[pjnews] 1/18 Anti-war Protests Worldwide
ACT NOW TO STOP WAR BEFORE IT STARTS: January 18 Update Read on to find: I. Update on Bush's rush towards war II. How you can make a financial contribution III. Demonstrations around the world January 18 IV. Plans for Jan. 18 in DC: Speakers, Scenario more - ONLY THE PEOPLE CAN STOP BUSH'S RUSH TOWARDS WAR The January 18 National March on Washington DC and joint action in San Francisco comes just nine days before what has been slated by the Bush administration to be a deadline in their drive towards war on Iraq. Military preparations are underway at a feverish pitch. Last week, more than 1,350 Florida Army National Guard and U.S. Army reservists were called to active duty (according to the Miami Herald, Dec. 27). This is the largest call-up of Florida's National Guard and reservists since World War II -- and it's also the first deployment of an infantry battalion since that time. Though the military has not made an official statement as to why the units have been mobilized at this time, the 150 members of a military police unit based on Fort Lauderdale who have been called up as part of this mobilization are being sent to Kuwait, a clear indication that they will be playing a role in any war in Iraq. On January 27, Hans Blix (the head of UNMOVIC, the United Nations Monitoring and Verification Commission) will make a report on the first two months of weapons inspections in Iraq. Bush administration officials have indicated that they view this date as a deadline for a final decision regarding their war plans. We believe that we can still stop this war from happening. Thousands of innocent people in Iraq and an unknown number of U.S. GIs will die unless we can stop Bush's war plans. It is urgent that the anti-war movement not be lulled into a false sense of optimism because Iraq and the UN are cooperating. The Bush Administration is determined to wage war and occupy Iraq. The extent to which the world is voicing cautious optimism about a peaceful solution, is also the extent to which the Bush foreign policy team is racing to dash all hope for such an outcome. The January 18 National March on Washington DC may very well be the last opportunity that we have on a national level to show the breadth and depth of opposition before the scheduled plan to start the war. We rely on the generous donations of those individuals who believe in our work. Many have made a financial donation. We would like to again thank you. Without your contributions we could not carry out this work. If you want to make a contribution within the tax year (by December 31), you must make your online contribution by 11:59 pm. If you are sending a check, as long as you date it by December 31, it can be received next week (send checks to 39 W. 14th St., Room 206, New York, NY 10011). Online contributions can be made at http://www.internationalanswer.org/donate.html DEMONSTRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD JANUARY 18 In addition to the National March on Washington DC and joint action in San Francisco, many international conferences and organizations have taken up the call, making January 18 an international day of action opposing the war. At the time of this writing, anti-war demonstrations have been scheduled in at least 12 countries for the weekend of Jan. 18-19, 2003. A worldwide anti-war conference which took place December 18-19 in Cairo, Egypt, and included hundreds of representatives from 20 countries, set as its first order of business a worldwide mobilization for January 18. The organizers of the conference have called for a protest in Egypt, and many other organizations in attendance have called for actions. In Japan, several organizations will hold protests in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka. In Canada, protests are planned across the country. There will be several demonstrations in Italy and in Spain, and actions in Belgium, Indonesia, Britain, Germany, Austria and Russia. PLANS FOR JAN. 18 NATIONAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON DC The scenario plan for Washington DC includes an opening rally on the West side of the Capitol Building (on the National Mall, at 3rd St. and Constitution Ave. NW). This rally will include representatives from the diverse movements and organizations that oppose the war. Following the rally, we will hold a mass march to the Washington Navy Yard -- a massive military installation located in a working class neighborhood in Southeast Washington DC that parks warships on the Anacostia River. ** SPEAKERS MESSAGES TO INCLDUE: - Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney - Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop, Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit - Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general - Mike Farrell, actor - Elizabeth McAlister, Jonah House - Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation - Brenda Stokely, President, District Council 1707 AFSCME; Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War - Damu Smith, Black Voices for
[pjnews] Action Alert: Contact the FCC
ACTION: Let the FCC and Congress know that you want the rules that limit media consolidation to be preserved and strengthened, not weakened. Write to your elected officials. You can look up the name and contact information of your Congressional and Senate representatives by entering your zip code at: http://congress.org/ For more info, see: http://www.fair.org/activism/fcc-call-action.html Please forward this message everywhere! New York Times, Jan 7, 2003 All News Media Inc. By BILL KOVACH and TOM ROSENSTIEL WASHINGTON Without much notice, the federal government is moving toward the most sweeping change ever in the rules that govern ownership of the American news media. This shift could reduce the independence of the news media and the ability of Americans to take part in public debate. Yet because of meager press coverage and steps taken by the Federal Communications Commission in its policy-making process, most people probably have no idea that it is taking place. Having seen how totalitarian regimes moved the world to war through domination of their news media, the government during the 1940's put restrictions on how many news media outlets one company could own, both nationally and in a single city. Though those rules have been relaxed in the last 20 years, companies are still blocked from buying a newspaper and television station in the same city or from owning more than one TV station in the same market. Three weeks after it proposed eliminating those rules, the F.C.C. released a series of reports about the current media marketplace. But the reports focused almost entirely on the economic impact of relaxing the ownership rules. They largely ignore the public's interest in a diverse and independent press. The F.C.C. argues that technologies like the Internet offer Americans access to more information than ever and thus worries about monopolies are unfounded. But studies also show that most Americans receive their news from a handful of outlets. Beyond this, much of what appears on the Internet is repackaged from those outlets. The number of operations that gather original news is small and now may become smaller. The question of concentration is most acute at the local level. In most communities, even those with television and radio stations, the vast range of activities are covered by only one institution, the local newspaper. What will happen to communities if the ownership rules are eliminated? Among the possibilities is that one or two companies in each town would have an effective monopoly on reaching consumers by being allowed to control the newspaper, radio, TV, billboards and more Ð with costly consequences for businesses that need those outlets for advertising. Such a monopoly on information would also reduce the diversity of cultural and political discourse in a community. The precedent in radio is telling. Since the rules on ownership of radio were last relaxed in 1996, the two biggest companies went from owning 130 stations to more than 1,400. The F.C.C. chairman, Michael K. Powell, has scheduled only one public hearing, in Richmond, Va., on the proposal, and the public comment period will close at the end of this month. It is a small and brief opportunity, but one that the public should seize if it cherishes an independent press. Bill Kovach is chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists. Tom Rosenstiel is director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Networks urge FCC to discard old rules BY EDMUND SANDERS LOS ANGELES TIMES WASHINGTON Three of the nations top television networks have urged the federal government to scrap all remaining media-ownership rules, which they say are no longer needed to spur competition among broadcasters and ensure diversity on television. In a lengthy filing Thursday with the Federal Communications Commission, Fox Entertainment, NBC and CBSparent Viacom Inc. cited eight privately funded studies that they said showed how consolidation of television and radio stations had spurred more diversity of programming and local news, not less. The commission can abandon the current regulatory framework in its entirety and still rest assured that its policy goals will be well-served, the media giants said. There is no longer any public-interest need served by the commissions media-ownership rules in fact, the rules frequently undermine rather than advance the commissions policy goals. Consumer groups and entertainment unions hotly dispute such assertions, saying that media consolidation is putting TV news and programming into the hands of a few entertainment conglomerates. In their own filings, groups including the Center for Digital Democracy, Writers Guild of America and Consumer Federation of America urged the FCC to strengthen media-ownership rules, which they argued are vital to the nations democracy and freedom of speech. Weve already winnowed it down to
