[LAAMN] Close race in California Attorney General contest: vote Kamala Harris
CLCVs endorsed candidate for Attorney General, Kamala Harris, is in a close race. The office of Attorney General can be a powerful force for environmental protection and advocacy. As Attorney General of California, Jerry Brown has filed lawsuits to enforce Californias environmental laws (such as the California Environmental Quality Act and the Global Warming Solutions Act). If Kamala Harris is elected, she will ensure continued environmental leadership in the AGs office. We need her strong voice for us in this important environmental office. The New York Times examined the Attorney General campaign yesterday. Read Calif. AG Race Has National Energy Implications at http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/10/27/27greenwire-calif-ag-race-has-national-energy-implications-57619.html . Please forward this to your friends and colleagues and help elect an environmental champion as Attorney General. Find out more about how you can help Kamala Harris at http://www.kamalaharris.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/la...@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] Vigil for Mr. Ruelas, Monday, November 8
On Monday, November 8, 3:30 - 5:30 PM, there will be a vigil in memory of Rigoberto Ruelas planned by the Miramonte Elementary School community and his family. Meet after school at 3:30 in front of LAUSD headquarters, 333 South Beaudry, and join the candlelight walk to the L.A. Times building, 202 West 1st St. All are encouraged to attend to show their support for Mr. Ruelas' family. http://utla.net --- 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/la...@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] Fw: PR for SNCC Panel
- Original Message - From: Ami M amiluvz...@gmail.com To: AEROS PIERCE pae...@sbcglobal.net Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2010 3:44 PM Subject: PR for SNCC Panel Please distribute October 28, 2010 Media Contact: Ami Motevalli William Grant Still Arts Center 323.734.1165 ami.moteva...@lacity.org The William Grant Still Arts Center Presents From Freedom Rides to Black Power; SNCCs Radicalization of the Movement - a Panel Discussion Please join us on Saturday November 6, 2010 at 2 pm for a panel and discussion featuring local members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The panel will include Shaka Bogolani, Ayuko Babu, Bobbie Hodges-Betts and moderated by Lamont Yakey. Discussion will pan from experiential history to the effect SNCC had on radical strategy. The Panel discussion is part of the Exhibition Hell No, We Wont Go! 50 years of SNCC Hell No, We Wont Go! 50 Years of SNCC at the William Grant Still Arts Center, is a visual survey of 50 years of struggle in the civil rights movement to run from October 1 - December 18, 2010. The exhibit will feature photographs, posters, magazines, memos and other archival material of the work of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (/snik/). There will be a particular look at the activities of SNCC in Los Angeles, including a focus on Imam Jamil Al-Amin aka H. Rap Brown. and the work of the Student Non- Violent Coordinating Committee. SNCC , was a seminal civil rights organization, started in 1960. Initially lead by Ella Baker in student meetings at Shaw University, SNCC grew in to a large organization and movement who staged sit-ins, voter registration drives and Freedom Rides. One of the principal organizers for SNCC, Willie Ricks coined the term Black Power which was popularized in a speech by SNCC chairman Stokely Charmichael. Over the next decade, civil rights activism moved beyond lunch counter sit-ins. In this violently changing political climate, SNCC struggled to define its purpose as it fought white oppression. Out of SNCC came some of today's black leaders, such as Angela Davis, former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, Congressman John Lewis, Bernice Reagan and Sweet Honey and the Rock and NAACP chairman Julian Bond. Historian Howard Zinn was also once a member of SNCC. Together with hundreds of other students, they left a lasting impact on American history. School tours and study guides available upon request. For additional information call (323) 734-1165 or email ami.moteva...@lacity.org . The William Grant Still Arts Center is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, located at 2520 S.Westview St. Los Angeles, exhibit hours Tuesday through Saturday 12n-5p. PROGRAM EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES Hell No, We Wont Go! 50 years of SNCC Dates: October 1 December 18, 2010 Times: Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Events: Panel Discussion with Ayuko Babu, Shaka Bogolani and Bobbie Hodges-Betts, Moderated by Lamonte Yakey November 6, 2010, 2-4 pm Film Screening Footage of H Rap Brown / Imam Jamil, James Forman, Willie Mukasa Ricks, Kwame Ture, and excerpts from Eyes on the Prize etc... November 10, 2010 6 8:30 November 17, 2010 - 6-8:30 (Imam Jamil Al-Amin Screenings) Discussion on the movement today, lead by Byron Perez December 1, 2010 Location: William Grant Still Arts Center 2520 South West View Street Los Angeles, CA 90016 Cost: Free [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/la...@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,
[LAAMN] Chomsky: China's Growing Independence and the New World Order
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/6499/chinas_growing_independence_and_the_new_world_order/ China's Growing Independence and the New World Order By Noam Chomsky In These Times: October 5, 2010 Chinese leaders are unlikely to be impressed by such [U.S. warnings], the language of an imperial power desperately trying to cling to authority it no longer has. Of all the threats to world order, the most consistent is democracy, unless it is under imperial control, and more generally, the assertion of independence. These fears have guided imperial power throughout history. In South America, Washington's traditional backyard, the subjects are increasingly disobedient. Their steps toward independence advanced further in February with the formation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which includes all states in the hemisphere apart from the U.S. and Canada. For the first time since the Spanish and Portuguese conquests 500 years ago, South America is moving toward integration, a prerequisite to independence. It is also beginning to address the internal scandal of a continent that is endowed with rich resources but dominated by tiny islands of wealthy elites in a sea of misery. Furthermore, South-South relations are developing, with China playing a leading role, both as a consumer of raw materials and as an investor. Its influence is growing rapidly and has surpassed the United States' in some resource-rich countries. More significant still are changes in Middle Eastern arena. Sixty years ago, the influential planner A. A. Berle advised that controlling the region's incomparable energy resources would yield substantial control of the world. Correspondingly, loss of control would threaten the project of global dominance. By the 1970s, the major producers nationalized their hydrocarbon reserves, but the West retained substantial influence. In 1979, Iran was lost with the overthrow of the shah's dictatorship, which had been imposed by a U.S.-U.K. military coup in 1953 to ensure that this prize would remain in the proper hands. By now, however, control is slipping away even among the traditional U.S. clients. The largest hydrocarbon reserves are in Saudi Arabia, a U.S. dependency ever since the U.S. displaced Britain there in a mini-war conducted during World War II. The U.S. remains by far the largest investor in Saudi Arabia and its major trading partner, and Saudi Arabia helps support the U.S. economy via investments. However, more than half of Saudi oil exports now go to Asia, and its plans for growth face east. The same may be turn out to be true of Iraq, the country with the second-largest reserves, if it can rebuild from the massive destruction of the murderous U.S.-U.K. sanctions and the invasion. And U.S. policies are driving Iran, the third major producer, in the same direction. China is now the largest importer of Middle Eastern oil and the largest exporter to the region, replacing the United States. Trade relations are growing fast, doubling in the past five years. The implications for world order are significant, as is the quiet rise of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes much of Asia but has banned the U.S.-potentially a new energy cartel involving both producers and consumers, observes economist Stephen King, author of *Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity*. In Western policy-making circles and among political commentators, 2010 is called the year of Iran. The Iranian threat is considered to pose the greatest danger to world order and to be the primary focus of U.S. foreign policy, with Europe trailing along politely as usual. It is officially recognized that the threat is not military: Rather, it is the threat of independence. To maintain stability the U.S. has imposed harsh sanctions on Iran, but outside of Europe, few are paying attention. The nonaligned countries-most of the world-have strongly opposed U.S. policy toward Iran for years. Nearby Turkey and Pakistan are constructing new pipelines to Iran, and trade is increasing. Arab public opinion is so enraged by Western policies that a majority even favor Iran's development of nuclear weapons. The conflict benefits China. China's investors and traders are now filling a vacuum in Iran as businesses from many other nations, especially in Europe, pull out, Clayton Jones reports in *The Christian Science Monitor*. In particular, China is expanding its dominant role in Iran's energy industries. Washington is reacting with a touch of desperation. In August, the State Department warned that If China wants to do business around the world it will also have to protect its own reputation, and if you acquire a reputation as a country that is willing to skirt and evade international responsibilities that will have a long-term impact . their international responsibilities are clear-namely, to follow U.S. orders. Chinese leaders are unlikely to be impressed by such talk, the language
[LAAMN] 11/5 (NYC): Special Evening With John Tito Gerassi.
The Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle the Venezuelan Permanent Mission to the United Nations invite you to: a special evening with John “Tito” Gerassi, Journalist, Author, Activist, and Educator Friday November 5 at 6:30 p.m. @ the Venezuelan Mission, 335 East 46th St., between 2 1 Avenues, New York, NY About John “Tito” Gerassi: As a child, his mother and father were very close friends with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and the couple became like surrogate parents for him. Over the course of his fascinating life, he has interviewed Che Guevara, Salvador Allende, Camilo Torres, and Fabricio Ojeda, among many others. He will talk about Sartre and Latin America and about the history of the revolutionary movements of the mid-20th century. Gerassi is the author of The Great Fear in Latin America; Revolutionary Priest, Camilo Torres; The Premature Antifascists; Hated Conscience of His Century Volume I (the only authorized biography of Jean-Paul Sarte, which Sartre considered a continuation of his own autobiography); The American Way of Crime: From Salem to Watergate, a Stunning New Perspective on Crime in America; and others. His most recent book is Talking with Sartre. This event is free and open to the public. No RSVP required. [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/la...@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] Fwd: WHY THE NOV 9 HEARING ON MUMIA IS SO CRITICAL
WHY THE NOVEMBER 9, 2010 HEARING ON MUMIA IS SO CRITICAL Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition http://www.freemumia.com/www.freemumia.com mailto:info%40freemumia.comi...@freemumia.com (212)330-8029 The only legal options to be considered at the Third Circuit's November 9 hearing are whether Mumia Abu-Jamal is to be executed or get life in prison without parole. Clearly neither of those two options is acceptable. To fully grasp the significance of the hearing, one needs to revisit Federal District Court Judge William Yohn, Jr.'s decision of December 18, 2001. In that ruling the judge upheld Mumia's conviction but at the same time threw out his death sentence on the grounds that the verdict form used by the jury for sentencing at his trial violated the U.S. Supreme Court's Mills precedent and therefore entitled Mumia to have his death sentence overturned. Yohn then gave the state 180 days to convene a new jury trial only on the issue of Mumia's penalty, in which the choices would be either death or life in prison without parole. On the other hand, if the state did nothing, Yohn ruled that Mumia would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole. At the time Judge Yohn stayed his ruling on the death sentence while the state appealed his decision to the next higher level of federal court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. (At the same time Mumia cross-appealed Judge Yohn's decision upholding Mumia's conviction.) Mumia was therefore never removed from Death row and remains there to this day. On March 27, 2008, the Third Circuit upheld Yohn's decision on the death penalty on a 3-0 vote. Again the decision was stayed while the state appealed to the highest federal level, the Supreme Court. (In the same decision, the Third Circuit rejected Mumia's appeal on the conviction by 2-1 and, as before, Mumia cross-appealed that ruling.) On January 10, 2010, the Supreme Court ordered the Third Circuit to reconsider its decision on the death sentence in light of its simultaneously-issued ruling unanimously rejecting an appeal from a white-supremacist named Spisak. That man admitted to killing at least two people in Ohio and openly wished to have murdered more. He had appealed his death sentence also as a violation of Mills, but involving a different aspect of it than Mumia's case. The Sixth Circuit, as did the Third Circuit in Mumia's case, ruled that the death sentence should be vacated, but the Supreme Court ruled that the Mills precedent did not apply in Spisak's case, and that therefore execution rather than life in prison was the appropriate penalty. Based on that decision, the Supreme Court immediately applied the same argument to Mumia's case and asked for the Third Circuit to reconsider the issue of execution for Mumia as well. Thus, the hearing on November 9th is on Mumia's penalty only. The choices before the court are either to sustain Yohn's and its own earlier decisions or to reinstate the death penalty, clearing the way for Mumia's possible quick execution. If the Third Circuit reaffirms its earlier decision to sentence Mumia to life in prison without parole, the state will most likely appeal to the Supreme Court. (This is exactly what happened with Spisak, after the Sixth Circuit upheld its own earlier ruling which had overturned the man's death sentence.) But in the unlikely event that the state doesn't appeal, it will then have 180 days to implement Judge Yohn's decision. Of course if the Third Circuit rules against Mumia, he will appeal to the Supreme Court. However, the odds for relief are small, given the increasingly reactionary nature of that court. Thus, Mumia's legal situation is extremely dangerous. His life truly is on the line, for no matter how the court rules, the only two choices under this legal system are either execution or life in prison without parole and, for the moment, the prosecution, with all its allies and backers, is fighting very hard for execution. THAT'S WHY WE ARE CALLING FOR ALL THOSE WHO POSSIBLY CAN TO COME OUT TO PHILADELPHIA WITH US ON THE 9TH. WE MUST STAY THE HANDS OF THE EXECUTIONERS AND PRY OPEN THE PRISON GATES FOR MUMIA'S RELEASE. FREE MUMIA! ABOLISH THE RACIST DEATH PENALTY! FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS! To make reservations for bus tickets to Philadelphia on November 9th, call 212 330-8029. -- A revolution now cannot be confined to the place or people where it may commence, but flashes with lightning speed from heart to heart, from land to land, til it has traversed the globe ... --Frederick Douglass Free All Political Prisoners! mailto:nycjeri...@gmail.comnycjeri...@gmail.com www.jerichony.org --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe:
[LAAMN] mvtCA11-Demos by the Youth Justice Coalition
Thank you to everyone who supported the families of James Mookie Davis and Jonathan Dough Boi Cuevas, both killed less than two weeks ago by law enforcement. On Tuesday, November 2nd @ 10AM Día de Los Muertos/Day of the Dead join the YJC at the Police Commission to challenge the devasta-ting increase in police killings in L.A. City and across the County. JUSTICE FOR OSCAR GRANT SAVE THE DATE: 11-05-10 (FRIDAY) PACK L.A. SUPERIOR COURT, 210 WEST TEMPLE, 8:30 AM FOR THE SENTENCING OF BART OFFICER MEHSERLE. __ SB 399 UPDATE Thank you to everyone who made travel and housing in Sacramento possible for nearly 60 youth and parents working to pass Senate Bill 399 to give youth serving Life Without Parole (LWOP) hope for a life beyond prison. While we were not successful in getting the bill passed, we feel we moved closer to impacting the hearts and minds of the State Legislators. We will not give up and are looking forward to next years legislative season. Click http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2c=asBFnPwzXBygRExT0tkt2lHenABwFnQLHere forhttp://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2c=KseanZF7tdeSz89SKe4Nu1HenABwFnQL PDF Version of the http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2c=FhiMyPPwT70m6zRxY52uMlHenABwFnQLAction Update. Youth Justice Coalition @ Chuco's Justice Center On the border between South Central L.A. and Inglewood one light west of Florence and Crenshaw 1137 E. Redondo Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90302 323-235-4243 * Fax: 323-846-9472 freela...@yahoo.com http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2c=uUqxBSF5uLFHzntWbAGXW1HenABwFnQLwww.youth4justice.org http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2c=ps7BEUD5%2BnrbKni7tqgvLFHenABwFnQLYouth Justice Coalition | http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2c=TSA%2FXY%2BeX6ECWTP2kRbBjFHenABwFnQLClick here to unsubscribe http://www.salsalabs.com/?email empowered by Salsa --- 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/la...@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] The Real War in Afghanistan
For those who did not hear Democracy Now, on the real war in Afghanistan by http://www.thenation.com/authors/jeremy-scahillJeremy Scahill with Rick Rowley from Big Noise Films. http://www.democracynow.org/ http://www.thenation.com/article/155622/killing-reconciliation Killing Reconciliaton By Jeremy Scahill On March 26, 2009, Mullah Sahib Jan, a militant Taliban imam from the Mohammed Agha district in Afghanistan's Logar province, walked into the office of the Independent National Reconciliation Commission, the main body encouraging the Taliban to lay down their weapons and work with the government. He was escorting fifty Taliban fighters who, he said, had committed to ending their fight against the Afghan government and entering the process of integration. To the government, Sahib Jan was a shining example of how reconciliation with the Taliban is supposed to work. But less than a year later, the former militant's story would stand as a devastating symbol of how the actions of US Special Operations Forces are sabotaging the very strategy for reaching a political settlement that US officials claim to support. Throughout Afghanistan, large billboards line the major roads encouraging Taliban fighters to do what Sahib Jan didreconcile with the government. The billboards show red silhouettes of Kalashnikov-carrying Taliban fighters walking across a line, after which they transform into civilians and join white silhouettes of unarmed Afghans dressed in traditional garb. The message is clear: lay down your weapons and rejoin the family. When Sahib Jan walked into the reconciliation office, he publicly announced that he and his Taliban colleagues had agreed to work with the government on a peace process after the commission assured him that it would restrict US-led NATO forces from conducting night raids and killing civilians. If the killing and arrests of people were not stopped, he said, we would withdraw our support to the government and the foreign forces. Continued on Webpage http://www.thenation.com/article/155622/killing-reconciliation 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 [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/la...@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] Alan Woods:Where is the Venezuelan Revolution going? A contribution to the discussion on property and the tasks of the revolution
http://www.marxist.com/where-is-the-venezuelan-revolution-going.htm Where is the Venezuelan Revolution going? A contribution to the discussion on property and the tasks of the revolutionhttp://www.marxist.com/where-is-the-venezuelan-revolution-going.htm Written by Alan Woods Friday, 29 October 2010 [image: Print]http://www.marxist.com/where-is-the-venezuelan-revolution-going/print.htm# The September elections have posed some serious questions before the Bolivarian Revolution. The opposition has organized a noisy campaign in the media to present themselves as winners, despite the fact that they lost. What is the purpose of this campaign? A minority cannot turn itself into a majority, no matter how loud it shouts. But such a campaign can be advantageous to the counterrevolutionaries both inside and outside Venezuela. http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/venezuela/que_comunismo_-_Frente_de_Trabajadores_jan_25.jpg [image: Foto: Que Comunismo] In the outside world, the aim is to step up the campaign of disinformation about the situation in Venezuela that is being systematically organized by the imperialists and their hired media. Inside Venezuela, the opposition wants to use the election result to influence public opinion, pressing for pluralism, more tolerant legislation. They have even insolently demanded the liberation of two prisoners, Biagio Pilieri and José Mazuco Sánchez, who were elected to the National Assembly while in prison for corruption and murder. As we predicted, the election has served to embolden the counterrevolutionaries. Added to this we have the events in Ecuador with the attempted *coup d'etat* against Rafael Correa, which is a direct warning to the Chavez government. The author of these lines has consistently supported the Bolivarian Revolution and defended it against its enemies. My personal loyalty to the Revolution cannot be doubted. But I have always spoken my mind honestly and made criticisms that I considered to be just. If these criticisms have annoyed some people, I am very sorry. But I will not cease to defend my point of view in order to avoid treading on a few toes. The fate of the Revolution is too important for it to be decided by diplomatic considerations. The Bolivarian Revolution has many friends as well as enemies. The vast majority of its friends are ordinary workers, peasants, revolutionary youths and progressive intellectuals. They are honest and loyal friends. But there are also some false friends: people who originally showed no interest in the Bolivarian Revolution, and later jumped on the bandwagon. They applaud politely when Chavez makes a speech, but in reality they show not the slightest interest in fighting for socialism. Flatterers are not real friends but hypocritical mercenaries who will desert you in the hour of need. How many flatterers have passed through Miraflores in the last eleven years, only to end up in the camp of the counterrevolution? A true friend is not somebody who constantly praises you and agrees with everything you say. A true friend is somebody who is not afraid to look you straight in the eye and say: My friend, I think you are making a mistake. The recent election results revealed both the strong and the weak points of the Bolivarian Revolution. It showed the loyalty and determination of the workers and peasants to defend the Revolution and defeat the counterrevolution. This determination of the masses has been the motor force of the Revolution from the beginning. It has saved the Revolution at every critical juncture. It saved it again in the 26 September elections. But how long can this loyalty be maintained unless the Revolution is carried through in a determined manner? What conclusions should we draw? On October 2nd, following the recent elections to the Venezuelan National Assembly, President Chavez made a speech in the Teatro Teresa Carreño at a meeting with the newly elected PSUV members of the National Assembly. The whole speech can be found online in sixteen parts: Chávez: la extrema derecha nunca abandonará la carta del golpismohttp://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/n166785.html The speech makes many correct points. The President emphasised the success of the PSUV in preventing the victory of the counterrevolutionary opposition. We defeated the counterrevolution, without any doubt, he said. There is no doubt that the election result represented a victory in the sense that the Revolution successfully blocked the counterrevolution, which was attempting to win a majority of the National Assembly. After eleven years, this shows that the Revolution still has important reserves of support in the masses. But it is equally undeniable that the opposition has advanced and is in a stronger position than it was before. In the course of his speech, Chavez said that the causes for the loss of one million votes (since 2009) must be investigated and admitted that it might be a reflection of local or regional problems. Unless we
[LAAMN] Unique Global Interactive Discussion Webcast LIVE from Glastonbury Halloween Sun
Unique Global Interactive Discussion Web cast LIVE from Glastonbury Halloween Sunday - tune in and join us. We are inviting you to join us Halloween Sunday from 1:00pm GMT to participate through social media streams in an Experimental LIVE Web cast INTERACTIVE Discussion about the the issues that concern YOU - On the web @ http://www.aroundthetable.tv and LIVE from Glastonbury UK @The Tor Leisure Centre, Street Road,Glastonbury, United Kingdom. In this email you will see relevant information about this exciting global event. ^^ Links to website, Facebook, Twitter, promo video and, video recordings of our past events ^^ The press release. ^^ The overall vision driving this event. ^^ The format for the event Details of the event. Please take a little time to scroll down and explore the information, thank you. Join us from 1:00pm GMT Halloween Sunday ON THE WEB @ http://www.aroundthetable.tv or IN PERSON in GLASTONBURY. Discussion 1pm - 8pm GMT followed by an open mike music and spoken word till Midnight GMT Pregnant with possibility is how Brian Viziondanz has described Around The Table TV - Changing our world by changing our conversation, unlocking the power of social media to catalyze cultural change -- This is YOUR opportunity to engage with the conversation that is shaping our culture. There is nothing wrong with our world, we're just having a weird conversation - By reclaiming the conversation we change our world. Around The Table TV is a fully interactive participatory event,an experimental discussion forum a blending of theatre and discussion, where there is no audience and YOU are the expert Links to website, Facebook, Twitter, promo video and, video recordings of our past events Facebook event here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=115026411892609 for those outside of Facebook the event page is here, the discussion will be televised on this site: http://www.aroundthetable.tv - you will be able to interact through Facebook and the Ustream on this page and our Twitter is : http://www.twitter.com/aroundtabletv - follow us and interact with the discussion using @Aroundtabletv Promo video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWbfk-pDpuw See video of previous events in our previous incarnation The Kitchen Table TV here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-kitchen-tables-show Last phase of the last event Live web cast from Glastonbury UK Easter Sunday 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM9PMDe8FrA Press Release '' For time eternal conversation has been the footnote of modern man. It's really where it all began, without it we can't survive, we couldn't live. Without that most basic of needs we would quickly go insane. Human nature dictates the need to converse, we are a social animal. Now that most ancient of human traits is being expanded beyond all recognition. Today we are pleased to be able to take our conversational experience to another level. Taking something that we all do, in our own homes to another level completely. Now we ask you to join in our global chat from around our table. Around The Table.TV is a global test bed of future communications. Neither distance, gender nor persuasion is a barrier. You are cordially invited to join us in what we hope will be the biggest social experiment since the invention of the Internet. Global chat around our virtual table. Each of your ideas, thoughts perspectives is a drop that makes our ocean of conversation. No rules except common courtesy, no barriers except your own imagination. All are welcome to join in this ground breaking seminar of global interactive discussion. We aim to make it as easy to participate as a conversation should be. No registration, no conformation, no delay. You can tweet, Facebook, text or call, anyone with an Internet connection can attend. You can even come along in person. All are welcome in our global living room. Around The Table.TV is just what it pronounces to be. A fully televised discussion from around a beautiful table. Broadcast live across the Internet, no cuts, no retakes, just as conversation should be. Bring your opinions, bring a sleeping bag stay over. We are bringing chat from http://www.aroundthetable.tv to your home, to your office, wherever you may be, whatever you may be doing, all are welcome. The Format The Table will be situated in the centre of the floor surrounded by the audience, there will be chairs at the table which will be occupied by whoever wants to be there. There will be a pot in which we can put our suggestions subjects for discussion at the table. Every 30 minutes, one new subject will be randomly selected. Each person at the table can discuss the subject for 60 seconds then allow someone else to take it up if anyone wants to. At the end of 30 minutes a 5 minute summing up of the discussion will take place, then a new
[LAAMN] people of the central valley 4 - toolville and its bad water
The People of the Central Valley - 2 A Photographic Look at the Diverse Communities of California's Central Valley Toolville and its Bad Water Toolville is a tiny colonia, or unincorporated and informal settlement of about a hundred families, in California's rural San Joaquin Valley just a couple of miles outside the small town of Exeter. Over recent years, Toolville residents have discovered dangerous concentrations of nitrates in their water supply, which is pumped from the aquifer below the homes. As in many San Joaquin Valley communities, overuse of the water table, especially by giant industrial farms, has led to a growing concentration of fertilizer and other ag chemicals in the water that remains. Toolville's residents are all working-class people, many of them farm workers. They can use the water from their taps for washing dishes and clothes, but have to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking. Eunice Martinez, a leader of the community's effort to gain safe drinking water, looks warily at a jar of water drawn from the tap. Her mother, Margaret, holds their pet Chihuahua at a table where they keep a case of small bottles of drinking water. Across the street from the Martinez house, Natalie and Paco Rojas play in their yard. The health and development of children especially can be harmed by Toolville's contaminated water. In her home by the state highway, Cindy Newton-Enloe, who helped start Toolville's effort to gain safe drinking water, stores her water in big thermos containers, and then boils it for tea on her old-fashioned stove. Valeria Alvarado is a Mixtec immigrant from Oaxaca, and lives in a trailer with her husband, son and three daughters. Her husband is a limonero, or lemon picker, but work is very slow because of the recession. The family has almost no furniture, and struggles to survive from day to day. Valeria washes her dishes in water from the tap, which is pumped from the ground, but buys her drinking water in 5-gallon bottles. She stores them in her empty living room, and outside the trailer under the porch. The hills behind Toolville are the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas (Snowy Mountains), and most of the year they're covered in dry brown grass. At the base of the foothills runs the Friant-Kern Canal, part of the great California Water Project. Its system of dams extends throughout the San Joaquin Valley, channeling the Sierra Nevada runoff into canals, reducing the valley's former rivers into often-dry watercourses and lowering the water table. The canals provide water exclusively to growers for irrigation. Although the Friant-Kern Canal behind Toolville could supply the community's water with hardly a noticeable reduction in its flow, Toolville and water-starved colonias like it can't get access to a single drop. As many as half a million people live in California's 220 unincorporated communities, or colonias. Toolville's water rights movement got the help of California Rural Legal Assistance' project for Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities, supported by PolicyLink. For more articles and images, see http://dbacon.igc.org See also Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press, 2008) Recipient: C.L.R. James Award, best book of 2007-2008 http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=2002 See also the photodocumentary on indigenous migration to the US Communities Without Borders (Cornell University/ILR Press, 2006) http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4575 See also The Children of NAFTA, Labor Wars on the U.S./Mexico Border (University of California, 2004) http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9989.html -- __ David Bacon, Photographs and Stories http://dbacon.igc.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/la...@egroups.com
[LAAMN] Fw: Caterpillar has stopped selling buldozers to Israel... for now
--- On Fri, 10/29/10, Sydney Levy, Jewish Voice for Peace i...@jewishvoiceforpeace.org wrote: Message This is not an earthquake. This is what CAT bulldozers do in Palestine. Tell your friends to ask TIAA-CREF to stop investing in CAT now. Dear Hajja Romi, I have remarkable news. The Israeli press is reporting that Caterpillar is withholding the delivery of tens of D9 bulldozers—valued at $50 million—to the Israeli military.(1) These are weaponized bulldozers that are used to illegally destroy homes and orchards of Palestinian families. And they are the very same bulldozers as the one that killed a 23-year-old American peace activist named Rachel Corrie seven years ago when she tried to protect the home of the Nasrallah family in Gaza. That's why the next part of the story is even more amazing. The news reports say that the deliveries have been suspended now because Rachel's parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, are bringing a civil suit against the government of Israel in a court in Tel Aviv.(2) The deliveries are to stop during the length of the trial. We take this as an indirect admission by the company that these bulldozers are being used to violate human rights and to violate the law. The Corrie story is sadly just one of thousands of stories of loss and pain. A suspension of the sale of bulldozers is what we have been asking Caterpillar for over seven years now. This is a great win, but this is no time to let off the pressure. Caterpillar and the U.S. government have neither confirmed nor denied the news. And news reports describe the company's move as a temporary decision only. To urge the U.S. government to make this policy permanent, please sign the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation’s petition to President Obama to continue this new policy. We need to hold both our government and corporations profiting from the occupation accountable. TIAA-CREF, one of the largest financial services in the United States, invests heavily in Caterpillar (over $250 million as of their last financial report). Thanks to you, we've already gathered over 17,000 in our petition to TIAA-CREF, asking it to divest from Caterpillar and other companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. But we need more! Tell your friends to sign our petition. If TIAA-CREF divests from Caterpillar, it will have a rippling impact everywhere. Since 2003, Jewish Voice for Peace has been filing annual shareholder resolutions to pressure Caterpillar with a growing coalition of interfaith partners. We've organized protests. We've taken over a CAT dealership. We've worked in support of Presbyterian and Methodist divestment initiatives from the company, and with your help, we are asking TIAA-CREF to divest from Caterpillar as well. Caterpillar has never budged... until now. Caterpillar's irresponsible behavior comes with a heavy price tag. In the last ten years, at least 11,795 homes have been demolished.(3) These statistics, gruesome as they are, cannot do justice to the pain of so many families, to their razed livelihoods and their shattered dreams. The picture above does not come from an earthquake scene. It depicts the man-made destruction and the hopelessness that the Caterpillar bulldozers bring at the hand of the soldiers who wield them. Let's make sure that this is the last picture of this kind we get to see. Thank you and shabbat shalom, Sydney Levy Jewish Voice for Peace (1) Report: Caterpillar to delay supply of D9 bulldozers to IDF. Jerusalem Post, Oct 25, 2010, as well as Israel's Channel 2 TV, October 25, 2010 (evening broadcast
[LAAMN] Venezuelan Unions March to Control Companies, Throw Out “Reformist” State Management
Venezuelan Unions March to Control Companies, Throw Out Reformist State Management Oct 28th 2010 , by James Suggett - Venezuelanalysis.com [image: Send to friend] http://venezuelanalysis.com/printmail/5744[1] [image: Printer-friendly version] http://venezuelanalysis.com/print/5744[2] 0 http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5744/#comments[3] Mérida, October 28th 2010 (Venezuelanalysis.com) Worker unions from a range of state-owned and private companies in Venezuela plan to march on November 9th in favor of a new labor law, the resolution of collective union contracts, and the empowerment of worker unions in the management of their companies. Most of the unions, affiliated with the National Union of Workers (UNETE), favor the governments program of nationalizing key industries that are deemed strategic for achieving domestic food sovereignty and economic diversification key components of the construction of what government supporters call 21st Century Socialism. However, many unions openly oppose the moderate or reformist state functionaries who obstruct the establishment of worker control in their companies, and in some cases, blatantly take the side of the private management against the workers. Several such unions have taken up the motto of supporting neither capitalists nor bureaucrats. Coffee workers at Fama de America, which was nationalized in November 2009 after the private management was accused of hoarding Venezuelas culturally iconic beverage, say the state management is opposed to the involvement of worker councils in the management of the company. The company management has a clear desire to put an end to the union, said union leader Gustavo Martinez in recent public declarations. We were the ones who confronted the private management; we are not red-shirted functionaries with a roundabout discourse... It is necessary that it be the workers who manage these companies and direct them toward a new model of production and true participation, Martínez stated. Eliezer Abreu, also a union leader at Fama de America, called on President Hugo Chavez to take action on the side of the workers. Commander [Chavez], without worker control there is no socialism and you should fully examine the reality of the different nationalized companies, you should know who the real revolutionaries are, said Abreu. Similarly, workers at the state television station VTV called on the government to fire the stations vice president, Jose Miguel Avendaño, and human relations manager, William Fernández, for alleged management terrorism. Last week, Igor Alcalá, general secretary of the Union Movement of Organized Audiovisual Media Workers (MOTORMAV), said that the VTV managements infractions included unjust firings, the non-renewal of the workers collective contract, interference in union autonomy, and non-responsiveness to union demands. In the food sector, Mercal workers said the management has delayed the signing of their collective contract for five years, and abandoned the negotiations again in early October, affecting 8,500 workers. Mercal is the governments flagship subsidized food market that has served tens of thousands of communities nation-wide over the past seven years. The workers have had to suffer the most aberrant violations of our human and worker rights, to the extent that today, Mercal is one of the Venezuelan companies with the most violations, declared the leadership of the Mercal workers union, SUNTRABMERCAL, in an official statement in June. The union referred to Mercal as an organization of Socialist and Revolutionary character, and called for a restructuring of the company to establish protagonistic and emancipatory participation by the workers in order to advance toward the construction of a company of social property and thus guarantee food security. The statement called for the ouster of the managers who, from the time of their arrival, have tried to conduct [Mercal] like a typical company in the capitalist system. In another case earlier this year, workers at La Gaviota sardine factory, which was nationalized in May 2009 following alleged workers rights violations by the private management, said state managers were responsible for a drop in production this year. While the state managers have improved the pay, working conditions, and treatment of the workers, they have also ignored the workers calls for investment in new machinery and unduly stored 55,000 boxes of canned sardines rather than putting them on the market, according to the La Gaviota worker union. In an atypical worker strike earlier this year, the workers at La Gaviota took over the plant and refused entry to the management while they maintained production inside. In subsequent negotiations, the management agreed to sell the stored goods and spend the income on needed repairs and purchases of supplies. The workers described the event as an initial step toward the ultimate goal of
[LAAMN] NSM returning to Phoenix AZ 11-13 -- resistance planned
from the Phoenix Class War Council: The NSM will be back in [Phoenix AZ on Nov. 13] to continue their reclaim the southwest tour, a recruitment effort ... in which NSM activists from Texas to California amass in major cities in the southwest for NSM anti-immigrant rallies. They've been counting on their inflated numbers (fifty to seventy people) to give them the look of a growing http://firesneverextinguished.blogspot.com/2009/10/nsm-offers-nothing-for-white-working.htmlfascist working class movement that has an actual base of support, so that when the mainstream media uncritically covers a white supremacist anti-immigrant rally, they neglect to mention that the majority of those attending the rally are racist agitators from outside of Arizona. It's in the spirit of last year's Inglourious Basterds Bloc, that we once again invite anti-racists and anti-authoritarians from across the state to converge in Phoenix in a mere two weeks to run these nazis back outta town! Most movie sequels are just an excuse for studios to tap into the a successful concept and to milk it for every last dollar, and so in calling for a second mobilization against the NSM we were uneasy going back to the well, to conceptualize the next manifestation of resistance to these damn racists. It got me to thinking, like any good sequel aren't there some plot threads left unresolved from the last year that beg for some resolution this time around? Will the liberal and leftist organizers, who http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2009/11/neo-nazi_nsm_scum_at_the_arizo.phpdenounced the successful counter protest last year as a bunch of crazies, come protest the NSM this time, or will they denounce us again? Can we provide the NSM a more disastrous exit this time than their http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2009/11/the_anarchists_own_the_nazis_a.phpcar accident last year while fleeing the anti-nazi mob? Will we once again be standing alongside libertarians, constitutionalists, and veterans, who broke with the rightwing last year to oppose a fascist anti-immigrant rally? Can we bring out more people from across the state this time around and shut down this nazi shindig before it even kicks off? There will also be a change in venue this time around, last year the NSM rallied at the state capitol, this time around they'll be rallying in support of the anti-immigrant law SB 1070 at the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. District court building in downtown Phoenix. The exact details are below. The anti-nazi contingent will be gathering at Noon on Saturday, November 13 at the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. District court building located at 401 W. Washington St. in downtown Phoenix. According to their own web page, the NSM plan on marching at 1 PM, arriving at the courthouse by 2 PM for an hour of permitted speeches, before they leave at 3 PM, so plan on spending a few hours in downtown that Saturday. Spread the word far and wide! Against all borders, against white supremacy! See you in the streets! Anti-Racist Action Los Angeles/People Against Racist Terror (ARA-LA/PART) urges anti-fascists and anti-racists in southern California to return the favor and head out to Phoenix to oppose this nazi provocation and support folks in Arizona who are resisting it. --- 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/la...@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/
