 29, 2006, the anniversary of the Katrina Disaster, Survivors will make their demands to return home heard by the city council of New Orleans and camp out on city hall We are planning to have at least of 5,000 Katrina survivors bused into D.C., Baton Rouge, and New Orleans from all across the U.S. We are focusing our efforts on bringing residents in from seven states in the Southern Region: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida. We are specifically reaching out to those who are public housing residents, renters, and home owners that the city, state and federal government are trying to keep from returning home We need help with food, housing, medical providers, logistics, showers/toilets, entertainment, & advertising For more info, contact the following organization representatives: Makani, Praxis Project (202) 234-5921, info@praxisproject.org Ishmael, Advancement Project and People's Organizing Committee (504) 872-9591, poc_information@yahoo.com Please visit our website: www.peoplesorganizing.org ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- October 28 National Day of Action 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 http://www.actionsf.org/ http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=7869 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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! ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Sign the petition to save Bayview Hunters Point: No more Fillmore! Editorial by Willie Ratcliff, http://www.sfbayview.com/060706/signthepetition060706.shtml As urban Black displacement grows, Bayview kicks off referendum drive to stop Redevelopment by Randy Shaw, http://www.sfbayview.com/060706/displacement060706.shtml Hands off Bayview Hunters Point! An open letter to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors http://www.sfbayview.com/050306/handsoff050306.shtml Shattering the myth that our community is divided, people – especially Black people – are lining up to sign, but we need lots more signature gatherers. Can you commit to a few hours with a clipboard or to passing petitions among your co-workers, friends and family? Give us a call at (415) 671-0789 or an email at editor@sfbayview.com. Now for what we’re up against: The Bay View newspaper has been too broke to help finance the petition campaign, very few contributions have come in and bills are overdue. So the petition drive needs financial help … and so does the Bay View newspaper, desperately. The Bay View has faced many crises in the over 14 years we’ve published it – eviction, death threats, never enough money – yet readers have always come through, enabling us to bounce back, tackle bigger issues and fight harder than ever. We hate to beg, but WE NEED YOU NOW. WITHOUT AN IMMEDIATE AND SUBSTANTIAL LOAN, THE BAY VIEW CANNOT CONTINUE. To discuss a loan, which we can amply collateralize, please call us at (415) 671-0789; we’re here 24/7. Tax-deductible contributions to our nonprofit arm, the Hurricane Relief Information Network, are also a big help to save the hopes and the lives of survivors who depend on the Bay View for news and resources. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- New Flash Film From Young Ava Over At 'Peace Takes Courage' http://www.peacetakescourage.com/page-blog.htm http://letter.cf.huffingtonpost.com/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Save the Lebanese Civilians Petition http://epetitions.net/julywar/index.php http://donations.tayyar.org/ To The Concerned Citizen of The World: http://epetitions.net/julywar/index.php ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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://www.marxists.de/middleast/schoenman/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- PRESERVE INTERNET NETWORK NEUTRALITY Hi, I can't imagine that you haven't seen this, but if you haven't, please sign the petition to keep our access. Everything we do online will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law next week that gives giant corporations more control over what we do and see on the Internet. Internet providers like AT&T are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality--the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Right now, Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. BarnesandNoble.com doesn't have to outbid Amazon for the right to work properly on your computer. If Net Neutrality is gutted, many sites--including Google, eBay, and iTunes--must either pay protection money to companies like AT&T or risk having their websites process slowly. That why these high-tech pioneers, plus diverse groups ranging from MoveOn to Gun Owners of America, are opposing Congress' effort to gut Internet freedom. So please! sign this petition telling your member of Congress to preserve Internet freedom? Click here: http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet?track_referer=706% 7C1152463-5QFocRE05wmGUuh8yAMSzg ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 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) Israel Stages Wide-Ranging Airstrikes By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:23 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Lebanon-Israel.html 2) An Audit Sharply Criticizes Iraq’s Bookkeeping By JAMES GLANZ August 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/world/middleeast/12reconstruct.html?ref=world 3) Bush Aides Foresee Gains on Eavesdropping and Guantánamo By JIM RUTENBERG August 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/washington/12bush.html 4) Help for the Hardest Part of Prison: Staying Out By ERIK ECKHOLM August 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/us/12reentry.html?ref=us 5) Paper Prints Castro's Birthday Message - By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer Sunday, August 13, 2006 (08-13) 05:42 PDT HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/13/international/i054234D55.DTL 6) SAN FRANCISCO Rallies over Israel - pro and con - John Coté, Glen Martin, Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writers "Lebanese authorities have confirmed at least 741 people dead, including 649 civilians. In Israel, the government has confirmed 123 deaths, including 85 soldiers." Sunday, August 13, 2006 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/13/BAGTJKHK4B1.DTL 7) Rally Near White House Protests Violence in Mideast By ROBERT PEAR August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13protest.html?ref=us 8) 3 Egyptian Students Are Arrested in Iowa By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13students.html 9) Panel Suggests Using Inmates in Drug Trials [Unbelievable!!!...bw] By IAN URBINA August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/us/13inmates.html?ref=us 10) Planned Medicaid Cuts Cause Rift With States By ROBERT PEAR August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13medicaid.html?ref=us 11) Before Attack, Confusion Over Clearance for Convoy By SABRINA TAVERNISE August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/world/middleeast/13convoy.html 12) Beirut neighbors devastated again How much more can they tolerate? - Rana El-Khatib Sunday, August 13, 2006 http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/08/13/ING2HKEPN71.DTL 14) Castro the Conservationist? By Default or Design, Cuba Largely Pristine Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News August 4, 2006 Photo Gallery: Live inside Cuba [This is a great photo spread and quite favorable to life in Cuba...bw] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/photogalleries/cuba/index.html Full article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060804-castro-legacy.html 15) Labor and the Middle East War New York City Labor Against the War August 11, 2006 http://www.traprockpeace.org/nyclaw_blog/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaborAgainstWar/ [To endorse the following statement, please send your name, location, affiliation and title (if any) to nyclaw@comcast.net, or NYCLAW, PO Box 3620166, PACC, New York, NY 10129] 16) “The Work of Karl Marx and the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century” Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, May 3, 2006 A CubaNews translation by Joe Bryak. Edited by Walter Lippmann. http://www.lajiribilla.co.cu/noticias/n0086.html Reposted: http://www.counterpunch.org/alarcon05082006.html http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/156784.php http://www.walterlippmann.com/alarcon-05-03-2006-e.html 17) Ehren Watada By Dahr Jamail t r u t h o u t | Perspective Monday 14 August 2006 http://dahrjamailiraq.com 18) Greenland ice cap may be melting at triple speed By Kelly Young The New Scientist August 10, 2006 http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9717-greenland-ice-cap-may-be- melting-at-triple-speed.html ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 1) Israel Stages Wide-Ranging Airstrikes By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:23 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Lebanon-Israel.html BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Saturday that the Islamic militant group will abide by a U.N. cease-fire resolution but will continue fighting as long as Israeli troops remained in south Lebanon. Nasrallah grudgingly accepted the cease-fire plan in a televised address as the Lebanese Cabinet was in session to vote on whether to agree to the U.N. resolution. Hezbollah has two ministers in the government. ''We will not be an obstacle to any (government) decision ... but our ministers will express reservations about articles that we consider unjust and unfair,'' he said. The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution seeking a ''full cessation'' of violence between Israel and Hezbollah on Friday, offering the region its best chance yet for peace after a month of fighting that has killed nearly 900 people and inflamed Mideast tensions. The resolution, adopted unanimously, authorizes 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israeli forces that have occupied the area withdraw. The Shiite cleric said Hezbollah rocket strikes on northern Israel would end when Israel stopped airstrikes and other attacks on Lebanese civilians. Some of the heaviest fighting of the war raged Saturday as Israel sent an avalanche of military power into Lebanon, dispatching thousands of troops and columns of armor into the rocky hills just north of its border. Nasrallah called continued resistance to the Israel offensive ''our natural right'' and predicted more hard fighting to come. ''We must not make a mistake, not in the resistance, the government or the people, and believe that the war has ended. The war has not ended. There have been continued strikes and continued casualties,'' he said. ''Today nothing has changed and it appears tomorrow nothing will change,'' he said. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 2) An Audit Sharply Criticizes Iraq’s Bookkeeping By JAMES GLANZ August 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/world/middleeast/12reconstruct.html?ref=world BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 11 — An audit by the international accounting firm Ernst & Young portrays Iraq as a country that cannot keep its books straight, where elementary accounting errors of up to a billion dollars are routine and where no one can say how much of the country’s oil revenues end up in government coffers. An auditing board sponsored by the United Nations, which had hired Ernst & Young to carry out the work, posted a summary of the findings on its Web site late Thursday. The audit focused on the nearly $22 billion that Iraq generated in 2005 from oil revenues, which form the basis for virtually the entire national economy. But in a country in need of every dollar it can generate to restore a crumbling infrastructure, pay government salaries and train its security forces, the auditors found enormous sums simply deposited in the wrong government account or counted differently by various official agencies. The actual oil exports could not be determined accurately because Iraq still does not have modern equipment for measuring what its pipelines pour into tankers. The panel, the International Advisory and Monitoring Board of the Development Fund for Iraq, was created by the United Nations to supervise an account dominated by Iraqi oil revenues but also including interest payments and money seized from Saddam Hussein’s government. Referring to the tracking of money from the development fund, sometimes called the D.F.I., the board said in statement that “overall control systems are ineffective,” and that the government’s financial institution suffered from a “lack of written policies and procedures” and “staff who are not properly trained to deal with the nature and complexity of D.F.I. transactions.” Those transactions are largely overseen by the Central Bank of Iraq and the Ministry of Finance. Late Friday, the Muslim Sabbath, a spokesman for the ministry, said that he had no specific knowledge of the findings. An e-mail message to Sinan Alshabibi, the governor of the Central Bank, was not returned. But Assim Jihad, a spokesman for the Ministry of Oil, raised the possibility that some of the discrepancies could go beyond simple accounting errors and instead be related to the official corruption that many investigators have found to be endemic in Iraq. “Any amount that has been spent illegally by any side will be followed up and reviewed by Iraqi institutions,” he said, “and it will be brought back.” When asked about the audit, Elizabeth Colton, a spokeswoman for the United States Embassy in Iraq, said in a written statement: “The embassy is working to support the government of Iraq’s continuing efforts to strengthen its financial institutions and controls.” The audit found that in 2005, Iraq made nearly $22 billion by exporting 509,588,308 barrels of oil at an average price of $43 a barrel. But even those basic figures were in dispute, the audit found. Files at the State Oil Marketing Organization, which oversees oil exports, indicated 845,534 fewer barrels exported than recorded by production companies in Basra, where the oil goes out to tankers in the Persian Gulf. The organization’s contracting and bidding procedures were also in disarray, the audit found. Once the exports generated revenues, the money was improperly accounted for again and again, the audit found. In one case, $211 million was deposited straight into the government marketing group’s accounts rather than the approved United Nations account for all Iraqi oil revenues. In another instance, over $1 billion in oil money ended up in an accounting netherworld at the Central Bank because payments to various Iraqi ministries were not recorded when they were made. Other instances of accounting errors involving hundreds of millions of dollars appeared to be common. The findings echoed those of an earlier audit of the 2004 oil revenues, indicating that few reforms had been made in the interim. “The audit reports continue to be critical of the financial and accounting control systems in place,” the board said. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 3) The Political Effects Bush Aides Foresee Gains on Eavesdropping and Guantánamo By JIM RUTENBERG August 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/washington/12bush.html CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 11 — White House officials said Friday that the fallout from the discovery of the British bombing plot could help the administration advance its agenda in Congress. The officials cited in particular battles over supervising the program of eavesdropping without warrants and how to try detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Taking the White House’s lead, Republicans throughout the country used the arrests of terror suspects in Britain to go on the offensive against Democrats for the second day in a row. They accused Democrats of failing to understand the nature of the terrorist threat facing the nation. Aides to House Republican leaders said they believed that the arrests would help them make their case on other issues that will allow them to keep the focus on national security, including the call for tighter control of the border with Mexico. Democrats promised to engage strongly in the newly energized debate on national security, saying they would not cede that ground. They said they would argue that the White House and the Republican-led Congress had failed to provide the money necessary to protect Americans fully from the threat of terrorism and that President Bush had pursued a foreign policy, especially through the war in Iraq, that has fueled Islamic radicals and created more potential terrorists. The debate intensified as Democrats and Republicans tried to reposition themselves in an environment that seemed to shift with the news on Thursday about potentially the strongest terrorist threat to the West since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Each side accused the other of politicizing the news of the plot. By the end of the day, it was clear that the midterm elections had taken a hard turn toward the central questions of safety on the home front and each party’s approach to battle terrorism. White House officials said the moment could prove helpful beyond the realm of politics, saying news of the plot had served to focus the public on the White House’s campaign against terrorism at a time attention seemed to be waning. “Yesterday simply reiterated the importance of the approach that the administration has taken,” Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, said at a briefing here. Mr. Snow continued by listing antiterrorism measures supported by Mr. Bush, “whether it be with the Patriot Act and the Patriot Act extension, whether it be with various surveillance techniques, of which members of Congress have been made aware.” Insisting on anonymity, a senior administration official in Washington said news of the plot against airliners would add momentum to efforts to create military tribunals for Guantánamo detainees that would strictly limit defendants’ rights. The administration has argued that such limits are necessary to protect intelligence sources that might be part of the case and are also necessary when the crime scene is a battlefield where evidence may not be easily collected. The official said the arrests in Britain would also help the White House secure its compromise with Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, allowing a secret intelligence court to review the legality of its conducting wiretaps without warrants on Americans suspected of having ties to terrorists. Critics argued that the accord, reached after months of White House resistance to such a review, would leave such an important question in the hands of a secret court. Republicans have for months seen the debate over the program as advantageous in spite of the constitutional debate, giving the party an opportunity to highlight its efforts to protect Americans. Since the plot in Britain was disclosed, Republicans have been trying to focus attention on the debate and to draw a sharp distinction with what they characterize as a soft, overly legalistic approach by Democrats. “The question all of us should be asking today is how much longer can we afford Democrat obstruction and opposition to important national security efforts that will make our nation and its citizens more secure,” Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said in a statement Thursday. Mr. Cornyn was referring in part to Democratic complaints about the wiretap program. In an interview on Friday, a spokesman for Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, Ron Bonjean, said the discovery of the terrorism plot “helps us push for stronger surveillance monitoring of terrorist movements.” Representative Adam B. Schiff, a California Democrat who is a critic of the wiretapping program, said he did not believe that the debate would shift much. “I have no doubt that the administration will use this most recent terrorist plot as an additional argument for anything it wants to obtain in the war on terrorism,” Mr. Schiff said. “But as a practical matter, they’ve never shown why they can’t constitutionally conduct surveillance in a way that protects the country.” In marked contrast with the last two national elections, Democratic leaders indicated they had no intention of easing their attacks against the administration over national security in the face of the terrorism arrests. Three Democratic leaders in the Senate — Harry Reid of Nevada, the minority leader; Charles E. Schumer of New York, head of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee; and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois — offered a sharp attack on White House antiterrorism policies. They said the policies, particularly in Iraq, had made the world more dangerous. “Yesterday, Bush said we are safer today than we were before 9/11,” Mr. Reid said. “But if one looks around the world today, he could not be further from the truth.’’ Carl Hulse contributed reporting from Washington for this article, and Adam Nagourney from New York. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 4) Help for the Hardest Part of Prison: Staying Out By ERIK ECKHOLM August 12, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/us/12reentry.html?ref=us PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In April, Debra Harris took her 15-year-old son along for what she thought was a final visit to her parole officer. Instead, because of a “dirty urine” test two weeks before, proof of her relapse to crack use, state troopers led her straight back to prison for three more months. Troopers then drove Ms. Harris’s son to the rented home on the south side of Providence where her boyfriend was suddenly left to tend to three of her children. Ms. Harris had forgotten to pay the gas bill, so service was cut and they lived through her sentence without a stove, surviving on fast food and microwave items. Such jolting events are part of the fabric of life in South Providence, as some women and many more men cycle repeatedly through the state’s prisons. As the country confronts record and recurring incarcerations, the search for solutions is focusing increasingly on neighborhoods like it, fragile places in nearly every city where the churning of people through prison is intensely concentrated. Rhode Island is among the states beginning to make progress in easing offenders’ re-entry to society with the goal of bringing the revolving door to a halt, or at least slowing it. But sometimes it can be hard to see much of a difference. The 1980’s and 90’s were an era of get-tough, no-frills punishment; inmate populations climbed to record levels while education and training withered. Prisoners with little chance of getting a job and histories of substance abuse were sent home without help. Now a countertrend is gathering force, part of an unfolding transformation in the way the criminal justice system deals with repeat offenders. After punishment has been meted out and time has been served, political leaders, police officers, corrections officials, churches and community groups are working together to offer so-called re-entry programs, many modest in scope but remarkable nonetheless. Inmates now meet with planners before their release to explore housing, drug treatment and job possibilities. Once the inmates are back outside, churches and community groups have been enlisted to take them by the hand and walk them through the transition home. “What we’re witnessing is a great turning of the wheel in corrections policy,” said Ashbel T. Wall II, the Rhode Island corrections director. The flood of more than 600,000 inmates emerging from the nation’s prisons each year, and the dismal fact that more than half of those will return, plays out relentlessly here, as elsewhere, keeping already troubled families in emotional and financial turmoil. Even with the new programs, the odds against staying straight are formidable. “There’s a lot starting to happen,” said Sol Rodriguez, director of the Family Life Center, established in South Providence in 2003 to help returning prisoners and their families. “But this is still a very poor community, and people are coming back into already overburdened neighborhoods.” In South Providence, where many families share aging two- story wood houses on deceptively quiet streets, nearly one in four male residents, and half of all black men, are under the supervision of the State Corrections Department — in prison, on parole or, by far the most common, on probation, Mr. Wall said. Eight miles away, the state prison complex is an almost palpable presence. Of some 3,500 inmates released each year, one-fourth return to a core zone of South Providence of just 3.3 square miles with 39,000 residents, most of whom are Hispanic or black. “One day somebody is just missing in action,” said Rev. Jeffery A. Williams, pastor of the 800-member Cathedral of Life Christian Assembly in South Providence. “The father gets a three- or five-year sentence, and the family structure disintegrates. Mothers try to survive on state aid or work multiple jobs, and you see kids practically raising themselves, which perpetuates the problem.” The strains on families take many forms. Not far from the Harris household, Alberto Reyes, 27, a forklift operator, was put on probation last winter for burglary. But in March, Mr. Reyes failed to meet his parole officer and was sent to prison for three and a half months. Without his help, his girlfriend, who makes just $280 a week as a nurse’s aide, was left in desperate straits, he acknowledged, and had to rely on charity to get summer clothes for their baby. Erick Betancourt, 26, spent 2 years in prison for dealing crack and will be on probation for the next 10 years, leaving him vulnerable to confinement for any mistake. “Everybody you bump into is on probation or parole,” said Mr. Betancourt, who has landed a job counseling youths in the streets. “You’re not supposed to hang out with others on probation,” he said. “So you want to go back with your old friends, but that can be dangerous, because if the police stop you, that could be a violation.” For Cerue Williams, 61, the repeated jailing of her 34-year- old son on drug and probation violations is causing financial burdens and social isolation. Laid off from her job engraving school rings, Ms. Williams is scraping by as she cares for her son’s teenage daughter. Ms. Williams lives in a neat, rent-subsidized house, but she never talks with her neighbors. “I keep this inside, it’s embarrassing,” she said. “Nobody visits me, and I don’t visit nobody.” South Providence is cut off from the city’s downtown and prosperous east side by an Interstate highway. Young men drive with their seats folded far back, their faces concealed behind the doorjamb — a fashion and a mock protective measure. Parts of the area are gentrifying, and a Hispanic influx has brought small shops to the avenues. In abandoned jewelry factories, vacant lots and a few low-rise housing projects, roaming teenagers stir trouble with drugs, but the community’s woes are mostly hidden inside wooden multifamily homes. Tyrone McKinney, 45, has been in prison 9 or 10 times since 1979 — he is not sure at this point — on charges ranging from shoplifting to attempted murder. The last time Mr. McKinney was released, in January, he said, “they gave me a bus token, and I went out into the belly of the beast with no job, nowhere to go.” Drifting through homes of South Providence, he resumed using drugs and stealing and was back in prison by April, for six months. He spoke in the prison gym, where he has bulked up over the years. As a condition of his discharge this fall he must go into a residential drug treatment program, where he will also get help applying for benefits like food stamps and finding work and a longer-term home. “The goal now is to see if you can rehabilitate lives instead of just locking them up,” said Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, a Republican, using words that once may have seemed politically risky. Mr. Carcieri has directed state agencies involved with education, drugs, mental health, housing and other issues to work with current and former prisoners. Following an example set by Connecticut, Rhode Island has pledged to reinvest any savings from reduced prison populations in new aid for departing inmates. Mayor David N. Cicilline of Providence has assembled a re-entry council, bringing together the police chief, religious leaders, businessmen and other community leaders. The council seeks to offer aid to every offender returning to the most affected neighborhoods, like South Providence. In Washington, in another sign of the shifting national mood, the Second Chance Act, a bill to increase federal financing for re-entry programs, is moving through Congress with strong bipartisan support and the endorsement of the White House. With its joining of public agencies and community groups, Rhode Island is part of a movement that is taking hold in dozens of states, said Debbie A. Mukamal, director of the Prisoner Reentry Institute at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Yet in Rhode Island, as elsewhere, money and facilities, especially to support people once they return to the community, have not caught up with the new goals. Inside the prison, offenders have more access to education, skills training and counseling. But many who are approved for parole must still spend extra months behind bars, waiting for drug treatment beds to open up. Those with no homes to return to face a severe shortage of transitional housing. “Discharge planning doesn’t always mean a lot because there are still so few services out here,” said Ms. Rodriguez, of the Family Life Center. Most days, recently freed inmates drop into the center to check job notices, join counseling sessions or enroll in G.E.D. classes. The center is also, with the aid of the Corporation for Supportive Housing, a national nonprofit group, developing 25 units of permanent housing for troubled former offenders, and it successfully lobbied the state to stop barring former drug offenders from receiving food stamps. Two weeks after his release, Mr. Reyes, the convicted burglar, was scouring job listings at the Family Life Center. “I have to get a job soon or I might have to go back to jail,” he said, noting that employment was a condition of his release. Like many other former prisoners, he cannot live with his girlfriend and son because she is in public housing that bans felons, so he is staying with his mother. Social services are vital, but nothing can substitute for personal will, said Ms. Harris, 47, the mother who returned to prison after a parole violation. Before that, she had been imprisoned three times over the years for shoplifting. She was released on parole again on July 26 with an ankle bracelet to ensure that she stayed inside her home except when explicitly permitted to leave. “I lost too much over the years,” she said the day after her release, in the two-story home with a small backyard she cherishes but cannot sit in now without permission. She held a grandson as teenagers raced in and out, and she awaited the return of two younger children, who had moved in with their father during her months away. “I knew this time that I didn’t want to lose all this,” she said, referring to her house, her children and her boyfriend, Victor, who stuck with her. In prison, she started a 12-step program. Now, as a condition of her freedom, she must attend a three-hour recovery meeting at least three times a week. She has also been given a job, as an assistant to a church leader. Ms. Harris fingered the black plastic bracelet with a transmitter on her ankle and said, “In some ways I feel like I’m back in the same old spot.” But the bracelet also offered a strange comfort. “It kind of keeps my life structured for now,” she said, noting that she saw a drug transaction through her front window her first evening home. “It’s crazy out there,” she said. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 5) Paper Prints Castro's Birthday Message - By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer Sunday, August 13, 2006 (08-13) 05:42 PDT HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/13/international/i054234D55.DTL On his 80th birthday, Fidel Castro cautioned Cubans on Sunday that he faced a long recovery from surgery and advised them to prepare for "adverse news," but he urged them to stay optimistic. As the Communist Youth newspaper published the first photographs of the Cuban leader since illness forced him to step aside as president two weeks ago, Castro said his health had improved, but warned that risks remain. "I feel very happy," said a statement attributed to Castro in the Juventud Rebelde newspaper. "For all those who care about my health, I promise to fight for it." In the photos appearing in the online edition of Juventud Rebelde, Castro wears a red and white Adidas warm-up suit, looks a bit tired but is sitting up straight, his eyes alert. One picture is a close shot of the leader posing with his fist under his chin and in two he is talking on the telephone. The fourth photograph shows Castro sitting in a chair in front of a bed with a white spread in what appears to be a home, holding up a special supplement published as an homage to him on his 80th birthday in the Saturday edition of Granma, the Communist Party newspaper. It was impossible to confirm the authenticity of the photographs, which were credited to Estudios Revolucion, a division of Castro's personal support group that collects historic documents and images. But there was no reason to doubt they were real. Juventud Rebelde also published a handwritten note by Castro to five Cuban men who were convicted of working in the United States as unregistered foreign agents and last week were denied a new trail by a federal appeals court. "Rene, Antonio, Gerardo, Fernando, Ramon: We will triumph over the monstrous injustice!" read the note in Castro's typical scrawl. It was signed: "Fidel. August 13, 2006 12:39 a.m." In his statement, Castro said his stability has "considerably improved" but added: "To affirm that the recovery period will take a short time and that there is no risk would be absolutely incorrect." "I ask you all to be optimistic, and at the same time to be ready to face any adverse news," it added. "To the people of Cuba, infinite gratitude for your loving support. The country is marching on and will continue marching on perfectly well." On Saturday, Granma said Castro was walking and talking again, and even working a bit. It was the most optimistic report yet since intestinal surgery forced him to temporarily turn over presidential powers to his younger brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro. Castro's close friend and political ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said Saturday that he would visit the Cuban leader. "Tomorrow I will be with Fidel celebrating his 80th birthday," Chavez said at a news conference in Caracas after declaring his candidacy for re-election in December. "I'll take him a nice gift, a good cake, and we'll be celebrating the 80 years of this great figure of America and our history." Chavez also visited Castro in October 2004, two weeks after a fall that shattered the Cuban leader's kneecap and broke his right arm. A picture of the pair on the front page of Granma was the first image published of Castro after the accident. Saturday's article in Granma — though brief — was the most detailed statement that Cuba's government has issued since Castro announced July 31 that he was temporarily ceding his powers to his brother, No. 2 in the government. South Florida's Cuban exile community used the newspaper report to criticize the island's government. "Sadly, Granma's optimism of Fidel Castro's health is in sharp contrast to political prisoners who are rotting in Cuban prisons for simply disagreeing (with him)," said Alfredo Mesa, spokesman for the Cuban American National Foundation. "Dead or alive, change in Cuba must come now. The era of Fidel Castro must end." Despite the optimistic assessment of Castro's progress, few believed he would make a public appearance on his birthday. No official events were announced for Sunday. In ceding his powers, Castro blamed an unspecified intestinal problem brought on by a heavy work schedule. He recently traveled to Argentina for a summit of the trade group Mercosur and gave two long speeches in eastern Cuba on July 26, the last time he was seen in public. Associated Press writer Natalie Obiko Pearson in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 6) SAN FRANCISCO Rallies over Israel - pro and con - John Coté, Glen Martin, Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writers "Lebanese authorities have confirmed at least 741 people dead, including 649 civilians. In Israel, the government has confirmed 123 deaths, including 85 soldiers." Sunday, August 13, 2006 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/13/BAGTJKHK4B1.DTL Thousands of largely calm but noisy demonstrators rallied Saturday in San Francisco to protest Israel's military actions against Lebanon and Palestinian territories, while a smaller group staged a counter- protest. Police arrested a demonstrator in a melee that started when a woman tried to burn an Israeli flag in the Civic Center after a midday march through downtown. Police used batons to subdue the brief skirmish after tensions flared between demonstrators and counter-protesters, who were on opposite sides of Polk Street, separated by metal barricades and dozens of police officers. The two groups exchanged insults and gestures periodically throughout the rallies. When the woman started to set the Israeli flag on fire, police in riot helmets rushed toward her and then other demonstrators joined the fracas, resulting in the arrest of one man, who police hauled from the crowd shirtless, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead. Police did not respond to messages requesting his identification. The protest was one of several rallies Saturday around the country, including in Los Angeles and at the White House. The San Francisco protest began at the Civic Center at 11 a. m. and featured speeches denouncing U.S. and Israeli policy. Protesters chanted, "Long live Lebanon. Long live Hezbollah," during a march down Market Street to Fourth Street before heading back for a second rally. "A lot of children are dying in Lebanon," said Sabine Antonios, 33, of Berkeley, as she breastfed her 9-month-old son, Sebastian, at the rally. "We have to pass a message along that there are a lot people against what's going on," said Antonios, who is half Lebanese and has family in the war-ravaged country. "My dream come true would be to have war crime charges brought against Israel and the Bush administration. But I don't think it's all of a sudden going to happen because of (the protest)." The counter-protest, which attracted a few hundred people, was organized by the San Francisco Voice for Israel. Founded in 2004, the group's mission is to counter "anti-Israel hate speech on the streets of the Bay Area," said a spokesman. "These people are advocating for my death," said counter- protester Ron Feldman of San Francisco. "It's not a political question. It's not about different sides of an issue. It's about freedom from tyranny." Hilda Kessler, 74, of Berkeley, said she wished she still didn't have to go to protests. "By now you'd hope Israel would be accepted by the Arab world and we'd all live in peace. ... It's just a postage stamp of a country. It needs friends." The protest drew an eclectic mix ranging from pacifist groups to socialist political parties to immigrant rights and women's organizations. Initiated by the ANSWER coalition, the National Council of Arab Americans and the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation, the rally also supported the Palestinian "right of return" to land that is now Israel, and money for jobs and education. Protesters -- ranging from women with head scarves and full black robes to students in T-shirts and tattoos to couples pushing children in strollers -- filled three city blocks, marching under Palestinian and Lebanese flags, a blue peace banner featuring a white dove and the purple standard of the Gabriela Network, an organization to empower Filipinas in the United States. "I think war is an enemy of everybody and solves nothing," said Eleanor Ohman, 87, of San Francisco, a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. "I wish the president, instead of saying, 'God bless America,' would say, 'God bless the world.' " Other protesters were more militant. Two young men with black -and-white head scarves covering their faces stood above the crowd clinging to a light pole. One waved a Palestinian flag emblazoned with a red fist and letters dripping with blood reading, "Free Palestine." The other held aloft a photo of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the militant group Hezbollah, viewed by many in the Middle East as freedom fighters but considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. Saturday's protest comes a day after the U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed to a measure calling for a full cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of Israeli troops. The Israeli Cabinet is to consider the resolution at a meeting today, but on Saturday sent troops and armor pouring into south Lebanon, possibly in a final military push. The latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began when Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers July 12. Israel then launched an attack on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian militants had earlier kidnapped another Israeli soldier. Lebanese authorities have confirmed at least 741 people dead, including 649 civilians. In Israel, the government has confirmed 123 deaths, including 85 soldiers. Israel has been criticized for being "disproportionate" in its response to Hezbollah's attack. The government and its supporters say they've been responding to a much greater regional threat, in which Hezbollah is being fueled by Iran and Syria. In Washington, D.C., speakers in Lafayette Park energized the mostly Muslim crowd with chants and speeches condemning Israeli involvement in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, U.S. support for Israel and U.S. involvement in Iraq. Dina Tawamsy, 32, an engineer, was among more than 1,000 people marching in downtown Los Angeles. "I hope that we will stop the aggression against Lebanon, the killing of innocent civilians," Tawamsy said. "I don't believe the kidnapping of two soldiers should lead to the destruction of the infrastructure of a whole country." Matthai Chakko Kuruvila and wire services contributed to this story. E-mail the writers at jcote@sfchronicle.com, glenmartin@sfchronicle.com and carolynjones@sfchronicle.com. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 7) Rally Near White House Protests Violence in Mideast By ROBERT PEAR August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13protest.html?ref=us WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 — Thousands of people rallied near the White House on Saturday to protest what they described as Israeli aggression in Lebanon and the United States’ unwavering support for Israel. The diverse crowd included many Arab-Americans and Muslims, college students and families, as well as veterans of prior demonstrations against the war in Iraq. “We want to know why our tax money is going to support war crimes,’’ said Mounzer Sleiman, vice chairman of the National Council of Arab-Americans, one of more than 15 speakers who addressed the protesters gathered in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, under a cloudless sky. The crowd erupted periodically in chants, “Israel out of Lebanon now” and “Free, free Palestine.’’ Dr. Khalil A. Katato of West Bloomfield, Mich., an oncologist who came to Washington by bus with his wife and five children, said, “We are protesting U.S. support of Israeli aggression on the Palestinian and Lebanese people.’’ His wife, Daad Katato, said she made the trip to protest the war in Iraq, and to show sympathy for children killed or injured during Israel’s military operations in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The criticism of Israel at Saturday’s rally contrasted with the sentiment in Congress, where support for Israel is overwhelming and bipartisan. By a vote of 410 to 8, the House last month expressed “strong support’’ for Israel and condemned Hezbollah and Hamas for armed attacks on Israeli territory. The Senate approved a similar resolution by voice vote. President Bush was at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., winding up a 10-day vacation. He was due back at the White House on Sunday. At the rally on Saturday, the prevailing sentiments were expressed in signs held aloft by marchers: “Occupation is a crime — Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine.” “Stop Israeli terrorism.” “No justice, no peace.’’ Brian Becker, national coordinator of a coalition called Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, a sponsor of the rally, asserted that President Bush had given Israel a green light to crush Hezbollah in Lebanon, then “sent cluster bombs to the Israeli Defense Forces to kill Lebanese children.’’ Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed delivery of rockets armed with cluster munitions, which could be used to strike Hezbollah missile sites in Lebanon, and a senior American official said this week that the request was likely to be approved. Several speakers at the rally criticized Mr. Bush for mentioning the religious background of those arrested this week in a plot to blow up airplanes flying from Britain to the United States. Mr. Bush said the plot showed that “this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation.’’ Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, said Mr. Bush owed Muslims an apology. “There is no Islamic fascism,’’ Mr. Bray said. “There is no doctrine of fascism in Islam.’’ Esam Omesh, president of the Muslim American Society, said, “We all stand united against the violence and the killing in the holy land.’’ Ramsey Clark, the former attorney general, drew cheers when he said, “We have a solemn obligation to impeach President Bush.’’ Mr. Clark, who has served on the defense team for Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, also advocated the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Two students from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. — Ali Khan, 28, a Pakistani-American, and his wife, Afnan Khan, 22, who was born in the United States to Iraqi parents — were less strident. They said they were protesting the death of civilians, especially Lebanese children. “They are all innocent,’’ Mr. Khan said. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 8) 3 Egyptian Students Are Arrested in Iowa By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13students.html WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (AP) — Nine of the 11 Egyptian exchange students who recently entered the United States and failed to appear at their college program in Montana were in custody after three were arrested on Friday in Des Moines, officials said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tracked the three students from New York to San Francisco to Des Moines. They were arrested without incident on administrative immigration violations. The three were Ahmed Refaat Saad El Moghazi El Laket, 19; Mohamed Ibrahim El Sayed El Moghazy, 20; and Moustafa Wagdy Moustafa El Gafary, 18. The students were to attend a monthlong program at Montana State University in Bozeman. A group of 17 students arrived in New York on July 29. Six reported to Bozeman on time. After Montana State repeatedly tried to contact the missing students, it notified officials at the Department of Homeland Security and registered the Egyptians as no-shows in a system to track foreign students that was developed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. None of the students are considered a terrorism risk. Immigration officials said the last two Egyptian students were still being sought. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 9) Panel Suggests Using Inmates in Drug Trials [Unbelievable!!!...bw] By IAN URBINA August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/us/13inmates.html?ref=us PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 7 — An influential federal panel of medical advisers has recommended that the government loosen regulations that severely limit the testing of pharmaceuticals on prison inmates, a practice that was all but stopped three decades ago after revelations of abuse. The proposed change includes provisions intended to prevent problems that plagued earlier programs. Nevertheless, it has dredged up a painful history of medical mistreatment and incited debate among prison rights advocates and researchers about whether prisoners can truly make uncoerced decisions, given the environment they live in. Supporters of such programs cite the possibility of benefit to prison populations, and the potential for contributing to the greater good. Until the early 1970’s, about 90 percent of all pharmaceutical products were tested on prison inmates, federal officials say. But such research diminished sharply in 1974 after revelations of abuse at prisons like Holmesburg here, where inmates were paid hundreds of dollars a month to test items as varied as dandruff treatments and dioxin, and where they were exposed to radioactive, hallucinogenic and carcinogenic chemicals. In addition to addressing the abuses at Holmesburg, the regulations were a reaction to revelations in 1972 surrounding what the government called the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, which was begun in the 1930’s and lasted 40 years. In it, several hundred mostly illiterate men with syphilis in rural Alabama were left untreated, even after a cure was discovered, so that researchers could study the disease. “What happened at Holmesburg was just as gruesome as Tuskegee, but at Holmesburg it happened smack dab in the middle of a major city, not in some backwoods in Alabama,” said Allen M. Hornblum, an urban studies professor at Temple University and the author of “Acres of Skin,” a 1998 book about the Holmesburg research. “It just goes to show how prisons are truly distinct institutions where the walls don’t just serve to keep inmates in, they also serve to keep public eyes out.” Critics also doubt the merits of pharmaceutical testing on prisoners who often lack basic health care. Alvin Bronstein, a Washington lawyer who helped found the National Prison Project, an American Civil Liberties Union program, said he did not believe that altering the regulations risked a return to the days of Holmesburg. “With the help of external review boards that would include a prisoner advocate,” Mr. Bronstein said, “I do believe that the potential benefits of biomedical research outweigh the potential risks.” Holmesburg closed in 1995 but was partly reopened in July to help ease overcrowding at other prisons. Under current regulations, passed in 1978, prisoners can participate in federally financed biomedical research if the experiment poses no more than “minimal” risks to the subjects. But a report formally presented to federal officials on Aug. 1 by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences advised that experiments with greater risks be permitted if they had the potential to benefit prisoners. As an added precaution, the report suggested that all studies be subject to an independent review. “The current regulations are entirely outdated and restrictive, and prisoners are being arbitrarily excluded from research that can help them,” said Ernest D. Prentice, a University of Nebraska genetics professor and the chairman of a Health and Human Services Department committee that requested the study. Mr. Prentice said the regulation revision process would begin at the committee’s next meeting, on Nov. 2. The discussion comes as the biomedical industry is facing a shortage of testing subjects. In the last two years, several pain medications, including Vioxx and Bextra, have been pulled off the market because early testing did not include large enough numbers of patients to catch dangerous problems. And the committee’s report comes against the backdrop of a prison population that has more than quadrupled, to about 2.3 million, over the last 30 years and that disproportionately suffers from H.I.V. and hepatitis C, diseases that some researchers say could be better controlled if new research were permitted in prisons. For Leodus Jones, a former prisoner, the report has opened old wounds. “This moves us back in a very bad direction,” said Mr. Jones, who participated in the experiments at Holmesburg in 1966 and after his release played a pivotal role in lobbying to get the regulations passed. In one experiment, Mr. Jones’s skin changed color, and he developed rashes on his back and legs where he said lotions had been tested. “The doctors told me at the time that something was seriously wrong,” said Mr. Jones, who added that he had never signed a consent form. He reached a $40,000 settlement in 1986 with the City of Philadelphia after he sued. “I never had these rashes before,” he said, “but I’ve had them ever since.” The Institute of Medicine report was initiated in 2004 when the Health and Human Services Department asked the institute to look into the issue. The report said prisoners should be allowed to take part in federally financed clinical trials so long as the trials were in the later and less dangerous phase of Food and Drug Administration approval. It also recommended that at least half the subjects in such trials be nonprisoners, making it more difficult to test products that might scare off volunteers. Dr. A. Bernard Ackerman, a New York dermatologist who worked at Holmesburg during the 1960’s trials as a second- year resident from the University of Pennsylvania, said he remained skeptical. “I saw it firsthand,” Dr. Ackerman said. “What started as scientific research became pure business, and no amount of regulations can prevent that from happening again.” Others cite similar concerns over the financial stake in such research. “It strikes me as pretty ridiculous to start talking about prisoners getting access to cutting-edge research and medications when they can’t even get penicillin and high- blood-pressure pills,” said Paul Wright, editor of Prison Legal News, an independent monthly review. “I have to imagine there are larger financial motivations here.” The demand for human test subjects has grown so much that the so-called contract research industry has emerged in the past decade to recruit volunteers for pharmaceutical trials. The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, a Boston policy and economic research group at Tufts University, estimated that contract research revenue grew to $7 billion in 2005, up from $1 billion in 1995. But researchers at the Institute of Medicine said their sole focus was to see if prisoners could benefit by changing the regulations. The pharmaceutical industry says it was not involved. Jeff Trewitt, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a drug industry trade group, said that his organization had no role in prompting the study and that it had not had a chance to review the findings. Dr. Albert M. Kligman, who directed the experiments at Holmesburg and is now an emeritus professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, said the regulations should never have been written in the first place. “My view is that shutting the prison experiments down was a big mistake,” Dr. Kligman said. While confirming that he used radioactive materials, hallucinogenic drugs and carcinogenic materials on prisoners, Dr. Kligman said that they were always administered in extremely low doses and that the benefits to the public were overwhelming. He cited breakthroughs like Retin A, a popular anti- acne drug, and ingredients for most of the creams used to treat poison ivy. “I’m on the medical ethics committee at Penn,” he said, “and I still don’t see there having been anything wrong with what we were doing.” From 1951 to 1974, several federal agencies and more than 30 companies used Holmesburg for experiments, mostly under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania, which had built laboratories at the prison. After the revelations about Holmesburg, it soon became clear that other universities and prisons in other states were involved in similar abuses. In October 2000, nearly 300 former inmates sued the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Kligman, Dow Chemical and Johnson & Johnson for injuries they said occurred during the experiments at Holmesburg, but the suit was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. “When they put the chemicals on me, my hands swelled up like eight-ounce boxing gloves, and they’ve never gone back to normal,” said Edward Anthony, 62, a former inmate who took part in Holmesburg experiments in 1964. “We’re still pushing the lawsuit because the medical bills are still coming in for a lot of us.” Daniel S. Murphy, a professor of criminal justice at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., who was imprisoned for five years in the 1990’s for growing marijuana, said that loosening the regulations would be a mistake. “Free and informed consent becomes pretty questionable when prisoners don’t hold the keys to their own cells,” Professor Murphy said, “and in many cases they can’t read, yet they are signing a document that it practically takes a law degree to understand.” During the Holmesburg experiments, inmates could earn up to $1,500 a month by participating. The only other jobs were at the commissary or in the shoe and shirt factory, where wages were usually about 15 cents to 25 cents a day, Professor Hornblum of Temple said. On the issue of compensation for inmates, the report raised concern about “undue inducements to participate in research in order to gain access to medical care or other benefits they would not normally have.” It called for “adequate protections” to avoid “attempts to coerce or manipulate participation.’’ The report also expressed worry about the absence of regulation over experiments that do not receive federal money. Lawrence O. Gostin, the chairman of the panel that conducted the study and a professor of law and public health at Georgetown University, said he hoped to change that. Even with current regulations, oversight of such research has been difficult. In 2000, several universities were reprimanded for using federal money and conducting several hundred projects on prisoners without fully reporting the projects to the appropriate authorities. Professor Gostin said the report called for tightening some existing regulations by advising that all research involving prisoners be subject to uniform federal oversight, even if no federal funds are involved. The report also said protections should extend not just to prisoners behind bars but also to those on parole or on probation. Professor Murphy, who testified to the panel as the report was being written, praised those proposed precautions before adding, “They’re also the parts of the report that faced the strongest resistance from federal officials, and I fear they’re most likely the parts that will end up getting cut as these recommendations become new regulations.” Barclay Walsh contributed research for this article. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 10) Planned Medicaid Cuts Cause Rift With States By ROBERT PEAR August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/washington/13medicaid.html?ref=us WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 — The White House is clashing with governors of both parties over a plan to cut Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes that care for millions of low-income people. The White House says the changes are needed to ensure the “fiscal integrity” of Medicaid and to curb “excessive payments” to health care providers. But the plan faces growing opposition. The National Governors Association said it “would impose a huge financial burden on states,” already struggling with explosive growth in health costs. More than 330 members of Congress, including 103 Republicans, have objected to the plan. A letter signed by 82 House Republicans says it “would seriously disrupt financing of Medicaid programs around the country.” A bipartisan group of 50 senators recently urged President Bush to scrap the proposed rules, which were set forth in his 2007 budget and could be issued before the end of this year. Medicaid finances health care for more than 50 million low-income people, with money provided by the federal government and the states. Under the White House plan, the federal government would reduce Medicaid payments to many public hospitals and nursing homes by redefining allowable costs. It would also limit the states’ ability to finance their share of Medicaid by imposing taxes on health care providers. About two-thirds of the states have such taxes. The federal government pays at least 50 percent of Medicaid costs in each state and more than 70 percent in the poorest states. Bush administration officials say states have used creative bookkeeping and accounting gimmicks to obtain large amounts of federal Medicaid money without paying their share. Moreover, they contend, some states have improperly recycled federal money to claim additional federal Medicaid money. “States have managed to draw down more federal Medicaid dollars with fewer state dollars,” said Dennis G. Smith, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations. State and local officials, members of Congress, hospitals, nursing homes and advocates for poor people make several arguments. First, they say, Mr. Bush is doing by regulation what he unsuccessfully asked Congress to do by legislation in the last two years. Second, they say, prior administrations and the Bush administration itself approved many of the state taxes that would be deemed improper under the new rules. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a Republican, said, “The administration is attempting to reverse decades of federal Medicaid policy through the regulatory process,” less than a year after “Congress rejected these misguided cuts.” In Missouri, Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, said the change “could mean a loss of more than $84.9 million” for his state. That, he said, would “jeopardize the continuity of care for Medicaid recipients” and set back efforts to improve care in nursing homes. Gov. M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut, a Republican, protested the White House plan in a letter to Mr. Bush. She said the effects would be “disastrous” in states like Connecticut, which relies on fees collected from nursing homes to help pay its share of Medicaid costs. Democratic governors, including Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, also denounced the White House plan. Ms. Sebelius said the cuts would make it much more difficult for health care providers like the University of Kansas Hospital to serve Medicaid recipients and people without insurance. The cuts contemplated by the White House would not reduce the cost of care. But state officials said the changes would put pressure on states to reduce Medicaid benefits, restrict eligibility or lower payments to health care providers. Medicaid is one of the largest, fastest-growing items in state budgets. To pay their share of the costs, states often rely on general revenue from sales and income taxes. But many also levy special taxes on hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers. In many cases, providers willingly pay such taxes because the revenue shores up Medicaid and can be used by states to obtain federal matching payments. Under current rules, a state can impose a tax equal to 6 percent of the revenue of a hospital or nursing home. The administration wants to lower the allowable tax rate to 3 percent. The federal government would reduce its Medicaid payment to any state that levied taxes above that. Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said this change would “remove incentives for states to shift the responsibility to fund their share of the Medicaid program to health care providers.” Hospitals and nursing homes, he said, should welcome the change because it would reduce their taxes. But Thomas P. Nickels, senior vice president of the American Hospital Association, and Bruce A. Yarwood, president of the American Health Care Association, a trade group for nursing homes, said the plan was simply a way to cut Medicaid. “If provider taxes are cut, the Medicaid program will be reduced, and that will harm beneficiaries,” Mr. Nickels said. “We do not see a political will, at the federal or state level, to supplant provider taxes with other types of revenue.” In February, Mr. Bush signed a bill that gave states power to revamp Medicaid by altering eligibility and benefits. That measure is expected to cut the growth of federal Medicaid spending by $4.9 billion over five years. The White House estimates that the new rules will save the federal government even more: $12.2 billion over five years. The administration said it needed to impose stricter limits on Medicaid payments to public hospitals and nursing homes because such payments far exceeded “the actual cost of services” in many states. The changes may seem technical. But Marvin R. O’Quinn, president of Jackson Health System in Miami, said they would directly and adversely affect patients. Dr. Bruce A. Chernof, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, said the cuts would “reduce access to services in a county where 33 percent of residents are uninsured.” The county’s five public hospitals operate trauma centers and burn treatment units for all patients, not just Medicaid recipients, he said. The effects are magnified by the way Medicaid is financed. For each dollar that a state loses in provider tax revenue, the federal government will reduce its contributions — by $1 in California and Connecticut, and by $3 in a poor state like Mississippi. The White House said Mr. Bush would also adopt stricter policies on Medicaid payments for rehabilitation and school-based health services. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 11) Before Attack, Confusion Over Clearance for Convoy By SABRINA TAVERNISE August 13, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/world/middleeast/13convoy.html HASBAYA, Lebanon, Aug. 12 — The cars set off down the narrow mountain road a few hours before sunset. They were trying to leave villages the Israeli Army occupied two days before, moving with what they thought was permission to pass. But then the missiles came. Shortly after nightfall, Israeli aircraft fired into the convoy, containing more than a thousand Lebanese villagers. The military said in a statement that it had received a request for the convoy to move, but had denied it. It said it had suspected that cars in the area contained Hezbollah guerrillas carrying weapons, and only later discovered that the cars were part of the refugee convoy. Six people were killed and more than 30 were wounded, according to witnesses and Red Cross officials. Among the dead were a Lebanese soldier, a baker, a Red Cross worker and the wife of a mayor of one of the villages. What followed was a scene of panic under a large yellow moon. Drivers switched off their headlights, afraid of being shot, and frantically began turning around on the narrow road, which runs between two mountains near the winemaking village of Kefraya. An ambulance worker driving with the convoy was killed trying to get to the wounded, and it was an hour before nearby emergency workers could get in to pick up the bodies. “We saw the light and the sound of the bomb,” said Ronitte Daher, a newspaper reporter from the village of Qlayah, who was traveling in the convoy with her sister. “I got out of the car and heard voices of people crying and shouting.” She did not know what to do, and switched off her lights. Someone shouted to get out of the car and run for cover. Other cars were driving in reverse. She turned her car around. “When I was turning, I saw a dead body,” she said. “I know that man. I saw his children crying and shouting, ‘Please help us! Please help us!’ ” Israeli planes have been striking Lebanese civilians since the beginning of the war, hitting a truckload of fleeing farmers, a Lebanese photographer and a village during a funeral. Even so, Friday’s strike still came as a shock: the convoy was more than 500 cars long and included a town mayor, an entire Lebanese Army unit and its own ambulance. The Israeli military said it had banned the movement of cars south of the Litani River, though the convoy was hit well north of it. Crowding may have been part of the problem. The villagers had been waiting in Merj ’Uyun, a few miles south of here, since early Friday. Many had not been out of their houses since the Israelis came late last week, and they were desperate to leave. Finally, around 4 p.m., they piled behind each other in a long bumper-to-bumper line and began moving out. The road was a mess, torn with large craters, and it took more than two hours to move several miles, according to the mayor of Merj ’Uyun , Fuad Hamra, who was in the convoy. As soon as the cars were hit, all within about three minutes of one another, drivers farther back began hearing about it on their cellphones and many simply stopped in the dark. Some cars parked in areas that looked safe. Others, like Ms. Daher, drove to Jib Janine, a nearby town. Shortly after the attack, clumps of cars were idling in two parking lots south of Jib Jenine. People stood outside in the bright moonlight. Ms. Daher stayed in the home of a family she had never met. They gave her water. “I saw some people,” she said. “I asked it’s safe here? They said, yes, come.” Ms. Daher, a reporter for Nahar Newspaper, one of Lebanon’s main newspapers, said that she tried to take photographs of the soldiers from the window of her house on Thursday, but that soldiers shot at the house when they saw her. “They asked people not to look out the windows,” she said, speaking by telephone from Beirut, where she finally arrived Saturday afternoon. She described a frozen town, in which Israeli soldiers and Lebanese civilians were terrified of one another. “They are afraid of any movement in the houses, so we tried to keep calm,” she said. Israelis, according to Mr. Hamra and other residents, had destroyed some houses in the villages they occupied late last week, and residents did not feel safe inside their homes. “They bombed some houses,” she said. “We don’t know why.” Residents were similarly baffled about the convoy. The Israelis have warned several days ago that they would strike anyone driving south of the Litani River, and reiterated that warning the statement they released Saturday about the mistaken strike. But the convoy was hit far north of the river, after the convoy had passed out of active fighting. “Something went wrong,” Mr. Hamra said by telephone from Beirut. “We were promised that we would have the clearance from Israelis and the road would be cleared. Neither happened.” “Probably the clearance wasn’t cleared enough.” ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 13) Beirut neighbors devastated again How much more can they tolerate? - Rana El-Khatib Sunday, August 13, 2006 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/08/13/ING2HKEPN71.DTL In my once-delightful Beirut neighborhood, everyone's life has irrevocably changed. It is as if we inhabit a different planet than we did a month ago. Upstairs, my neighbor's 84-year-old father lost his home in the lovely, southern Lebanese city of Bint Jbeil. A broken man, he sits in his daughter's apartment and says, "Four times I've had to rebuild my home. I don't have the years or the strength to rebuild another." His memories and life's possessions were pulverized by a bomb dropped from an American-made, Israeli-piloted F-16. Across the hall, our neighbor has taken in her mother, sister, brother and their families. Her mother and brother have also lost their homes, flattened by Israeli bombs. Some people are transfixed with worry and uncertainty. My friend's weekend escape used to be to an exquisite home in the southern village of Tibneen. There, I had experienced the unmatched hospitality of the southern Lebanese. I had enjoyed mouth-watering traditional dishes under the shade of their lovingly tended trees. The air was fresh, the sky big and the graciousness of our hosts humbling. Because they cannot visit, my friend's family does not know if the home is gone. Her mother stoically declared, "A house can be rebuilt..." And, if necessary, they will rebuild -- stone for stone, plant for plant, tile by tile. They will again invite guests to sit under the shade of the trees they planted and share, once more, the richness of their heritage and land. But they, too, have had to rebuild their lives more than once -- their house, like countless others, the target of Israeli bombs from previous attacks. Stepping out in Beirut on a recent evening to visit my uncle in his usually quaint urban neighborhood, I was faced with a surreal sight. The street was transformed by an endless stream of new, bewildered and uncomfortable faces -- refugees from the southern suburbs of the city that have been devastated by a rain of destruction from the sky. Six children approached us, arms linked together. The oldest, about 8, blurted out "Give us money to buy candy?" They looked disheveled and hungry. "Where are you staying?" my mother asked. "In the school" they responded, pointing to the school just around the corner. As my mother gave them each a little money, I noticed just how much my uncle's charming neighborhood had changed in a span of three weeks. There were unkempt youngsters everywhere. Parents stood idle in the streets -- the same mothers and fathers who, under normal circumstances, would have been preparing dinner for their families in their own homes. Then I looked at my uncle's stone fence and on it I saw a tiny, emaciated, gray-and-white kitten. It could barely stand; hunger and fatigue ravaged the tiny creature as it looked out helplessly at the world from its perch. That skinny kitten seemed to represent the desperation of all of Lebanon. Everyone in Lebanon has a heartbreaking story to tell. Entire families have been murdered -- mother, father and five children; mother and four children; a woman in her ninth month of pregnancy who died when an Israeli bomb landed on her car on the way to the hospital to give birth. An old man, left in a wheelchair by a nurse fleeing danger, was found dead by his frantic daughter, who came to their town with the Red Cross to get him to safety but arrived too late. My co-worker's aunt, daughter and granddaughter were buried under the rubble of their home and no one could pull them out for two days because of the intense, relentless Israeli bombing. Close to 1 million Lebanese, almost one-fourth of the population, have been uprooted from their homes. An estimated 1,000 innocent civilians are dead. We have rebuilt before, but even the most resilient of people have a threshold for how much injustice -- how many lost homes, lost limbs and lost family members -- they can tolerate. Israel can bury Lebanon again with its military arsenal. But while doing so, is there not a part of Israel that dies a little, too? Rana El-Khatib is a Palestinian-Lebanese poet and writer who lives in Beirut. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com. Page E - 3 ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 14) Castro the Conservationist? By Default or Design, Cuba Largely Pristine Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News August 4, 2006 Photo Gallery: Live inside Cuba http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/photogalleries/cuba/index.html Full article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060804-castro-legacy.html Will Cuban President Fidel Castro be remembered primarily as a man of the people, an authoritarian tyrant—or a conservationist? Castro handed power to his brother last week to undergo emergency intestinal surgery. His health remains uncertain, fueling rampant speculation about his legacy. Some experts say his environmental policies may be among his greatest achievements. Though Cuba is economically destitute, it has the richest biodiversity in the Caribbean. Resorts blanket many of its neighbors, but Cuba remains largely undeveloped, with large tracts of untouched rain forest and unspoiled reefs (map of Cuba). The country has signed numerous international conservation treaties and set aside vast areas of land for government protection. But others say Cuba's economic underdevelopment has played just as large a role. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union—its main financial benefactor—Cuba has had to rely mostly on its own limited resources. It has embraced organic farming and low-energy agriculture because it can't afford to do anything else. And once Castro is gone, the experts say, a boom in tourism and foreign investment could destroy Cuba's pristine landscapes. Eco-Legacy "I think the Cuban government can take a substantial amount of credit for landscape, flora, and fauna preservation," said Jennifer Gebelein, a professor at Florida International University in Miami who studies environmental issues in Cuba. More than 20 percent of Cuba's land is under some form of government protection. The island's wetlands have been largely shielded from pesticide runoff that has destroyed similar areas in other countries. And since Castro seized power in 1959, logging has slowed significantly. Forest cover has increased from 14 percent in 1956 to about 21 percent today. In addition, the more than 4,000 smaller islands surrounding the main island are important refuges for endangered species. The coastline and mangrove archipelagos are breeding grounds for some 750 species of fish and 3,000 other marine organisms. "Because Cuba's tourist industry has not developed quickly in regard to reef exploitation, the reefs have been spared the fate of Florida's reefs, for example," Gebelein said. At about 1.5 million acres (600,000 hectares), the Ciénaga de Zapata Biosphere Reserve is Cuba's largest protected area and has been designated a "Wetland of International Importance" by the Ramsas Convention on Wetlands in 1971. "The Zapata Swamp is the Caribbean's largest and most important wetland," said Jim Barborak, who is based in San Pedro, Costa Rica, and heads the protected areas and conservation corridors program for Conservation International. Jewel of the Caribbean Originally, Cuba was in the Pacific Ocean, not the Caribbean Sea. Continental drift slowly brought the island into the Caribbean some 100 million years ago, and an astonishing variety of life emerged. "Cuba has tremendous biological diversity," Barborak said. "The levels of plant endemism—unique species limited to Cuba—is particularly high, especially in highland ecosystems in eastern Cuba." More than half of Cuba's plants and animals, and more than 80 percent of its reptiles and amphibians, are unique to the island. Endemic birds include the Cuban trogon, the Cuban tody, and the Cuban pygmy owl. The world's smallest bird, the bee hummingbird—which weighs less than a U.S. penny—is found there. "Important populations of many North American migratory birds, whose declining populations require international action to conserve both breeding and wintering grounds, spend much of the year in Cuba," Barborak said. Cuba is only one of two nations with a primitive mammal known as a solenodon, a foot-long (0.3-meter-long) shrewlike creature. The island also has a great diversity of giant lizards, crocodiles, and tortoises. Intellectual Infrastructure A key player in Cuba's green movement has been Guillermo García Frías, one of five original "comandantes" of the 1959 Cuban revolution. A nature lover with strong ties to Castro, García has pushed for a strong environmental ethic for a generation of scientists and government officials. "Comandante García's enthusiasm for nature conservation has been critical to the successful development of a conservation infrastructure in Cuba," said Mary Pearl, president of the Wildlife Trust in New York City. Cubans are leaders in biological research, with thousands of graduates from the country's ten universities and institutes devoted to work in ecology. "The country has the best intellectual infrastructure for wildlife conservation in the Caribbean," Pearl said. Students in every department at the University of Havana, for example, have had the opportunity to share a bonding experience by living in an impoverished fishing village while working to protect marine turtles. "As a result, many of Cuba's leaders in all spheres have had a common experience reconciling poverty alleviation and nature conservation," Pearl said. "It is not surprising that this has left a legacy of concern for nature, despite the country's economic challenges." Embargo Woes But Cuba has earned its green credentials partly by default. Isolated in part because of the U.S. trade embargo against the island, Cuba has been excluded from much of the economic globalization that has taken its toll on the environment in many other parts of the world. "The healthy status of much of the wetlands and forests of Cuba is due not to political influence as much as the lack of foreign exchange with which to make the investments to convert lands and introduce petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers," Pearl said. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Cuban factories and agricultural fields have sat dormant. The island has had to become self-sufficient, turning to low-energy organic farming. It has had to scrap most of its fishing fleet because it can't afford to maintain the ships. Population pressure has also been a nonissue, with many Cubans fleeing the country for economic and political reasons. However, Conservation International's Barborak says it would be wrong to think Cuba's environmental success is simply due to its economic underdevelopment. "If this were true, then Haiti could be expected to be a verdant ecological paradise, instead of being the most environmentally devastated country in the region, with just a tiny fraction of its forest cover intact," he said. "Cuba's stable population, high literacy rate, clear land-tenure system, large cadre of well-trained conservationists, and relatively strong enforcement of laws and regulations are certainly all associated with its conservation achievements." So what will happen if Castro's regime falls and a new, democratic government takes root? Conservationists and others say they are worried that the pressure to develop the island will increase and Cuba's rich biodiversity will suffer. Barborak said he is concerned that "environmental carpetbaggers and scalawags will come out of the woodwork in Cuba if there is turbulent regime change. "One could foresee a flood of extractive industries jockeying for access to mineral and oil leases," he said. "A huge wave of extraction of unique and endemic plants and animals could occur to feed the international wildlife market. And a speculative tourism and real estate boom could turn much of the coastline into a tacky wasteland in short order." "If foreign investments take a much firmer hold, more hotels will be built and more people will descend on the reefs," added Gebelein, the Florida International University professor. "If the Cuban government does not have a swift policy framework to deal with the huge influx of tourists, investors, and foreign government interests, a new exploitative paradigm will be the beginning of the end for some of the last pristine territories in the Caribbean." ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 15) Labor and the Middle East War New York City Labor Against the War August 11, 2006 http://www.traprockpeace.org/nyclaw_blog/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaborAgainstWar/ [To endorse the following statement, please send your name, location, affiliation and title (if any) to nyclaw@comcast.net, or NYCLAW, PO Box 3620166, PACC, New York, NY 10129] For weeks, Israel has turned Lebanon into a killing ground, slaughtering and maiming thousands of people, destroying the civilian infrastructure, and turning a quarter of the population into refugees in their own land. At the same time, it continues to brutalize Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel's crimes are carried out with U.S.-made F-16s, Apache helicopters, and cluster bombs. These high-tech lethal weapons are part of $5 billion that Israel gets each year from the United States, courtesy of the Republican and Democratic parties, with enthusiastic support from Neo-cons and right-wing Christian fundamentalists. The U.S. does not arm Israel to "promote democracy" or for "self-defense." Even Zionist historians now admit that Israel's origins are rooted in dispossession of the Palestinian people -- whose labor then built the Israeli economy -- through an unrelenting campaign of ethnic cleansing: exile, squalid refugee camps, imprisonment, torture and murder. Since the 1970s, Israel has also pursued territorial expansion by repeatedly invading and devastating Lebanon, as exemplified by the slaughter of thousands of Palestinian refugees at Sabra and Shatilla in 1982. That occupation lasted until 2000, when Hezbollah forced Israel to withdraw. Since then, Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians, taken thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese political prisoners, and tried to strangle the democratically-elected government of Hamas. When Hamas and Hezbollah responded by capturing a few Israeli soldiers, Israel unleashed a new, bloody, long-planned attack on Lebanon; only then did Hezbollah respond by firing crude rockets at Israel. Behind its empty platitudes, the U.S. government supports this Israeli racism and state terrorism because, along with dictatorships in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, it is a cornerstone of U.S. domination over the world's most important oil-producing region. Now, with the Iraq war in shambles, the U.S.-Israel partnership seeks to break Lebanese and Palestinian resistance, while recklessly provoking confrontations with Syria and Iran. The U.N. has done nothing to stop this war of empire -- what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sickeningly calls "birth pangs of a new Middle East." It is not surprising, therefore, that Hezbollah has won tremendous support in and beyond the Arab world, even amongst those who question some aspects of its ideology or tactics. For this spiraling cycle of oppression and resistance evokes Iraq, Afghanistan, Soweto, Vietnam, Algeria, the Warsaw Ghetto, or David and Goliath. Horrified by the images from Palestine and Lebanon, international labor has strongly denounced Israel's attacks. On July 10, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) urgently called for sanctions and boycotts against the "apartheid Israel state," which it branded worse than the former racist regime in South Africa. On July 31, the General Union of Oil Employees in Iraq issued an "appeal to all the honorable and free people of the world to demonstrate and protest about what is happening to Lebanon." On August 5, major British trade unions supported a massive London protest against Israel's attacks. Even before the current escalation, several labor bodies in Britain, Canada and elsewhere called for divestment from Israel. In the United States, however, nearly all labor bodies either support Israel or say nothing at all. State employee retirement plans and union pension funds invest hundreds of millions of dollars in State of Israel Bonds. In April 2002, while Israel butchered hundreds of Palestinian refugees in Jenin, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney spoke at a "National Solidarity Rally for Israel." The American Federation of Teachers has specifically embraced Israel's new assaults. In the antiwar movement, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), which consistently segregates the Palestinian cause, has organized no mass response. U.S. Labor Against the War, which promotes union resolutions against the war in Iraq, remains disturbingly silent. Fortunately, growing protests have been organized by the Arab-Muslim community, people of color, anti-Zionist Jews, and other activists who recognize that Lebanon and Palestine are inseparable from Iraq and Afghanistan. New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW) is part of this grassroots movement, and with Al-Awda New York, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, a cosponsor of Labor for Palestine NYCLAW believes that the labor and antiwar movements in the United States have a special obligation to speak out and demand: 1. End the U.S.-Israel war against the Palestinian and Lebanese people. 2. No aid for Israel. 3. Boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. 4. End Israeli occupation, and fully implement the Palestinian right of return. 5. Out Now from Iraq and Afghanistan -- No timetables, redeployment, advisors, or air-war. [BAUAW endorses this statement...bw] NYCLAW Co-Conveners (other affiliations listed for identification only): Larry Adams Former President, NPMHU Local 300 Michael Letwin Former President, UAW Local 2325/Assn. of Legal Aid Attorneys Brenda Stokely Former President, AFSCME DC 1707; Co-Chair, Million Worker March http://www.traprockpeace.org/nyclaw_blog/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LaborAgainstWar/ ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 16) “The Work of Karl Marx and the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century” Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, May 3, 2006 A CubaNews translation by Joe Bryak. Edited by Walter Lippmann. http://www.lajiribilla.co.cu/noticias/n0086.html Reposted: http://www.counterpunch.org/alarcon05082006.html http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/156784.php http://www.walterlippmann.com/alarcon-05-03-2006-e.html "Let us remember that he said that it was not enough that the idea clamored to be made reality, but that it was also necessary that reality shout out to be made into idea." -- Franz Mehring I will not attempt to delineate here the ample and rich intellectual production of Karl Marx, his deep analysis of capitalism or the principal events of his era, nor will I touch upon his exemplary life as a social fighter and revolutionary leader. I know that these themes are familiar to you all. I propose, if you allow me, to separate Marx from Marxism. With that I allude to the necessity of thinking of Marx as Marx, rather than from any of the versions of Marxism, to imagine him declaring the challenges of the twenty-first century, separating what is essential of his work from what others made of his work. Instead of embarking on the endless succession of reviews of his thinking that goes along with those who have claimed him as their own, as well as with those who have tried unsuccessfully to bury him, it is necessary to rescue his fundamental legacy, that which makes him transcend his era to be [with us] here and now in the struggle for human emancipation. I take as a starting point the warning, not always heeded, of Rosa Luxemburg: "The work Capital of Marx, like all his ideology, is not gospel in which we are given Revealed Truth, set in stone and eternal, but an endless flow of suggestions to keep working on with intelligence, in order to continue researching and struggling for truth." To take his work, on top of any other consideration, as a source of inspiration and guide for those who, like he, want not only to explain the world but, more than anything, transform it, fighting until achieving socialism. We are not trying to find in his texts data that may seem useful to the analysis of contemporary reality, of capitalism as it is today, something which he didn't try to do nor would have been able to propose doing. Our obligation is to arm ourselves with all of his ideology and from that build a theory and practice that corresponds with that reality and helps to transform it. There is probably no higher nor more urgent priority for socialists than this: to define a strategic conception and precisely delineate the tactics and methods of struggle adequate for confronting the capitalism that exists now. The theoretical tools at our disposal need to be sharpened for their efficient employment in this era that presents new challenges for the revolutionary movement. These notes do not have any other aim than contributing to the discussion of that crucial theme and obviously lack any pretension of exhausting it. They have been edited having in mind that which from the great unfinished text declared Rosa Luxembourg: "Incomplete as they are, these two volumes enclose values infinitely more precious than any definitive and perfect truth, the spur for the labor of thought and that critical analysis and judgment of ideas, which is what is most genuine in the theory that Karl Marx has left to us." Another indispensable observation: The necessity of elaborating a revolutionary theory that brings victory confronted with what has been called neo-liberal globalization has absolutely nothing to do with a supposed liquidation of Marxism and much less with the imaginary disappearance of class struggle, which some intended to convert in immoveable dogmas in rushed texts that inundated the planet at the beginnings of the last decade of the twentieth century. The collapse of the USSR and the bankruptcy of the so-called "real socialism" gave way for a triumphalist operation skillfully launched by the main centers of imperialism which, nevertheless, could hardly hide their essentially defensive character with its apparently total and definitive victory, capitalism, in reality, entered a new phase that could be terminal, in which its contradictions and limitations are manifested with a frank crudeness and in which arise new, unsuspected possibilities for revolutionary action. That paradox perhaps may explain the short duration of that triumphalism in the academic level. Few today repeat that nonsense about the "end of history." Not even Fukuyama does it, more busy these days in criticizing the failure of the policies of Bush which are, nevertheless, much due to his own laborious and wordy work. The present crisis within the U.S. neoconservative movement suggests that not a few question now if they were the true winners of the Cold War. Self-critical reflection is called for on our side as well. We should admit our own errors, especially those that served as fertile ground for the bourgeois manipulation of the destruction of the Soviet model. This is not the time for profound analysis of the failure of an experience that now belongs to historians. But it is inevitable that we underline here something that led to the defeat and to its advantageous use by the enemy. That project--independently of Lenin and of the creative spirit that animated the first years of the Bolshevik revolution --reduced Marxism to a determinist and mechanist school of thought, transformed research into dogma, thought into propaganda, until the point of confining it to a condition of terminal hardening of the arteries. It constructed a simplified "science" that thought it had demonstrated that socialism would inevitably come about, by itself, as an unavoidable consequence of a predetermined history and that that socialism would continue its march, also uncontestable, according to laws and rules codified in a strange ritual. Socialism, therefore, was inevitable and invincible; with it one would truly arrive to the end of history. Not any socialism, but that one in particular, that which, with admirable struggle, Lenin and the Bolsheviks tried to achieve, whose enormous meaning no one will be able to tear out of the memory of the proletariat but which was a specific project--that is to say, a human work, with virtues and defects, glories and shadows, a result of immense sacrifice of a concrete people in circumstances and conditions likewise concrete-- and not the outcome of a predestined and universal idea. The conversion of the Soviet experience into a paradigm for those who in other places fought their own anti- capitalist battles, and the imperative obligation of defending it from its inflamed and powerful enemies, led to the subordination of a great part of the revolutionary movement to the policies and interests of the USSR, which did not always correspond to those of other peoples. The Cold War and the division of the world into two blocks of antagonistic states that threatened each other with mutual nuclear annihilation, reduced to a minimum the capacity of critical thought and reinforced dogmatism. In honor of the truth one must render homage to the numberless men and women who sacrificed their lives, the greater part in total anonymity, and died heroically in any corner of the planet defending the land of the Soviets, its policies and its application in its own native soil, as wrong as it may have been in more than a few cases. For them, respect and admiration. But what is being considered now is recognizing the very harmful consequences of that tendency. The tendency to blindly "tail" thoroughly penetrated many organizations and individuals, and they couldn't react rationally when the system that supported their faith collapsed. They had lived convinced that they were part of an unbeatable force, owners and administrators of truths scientifically demonstrated, and they marched in an enthusiastic procession in which, curiously, the founder did not march, having declared, with all naturalness, "I am not a Marxist." The myth destroyed, old dogmatists were incapable of appreciating the new possibilities in the revolutionary movement, the spaces heretofore nonexistent that were necessary to explore with audacity and creativity. There were those who, in unsurpassed acrobatics, joined the "conquerors," converting treason into their new religion. But there is a growing number of those who do not conform, are unsatisfied and rebel. All the rhetoric about U.S. hegemony falls to pieces with its bogging down in Iraq, the undeniable contradictions and limitations of its economy, the awakening of masses that were supposed to be asleep there, and the corruption and moral fissure that undermine its political system. Their associates in Europe are in the same boat. Accustomed as well to the "bloc" discipline and "tailism," they don't arrive at the knowledge of the depth of the insurmountable crisis of that which it was, but no longer is, omnipotent boss. In Latin America and in other parts of the Third World, meanwhile, radical processes are affirmed and plans are put forth that seek to eliminate, or at least reduce, imperialist domination. For the first time, anti-capitalist malaise is manifested, simultaneously and everywhere, in advanced countries and in those left behind and is not limited to the proletariat and other exploited sectors. This is not only expressed today in the struggles that we could call "classics"--between classes and nations that are exploited and exploiters--but in those that are added, at times with more vigor, those that demand the preservation of the environment, or work for the rights of women and discriminated people and those excluded because of gender, ethnicity or religion. A diverse group, multicolor, in which there is no shortage of contradictions and paradoxes grows in front of the dominant system. It is not yet the rainbow that announces the end of the storm. Spontaneity characterizes it; it needs articulation and coherence that need to be stimulated without sectarianism, without being carried away with wildness. The great challenge of revolutionaries, of communists, is to define our part, the place that we should occupy in this battle. For that we need a theory. In that sense one must return to the well known but forgotten definition of Lenin: "A correct revolutionary theory is only formed in a definitive manner in close connection with practical experience in a movement that is truly mass and truly revolutionary." That theory, on a world scale, does not exist in fact, to serve as a guide in the struggle to substitute the present order and transform it in the direction toward socialism. That theory has to be formed and its definitive formation has to take place in constant interrelation with practice, in a process in which both form an inseparable whole. But we are not speaking of just any practice but that of a movement that is both "truly mass and truly revolutionary." When can a movement be defined as truly a mass movement and when does it acquire the quality of being truly revolutionary? The answers will not be found in a research laboratory, nor will they erupt from academic debate. Revolutionaries themselves will have to create them, men and women of flesh and blood, acting from the masses, building their movement and trying to make it ever more revolutionary. The entire life of the genial Bolshevik leader can be described in that commitment. A persistent legend attributes to the author of Capital the saying "Man [sic] thinks as he lives," which more than a few militants still repeat, without warning of the mistake nor of its paralyzing effects. The relation between man and his surroundings is of decisive importance for ethics and politics and in order to understand the Eleventh Thesis on Feuerbach. To transform the world the key is in the Third Thesis. Let's remember the statements of Marx: "The materialist theory that men are product of circumstances and of education, and that, therefore, changed men are a product of different circumstances and of a modified education, forgets that it is men, precisely, who make circumstances chanage and that even the educator needs to be educated. This leads, then, inevitably, to the division of society in two parts, one of which is on top of society (this, for example, in Robert Owen) "The coincidence of the modification of circumstances and of human activity can only be conceived and understood rationally as revolutionary practice." In the Second Declaration of Havana, Cubans proclaimed that "the duty of every revolutionary is to make revolution." To make it means to create a new world in spite of the obstacles and limitations that circumstances impose, in a ceaseless battle in which both man and reality will go on transforming each other reciprocally. ... "A certain form of socialism will emerge inevitably from the also inevitable decay of capitalism" -- Joseph A. Schumpeter The prediction that I just cited has been the object of implacable denunciation on the part of bourgeois thinkers. In 1942 it was difficult to see the fall of capitalism as something inevitable. Its author, nevertheless, did not cease believing in it until the end. Eight years afterward, just before dying, he said: "Marx was wrong in his diagnosis of how capitalist society would fall; but he was not wrong in the prediction that finally it would fall." In 1950 U.S. capitalism reached the zenith of its hegemony. It was the only nuclear power, it hadn't suffered the devastation that the world war had wreaked on the other developed countries, it dominated Western Europe and Latin America economically and politically, it possessed a superiority in science and technology. At the middle of the last century the world was quite different from what it is today. By a route that they probably did not foresee we are now nearer the fulfillment of the prophecy in which, paradoxically, both the author of Capital and his tenacious Austro-North American critic coincided. The protagonist has changed, the subject of history, man. The world population has grown in an exponential manner since the days of the publication of the Communist Manifesto and it continues doing so. Man traveled through tens of thousands of years to arrive at the first billion. It took a century to triple the double of that figure. Each 25 years is added to that figure a quantity similar to that which represented the whole planet when Karl Marx was born. At a similar rhythm the natural resources of the earth is exhausted and animal and vegetable species are annihilated forever. Man is the only being that has dedicated himself with so much fury and efficiency to destroy life. Irreversible climactic changes, forests transformed into deserts, poisoned waters, unbreathable air, irremediably degraded soils, astounding conglomerations of human beings in uninhabitable and always growing urban clogs are distressing worries that compose a reality not known before. Beyond ideologies the people continue discovering that which is obvious. In 1992, at the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, governments and civil society put ourselves in agreement that in order to save the earth it was necessary "to change the bosses of production and of consumption," words subscribed to by many, including Bush senior. They were words, certainly. But they imply explicit recognition although in the text of a document, of the necessity of the radical transformation of the relations between men and between them and nature. The subject, besides, inevitably moves. Population grows exponentially but it doesn't do so equally in all parts of the world. In the so-called developed countries it is frozen and even tends to shrink. In the rest, in that part of the world that was baptized as the Third, they are more, ever many more-- in spite of early death, misery, hunger--and also those who in an unstoppable spiral, are displaced toward the enclaves of opulence. The Third World penetrates the First. The latter needs the former and at the same time rejects it. In Europe and North America appears an undesirable protagonist, a mute guest that demands its rights. While here we carry out this important collective reflection animated by the example of a truly creative and humanist thinker and try to find the paths toward a better world, the U.S. Congress continues discussing what to do with those who number at least 11 million people--that is, the Cuban population--the so-called undocumented, searching for formulas that allow them to continue to be exploited while access to that society is closed. The migratory phenomenon will be maintained and will gain in size along with capitalism, with its present characteristics, as it is expanded through the whole world. Capitalism cannot stop it, just as it is neither capable of abandoning those characteristics and much less transform itself into another thing. The Central Intelligence Agency of the United States has prognosticated that, as a consequence of that phenomenon, very soon deep changes will have been produced in the cultures of several European countries. The struggle for the rights of immigrants and against discrimination expressed in public demonstrations that mobilized millions of people and in the historic May Day protest--a date that never before had been expressed in this way in the United States--brings to the forefront a political force that now cannot be easily ignored. The presence of millions of people discriminated against and lacking civil and political rights raises an essential question that goes to the very roots of the political system that the West has attempted to set as an obligatory model for all. There is an increasingly growing number of those who work hard there, pay their taxes, die in their wars, but cannot vote nor be elected. In today's Rome the participation of the citizens is reduced while the mass of those excluded is constantly growing, the modern "barbarians." In this very building, recently, professor Robert Dahl--prominent apologist for the archetypical capitalist--recognized in such marginalization the principal lack of contemporary liberal democracy. The end of that exclusion, the struggle for democracy, specifically including the democratization of Western societies, should be a priority for those who wish to transform the world. This is yet more urgent if we perceive the other face of the migratory phenomenon together with it grows, in parallel, racial hatred, xenophobia, which feeds fascist tendencies today present in an obvious manner in those societies. The migratory problem reflects, thus, an aspect of capitalism today that it is also worthwhile reflecting on. While the emigrants are humiliated and super exploited in the countries where they end up, there they are used also as instruments for the oppression of the local workers. Being used as the international reserve army, stripped of rights, and until now not organized, they serve to lower wages, are forced to accept conditions that, as Bush the lesser likes to say, U.S. workers do not accept. To free the immigrants from their exploitation becomes, therefore, essential for the emancipation of the workers in the developed countries. To forge a union between both exploited sectors, in an area that has had advances that are still insufficient but whose importance cannot be underestimated, is today a task that cannot be postponed. To rescue the role of the labor union, true bulwark of civil society and to guarantee the rights of all workers, without exceptions, to organize oneself is an indispensable response to a capitalism that ever more openly casts off its "liberal" mask and demonstrates the perverse face of tyranny. Fascism must be stopped. It is necessary to prevent it from being able to gather its own victims into a senseless opposition. Never again should a Nixon be able to mobilize construction workers against the youth who, in the seventies of the last century, rebelled against the war in Vietnam. It is possible to unite them. We saw them united, in Seattle, both opposing neo-liberal globalization. One must help them to converge, and it is possible to propose this to them, and it is a crucial aspect of the world today and in the struggle to change it. The poor try to emigrate to the rich world to escape poverty. The rich, meanwhile, try to place their capital in the poor countries in order to increase their profits with the misery of others and inevitably worsen the conditions of work and of life for workers in the developed countries. Few in the United States and Europe would identify themselves as members of a worker aristocracy, beneficiary of the dropping of crumbs coming from the colonies. Today they are seen as those defeated by a system that, among other things, depends ever more on "outsourcing" and the maquila and that imposes everywhere the dogma of the omnipotent market and "free trade." To forge convergence, to later on reach unity between the exploited people of the First and Third World, is now not only possible but necessary. But it is not enough to work for unity between all the proletariat of the world, of the First and Third World, of the South and of the North. Antifascist is essential for democracy, peace and life. To fight to create new models, to forge alliances where possible or meanwhile promote points or moments of coincidence between the diverse forces that today, for the most varied motives, are out of step with the world as it is, should constitute the principal guide for revolutionaries. To struggle so that the antiwar and anti-globalization movements flow into the same great stream and that all those discriminated against, all the marginalized be included is the main duty of revolutionaries today. It is the way to create a better world. It is the road to take in advancing toward socialism. To achieve socialism in this century there must be "heroic creation," a creation that is authentic, independent, and therefore diverse and unique. Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada is Cuba's Vice President and President of its National Assembly. Translation by Joe Bryak for CubaNews. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 17) Ehren Watada By Dahr Jamail t r u t h o u t | Perspective Monday 14 August 2006 http://dahrjamailiraq.com On Saturday night, I was lucky enough to be at the Veterans for Peace National Convention. For that night, Lt. Ehren Watada was able to give the following speech, which I've just received permission to post here. The speech was met with a powerful, standing ovation from the vets who've been there. Lt. Ehren Watada, for those who don't already know, became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to the unlawful war and occupation in Iraq. While doing this on June 22, 2006, Watada said, "As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must refuse that order." Just as Watada took the stage and began to speak, over 50 members of Iraq Veterans Against the War filed in behind him. Watada, surprised by this and obviously taken aback by the symbolic act, turned back to the audience, took some deep breaths, then gave this speech: "Thank you everyone. Thank you all for your tremendous support. How honored and delighted I am to be in the same room with you tonight. I am deeply humbled by being in the company of such wonderful speakers. "You are all true American patriots. Although long since out of uniform, you continue to fight for the very same principles you once swore to uphold and defend. No one knows the devastation and suffering of war more than veterans - which is why we should always be the first to prevent it. 'I wasn't entirely sure what to say tonight. I thought as a leader in general I should speak to motivate. Now I know that this isn't the military and surely there are many out there who outranked me at one point or another - and yes, I'm just a Lieutenant. And yet, I feel as though we are all citizens of this great country and what I have to say is not a matter of authority - but from one citizen to another. We have all seen this war tear apart our country over the past three years. It seems as though nothing we've done, from vigils to protests to letters to Congress, have had any effect in persuading the powers that be. Tonight I will speak to you on my ideas for a change of strategy. I am here tonight because I took a leap of faith. My action is not the first and it certainly will not be the last. Yet, on behalf of those who follow, I require your help - your sacrifice - and that of countless other Americans. I may fail. We may fail. But nothing we have tried has worked so far. It is time for change and the change starts with all of us. "I stand before you today, not as an expert - not as one who pretends to have all the answers. I am simply an American and a servant of the American people. My humble opinions today are just that. I realize that you may not agree with everything I have to say. However, I did not choose to be a leader for popularity. I did it to serve and make better the soldiers of this country. And I swore to carry out this charge honorably under the rule of law. "Today, I speak with you about a radical idea. It is one born from the very concept of the American soldier (or service member). It became instrumental in ending the Vietnam War - but it has been long since forgotten. The idea is this: that to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it. "Now it is not an easy task for the soldier. For he or she must be aware that they are being used for ill-gain. They must hold themselves responsible for individual action. They must remember duty to the Constitution and the people supersedes the ideologies of their leadership. The soldier must be willing to face ostracism by their peers, worry over the survival of their families, and of course the loss of personal freedom. They must know that resisting an authoritarian government at home is equally important to fighting a foreign aggressor on the battlefield. Finally, those wearing the uniform must know beyond any shadow of a doubt that by refusing immoral and illegal orders they will be supported by the people not with mere words but by action. "The American soldier must rise above the socialization that tells them authority should always be obeyed without question. Rank should be respected but never blindly followed. Awareness of the history of atrocities and destruction committed in the name of America - either through direct military intervention or by proxy war - is crucial. They must realize that this is a war not out of self-defense but by choice, for profit and imperialistic domination. WMD, ties to Al Qaeda, and ties to 9/11 never existed and never will. The soldier must know that our narrowly and questionably elected officials intentionally manipulated the evidence presented to Congress, the public, and the world to make the case for war. They must know that neither Congress nor this administration has the authority to violate the prohibition against pre-emptive war - an American law that still stands today. This same administration uses us for rampant violations of time-tested laws banning torture and degradation of prisoners of war. Though the American soldier wants to do right, the illegitimacy of the occupation itself, the policies of this administration, and rules of engagement of desperate field commanders will ultimately force them to be party to war crimes. They must know some of these facts, if not all, in order to act. "Mark Twain once remarked, "Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country …" By this, each and every American soldier, marine, airman, and sailor is responsible for their choices and their actions. The freedom to choose is only one that we can deny ourselves. "The oath we take swears allegiance not to one man but to a document of principles and laws designed to protect the people. Enlisting in the military does not relinquish one's right to seek the truth - neither does it excuse one from rational thought nor the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. "I was only following orders" is never an excuse. "The Nuremburg Trials showed America and the world that citizenry as well as soldiers have the unrelinquishable obligation to refuse complicity in war crimes perpetrated by their government. Widespread torture and inhumane treatment of detainees is a war crime. A war of aggression born through an unofficial policy of prevention is a crime against the peace. An occupation violating the very essence of international humanitarian law and sovereignty is a crime against humanity. These crimes are funded by our tax dollars. Should citizens choose to remain silent through self-imposed ignorance or choice, it makes them as culpable as the soldier in these crimes. "The Constitution is no mere document - neither is it old, out-dated, or irrelevant. It is the embodiment of all that Americans hold dear: truth, justice, and equality for all. It is the formula for a government of the people and by the people. It is a government that is transparent and accountable to whom they serve. It dictates a system of checks and balances and separation of powers to prevent the evil that is tyranny. "As strong as the Constitution is, it is not foolproof. It does not fully take into account the frailty of human nature. Profit, greed, and hunger for power can corrupt individuals as much as they can corrupt institutions. The founders of the Constitution could not have imagined how money would infect our political system. Neither could they believe a standing army would be used for profit and manifest destiny. Like any common dictatorship, soldiers would be ordered to commit acts of such heinous nature as to be deemed most ungentlemanly and unbecoming that of a free country. "The American soldier is not a mercenary. He or she does not simply fight wars for payment. Indeed, the state of the American soldier is worse than that of a mercenary. For a soldier-for-hire can walk away if they are disgusted by their employer's actions. Instead, especially when it comes to war, American soldiers become indentured servants whether they volunteer out of patriotism or are drafted through economic desperation. Does it matter what the soldier believes is morally right? If this is a war of necessity, why force men and women to fight? When it comes to a war of ideology, the lines between right and wrong are blurred. How tragic it is when the term Catch-22 defines the modern American military. "Aside from the reality of indentured servitude, the American soldier in theory is much nobler. Soldier or officer, when we swear our oath it is first and foremost to the Constitution and its protectorate, the people. If soldiers realized this war is contrary to what the Constitution extols - if they stood up and threw their weapons down - no President could ever initiate a war of choice again. When we say, "… Against all enemies foreign and domestic," what if elected leaders became the enemy? Whose orders do we follow? The answer is the conscience that lies in each soldier, each American, and each human being. Our duty to the Constitution is an obligation, not a choice. "The military, and especially the Army, is an institution of fraternity and close-knit camaraderie. Peer pressure exists to ensure cohesiveness but it stamps out individualism and individual thought. The idea of brotherhood is difficult to pull away from if the alternative is loneliness and isolation. If we want soldiers to choose the right but difficult path - they must know beyond any shadow of a doubt that they will be supported by Americans. To support the troops who resist, you must make your voices heard. If they see thousands supporting me, they will know. I have heard your support, as has Suzanne Swift, and Ricky Clousing - but many others have not. Increasingly, more soldiers are questioning what they are being asked to do. Yet, the majority lack awareness to the truth that is buried beneath the headlines. Many more see no alternative but to obey. We must show open-minded soldiers a choice and we must give them courage to act. "Three weeks ago, Sgt. Hernandez from the 172nd Stryker Brigade was killed, leaving behind a wife and two children. In an interview, his wife said he sacrificed his life so that his family could survive. I'm sure Sgt. Hernandez cherished the camaraderie of his brothers, but given a choice, I doubt he would put himself in a position to leave his family husbandless and fatherless. Yet that's the point, you see. People like Sgt. Hernandez don't have a choice. The choices are to fight in Iraq or let your family starve. Many soldiers don't refuse this war en mass because, like all of us,, they value their families over their own lives and perhaps their conscience. Who would willingly spend years in prison for principle and morality while denying their family sustenance? "I tell this to you because you must know that to stop this war, for the soldiers to stop fighting it, they must have the unconditional support of the people. I have seen this support with my own eyes. For me it was a leap of faith. For other soldiers, they do not have that luxury. They must know it and you must show it to them. Convince them that no matter how long they sit in prison, no matter how long this country takes to right itself, their families will have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, opportunities and education. This is a daunting task. It requires the sacrifice of all of us. Why must Canadians feed and house our fellow Americans who have chosen to do the right thing? We should be the ones taking care of our own. Are we that powerless - are we that unwilling to risk something for those who can truly end this war? How do you support the troops but not the war? By supporting those who can truly stop it; let them know that resistance to participate in an illegal war is not futile and not without a future. "I have broken no law but the code of silence and unquestioning loyalty. If I am guilty of any crime, it is that I learned too much and cared too deeply for the meaningless loss of my fellow soldiers and my fellow human beings. If I am to be punished it should be for following the rule of law over the immoral orders of one man. If I am to be punished it should be for not acting sooner. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period … was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. "Now, I'm not a hero. I am a leader of men who said enough is enough. Those who called for war prior to the invasion compared diplomacy with Saddam to the compromises made with Hitler. I say, we compromise now by allowing a government that uses war as the first option instead of the last to act with impunity. Many have said this about the World Trade Towers, "Never Again." I agree. Never again will we allow those who threaten our way of life to reign free - be they terrorists or elected officials. The time to fight back is now - the time to stand up and be counted is today. "I'll end with one more Martin Luther King Jr. quote: 'One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.' Thank you and bless you all." The only thing Watada said that I would disagree with is that he claimed that he is not a hero. He is a leader, yet again, by taking this stance. And he may never know how many lives he has already touched. Today, it is up to the anti-war movement to make sure his leadership touches as many soldiers' lives in Iraq as possible. Watada is making his stand. He needs continued support. As he said, if more American soldiers in Iraq know that they, along with their families, will be supported if they stand up against this illegal occupation, countless more will follow, and this repulsive war will end. (c)2006 Dahr Jamail. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- 18) Greenland ice cap may be melting at triple speed By Kelly Young The New Scientist August 10, 2006 http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9717-greenland-ice-cap-may-be- melting-at-triple-speed.html The world's second largest ice cap may be melting three times faster than indicated by previous measurements, according to newly released gravity data collected by satellites. The Greenland Ice Sheet shrank at a rate of about 239 cubic kilometres per year from April 2002 to November 2005, a team from the University of Texas at Austin, US, found. In the last 18 months of the measurements, ice melting has appeared to accelerate, particularly in southeastern Greenland. "This is a good study which confirms that indeed the Greenland ice sheet is losing a large amount of mass and that the mass loss is increasing with time," says Eric Rignot, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, US, who led a separate study that reached a similar conclusion earlier in 2006 (See Greenland's glaciers are speeding to the ocean). His team used satellites to measure the velocity of glacier movement and calculate net ice loss. Yet another technique, which uses a laser to measure the altitude of the surface, determined that the ice sheet was losing about 80 cubic kilometres of ice annually between 1997 and 2003. The newer measurements suggest the ice loss is three times that. "Acceleration of ice mass loss over Greenland, if confirmed, would be consistent with proposed increased global warming in recent years, and would indicate additional polar ice sheet contributions to global sea level rise," write the University of Texas researchers in the journal Science. Identical twins The satellites that provided the new data are results the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) pair. These identical US and German satellites fly 220 kilometres from one another. They use a microwave ranging system and Global Positioning System to measure precisely the distance between one another. Tiny changes in that distance reflect changes in the Earth's gravity field, which in turn is a measure of the density of part of the Earth. "The gravity data are spectacular in providing precise information about what is happening to the ice sheets," says NASA climatologist James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, US. "They provide the net effect of mass change, due to both melting and snowfall changes. It confirms our expectation that the warming climate will cause Greenland ice to shrink." Based on the glaciology of the region, Rignot says he does not think that the north-eastern part of Greenland's ice cap has lost as much ice as the Texas team suggests - 74 cubic kilometres annually. Other factors could account for the discrepancy, acknowledges Clark Wilson, one of the University of Texas team. For instance, scientists do not fully understand the ocean tides in the Arctic Ocean, and there are not a lot of weather stations to monitor air pressure there. GRACE only measures changes in gravity due to changing mass - it cannot tell if that results from changes in air, water, rock or ice. So to find changes due to ice loss alone, the researchers have to subtract the estimated contribution of water and air. If that is not well known, it results in higher uncertainties in the interpretation. "We're hoping as time goes on, we'll have improved tide models, improved atmospheric pressure estimates and also better ways to use the GRACE data themselves," Wilson told New Scientist. ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- LINKS ONLY ---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*-------- Tracing a Trail of Destruction: Report from Lebanon, August 13, 2006 BEIRUT, Lebanon - The wounds of war were evident shortly after we crossed the Syria-Lebanon border at 1130 in the morning on August 12. At Haissa, about three kilometers from the Dabboussiyeh border crossing, we come across the ruins of a bridge hit by Israeli war planes just the day before. Villagers tell us 12 people were killed and 10 wounded, all civilians. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732058.php An Interview with Dr. Ismail Zayid, President of the Canadian Palestinian Association Israel‚s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from 1947 to the present has caused monumental devastation to the exiled, those hundreds of thousands who were forced from their homes and never allowed to return. Dr. Ismail Zayid‚s family suffered this unspeakable horror in 1967 when their village of Beit Nuba was erased from the face of the earth by Israeli bulldozers. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732055.php Filipinos oppose U.S. Israeli Aggression The U.S. imperialists and their Zionist executioners are mistaken in thinking that the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples are easy prey for they are anything but easy pushovers. Puppet Arroyo is also mistaken in thinking that the Filipino people will allow her to get away with her own US-propped war of terror against them. Like the valiant resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, the world will eventually see the Filipino people rise up to oust their tyrant from power. http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732054.php Rogue Israeli State Protested at White House Rally What are people of conscience suppose to do in response to the unspeakable acts of barbarism being perpetrated daily by Israel? In America, they can still go out on the streets and protest. This is what happened on Sat., Aug. 12, 2006, in Washington, D.C. A rally at Lafayette Park, near the White House, organized by Arab-Americans, protested the relentless terror bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). (includes JPEG image) http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/1732053.php FOCUS | Seymour M. Hersh: Watching Lebanon According to Seymour Hersh, President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah's heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American pre-emptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081306Y.shtml Robert Fisk: As the 6am ceasefire takes effect... the real war begins Published: 14 August 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1219037.ece WARFARE IN THE MIDDLE EAST Antiwar Camp in Israel Comes Out of Bunker The decision to expand the ground offensive galvanizes a dormant, wary peace movement. By Laura King Times Staff Writer August 11, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-izpeace11aug11,0,6106699.story?coll=la-home-headlines Robert Fisk: Hizbollah's iron discipline is match for military machine Published: 11 August 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1218405.ece 90 Miles and Light-Years Away New York Times Editorial August 10, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/opinion/10thu2.html "Toxic environment" making kids fat, study claims: Unhealthy, addictive food is behind today's obesity epidemic, a scientist says. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060811_toxicdiet.htm ‘None of the Above’ Stricken From Ballot By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 13, 2006 NASHVILLE, Aug. 12 (AP) — A man running for governor and the United States Senate does not have the right to use his middle name, None of the Above, on the November ballot, a court ruled Friday. The candidate, David Gatchell, filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court after the State Election Commission voted to bar his middle name from the ballot. The court handles lawsuits against state age | |