[LAAMN] We Are Not Winning - Former Deputy Chief Stephen Downing's Open Letter to California Police]
http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/152858 AlterNet http://images.alternet.org/images/site/logo.gif We Are Not Winning - Former Deputy Chief Stephen Downing's Open Letter to California Police By Stephen Downing, AlterNet Posted on October 24, 2011, Printed on October 25, 2011 http://www.alternet.org/story/152858/%22we_are_not_winning%22_-_former_deput y_chief_stephen_downing%27s_open_letter_to_california_police Dear Fellow Law Enforcers, The federal government has put up another $72 million in war-on-drugs-grants to redirect your police resources once again from true public safety duties in order to extend their failed war on drugs; this time with a savage assault on California's 15-year-old medical marijuana law. Are you going to take the money and enforce federal law in lieu of upholding the will of the people of California or are you going to honor your sworn oath to uphold the laws of our sovereign state and send the money back? August Vollmer, the police chief whose name is synonymous with the origins of professionalism in American policing, would urge you to send it back. In his work as president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Wickersham Commission Vollmer contributed to the successful campaign that led to the repeal of alcohol Prohibition. In an address to the IACP he stated drug addiction is not a police problem; it never has and never can be solved by policemen, but by scientific and competently trained medical experts... Unfortunately Vollmer wasn't around when Nixon decided to wage his war on drugs against the American people in 1971. I was a police commander in South Central Los Angeles at the time, and most of us believed Nixon's propaganda; that it was a just war, that the druggies were evil and comprised a threat to our communities. We saw our resources dedicated to public safety bought off by Department of Justice and White House grants so that we could leverage their political priorities at the expense of our communities. Using their grant money and the lure of budget dollars though asset seizures they co-opted our public safety priorities and our role as public servants in deciding what was best for our communities. Evidence based budgeting and responsible, prioritized policing went out the window in favor of the war on drugs. We morphed from public servant to drug warrior; blindly serving their interests and their agreements with those who benefited most by a continuation of their war on drugs. We helped them invade and occupy our poorer communities. Their money allowed us to build war machines to batter down doors, purchase sophisticated weapons, surveillance equipment and intelligence apparatus. We arrested and imprisoned thousands and then hundreds of thousands, and while most users were white, the majority we sent to prison were from our minority communities. Most of us stood proudly at the show and tells hovering over tons of drugs, mountains of cash and hundreds of weapons as a compliant media snapped our pictures and hailed our progress toward winning Nixon's war on drugs. But, many of us came to see that we were not winning. We saw the gangs grow, fueled by drug money, the cartels better armed, death squads trained by our own military unleashed across Mexico and our border states. The bodies began to stack up, the gangs became more and more violent, the cartels outgunned us and many of our police officers, our public servants, were killed and maimed for life while the communities we were sworn to protect and serve huddled in their homes dodging bullets and watching their children die by gunfire, night after night after night. For what? That's what I asked myself when we lost our department's first officer to Nixon's war. For what? And then another ended up in a wheel chair for life. For what? So that we could continue the futile effort to keep a recreational or medical cannabis user from getting what he or she wanted? So we could continue failed programs keep an addict from getting a fix? So we could continue to rake in federal funds and shape our budgets around asset seizures rather than evidence based policing aimed at criminals who impose actual harm? For what? I answered that question for myself and took a hard look at all of it. I came away from that look convinced that we were creating more economic and physical harm for the people we served than we prevented by taking their autonomy away and subjecting them to punishments far harsher than would have resulted from drug abuse alone. We destroyed generations of young people by labeling them as drug offenders, denying them education and job opportunities, we fueled the violence in our communities by allowing a black market to thrive, rather than providing the leadership to oppose Washington and the federal drug warriors. We allowed our children access to dangerous drugs by serving as catalyst that allowed an army of pushers to thrive rather than regulating the
[LAAMN] Libya: A Brutal, Gratuitous Slaying, the New World Order in All Its Transparent Barbarism
Libya: A Brutal, Gratuitous Slaying, the New World Order in All Its Transparent Barbarism by Rick Rozoff Global Research, October 22, 2011 Voice of Russia and Stop NATO “A brutal, gratuitous slaying” John Robles Interview with Rick Rozoff, the manager of the Stop NATO website and mailing list and contributing writer to www.globalresearch.ca. How are you today, Mr. Rozoff? Rather distressed by the news of this morning. Or yesterday morning in your case. Ok, what is your first impression? It was a brutal, gratuitous slaying of an almost 70-year-old man, killed after being captured. And if the intent of 216 days of NATO bombing was to kill him in the first place, which is clearly the case, with the multiple bombings of his compound in Tripoli, which in one case killed one of his sons and three grandchildren, it is clearly targeted killing and I suppose NATO can now claim success. It has got what it wanted. President Barack Obama said that there is going to be a pull-out from Libya very soon, so in your mind does that mean the objective has been met? Yes, it has entirely. Regime change, take-over of Africa’s largest oil reserves, the incorporation of Libya, which hitherto had been the only North African country that was not a member of NATO’s so-called Mediterranean Dialogue, into what is now according to Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen a military partnership with the North Atlantic Alliance…So in every sense their objective has been accomplished. It’s certainly nothing that is going to benefit the Libyan people. You don’t see this as being justice for the oppressed Libyan people? I mean there are people saying that Gaddafi was a terrible guy. He killed thousands so he deserved to die. There is just so much – what term do I want to use? – low taste, gratuitous reveling in the murder of this man, who was born 70 years ago in the very city he was murdered in on the 216th day of NATO’s bombing of his country. He was born under Italian Fascist occupation and he died under NATO occupation. I think the parallel there can’t be missed, including the fact that Italy supplied some of the warplanes that have devastated his country since the middle of March, since March 19th. If he was the monster they’ve portrayed him as being – and I invite your listeners to go to the NATO website and see some of the crude caricatures of Gaddafi they’ve posted over the last few days – wall graffiti and so forth – portraying him in a demeaning and belittling way, to further dehumanize him preparatory to murdering him. Alright, I saw some television coverage of his naked body being thrown around like a piece of meat. I am sorry for the expression. Yes, after they brought him to Misrata. This is sickening, barbaric and worse than barbaric treatment and it’s in a long line of similar travesties. This is true with Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia and Saddam Hussein in Iraq, with any leader of a country that doesn’t kow-tow entirely. I am not putting all these people in the same basket. Let’s rephrase that. Any leader whose time has come according to the United States and NATO can expect death. Hussein was hanged, Gaddafi was shot. Whereas Gaddafi was considered to be – he was only nominally so, but he was considered to be – the head of state and even the head of the military, and the bombing of his private residences under the guise of their being command and control centers suggests that he was considered by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to be in charge of the Libyan military, when he was captured on Thursday his treatment was governed by the Geneva Conventions, but instead he was shot through the head and murdered. This is the new regime that is being implanted in Libya, and for all the West’s talk of the rule of law and humanitarian concerns and so forth this is a graphic image of its true intentions, just like the death of Slobodan Milosevic in a veritable dungeon in the Netherlands because he was denied proper medical treatment in Russia, and the grotesque hanging of Saddam Hussein. This is the image of the new world order, a world order in all its transparent barbarism. What do you mean he was denied medical treatment in Russia? Russia offered to make a deal with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to bring Slobodan Milosevic to Moscow for medical treatment, but he was denied that opportunity and he died shortly thereafter. Even more foul play may have been involved but the message is very clear. Do you see a pattern, I am sorry to interrupt you there. Do you see a pattern here, I am sure you do, between Hussein, Osama Bin Laden and now Gaddafi? I mean, we have countries, for example, Hussein and Gaddafi, they pretty much stopped their weapons’ programs. They cooperated with the CIA, in this case from what I’ve heard, and it’s pretty much a given, Gaddafi was assisting the war on terror fight by the United States by
[LAAMN] [Darenet] The Lobbyist
Subject: [Darenet] The Lobbyist From:Michael Dare dar...@earthlink.net Date:Tue, 25 October, 2011 4:40 pm To: thewo...@large.com -- Hi, I'm Michael Dare, and since I don't live on a private island surrounded by gunboats with a harem devoted to peeling my grapes, since I haven't fleeced mankind with economic corruption and terrorism for nothing more than my own personal benefit, since I'm not doing high dives into a pool of gold like Scrooge McDuck, since I haven't abandoned the basic precepts of human decency we're all born with for nothing more than my own personal betterment, since I haven't turned into a corpulent slavemaster whose soul can only be measured in micropayments, since this is the best of times for money shufflers and the worst of times for the entire rest of the human race, since I now find myself completely and utterly fucked by a system that puts corporate greed over human need, since I'm now reduced to stealing material not only from Charles Dickens but from signs I read in the park, since the chasm between the haves and the have-nots in this city, this state, this country, this planet, is so wide and so deep that somebody, and it's not me, is looking to get pushed into it, because of all these things, I am part of the 99%, I fully support Occupy Wall Street, and I have been a member of Occupy Seattle since day one. I had to get that out. Run-on sentences are no good for the public microphone where I've been speaking lately. It's an acquired skill (It's an acquired skill). You speak in short bursts (You speak in short bursts). Everything takes twice as long (Everything takes twice as long). You have to be an insta-poet. Ta da DA da da (ta da DA da da) Da da TA da da da (Da da TA da da da) Writing's so much more simple, where my words only echo endlessly in my OWN head, thank you very much. From that first day where everything was a triumph, one of the most exciting of my life, the park coalescing into little pods of discourse, interactive amoeba, a big bang of expanding social evolution in front of my eyes, to the fourth morning where I woke up to find a dozen Seattle Police headed by an intimidating officer surrounded by media and lights asking me to take down my tent, to sleeping in the park without a tent, getting my backpack stolen, getting another tent, setting it up on the night of 500, waking again to at least 50 Seattle Police on bikes and the park surrounded by barricades, no way out, no way in, from the first rain where we were forbidden to stand under the awning to the war of the umbrellas where we were literally ordered to get wet, to seven blocks away where I now mysteriously find myself the central facilitator of Occupy Seattle South in that little building called city hall, I've been completely convinced that the movement is organic, embracing all strata of humanity, a living breathing frustrating disorganized mess that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Compared to Westlake Park, City Hall is the goddam Hilton. Westlake Park is absolutely one of the worst places in the city to try to get a good night's sleep. City Hall has a whole other vibe, peaceful, organized, sanitary, a place where things got done instead of talked about. Mysteriously, I was called a traitor. How dare I accept the Mayor's kind offer of a place to sleep, bathrooms, running water, dozens of free electrical outlets, no police, and a safe place to leave my stuff where I can find it when I get back? Why was I giving in to THE MAN? I asked if the Mayor offered them a room in the Hilton, would they take it, and was told No way, man. He's the problem. It would be like accepting cake from Marie Antoinette. It's all just a ruse. They want us where they want us so they can surround us and BAM, round us all up. Well, first of all, that's not what the permit says. Second, no Mayor in the history of Seattle has EVER offered the front plaza of City Hall for occupation by a political movement, much less suspended the fees which should be running up to $500 a day. Third, if there was any political pressure on the Mayor to do something, it was surely NOT to offer us City Hall, it would have been the opposite, to squash us like bugs. Fourth, if the Mayor hadn't offered it to us, we'd be demanding it, and fifth, I asked him if he'd ever heard of the Trojan Horse. When the Mayor invited us to occupy City Hall, he surely didn't expect ME in the lobby. Writing in the lobby of city hall, I try to figure out what to call myself. Days ago, I was told that the night before they had a vote and I was now in charge. I was uncomfortable with being called a leader so we settled on facilitator but I'm not happy with that because it makes my kids facilitator tots. So I need a new word for myself. I'm in a goddam lobby. The city council and the mayor are upstairs. I have been, and I cannot stress this enough, invited. The one
[LAAMN] NYC Labor Against the War: 10.25 OWS Report: Show Down
NYC Labor Against the War 10.25 Occupy Wall Street Report: Show Down [Chicago.jpg] [333] http://nyclaw01.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/chicago.jpg Chicago While the Occupy actions have become national symbols of resistance, the movement has also served to underline the problem of America's massive police state, which is used to suppress freedom of expression and assembly rather than as an instrument to safeguard those liberties. Police State Targets Occupy Movements | The Nation http://www.thenation.com/blog/164150/police-state-targets-occupy-movemen\ ts http://www.thenation.com/blog/164150/police-state-targets-occupy-moveme\ nts OWS-NYC: UPDATE CWA and Occupy Wall Street storm Lower Manhattan protesting Verizon's Corporate Greed October 21, 2011. Thousands of CWA and OWS protesters rally at Verizon Wireless store. 20 Verizon workers sleep at Liberty Plaza/Zucotti Park in solidarity with the 99%. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52CDbZ2_7bYsns=fb http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52CDbZ2_7bYsns=fb Protest derails DOE meeting on curriculum after just minutes | GothamSchools We want our teachers to be paid more, yelled a 7-year-old, Anais Richard, who attends P.S. 11 in Brooklyn. If these things are not done, then we won't be able to be succeeded. The people's mic repeated her statement, complete with the misspoken final word. http://gothamschools.org/2011/10/25/protest-derails-doe-meeting-on-curri\ culum-after-just-minutes/ http://gothamschools.org/2011/10/25/protest-derails-doe-meeting-on-curr\ iculum-after-just-minutes/ Education Panel Meeting Disrupted By Occupy Protesters The chancellor moved the official meeting to the third floor, split between three different classrooms. The protestors continued to hold their own meeting in the auditorium for almost two hours, and discussed their opposition to mayoral control of schools and education budget cuts. Many of the several hundred protesters were public school teachers. Some of them have been involved and are even organizers of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Other participants said they were just been inspired by the ongoing protest. Some of the demonstrators are planning another event in early November at DOE headquarters in Downtown Manhattan, called Occupy The DOE. www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/education/149635/education-panel-meeting-\ disrupted-by--occupy--protesters http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/education/149635/education-panel-\ meeting-disrupted-by--occupy--protesters New York D.A. declines to drop charges against protesters Prosecutors instead offered those arrested an adjournment for six months; if the individual is not arrested during that time, the case will be dismissed and sealed. http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/New_York/News/2011/10_-_October\ /New_York_D_A__declines_to_drop_charges_against_protesters/ http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/New_York/News/2011/10_-_Octobe\ r/New_York_D_A__declines_to_drop_charges_against_protesters/ Many Occupy Protesters Won't Take Plea Deal, Lawyer Says Protestors have threatened to take their cases to trial in an effort to clog up the court system. http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/149593/many--occupy--protesters-w\ on-t-take-plea-deal--lawyer-says http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/149593/many--occupy--protesters-\ won-t-take-plea-deal--lawyer-says The fight for OWS continues We're calling on Mayor Bloomberg to pledge his support for the First Amendment rights of the protesters, and allow them to stay as long as they have a voice to be heard. http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4\ 853 http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=\ 4853 BEYOND OWS: U.S. Police State Targets Occupy Movements | The Nation While the Occupy actions have become national symbols of resistance, the movement has also served to underline the problem of America's massive police state, which is used to suppress freedom of expression and assembly rather than as an instrument to safeguard those liberties. http://www.thenation.com/blog/164150/police-state-targets-occupy-movemen\ ts http://www.thenation.com/blog/164150/police-state-targets-occupy-moveme\ nts ALBANY: Unmoved Albany protesters add Cuomo to their list of concerns A day after it was revealed that Cuomo tried -- unsuccessfully -- to get Albany officials to use police to remove protesters from the park after an 11 p. m. curfew, demonstrators wasted little time in adding the governor to their lineup of concerns. http://www.buffalonews.com/city/capital-connection/albany/article606752.\ ece http://www.buffalonews.com/city/capital-connection/albany/article606752\ .ece BOSTON: Occupy the Hood comes to Boston âI didn't know anything about Occupy Boston before tonight. I heard a lot of chanting in the neighborhood and decided to come out to see what was going on. I think this is a wake-up call for everybody to stand up for
[LAAMN] Duane r Roberts left a message for you...
Duane r Roberts left a message for you... Its sender and content will be shown only to you and you can delete it at any time. You can instantly reply to it, using the message exchange system. To find out what's in the message, just follow this link: http://us1.badoo.com/01199018564/in/oWatDcZi5As/?lang_id=3m=21mid=4ea7a364000310923f31 Some more patiently waiting folks: Javier Rodriguez (Los Angeles, CA, United States) Sandra (Anaheim, United States) Frankie (Laurel, MD, United States) http://us1.badoo.com/01199018564/in/oWatDcZi5As/?lang_id=3m=21mid=4ea7a364000310923f31 If the link in this message does not work, try copying and pasting it into your browser. This email is part of our delivery procedure for the message sent by Duane r Roberts. If you have received this email by mistake, please ignore it. The message will be deleted soon. Have fun! The Badoo Team You have received this email, because a Badoo member has left a message for you on Badoo. This is a post-only mailing. Replies to this message are not monitored or answered. If you don't want to receive any more messages from Badoo, please notify us: http://us1.badoo.com/impersonation.phtml?lang_id=3mail_code=21email=laamn%40yahoogroups.comsecret=block_code=dfab3bm=21mid=4ea7a364000310923f31 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Oakland Occupy attack again
Police stormed the Oakland Occupy with tear gas and rubber bullets, many demonstrators were hurt. John Johnson Change-Links Progressive Newspaper change-li...@change-links.org http://change-links.org Subscribe to our list server. Email change-links-subscr...@yahoogroups.com (818) 782-1412 Cell (818) 681-7448. === http://change-links.org/animated%20palestine%20flag1.gif --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Cuban Film Premiere in LA Long Beach: 'In the Wrong Body' - Get Tickets Today!
Subscribe Forward this email Donate This November 9 12 SoCal Premiere Screenings of the New Cuban Film 'IN THE WRONG BODY' Get Tickets Today! Los Angeles Screening Wednesday, Nov. 9, 8pm @ Downtown Independent 251 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 (Between 2nd 3rd St., downtown) Long Beach Screening Saturday, Nov. 12, 2pm @ The Art Theatre of Long Beach 2025 E. 4th Street, LB, CA 90814 (Between Cherry St. Louis) Buy tickets for LA Premiere of In the Wrong Body Buy tickets for LB Premiere of In the Wrong Body Join us at the Southern California Premiere Screenings of In the Wrong Body, the new Cuban documentary film about Mavi Susel, the first transgender person to receive a sex reassignment operation in Cuba. This film has never before screened in the United States. Both Mavi Susel and Director Marilyn Solaya are traveling to the United States to attend and speak at the Los Angeles and Long Beach Premiere Screening Events. They will also participate in the question and answer sessions after the film. A reception will follow the Los Angeles screening. Tickets are only $10 per person. This is a rare opportunity to hear about life on Cuba in general and for LGBT people. Please purchase by clicking on the links or buttons in this email. You can also reserve tickets by phone: 213-251-1025 or email: answe...@answerla.org. There is limited availability for these special events. You can also click here to donate and help make the tour a success. Please help us meet the costs associated with sponsoring these screenings and bringing Ms. Susel and Ms Solaya to Southern California from Cuba. Sponsors: ANSWER Coalition, National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, API Equality-LA, Coalition for Equal Marriage Rights, Students Fight Back. If you or your organization would like to co-sponsor the event, contact us: 213-251-1025 or answe...@answerla.org. (In the Wrong Body, 2010, director Marilyn Solaya, Spanish/English subtitles) A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition http://www2.answercoalition.org/site/R?i=9UhijgZBB_4J1_VQZg_fLw answe...@answerla.org 213-251-1025 137 N. Virgil Avenue, #201 Los Angeles, CA 90004 Get involved in ANSWER's work today! If this message was forwarded to you and you'd like to receive future ANSWER updates, Click here to subscribe. Click here to unsubscribe from the ANSWER e-mail list. Having trouble viewing this message? Click here. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] South Africa: Support the March for Economic Freedom - Oct.26-27th
http://www.marxist.com/south-africa-support-march-for-economic-freedom.htm South Africa: Support the March for Economic Freedomhttp://www.marxist.com/south-africa-support-march-for-economic-freedom.htm Written by Ali Nooshini Wednesday, 26 October 2011 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/south-africa-support-march-for-economic-freedom/print.htm# *On September 10th during the celebration of the ANC Youth League's 67th anniversary in Alexandra, ANCYL president Julius Malema declared economic war against the rich minority and made a call for a March for Economic Freedom to be held on Thursday and Friday, October 26-27th. The day has come he said and on O.R. Tambo's birthday, we are going to march to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and take the battle to the monopoly capital.* [image: Julius Malema, 14 September. Photo: Gary van der Merwe]http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/south_africa/Julius_Malema_2011-09-14.jpgJulius Malema, 14 September.The demonstration will march on the Chamber of Mines, Johannesburg Stock Exchange and on to the Union buildings in order to demand a series of radical demands from the government. Among the demands of the march are: Jobs, Free Quality Education, Proper Housing, Sanitation, Water and Electricity. These demands alone address the most pressing needs of the South African masses, but the most important demand is the call for the nationalisation of the land and the mines without compensation. The Youth League has called on all unemployed youth, underprivileged students, underemployed youth, squatter camp dwellers, all communities that are affected by service delivery protests, all landless people and people without electricity to join the march. Furthermore, the Youth League, in calling the march, state: ...to all economic freedom fighters that total liberation and emancipation of the oppressed and exploited people of South Africa will not only happen in boardrooms and conferences. The people should rise and demand what rightfully belongs to them. South Africa belongs to all who live in it - black and white, and the distribution of wealth should begin to reflect the reality that indeed South Africa belongs to all who live in it. It can never be correct that so many people continue to live in absolute poverty alongside wealth derived from our natural resources and political power to determine their equitable allocation. Pressure from below pushes leaders to the left The call for the March comes after several years of intensification of the class struggle in South Africa. The country has experienced steady and ever steeper rises in poverty and inequality. Although it is the biggest and most developed economy of Africa, according to the Gini coefficient, it is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The country, officially, has 24.5 percent unemployment and the same figure for township youth unemployment is 57%. Those living below the poverty line of $1.25 a day are 26.2% of the population and 60 percent of children are pushed out of the schooling system before they reach grade 12. These figures, as disturbing as they might be, do not give the full picture of the conditions faced by the South African masses. Poverty, misery, lack of proper education, lack of access to basic utilities and massive corruption are all factors that make every day a challenge for the vast majority of the 50 million South Africans. This situation has lead to a massive radicalisation within wide layers of the population in the last period. Besides the hundreds of thousands of industrial and municipal workers who every year go on massive strikes (especially in the so-called Strike Season between June and August), tens of thousands of workers and poor in townships around the country participate in massive spontaneous protests that violently flare up on an almost monthly basis. In 2011 alone more than 10 protesters have already been killed by the police and security forces while participating in these militant actions. The most important reflection of this radicalisation, however, has been the evolution of the ANCYL that, under the leadership of its president Julius Malema and Spokesperson Floyd Shivambu, has put forward an increasingly more progressive programme, particularly when calling for the nationalisation of the mining industry, an industry which makes South Africa the second largest producer of minerals in the world At the ANCYL congress in June the organisation passed a resolution that reads: (...) The ANC Youth League resolves to: 1. Amend section 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa to make provision for the expropriation without compensation of property, particularly land, for equitable redistribution in the public interest and for public purpose 2. Nationalization of strategic sectors and the commanding heights o f the economy to realise the Freedom Charters clarion call that the people shall share in the countrys
[LAAMN] The Stunning Victory That Occupy Wall Street Has Already Achieved
http://www.alternet.org/story/152860/the_stunning_victory_that_occupy_wall_s treet_has_already_achieved?akid=7775.78931.jC3wNk http://www.alternet.org/story/152860/the_stunning_victory_that_occupy_wall_ street_has_already_achieved?akid=7775.78931.jC3wNkrd=1t=5 rd=1t=5 The Stunning Victory That Occupy Wall Street Has Already Achieved In just one month, the protesters have shifted the national dialogue from a relentless focus on the deficit to a discussion of the real issues facing Main Street. By Joshua Holland Alternet: October 26, 2011 | http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1317420962_toobighasf ailed.jpg_640x426_310x220 Occupy Wall Street has already achieved a stunning victory a victory that is easy to overlook, but impossible to overstate. In just one month, the protesters have shifted the national dialogue from a relentless focus on the deficit to a discussion of the real issues facing Main Street: the lack of jobs -- and especially jobs with decent benefits -- spiraling inequality, cash-strapped American families' debt-loads, and the pernicious influence of money in politics that led us to this point. To borrow the loosely defined terms that define the Occupy movement, these ordinary citizens have shifted the conversation away from what the 1 percent -- the corporate right and its dedicated media, network of think-tanks and PR shops -- want to talk about and, notably, paid good money to get us to talk about. Peter G. Peterson, a Wall Street mogul and Nixon administration cabinet member, has reportedly dedicated a billion dollars of his fortune to the effort since the 1980s. How successful have he and his fellow travelers been? In 2009, the Washington Post came under fire for running an article in its news section, not its opinion pages written by Peterson's Fiscal Times, which the watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3991 described as a propaganda outlet [formed] to promote cuts in Social Security and other entitlement programs. (It was Peterson Foundation employees, among those from other outside groups, http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/05/21/revolt-of-the-wonks-former-obam a-advisors-want-to-know-whats-happening-on-his-deficit-commission/ who staffed Obama's bipartisan deficit commission.) As I noted back in May, a study done by the National Journal that month quantified what the Washington Post's Greg Sargent, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/here-it-is-scientific-pr oof-of-the-beltway-deficit-feedback-loop/2011/03/03/AFTo4s5G_blog.html described as a deficit feedback loop, in which the relentless bipartisan focus on the deficit convinces voters to be worried about it, which in turn leads lawmakers to spend still more time talking about it and less time talking about the economy. According to the http://www.nationaljournal.com/economy/in-media-coverage-deficit-eclipses-u nemployment-20110516 Journal, major U.S. newspapers have increasingly shifted their attention away from coverage of unemployment in recent months while greatly intensifying their focus on the deficit. The analysis -- based on a measure of how often the words unemployment and deficit appear in major publications -- portrays a dramatically shifting landscape of coverage over the past two years, as the debate over how to fix the federal deficit has risen to prominence and the question of how to handle still-high unemployment has faded from the media's consciousness. Consider the impact that relentless focus on the deficit and declining coverage of the jobs crisis and housing meltdown -- had on public opinion until very recently: Now fast-forward five months, and we see an entirely different media landscape. According to the http://www.journalism.org/index_report/pej_news_coverage_index_october_1016 _2011 Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, the economy dominated last week's news, grabbing 24 percent of the mainstream media's news hole. Occupy Wall Street accounted for 10 percent of the news hole, up from 7 percent the week before, and 2 percent the week before that. (The death of Libyan leader Moammar Ghaddafi drew more attention to foreign policy issues http://www.journalism.org/index_report/pej_news_coverage_index_october_1723 _2011 this week, but the economy continued to be a dominant topic.) Last week, Zaid Jilani of Think Progress http://thinkprogress.org/special/2011/10/18/346892/chart-media-jobs-wall-st reet-ignoring-deficit-hysteria/ offered some data which tell the tale of a dramatically shifting media landscape. He noted that at the beginning of August, when Washington, DC was debating the debt ceiling crisis, the national debt dominated the airwaves. While it was appropriate for the media then to be covering the deficit due to the debt ceiling debate at the time, there was a stunning lack of coverage of the jobs crisis. A ThinkProgress review of the media
[LAAMN] Happy 10th Birthday, USA PATRIOT Act.
http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/happy-10th-birthday-usa-patriot-act/ Happy 10th Birthday, USA PATRIOT Act. October 26, 2011 tags: FOIA http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/foia/, Justice Departmenthttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/justice-department/, New York Times http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/new-york-times/, Patriot Act http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/tag/patriot-act/ by Lauren Harper http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/the-patriot-act.jpg The Patriot Act signed into law, just ten short years ago. Almost *two-thirds of Americans approve*http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/10/poll-most-americans-support-occupy-wall-street-taxing-millionaires/246963/of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. *Nearly half* http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1893/poll-patriot-act-renewal approve of the USA PATRIOT Act. Fortunately, some of its laws flaws are receiving some much needed attention on its *10th birthday*http://www.npr.org/2011/10/26/141699537/as-it-turns-10-patriot-act-remains-controversial . The Patriot Act, which was enacted 45 days after September 11 attacks, was designed to give intelligence agencies more power to collect information in cases dealing with national security. Signed into law by George W. Bush on this day in 2001, it has received mixed reviews from civil rights advocates and constitutionalists alike. Nonetheless, this May Obama signed a four year extension for three controversial provisions of the Act (roving wire taps, searches of business records, and conducting surveillance of individuals suspected of terrorist activities but who are not associated with any known organizations). Over the past ten years the Patriot Act has experienced some *growing pains*http://www.aclu.org/national-security/surveillance-under-patriot-act. For example, between 2003 and 2006 there was only 1 terror-related conviction as a result of the Act. Additionally, of the 53 reported criminal referrals made to prosecutors as a result of the Act, 0 were for terrorism, and of the 3,970 sneak peaks (secret raids of homes and offices) conducted in 2010, less than 1% were terror-related. Heres an excellent infographic from the *ACLU*http://www.aclu.org/reform-patriot-actdepicting the Acts overreach. http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/patriot-act1.jpg From the ACLU. Check out http://www.aclu.org/reform-patriot-act As *we tweeted* http://twitter.com/#!/NSArchive earlier this month, the Justice Department *is being sued*http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/1011/NY_Times_sues_Justice_Department.htmlby the *New York Times *and reporter Charlie Savage over its failure to disclose its secret government interpretations of the Patriot Act. The lawsuit originated from comments made by Senators Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) when the Senate was debating reauthorization of the Act. As Senator Wyden stated, *I want to deliver a warning this afternoon: When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry.* To date, the Justice Department has failed to respond to the request or to provide a lawful reason for withholding this interpretations. As extensive as the privacy concerns caused by the Patriot Act are, the existence of a secret interpretation would be incredibly troubling. Happy Birthday! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[LAAMN] FREE TICKET FOR 10/29-30 LA Green Festival! PLEASE COME visit us at Booth #814!
FREE TICKET FOR 10/29-30 Los Angeles Green Festival! PLEASE COME to Visit Immigrant Solidarity Network and Action LA at Booth #814! Please call: (626)695-3405 Dear all: National Immigrant Solidarity Network and Action LA will be exhibit at the upcoming Los Angeles Green Festival Saturday - Sunday 10/29-30, 2011 at downtown LA convention center. We have some free tickets if you're interested to attend and visit our booth at #814. In addition, w're looking for volunteers to help us tabling (we'll buy you free food) for the event, for return we can share some of our space for your tabling :) If you're interested, please call me: (626)695-3405. The LA Green Festival will be expect tens of thousands of visitors and over hundred speaking events--it'll be a event you cannot be missed! For more information _http://www.greenfestivals.org/_ (http://www.greenfestivals.org/) IN solidarity! Lee Siu Hin National Coordinator National Immigrant Solidarity Network _http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org_ (http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/) Action LA Network _http://www.ActionLA.org_ (http://www.actionla.org/) Peace NO War Network _http://www.PeaceNOWar.net_ (http://www.peacenowar.net/) Activist Video Service _http://www.ActivistVideo.org_ (http://www.activistvideo.org/) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] Carter Center interferes with the Venezuelan Election Process Again!
Carter Center interferes with the Venezuelan Election Process Again! Venezuela's Presidential election is less than a year from now and true to form, an all out effort is being made by array of characters from international media to governmental organizations from many countries to NGO's such as the Carter Center who are already on the attack to discredit it and the popular President Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian revolution in general. Many of you know I am no friend of the Carter Center after its actions in Venezuela in the 2004 recall vote ( see below-The Carter Center, OAS and the Recall Referendum in Venezuela ), even though some in the Venezuelan bureaucracy praised its role only after President Chavez's stunning victory in a effort to try to curry favors and legitimize an election that was not needed to begin with and was nothing but a disgraceful display of groveling before an arm of imperialist intervention. The Carter Center in an open letter entitled Declaration of the Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter on the Venezuelan Decision Regrading the Ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights( see below) has come out swinging and has compared the Venezuelan Supreme Court to those of Chile's military courts rulings during the fascist Fujimori regime because of it saying that the ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is lacking and unenforceable and thus maintaining the prohibition against the embezzler and coup monger Leopoldo Lopez in the upcoming election and from holding public office until 2014( I for one think he should not be able to hold office at all). The declaration is signed, by the same old protectors of capitalamong others such as Cesar Gaviria, Jorge Castaneda, Andres Pastrana, Sergio Ramirez, Alejandro Toledo and Jimmy Carter. Most countries including the United States have rules and regulations governing elections and those who run in them and Venezuela is no different. It is an absurdity for the Carter Center to interject itself into the process at all considering their past performance. As we get closer the the election we will see all kinds of charades from these so called watchdogs of bourgeois democracy. Cort http://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/inter_american-democratic-charter-102111.html#english Declaration of the Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter on the Venezuelan Decision Regarding the Ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights We, the undersigned, regret the announcement of the Venezuelan Supreme Court that it will not be feasible to comply with the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Leopoldo Lopez vs. Venezuela issued on September 1, 2011. The Inter-American Court together with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights constitute a human rights system that serves as a model for the world. Based in the American Convention on Human Rights, the system is an achievement of Latin American and Caribbean states (neither Canada nor the United States have ratified) that should be jealously protected by all. We note with concern that to our knowledge, with the exception of the military courts rulings during the Fujimori regime, this is the only country in the hemisphere where the merits rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have been rejected by the Supreme Court in expressly declaring them non-binding and unenforceable. The failure to comply with the findings of the Court by a signatory state under the jurisdiction of the Court, and departing from its international obligations as dictated by the American Convention, threatens not only the Court itself but also the collective defense of human rights in the hemisphere. Signed, *Diego Abente Brun *Former Minister of Justice and Labor of Paraguay *Mariclaire Acosta *Former Undersecretary for Democracy and Human Rights of Mexico *Nicolás Ardito Barletta *Former President of Panama *Jimmy Carter *Former President of the United States of America *Jorge Castañeda *Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico *Joe Clark *Former Prime Minister of Canada *Humberto de la Calle *Former Vice President of Colombia *César Gaviria *Former President of Colombia *John Graham *Chair Emeritus, Canadian Foundation for the Americas *Osvaldo Hurtado *Former President of Ecuador *Torquato Jardim *Former Justice of the Superior Electoral Tribunal of Brazil *Luis Alberto Lacalle *Former President of Uruguay *John Maisto *Former U.S. Ambassador to the OAS *John Manley *Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada *Barbara McDougall *Former Minister of External Affairs of Canada *Robert Pastor *Former Director of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs National Security Council *Andrés Pastrana *Former President of Colombia *Sergio Ramírez *Former Vice-President of Nicaragua *Ronald M. Sanders *Member Eminent Persons Group of the Commonwealth *Jorge Santistevan de Noriega* Former Human Rights Ombudsman of Peru *Eduardo Stein
[LAAMN] NYC Labor Against the War: 10.26 Occupy Wall Street Report: After Oakland
://www.facebook.com/pages/Recall-Mayor-Jean-Quan-of-Oakland-CA/1315\ 15330285437 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Recall-Mayor-Jean-Quan-of-Oakland-CA/131\ 515330285437 Occupy Oakland and the 'Post-Racial' Repression of Obama Era The future power struggles are not just going to be about fights between one race and another, said Lau. They're mostly going to be about class, which is a big part about what the whole Occupy movement is about. http://t.co/J2TQAGCi http://t.co/J2TQAGCi OWS-NYC: UPDATE New York Becoming a Police State? Occupy Wall Street Meets the NYPD's metal barricades have militarized the peaceable occupation at Liberty Square and contributed to the creeping homeland security state ethos. http://www.alternet.org/story/152846/new_york_becoming_a_police_state_oc\ cupy_wall_street_meets_the_%22ring_of_steel%22_at_liberty_square?akid=77\ 75.150287.XIrgAWrd=1t=24 http://www.alternet.org/story/152846/new_york_becoming_a_police_state_o\ ccupy_wall_street_meets_the_%22ring_of_steel%22_at_liberty_square?akid=7\ 775.150287.XIrgAWrd=1t=24 Protesting stop and frisk Activists are marching against the New York Police Department's racist stop-and-frisk policies that target Blacks and Latinos. http://socialistworker.org/2011/10/26/protesting-stop-and-frisk http://socialistworker.org/2011/10/26/protesting-stop-and-frisk SJP Conference 2011: A Chronological Photo Tour A street vendor's food stand reads From Tahrir Square, Egypt, to Liberty Park, New York. Students attending the National Students for Justice (SJP) Conference joined the Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park. http://bit.ly/tEQbDR http://bit.ly/tEQbDR NYPD Shadows Muslims Who Change Names: Report The legal justification for the program is unclear from the documents obtained by the AP. Because of its history of spying on anti-war protesters and political activists, the NYPD has long been required to follow a federal court order when gathering intelligence. That order allows the department to conduct background checks only when police have information about possible criminal activity, and only as part of prompt and extremely limited checking of leads. http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYPD-Police-Investigation-Muslim-Is\ lam-Counterterrorism-Terror-Covert-Intelligence-132604518.html http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYPD-Police-Investigation-Muslim-I\ slam-Counterterrorism-Terror-Covert-Intelligence-132604518.html BEYOND OWS: U.S. Latest developments in the global Occupy protests http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20111026/occupy-glance/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20111026/occupy-glance/ ATLANTA: cops remove Occupy Wall Street protesters - Chicago Sun-Times Police included SWAT teams in riot gear, dozens of officers on motorcycles and several on horseback. http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/8421772-418/atlanta-cops-remove-occu\ py-wall-street-protesters.html http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/8421772-418/atlanta-cops-remove-occ\ upy-wall-street-protesters.html BALTIMORE: City officials want Occupy Baltimore to clear out of Inner Harbor City officials want Occupy Baltimore to scale back its presence at a downtown plaza near the Inner Harbor. http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/region/baltimore_city/city-officials-wa\ nt-occupy-baltimore-to-clear-out-of-inner-harbor http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/region/baltimore_city/city-officials-w\ ant-occupy-baltimore-to-clear-out-of-inner-harbor LOS ANGELES: Officials want Occupy LA protesters off lawn | abc7.com http://abc7.com/ I am going to stand my ground here because there are some changes that need to be taking place, and we are tired that we're just being giving the run around. http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Flos_angelesid=\ 8405818 http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Flos_angelesid\ =8405818 BEYOND OWS: INTERNATIONAL GREECE: On the brink of social explosion As another 48 hour strike begins in Greece Matthaios Tsimitakis describes a situation where despair and hope coexist in weird combination and where something seems to be about to change in the country. http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/international/15037-greece\ -on-the-brink-of-social-explosion http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/international/15037-greec\ e-on-the-brink-of-social-explosion PALESTINE: Truths, facts and facts on the ground The peace that Israel is proposing for Palestinians in fact evokes another memory, of how another country dealt with Jewish settlement, namely the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great and the creation of the Pale of Settlement in the late eighteenth century for Jews to be confined to, which they were for the most part till the early part of the twentieth century. http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/2011102583358314280\ .html http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/201110258335831428\ 0.html PALESTINE: Martha Frintzila Refrains From Performing
[LAAMN] Landau: Afghanistan Calling!
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/21/afghanistan-calling/ Weekend Edition October 21-23, 2011 http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/21/afghanistan-calling/print http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/21/afghanistan-calling/# http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/21/afghanistan-calling/# http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250winname=addthispub=ra-4e2da84c43 3d54adsource=tbx-250lng=en-uss=googleurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.counterpunch.o rg%2F2011%2F10%2F21%2Fafghanistan-calling%2Ftitle=Afghanistan%20Calling!%20 %C2%BB%20Counterpunch%3A%20Tells%20the%20Facts%2C%20Names%20the%20Namesate= AT-ra-4e2da84c433d54ad/-/-/4ea80e7d643b7c28/1frommenu=1uid=4ea80e7d251ae17 ect=1pre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.counterpunch.org%2F2011%2F10%2F25%2Foccupy-the-s ystem%2Ftt=0 http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/21/afghanistan-calling/# http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/21/afghanistan-calling/# 3 The Exterminating Angels Afghanistan Calling! by SAUL LANDAU Ten plus years ago, the United States (oops, NATO) invaded Afghanistan and quickly won the war against the militarily (technologically) inferior Taliban government. Taliban fighters fled to Pakistan. Washington and allies followed their victory by quickly losing the occupation challenge. As W. Bush and allies invaded Iraq, the Taliban crept back from Pakistan and undid the US war victory. So, some 250,000 troops (mostly US) and contractors (US-paid) still occupy that much-invaded but never truly conquered country. Alexander the Great invaded twice (330 and 327 BC) and soon died in Iraq of Baghdad tummy. Some 20+ centuries later the English unlearned Alexs lesson. They marched (big mistake) on Kabul. They took losses and finally withdrew in frustration. In the 21st Century, the Soviets spent a decade of failure trying to subdue CIA-backed Afghans. Washington cheered and its generals thought they could do better than the Soviets. But after ten years of occupation, the UN reported higher civilian and military casualty rates than in preceding years and with no clear road to meeting any realistic goals. The West set out to build our kind of third world nation one with a bare façade of democracy, like elections that pass minimal scrutiny. Similar to the Vietnam scenario of the 160s and 70s, US forces trained vast numbers of local cops and troops some of whom dont enjoy fighting potential brothers; others occasionally use their training and weapons to kill US and NATO soldiers. Once again, (Vietnam?) nation-building re-entered the US vocabulary. Fighting goes with making an infrastructure and inculcating modern values like womens rights, but the military comes first, so Afghan women wait and their babies die prematurely at world record rates for lack of care (funding). Some still get stoned for offenses (acting like women) that confound westerners. Indeed, Afghanistan has always confounded the invaders from afar. We obviously have a more rational society. Look at the facts. Despite overwhelming public disapproval, Congress between 2001-2008 allocated some $100 million a day for military purposes in Afghanistan. But all the NATO countries combined to cough up a whopping $7 million a day for non-military aid. Congress feeds $120+ billion a year into the Afghan operation far more than the Afghan national budget so that we can show results: Tens of thousands of wounded and dead. No NATO control. Our President there (Hamid Karzai) may win a place in the Guinness Book of Records for corruption. Under his supposed rule elections proved his country had copies US democracy: low turn out and vote-rigging like Florida in 2000. Our ten years of paying for and training Afghan cops and spooks have also produced other dubious results unless one favors hanging detainees by their hands, beating them with cables, and twisting their genitals until the prisoners lose consciousness. The NY Times, citing a UN report (Oct. 10), stated that such torture occurs systematically at these sites run by the Afghan intelligence service and the Afghan National Police. NATO officials admit they knew of the abuses and in the summer stopped sending prisoners to some of the torture sites. But they did not make it public. US officials denied knowledge and continued to pour money into the very system that produced the routine torture. Did US trainers close their eyes and ears? Or did US complicity coincide with possible benefits from information obtained from suspects who had been tortured? (New York Times, October 11, 2011) The UN Convention Against Torture prohibits the transfer of a detained person to the custody of another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that the detainee is at risk of torture. Use of interrogation methods, including suspension, beatings, electric shock, stress positions and threatened sexual assault is unacceptable by any standard of international human rights law, the report said (Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, October 11, 2011). Did
[LAAMN] Cheat Sheet: What's Happened to the Big Players in the Financial Crisis - ProPublica]
http://www.propublica.org/article/cheat-sheet-whats-happened-to-the-big-play ers-in-the-financial-crisis Cheat Sheet: What's Happened to the Big Players in the Financial Crisis by Braden http://www.propublica.org/site/author/braden_goyette/ Goyette ProPublica, Oct. 26, 2011, 2:56 p.m. * * * * Widespread demonstrations in support of Occupy Wall Street have put the financial crisis back into the national spotlight lately. So here's a quick refresher on what's happened to some of the main players, whose behavior, whether merely reckless or downright deliberate, helped cause or worsen the meltdown. This list isn't exhaustive -- feel welcome to add to it. Mortgage originators Mortgage lenders contributed to the financial crisis by issuing or underwriting loans to people who would http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/2785403/Ninja-loans-explode-on -sub-prime-frontline.html have a difficult time paying them back, inflating a housing bubble that was bound to pop. Lax http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-27/fed-faulted-for-lax-mortgage-regul ation-before-financial-crisis.html regulation allowed banks to stretch their mortgage lending standards and use aggressive tactics to rope borrowers into complex mortgages that were more expensive than they first appeared. Evidence has also surfaced that lenders http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44365184/ns/business-real_estate/t/robo-signing -scandal-may-date-back-late-s/#.TpSdTf5Fu8M were filing fraudulent documents to push some of these mortgages through, and, in some cases, had been doing so as early as the 1990s. A 2005 Los Angeles Times investigation http://articles.latimes.com/2005/feb/04/business/fi-ameriquest4 ofAmeriquest - then the nation's largest subprime lender - found that they forged documents, hyped customers' creditworthiness and 'juiced' mortgages with hidden rates and fees. This behavior was reportedly typical for the subprime mortgage industry. A similar culture existed at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business/28wamu.html Washington Mutual, which went under in 2008 in thebiggest http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36440421/ns/business-real_estate/t/investigatio n-finds-fraud-wamu-lending/#.Tp7lzN4UoqQ bank collapse in U.S. history. Countrywide, once the nation's largest mortgage lender, also pushed customers to sign on for complex http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/business/yourmoney/26country.html and costly mortgages that boosted the company's profits. Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo was accused of http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/business/17trial.html misleading investors about the company's mortgage lending practices, a charge he denies. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/business/09magic.html?ref=thereckoning Merrill Lynch and http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/23/us-deutschebank-mortgage-lawsuit- idUSTRE77M0E620110823 Deutsche Bank bothpurchased subprime mortgage lending outfits in 2006 to get in on the lucrative business. Deutsche Bank has also been accused of failing http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834804576300911120513834.h tml to adequately check on borrowers' financial status before issuing loans backed by government insurance. A lawsuit filed by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara claimed that, when employees at Deutsche Bank's mortgage received audits on the quality of their mortgages from an outside firm, they stuffed http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/05/03/deutsche-bank-unit-stuffed-mortgage-r eviews-in-a-closet-literally/ them in a closet without reading them. A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman said the claims being made against the company are unreasonable and unfair, and that most of the problems occurred before the mortgage unit was bought by Deutsche Bank. Where they are now: Few prosecutions have been brought against subprime mortgage lenders. Ameriquest went http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/09/01/us-citigroup-ameriquest-idUSN3128 419320070901 out of business in 2007, and Citigroup bought its mortgage lending unit. Washington Mutual was bought by JP Morgan in 2008. A Department of Justice investigation into alleged fraud at WaMu closed http://www.fbi.gov/seattle/press-releases/2011/department-of-justice-closes -washington-mutual-investigation-with-no-criminal-charges with no charges this summer. WaMu also recently settled http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304584004576419740497824126.h tml a class action lawsuit brought by shareholders for $208.5 million. In an ongoing lawsuit, the FDIC is accusing former Washington Mutual executives Kerry Killinger, Stephen Rotella and David Schneider of going on a lending http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703818204576206713256773914.h tml spree, knowing that the real-estate market was in a 'bubble.' They deny the allegations. Bank http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22606833/ns/business-real_estate/t/bank-america -acquire-countrywide/#.Tp7g0N4UoqQ of America purchased Countrywide in January of 2008, as delinquencies on the company's mortgages soared and investors
[LAAMN] What Would Jesus Protest?
This is Reverend Jack Zylman's response to the above subject line. The original article is below it. I felt this was one of the best historical outlays that also reflect what is happening in the bit of the world today, we can extract from what the media does allow us to know about. I am forwarding this along with Reverend Zylman's permission. Scott This is my answer to What would Jesus Protest? In first century Israel, the nations leader was not King Herod, who was appointed by the Roman Emperor, but the priesthood of the Temple of Jerusalem, led by the Chief priest, Caiaphus. With his disciples and other followers in a remarkably democratic movement, including many women, gathered at Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee, he led a great march South upon Jerusalem and the Temple, to tackle what was to them the basis of the economy, for the Temple was Israels Wall Street! The most powerful instrument in the Israel economy was the sacrifice industry, and industry it was. The peasant farmers of Israel contracted with the Temple to raise animals for sacrifice, for they had to be specially raised, being blessed, for pay, at every step of the process. To do this, the poor peasant mortgaged his tiny tract of land, his small farm, to the Temple, which would be repaid when and if he got his money at the end of the process. If he couldnt pay, it would be foreclosed on and repossessed! Yep, Wall Street Israel and the Temple were one had the same. The economic dominators have never changed! We know from the story that his aging mother, at the end of her days at 50 or older (life expectancy was about 50) was with him on this long and arduous march. I suspect that she wasnt home because it had been repossessed! And where had Jesus been when he disappeared from the story from the age of 12 until he was 30? Very possible sold into slavery to help her maintain possession of Josephs bit of land. Its easy to see why Jesus was marching on the Temple; it was the same reason that Wall Street is today occupied by young people and their supporters. Indeed, when this band of revolutionaries arrived at the Temple, they occupied the outer court, where commerce, including banking (money exchange) and the sale of the sacrifice animals took place. Jesus and his band were not violent, and they did not attack anyone. Instead, they released the animals from the cages, in what may have been the first animal liberation movement in history, and used whips to drive the animals out, destroying the basis of the economy! Not only were the animals free, but they were made impure and couldnt be used for sacrifice!!! No wonder the Chief Priests wanted this revolutionary dead! This was a non-violent revolution, which Occupy Wall Street can become! Caiaphus held a trial and convicted him, of course, but execution wasnt enough for Jesus he wanted it a huge public execution, so he called in Pontius Pilate, because only the Emperor could crucify and make the execution public. Of course he agreed, without caring, and the revolutionary was beaten and marched off to carry his own cross and die upon it a Roman execution ordered by an Israeli high priest! The situation on Wall Street is remarkably similar, with mass arrests and violent attacks by the police was there a centurion named Tony Boloney? While the main stream media carefully ignores the occupation, The last week of Jesus life is being enacted before us! And we must stand with the movement as well as we can, wherever we are. This mass resistance can be the beginning of the public struggle that can bring Wall Street down, bring down corporate capitalism the system we have that rules the world and that was copied by a collaborationist Jew, Milton Friedman, from an Italian dictator this is the Roman Empire of our era! Do not fear a collapse of the economy, it is necessary to free the people and bring us in equality to rule by all. The depression the banks may well impose on us, as they did in 1929, will not be brought by the Occupation or by the people, but the very banks that dominate the world now! We must, like the people of Jesus time, free ourselves and the human race from the dictatorship of the banks and corporations, and carry us all to freedom and human unity! Rev. Jack Zylman 1321 16th Avenue South Birmingham, AL 35205-6020 cell: 205-821-0650 Occupy Wall Street! Occupy Birmingham! When I feed the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why so many people are poor they call me a communist. - Dom Helder Câmara ___ _ From: To: Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 3:09 PM Subject: [libertyundergroundtalk] What Would Jesus Protest? Â What Would Jesus Protest? By Reverend Anthony Wade It started as most age-defining movements do, somewhere in the wind. Some unrest, some recognition of what is right and wrong. Some people willing
