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

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