Update on Suzanne Swift's situation

This comes to us from Suzanne Swift's mother, Sara Rich, who is fighting hard to get her daughter's story out to the public. Please read this, and make some phone calls. We can make a difference, if we work together.

Perpetuating the Cycle of Military Sexual Violence

172 days since Suzanne's "arrest" and the Army, General Dubick and Colonel Miller specifically, are bound and determined to ignore the fact that their Sergeant sexually abused my daughter. Instead, they are making her abuser's prophetic words to my daughter a reality. "Swift, you look like you are going to tell someone about what
happened between us. Nobody will believe you."

Suzanne believed him then -- and now she is learning that he spoke from experience. Suzanne was sexually abused in a combat zone in Iraq by her squad leader, a Non Commissioned Officer who took an OATH to protect the soldiers working beneath him. By ignoring that fact, Dubick and Miller give other sexual predators in the military the green light. Their message is that victims of sexual abuse in the military are
systematically punished and not believed, while the perpetrators go free to abuse again.

Shame on them.

As I listen to story after story the same thing comes up: the perpetrators use fear and intimidation and tell the victim that no one will believe them. Coerced sexual abuse in the military is a monstrous epidemic and still the lack of care and understanding shocks me.

Even though we know this is not a gender specific occurrence, the majority of military sexual violence is perpetrated against women. It is literally true that women are not safe to serve their country in the military. Especially while command staff continues to "sweep under the carpet" these victims' stories, both ignoring
their painful traumas and exacerbating their pain and suffering by not believing them.

Suzanne's last few months have been a horrifying roller coaster ride. She was charged with missing a movement and for going absent without leave. Since then her future has been more unclear than ever. One day we are told she will be home by Halloween -- the next that she is going to prison. Then she was told there is a deal on the table.

A deal? Well, I was very skeptical of that.

The deal was that Suzanne stay in the military for her remaining 19 months, no reduction in rank, a summary court-martial, no assurance she would not be re-deployed and here is the kicker, Suzanne would sign a statement saying she was not raped in Iraq.

I did not know about the statement until days later when Suzanne called me very upset. Here was my 22-year-old daughter making huge life decisions and she was distressed. First she felt that after all this struggle, that to stay in the
military would be too hard and scary, but she was willing to do it until they told her about the statement.

When she heard about it her immediate thought was, "Here it goes, this is the part where the abuse gets swept under the carpet." I asked her what she wanted to do. She said she did not want to sign it because it was not true and she was not going to lie.

Once again, I say shame on the military for re-victimizing this young soldier whom according to her team leader, was the best soldier he had. Further, her Major who said she acted admirably in combat -- and Suzanne did see combat. She told her little 10-year-old cousin when he asked her about her time in Iraq that she was fired at more times than she can remember.

I know my daughter better than anyone else in the world. I know the good, the bad and the ugly. I also know that it was her complete intention to go on that January 2006 deployment to Iraq. She sent some of her most precious possessions over ahead with her Unit. The same Unit that divvied up her belongings and left some of her childhood
treasures to the trash heap in Iraq.

I saw the look of terror and fear in her eyes while she was standing in our kitchen trying to say goodbye to me. Her fear and anxiety are real and her stress levels increase daily as does her depression. I trusted the system that they would care for my daughter, not allowing my daughter to be used and abused by seasoned predators in a combat zone.

Then to only add to injury when she finally does use the proper channels and makes a formal complaint she is humiliated and treated like a traitor for telling. Boys will be boys, they say.

Does anyone get this? Why in the world are our federal elected officials not stopping this? Why do my pleas for help fall on ears that seem unable to hear me?

How is it that these commanders can go home at night knowing that hundreds of women are systematically abused by perpetrators, then re-abused by the lack of care of the command?

I know my Grampa, who was a Colonel in the Army, is turning in his grave by this thoughtless and destructive manner in which General Dubick and Colonel Miller are toying with my daughter's mental health. She has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) twice now and yet they continue to move forward with a court
martial and threat of prison time.

A more disturbing threat was brought to my awareness a few weeks ago. A dear family friend came to me in tears because she was so scared for Suzanne's safety while she is in the Army. One of her relatives had just returned from a tour in Iraq. He was furious to find that she was friends with "Suzanne Swift." He does not know Suzanne
personally but now he hates her and what she represents.

He told our friend that while he was in Iraq he was at a training, a sexual abuse "prevention" training. In this training the trainer used Suzanne's name, Suzanne Swift, and her case, as an example of what little lying whores do to "good soldiers." This second hand story scared me to the very core.

If this is what is being taught to other soldiers, especially in Iraq, I fear for
Suzanne's very life in the military. She has now at least once been de-humanized and demonized by others in the military and she is not safe. I have been asked to find out names and get the facts, but our family friend was scared to death to tell us what she did. I could not ask her to find out more and put herself at risk. Now we
have two demons that our soldiers hate in Iraq, "hadjis" and "Suzanne Swift."

What is our world becoming where we not only re-victimize but also demonize victims of a crime?

As we are now on this very long and very painful journey, I travel around the country talking about military sexual violence and how we must change the system. I have met some incredible people. One minute we think Suzanne will be free in a few weeks, so I slow down and stop the frantic fundraising. The next minute I hear we are going to court-martial and I need to have a substantial amount of money immediately or else.

I want to send out a huge appreciation to everyone who has supported Suzanne with prayers, thoughts, words, finances, action, and letters. Please keep Suzanne's website set as your home page so we can all remember to DO something everyday: http://suzanneswift.org.

Take action by calling your Congressional Representatives and Senators demanding a
significant change in the way military sexual abuse survivors are treated. Ask if they know about Suzanne's case, and what they are doing to help her.

Call Ft. Lewis and ask for General Dubick and Colonel Miller and ask them if they will bring quick justice to Suzanne, so she can be free to heal from the trauma she experienced fighting two battles at once in Iraq. Phone numbers are on Suzanne's website: http://suzanneswift.org. Write to your paper's editorial board and ask them to cover military sexual violence.

This year has been incredibly stressful on our family. Despite it all we are blessed beyond belief. I will continue to work tirelessly as an advocate for my daughter, until I see her free of this cruel system that punishes victims while perpetrators are allowed to go free. I will not rest until I see her free for the holidays so she
can be here when her sister, Sonja, who is due to give birth on Christmas day, goes into labor and is surrounded by her whole family to welcome our new little miracle boy into the world.

Peace on Earth good will to men AND women... right?

Thanks again for your visits to http://suzanneswift.org.

Sara

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Future president of Mexico sounding very creepy

This is what fascists sound like when they think America isn't listening:

“My government will make use of all of the force of the Mexican state, with the laws at hand and the power of the institutions. This is a war that we are going to win, with the backing of the Congress we will have to successfully wage the first battles.”

Please sign the petition to stop this violence and repudiate the murderous rule of these tyrants.

Here's the article I lifted the quote from.

Categories: World News, Revolution

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The real story of Thanksgiving from a descendant of the original inhabitants of America

Thanksgiving is a holiday that celebrates the genocide of indigenous peoples in America. You may not like it, but it's true. Take the time to read this stirring speech, written and spoken in 1970 by a man descended from the original inhabitants of the Plymouth Rock region.

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Give the gift of union solidarity

Brothers and sisters, fellow workers:

This holiday season, while you're running around looking for ways to spend that hard-earned paycheck, consider making a gift in someone's name to the hard-working organizers of the Starbucks union.



These brave men and women have been fighting hard for a decent wage and benefits, not to mention dignity in the workplace, and it would be one hell of a Christmas bonus to receive some love from those of us in labor out here in the Northwest.

Here's the link to the IWW page on the subject. Please pitch in. You'll be glad you did. And Jesus will be pretty happy too. (Or whatever supernatural being you look to for assistance)

Categories: Organized Labor, Workers' Rights

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Bloodshed in Oaxaca continues

If you haven't done it yet, please sign the petition to stop the violence in Oaxaca.

Here's the latest update on Oaxaca, courtesy of longtime Wobbly and Leonard Peltier supporter, Arthur Miller of Tacoma.

Oaxaca's Popular Movement Suffers Yet Another Brutal Day
http://elenemigocomun.net/548

photos: APPO and PFP battle in Oaxaca After March
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/11/79912.html


November 25th, 2006 - Radio Zapote writes: Today, after the seventh megamarch in Oaxaca, members of the APPO attempted to form a human fence around the federal preventative police (PFP), but were attacked with gas. This unleashed a series of clashes with violence again igniting in the city. Many have been arrested and there are reports of many wounded, some by gunfire. It is confirmed that three people were killed.

The march unfolded in a festive atmosphere until it reached Oaxaca's downtown. There began the attempt to form a human fence around the PFP forces in Oaxaca's zocalo. Groups of PRI members started provoking the demonstraters with insults and shooting slingshots with marbles. Later, the PFP began using tear gas to disperse the people. People started to withdraw, but police kept moving forward and then began the riot. While shooting off tear gas, police kept charging on. People tried to resist in a peaceful way, but couldn't stand up against the tear gas. The people began to defend themselves with rockets, homemade bombs and stones.

The situation became very tense toward the area north of downtown where the police attempted to surround the protesters. At some point, the PFP entered Santo Domingo, which is occupied by an APPO encampment, and then set fire to the camp. Many fires started throughout the city, which were set by saboteurs. A bus near the University City, a door of the Hotel Camino Real and then the legislative palace and external relationships buildings were all set aflame.

The police started using gunfire and also shot gas cans at the protestors. This practice has killed people before in Oaxaca on Nov. 2 and in other places like Atenco. Radio Universidad made a general call to withdraw and to get off the streets. Three people were shot by police from two pickup trucks using heavy gunfire near the College of Medicine. Reports indicate more than one hundred shots heard. The killers took two of the bodies and left the third one lying at the spot.

Near a place known as El Pochote, a big group of people were surrounded by the police. Also in the streets of Fiallo y Colón, a big number of teachers and workers of the health department were detained and removed in two buses. To the north of downtown, several reports indicate that there were massive arrests of up to thirty people who were sprayed with gas after being detained. In a place called El Fortin, witnesses report how police were beating up and torturing detained ones before moving them from the spot aboard pickup trucks. Radio Universidad keeps transmitting and making announcements and denunciations.

The pacific mobilization received an attack from the federal police with gases and gunfire. Then protesters faced a wave of represion by armed police officers and paramilitary which resulted in the deaths of three people, many injured individuals, more than 60 detained protesters and innocent bystanders and an unknown number of disappeared people. The numbers are increasing because violence has not ceased in the streets of Oaxaca.

People caught on the streets are looking for safe places to hide as the night promises more terror. Radio Universidad is asking its listeners to open their doors and allow people to hide. Now the PFP is entering people's homes to ransack them and search for protesters. The APPO has made a plea for all national and international organizations in solidarity with the Oaxaca struggle to protest where they can against the brutality of the Mexican federal government in its support of Ulises Ruiz.

source: http://indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/25/18333275.php

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Oaxaca solidarity:

El Enemigo Común (film and news)
http://elenemigocomun.net

email 'announcement' list
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/oaxaca

events and actions
http://elenemigocomun.net/category/solidarity

Donate in Solidarity with Oaxaca
http://elenemigocomun.net/donate

Categories: World News, Workers' Rights, National Security State, Revolution

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Tacoma newspaper fearful that Democrats will end "free trade"

Listen to this headline: "Free trade endangered in new Congress"

What a bunch of whiners. The corporate fat cats that rule the McClatchy newspaper empire have clearly hired the right gang of stooges to run their corporate rag here in Tacoma. "Free Trade", as it's referred to by the elite intellectuals that own our media, is a nightmare for ordinary working people that only benefits those with investments outside the country and those who make more money off dividends than they do off their own actual labor.

Here's the piece in full, separated by my angry critique in italics.

Free trade endangered in new Congress

One problem with politics is that it’s always a package deal. Constituent groups offer their votes and money to political parties, and both Republicans and the Democrats wind up playing host to some screwball causes.

Like the neverending occupation of Iraq?

Vote for Republicans because you favor lower taxes, and you wind up with environmental “reforms” written by industry lobbyists.

True.

Vote for Democrats because you want a more ethical Congress, and you wind up with lawmakers who pander to fears about free trade.

Democrats that actually pay attention to the concerns of their constituents? Those bastards!

The latter may be precisely what’s happened with the 2006 congressional elections. A slew of newly elected or re-elected Democrats belong to the global-commerce-kills-jobs school of economics.

I don't even know where to begin with this one. Can't we be for trade that is fair for the citizens of both countries involved? Tell me how that "kills" jobs?

Their party’s newly won control of both House and Senate bodes ill for important trade liberalization initiatives, such as renewal of the president’s “fast-track” negotiating authority and new agreements with Peru and Colombia that need congressional approval.

I hope it bodes ill for these initiatives! "Free trade" agreements with Peru and Colombia are totally unnecessary, considering the abysmal labor and environmental standards in both those countries, and "fast-track" authority is a power that no one person should have.

That also bodes ill for Washington, the most trade-dependent of all states. By some estimates, as many as a third of all jobs here are tied in some way to international commerce. Washingtonians sell jetliners, apples, software, wines, lumber, potatoes and endless other things to other countries, and this state actually runs a trade surplus with China.

Oh my god! A trade surplus? Maybe we're actually doing something right here. Perhaps we should focus on how to replicate that success nationwide, instead of tricking our readers into thinking that "free trade" will do that. Because it hasn't. And it won't.

As a result, the Democrats that Washington sends to Congress largely understand that vigorous commerce – and the policies that make it possible – tend to create more jobs than they displace.

As long as you pair vigorous trade with tariffs to protect domestic industries.

They will be an important voice in a Democratic majority that may be inclined to pursue shortsighted protectionist policies likely to curb U.S. exports to foreign markets.

Protectionist policies will not curb U.S. exports. The only thing that will curb exports is a policy that wipes out our domestic industries, a policy exactly like today's corporate "free trade".

Fast-track authority – which will expire this summer – is crucial.

Wrong!

It allows the president to negotiate trade deals with other countries that are not subject to congressional amendment, though Congress remains empowered to reject them in their entirety.

Why would we take away the power of Congress to negotiate these deals? The President can be lobbied directly by one or more self-serving industries, whereas the Congress is much larger and harder to influence in such a simple way. Shouldn't we then put the power into their hands, where it's easier to implement the will of the people? Fast track authority has given us NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT (which gave us the WTO) and several other terrible trade deals which have wiped out our manufacturing base. Wouldn't you like to see what Democrats in Washington could actually do with the power to negotiate trade deals? We might actually see some positive changes in labor and environmental standards, rather than having to rely on the kindness of our trading partners and their autocratic and/or ineffectual governments.

Without that authority, the United States is not a reliable negotiating partner.

This is patently false.

Other countries know that the complex bilateral agreements they work out with American representatives are subject to being picked apart in Congress by lawmakers out to protect industries in their home districts. The lack of fast-track authority makes it much harder for the United States to establish mutually beneficial agreements with trade partners.

So the deals we worked out with countries for the first two hundred and ten years of our history weren't mutually beneficial? This is nothing more than right-wing spin to confuse you into supporting this position, based on nothing.

Polls suggest that many Americans are fearful of international trade, which in fact can be a hard sell.

Shouldn't that tell you something is wrong with the way we've been doing it? Like maybe we should change course?

It is much easier to alarm people by posing in front of a newly closed factory than it is to reassure them by pointing to abstract statistics showing job gains and economic growth.

Maybe that's because it's a more honest approach.

But Washington state is a working demonstration of how international trade offers a big net advantage to those who don’t run away from it. Our congressional delegation has a duty to get that message out.

Yes, they do. But if we're successful, the message won't be written the way the McClatchy Group wants it written. If We the People are effective in lobbying the Democrats to change the way our government negotiates these crooked deals, perhaps Washington State and every state in the union will see a resurgence in American industry. By ending fast-track and reinstating protective tariffs for essential American industries, as well as State-of-Origin labeling, we may just be able to restore all we have lost, since the nightmare of NAFTA began the rapid decline of our economy.


My Take

So there you have it. Yet another editorial page dominated by corporate money-men whining because Democratic legislators might actually do the right thing when it comes to protecting American jobs. Sadly, they've been handed this club by Democratic legislators like Joe Liebermann and Maria Cantwell, and good little lapdogs like Adam Smith and Norm Dicks, who take every opportunity they can to tout the importance of corporate "free trade".

I'd like to see these misguided Democratic legislators go to one of those "free trade zones" in Jamaica or Haiti or the Dominican Republic, to see what it's like where workers have no rights, no retirement and no health benefits. I'd like them to wander the streets at night without their entourages and see how long it takes before they are mugged, offered cheap heroin, or invited to spend the night with a twelve-year-old child prostitute and her starving family.

Free trade is killing this country, and killing the world. Global warming may be the biggest disaster facing this planet in the next twenty years, but the effects of free trade are visible now to anyone who dares to go and visit the Third World. If we wanted to build factories in Peru and Colombia that actually employed people at a living wage, I would be all for it. But thanks to the miracle of "fast-track" that Seago and Zeeck tout as some kind of panacaea, such protections can not be written in to the law. And the WTO, which America is a signatory to, will not even allow such well-intentioned changes to be enforced.

If the Democrats do the right thing, and actually work to change these laws through fair negotiation (following the demise of "fast-track"), they will quickly discover that challenging these laws bring the US into conflict with the World Trade Organization, a conflict which will not end happily for anyone with stock in the growing industries of outsourcing and the corporate rape of "emerging" markets. And because McClatchy and Murdoch and all the other tools of corporate media are making money off this awful situation, they will lose money and power worldwide. Threatening corporate "free trade" threatens their bottom line, and therefore, they will continue to sell this concept as somehow good for our state, and good for us.

But they will be wrong.

Challenging corporate free trade, and by extension, the very structure of the WTO, is
what we absolutely must do as a nation, if we are ever to restore the power of our economy and the strength of our industrial infrastructure. If we want to have good middle-class American jobs, we need to protect our domestic industries with protective tariffs and the enforcement of existing immigration laws. The corporatists who run our newspapers and our television networks would freak out if our leaders did this, but it's still the right thing to do.

Bringing back protective tariffs and throwing employers of undocumented immigrants in jail. Those two policies will make a dramatic impact on our economy, by forcing investors to invest in domestic industries. It will energize our economy and transform the labor market by forcing employers to pay a living wage. It's the right thing to do, which is why you will never see our local corporate rag advocating either of these policies. Instead, they will continue to shill for GE and Westinghouse and Lockheed Martin and Wal-Mart and all the other corporations that want to outsource our national security for the benefit of the Almighty Dollar.

I say tell McClatchy where they can stick it, and tell your legislators to vote the right way on corporate "free trade"! Down with "fast-track" authority and down with the WTO! We can have a country again, that serves all its citizens and not just the richest one tenth of one percent. We can have a country that we are proud to be citizens of, but only if we get off our butts and make our views known to those who claim to represent us in Washington.

Call, write, and raise hell! It's the only way we'll ever get our country back from the vultures who have stolen it from us. It's our patriotic duty as Americans to defend the policies that protect our jobs and restore our wealth as a nation. And the best part is that doing so will be good for all workers worldwide.

While you're pissed off, consider sending a letter to the TNT to tell them what YOU think of corporate "free trade". Send a copy to us here, and we'll print it in our "Your Views" section.

Categories: Local News, Workers' Rights

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Great letter from Michael Moore on the neverending occupation of Iraq

Here's the link. Check it out and tell him what you think.

And while your heart is in the right place, won't you consider signing the pledge to stop the violence against the people of Oaxaca, Mexico? If enough of us work together on this, we could possibly save some lives.

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Say hello to the latest member of our Stop Free Trade! Bloggers Coalition

Let's hear it for Washington Outsiders, delivering a much-needed shot in the arm to the anti-free trade movement here in Washington State. To see more on this subject, bookmark our Stop Free Trade! Bloggers Coaltion page here.

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Our brothers and sisters in Oaxaca need our help

Hey folks, if you haven't signed the petition calling for an end to the violence against the people of Oaxaca, please do so now. I will be sending lists of signatures to our legislators here in Washington very soon.

Here's a great piece about the conflict and what it means for the future.

Categories: World News, National Security State, Revolution

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Flying while Muslim

I can't believe it. Racial Profiling Week continues here in the birthplace of religious tolerance, the good old US of A. Here's the scoop, according to CNN.com.

This is absolutely disgusting to me. I can't believe an airline can do this and not face massive pressure to fire the people responsible. I hope US Airways loses money over this, because interrogating people simply because a fellow passenger felt "uncomfortable" is totally 100 percent racist, totally stupid and totally not helping us win the so-called "War on Terror".

You know what would help us win the war on terror? Winning the respect and admiration of our own citizens. That might be a good starting point. Then from there we could move on to citizens in other countries, who might be under the mistaken impression that we're all a bunch of racist, fascist islamophobes who blame every Muslim on the planet for every person who's ever died in a freakin' plane crash in the last twenty years.

What the f***? This country is totally 100 percent f***** up, and our President, if he wasn't just as much of a racist piece of s*** as these flight attendants would say something on television about how offensive this is.

Come on. Think about it. If you ran an airline, is this the kind of image you want to project to your customers?

"Hey, Habib, if you talk funny we'll kick your rag-wearing ass off our planes, and you can't do s*** about it!"

If I was the CEO of US Airways, I would be all over the bastards that ordered this. I would have somebody's job for this. Somebody would be on administrative leave and I would be telling the world that this is not our corporate policy.

But of course, I don't run a freakin' airline. I'm just a lowly mailman with a chip on his shoulder about racism, classism, sexism and all the other bulls**t that us ordinary working people have to deal with from our "betters" all the freakin' time.

If I was newly elected Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, I would be taking this opportunity to not only apologize profusely to the men who were detained and forced off the plane, but also to speak directly to the American people. He really should put out a statement about how wrong this is.

Here's the story about the boycott. Don't fly US Airways!

Here's John from Americablog's take on this situation.

Here's CoolAqua's.

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Racial profiling or brutal racist hate crime?

I can't believe these f---ing pigs. Here they are on YouTube tasering this poor kid five times for doing NOTHING. F--- these sons of b-----s. I hate cops, especially the ones that do this to innocent people.

In listening to Demcoracy Now! last night (5 PM on 91.3 KBCS FM) I learned that the UCLA pigs have even more latitude to use this kind of brutal treatment against kids who even just "passively" resist.

This is nothing more than the preparation for another Kent State. I wouldn't be surprised if every school's cops were being given more lenient guidelines on this sort of thing.

Call! Protest! Investigate! Tell your "leaders" what you think of their bulls--t "War on Terror"!

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Help Hurricane Katrina survivors get back to Lousiana and get their lives back!

This just in, from Free Radio Olympia 89.5:

Talib Kweli and friends stand up for Katrina survivors!

This is a great opportunity for anyone who cares about what has happened to the citizens of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after Katrina and our President's (intentionally) botched rescue efforts and non-existent reconstruction.

Please attend this event and bring money to donate to help this effort be a success. And if you know anyone who survived the hurricanes and came up here, bring them to this event as well. It should be a really good time.

Sunday, November 19, from 2 to 3:30 PM
at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center,
104 17th Ave. S., Seattle, WA

Nationally and internationally renowned hip hop artist Talib Kweli will be taking time out from his latest tour to voice his solidarity with displaced and returning hurricane survivors of the Gulf Coast.

For more information contact:
Linda Warren, Lagniappe Caravan (206) 914-6288
Leith Kahl, PHRF (206) 940-3807

SEATTLE RIGHT TO RETURN COMMITTEE AND TALIB KWELI SAY:
SUPPORT THE LAGNIAPPE CARAVAN!
DOWN WITH THE LOUISIANA RECOVERY AUTHORITY!
AN INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL MUST CONVENE!

On Sunday, November 19, from 2 to 3:30 PM at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S., Seattle, WA, nationally and internationally renowned hip hop artist Talib Kweli will be taking time out from his latest tour to voice his solidarity with displaced and returning hurricane survivors of the Gulf Coast. He stands in solidarity with the People's Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition (PHRF/OC), the Lagniappe Caravan, and the International Tribunal on Katrina.

The hurricane survivors of Louisiana are marching on their governor's office on Saturday, November 18th, in a demonstration organized by the People's Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition, demanding "We Want Our Money". Governor Kathleen Blanco has hijacked over $10 billion from the Federal Government. Congress appropriated this money to assist displaced people and to reconstruct New Orleans and other areas damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. To control these funds, Blanco created an extra judicial body, accountable fundamentally only to her, called the
Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). The LRA is wholly unrepresentative of Louisiana's population, particularly of New Orleans, in both its race and class composition. The LRA represents the interests of major developers.

PHRF/OC, Seattle Right to Return Committee, and Talib Kweli demand:

1. That the LRA be disbanded and a representative institution or body is created to oversee and govern the recovery and reconstruction process;

2. That renters are compensated for their losses and be provided with resources to aid with moving costs, deposits, and rent assistance;

3. That all of the public housing units in New Orleans be reopened immediately;

4. That there be no demolition of any of the public housing units in New Orleans;

5. That rent gouging cease and decent affordable housing be made available; and that funds for the total replacement of privately owned homes be made available.

Members of Lagniappe Caravan and Common Ground Collective in Seattle declare their solidarity with the demonstration and action by the PHRF. The action is occurring on the same day that the caravan is holding a benefit comedy show, here in Seattle. Lagniappe Caravan and Common Ground Collective speak in unity with PHRF: "We Want Our Money Back, Too!" Since the funds have been hijacked, they find that the approximately 200,000 residents that were displaced from the New Orleans area alone are still struggling to return home, including 3,000-5,000 evacuees stranded in
the Seattle area. As a response to this problem, they have formed Lagniappe Caravan, a Hurricane Katrina survivor-led organization that is planning to help survivors relocate, reunite, and participate in the rebuilding process (Lagniappe is a commonly used New Orleans word meaning "just a little bit more"). The first caravan will leave in spring, 2007, and will be of no cost to survivors who wish to return home.

The PHRF has also called for an International Tribunal to try the governments of the United States, Louisiana, and the municipalities of the Gulf Coast Region with the crimes against humanity that have been committed against an internally displaced people inside the United States. An initial Commission of Inquiry, including delegates from South Africa, France, Venezuela, and Brazil, has traveled to Biloxi and New Orleans, and taken testimony from survivors that clearly demonstrate the need to convene such a tribunal, which has been called for 2007. The Seattle Right to Return Committee and Talib Kweli join in the call for this tribunal.

This event is endorsed and organized by:

Lagniappe Caravan & Common Ground Collective in Seattle,
P.O. Box 70873, Seattle, 98133
http://seattle.commongroundcollective.org

People's Hurricane Relief Fund, 1418 N. Claiborne Ave, Suite 2,
New Orleans, LA 70116, (504) 301-0215
http://www.peopleshurricane.org

Common Ground Collective, 1415 Franklin Ave,
New Orleans, LA 70117, (504)947-0270
http://www.commongroundrelief.org

People's Institute Northwest, (206) 938-1023
email: pinwseattle(at)yahoo.com

Change the Game, (917) 407-3018
http://www.changethegame.org

Hip Hop Back To Its Roots, (206) 386-1177
http://www.diamondlifepresents.com/backtoitsroots.shtml

The International Tribunal
http://www.peopleshurricane.org/international-tribunal

Socialist Organizer (The Organizer Newspaper) Seattle,
(206) 940-3807; (206) 355-6572.
http://www.theorganizer.org


** FRO is online at http://www.frolympia.org **

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New RFID passports easily hacked, freedom to travel is threatened

Here's the scoop from CoolAqua. Folks, if you haven't studied up on what RFID chips are, you need to right now. This technology is scary as hell.

They have legitimate uses, for example, in products at retail stores in case of shoplifting. The theft can be recorded and followed up by the police. However, if you actually leave the store with an item you've purchased and it has one of these things attached to it, you've essentially purchased an electronic leash. If the government or an unscrupulous business wants to track and study your movements, they now have free rein to do so.

If the chip is in your passport, the situation is even worse, because everywhere you go when traveling in a foreign country you will be holding it. This means that if your government or that foreign government is watching you, they can ping the passport's chip at any time, thus being able to determine where you're going and when. This will effectively shut down all international organizing, because governments will be able to coordinate their internal police forces with foreign forces and use that intelligence against the organizers.

Add to that trouble the awful prospect of some unscrupulous person or gang being able to hack into your RFID passport and all of a sudden your very right to travel is in jeopardy. If some gangster or terrorist uses a forged passport with your information to do business and they are caught, all of a sudden your life may be in danger. This is very bad for national security and bad for individual's security from their own overzealous governments.

Please call Congress and tell them no RFID chips in our passports!

Categories: National Security State

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Evergreen teachers form a union!

As a Greener Grad and a trade unionist myself, I am so happy to know that the faculty of The Evergreen State College now have representation. Here's the story from the Olympian.

There are so many great teachers at that school, and I know that they will all benefit from this decision, even the ones who voted against it. I checked out the faculty pages, and I saw that Rick McKinnon of OlyBlog is an adjunct faculty member there. Let's all head over and let him know how proud we are of him and all the other members of Washington's newest union!

Categories: Organized Labor, Local News

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Open Letter to DNC Chair Howard Dean

Before I get started, have you signed the petition for the people of Oaxaca yet?

Dear Chairman Dean:

I'm writing to you today to express my gratitude and my concern. Gratitude that you had the foresight to build up the fortunes of the Party in every single state, and concern that you are unwilling or unable to encourage the Party to move in a truly progressive direction for the future.

I understand that moving the Party forward on policy decisions isn't really your call to make, as you are largely a manager of resources and not an elected official yourself, but it seems to me that what this country needs now more than ever is someone who has a national platform to speak to the issue that dominated this campaign:

Corruption.

Corruption was the issue that over sixty percent of Americans polled on Election Day agreed was a serious problem, and yet, the Democratic Party in Washington appears to be pulling back from taking the steps necessary to clean up corruption in Washington and bring back some semblance of honest democracy.

What we need now, more than anything else, is a full restoration of the promise of our nation, a return to the fundamental tenets of democracy. For my money, and for the activists of the party to feel like their efforts were worth the risk, we need to go back to the way this country was run under liberal Presidents such as Kennedy and Carter, moving forward with all the liberal reforms of government they advanced, but also going further since so much has been done in recent years to erode our democracy.

"Rebuilding Democracy" is a message that can be delivered from the Democratic National Committee in a way that expresses the overwhelming outrage of so many American citizens without pushing for a particular agenda, other than the rolling back of the most egregious violations of law pushed by this President and his administration in the last six years.

Here's a short list just off the top of my head:

Repealing the Military Commissions Act and restoring habeas corpus to our prisoners;
Ending the use of the phony term "enemy combatant" to describe prisoners of war;
Revoking the right of the President's intelligence agencies to spy on Americans without judicial review;
Returning to the primacy of science in government reports instead of the administrative fiat of corrupt political appointees;
Ending the pull of money in Congress by tightly regulating the use of earmarks and lobbyist expenditures;
Real reform of our national election system, including public financing of elections and free airtime for candidates, regardless of party;

and finally, intense scrutiny of all Administrative blunders and/or policy decisions that have led to waste, fraud, and abuse and/or grievous injury to American citizens and innocent civilians in this country and around the world (9/11, Katrina, Enron, Iraq, Afghanistan, to name a few).

Howard, you have a tremendous opportunity in the next two years to advance the same themes Democrats have always advanced, from health care to secure retirements to workplace safety, etc., but you have a very short window of time, due to the upcoming Presidential race, to stake out a clear Democratic position on this defining issue of our time. Rebuilding our democracy can and should take center stage. We have so many crimes that need investigating, and without a clear, compassionate voice guiding the will of the electorate towards that end, the people will stop believing that they elected the Party of justice to prominence in Washington. If your office does not stand up and speak clearly and directly to these issues, the American people will quite likely believe, rightly or wrongly, that they just elected yet another tired old political machine with no interest in reforming the abuses of this President and his rubber-stamp Congress, and the consequences of that perception, whether accurate or not, will be the end of Democratic control and a near-total loss of our democracy.

Please do your part to remind the American people why they elected us, the Democratic Party, to represent their interests in Washington. It was, as many have said, to send a message on Iraq, but just as important, this vote should be seen as a call for real reform of a system of government falling rapidly into disrepair.

We have the power now to fix everything this President and this Congress have foisted upon us. Let us use this power to, once and for all, rebuild the democracy our forefathers won for us all those generations ago.

We know you can do it, Howard. We have faith in you.

In solidarity,

Jeff Richardson AKA The Tahoma Activist
Education Director
America in Solidarity
www.americasolidarity.org

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Congratulations, Democrats, now do your job!

This is the name of a brilliant new site that you need to go to right now.

If Democrats are going to serve us properly, they need to be kicked in the butt as early and as often as possible.

Real quick, here are the demands of congratulationsdemocratsnowdoyourjob.com:

1) All votes must have a paper trail
2) Break up corporate media
3) Investigate rationale for Iraq War and continued occupation
4) Investigate war profiteering
5) Open hearings on Cheney Energy Task Force
6) Investigate car companies' suppression of electric car technology
7) Congressional hearings on feasability of massive solar projects
8) Truly independent and massive study of 9/11 plot and subsequent coverup
9) Public hearings on effects of Depleted Uranium on our troops
10) Revoke Patrriot Act, torture and military commissions acts, reinstate habeas corpus
11) Hearings on G8 countries transitioning spending from arms expenditures to human needs.

And this last one is my contribution, which you can support by signing the petition,

12) Petition State Department to pressure Mexican government to cease their repression of their own people, and to investigate the assassinations of peaceful protestors and journalists

Go to Congratulationsdemocratsnowdoyourjob.com today and join the movement that is changing the dialogue in this country. You'll be glad you did.

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Michael Moore with a message for all you lefties

Here it is:

Friends,

You did it! We did it! The impossible has happened: A majority of Americans have soundly and forcefully removed Bush's party from control of the House of Representatives. And, sometime today perhaps, we may learn that the same miracle has happened in the Senate. Whatever the outcome, the American people have made two things crystal clear: End this war, and stop Mr. Bush from doing any more damage to this country we love. That is what this election was about. Nothing else. Just that. And it's a message that has sent shock waves throughout Washington -- and a note of hope around this troubled world.

Now the real work begins. Unless we stay on top of these Democrats to do the right thing, they will do what they've always done: Screw it up. Big Time. They helped Bush start this war, and now they should make amends.

But let's take a day to rejoice and revel in a rare victory for our side -- the side that doesn't believe in unprovoked invasions of other countries. This is your day, my friends. You have worked hard for it. I can't tell you how proud I am to count all of you as part of the greater American mainstream we now occupy. Thank you for all the time you gave this week to get out the vote. Some of you have been at this since the large demonstrations of February 2003 when we tried to stop the war before it started. Only 10-20% of the country agreed with us at that time. Remember how lonely that was? Some people were even booed! Now, 60% of the country agrees with our position. They are us and we are them. What a nice, strange, hopeful feeling.

A woman, for the first time in our history, will be Speaker of the House. The attempt to ban all abortion in the conservative state of South Dakota was defeated. Laws to raise the minimum wage were passed. Democrats were elected to fill Tom DeLay's and Mark Foley's seats. Detroit's John Conyers, Jr. is going to be the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. The Democratic governor of Michigan beat the CEO from Amway. The little township next to where I live in Michigan voted Democratic for the first time since... ever. And on and on and on. The good news will continue throughout today. Let's enjoy it. Savor it. And use it to get Congress to finally listen to the majority.

If you want to do one thing today, send an email or a letter to both of your senators and your member of Congress [here's a great resource for that - editor]and tell them, in no uncertain terms, what this election means: End the war -- and don't let George W. Bush get away with any more of his bright ideas.

Congratulations, again! Now let's go find a spine for the Dems to do the job we've sent them there to do.

Yours in victory (for once!),

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

P.S. Thanks for all those photos you sent me of you with your brooms at your polling places. They're still coming in and we're posting them here throughout the day. And for those of you who asked how "Sicko" is coming along, the answer is: better than we ever expected! We're hard at work in the edit room and it will be in theaters in June. Thanks again, everyone, for your support.

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Progressives win when they're supported by the Democratic Party

Rahm Emmanuel is a putz. If he had been replaced before this election by someone who actually cares about human beings and is opposed to the further occupation of Iraq, the DCCC might have actually supported candidates that were strong progressive populists. Thanks to Laura Flanders of Air America Radio for this clear insight.

Think about it - real progressives delivering strong progressive messages do well. Folks like Tester in Montana, Brown in Ohio, and Lamont in Connecticut (who got cut off at the knees by Joe and the cons) do well when they have support from party leaders as well as clear positions that the people believe in.

Let's hope they remember this lesson in 2008.

Oh yeah, sign the petition to save the people of Oaxaca, Mexico from their own right-wing government.

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You've voted, you've called, you've doorbelled, now sign the petition

You've done everything you needed to do to preserve democracy for all Americans. Now do one simple thing to preserve it for our brothers and sisters in Mexico. Down in the southern state of Oaxaca, the people are experiencing a nightmare scenario of violent repression courtesy of state and federal agents with heavy weapons, and they need our help to survive.

Sign the petition and send a message to our friends that you want them to have the same level of freedom we now enjoy!

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Thanks to all who participated - you made this election happen!

To all the bloggers, the grassroots activists, the doorbellers and phonebankers, it's you who made this whole thing come together. It's awesome to vote, but it's even more awesome to get involved and turn your vote into twenty. To all those who helped register voters, and particularly to all the organizations who organized the grassroots this year, from Moveon.org to the Central Labor Councils to all the little house parties and grassroots collectives, you're the ones who make it all possible.

Keep it up! Democracy begins with you - tag, you're it!

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Voting is not enough - pick up the phone and dial, Western Washington!

Here in Western Washington we have it pretty good. All but one of our reps are Democrats, and most of them are pretty smart on the issues. We have a whole lot of Congressional seats up for grabs, though, across the country, so please, for the love of God, get your lovely Democrat-loving behind over to Moveon.org and Sign up to make phone calls from the comfort of your own home.

The url is callforchange.com - go there right now and start calling, or as soon as you get home from work. Voting is not enough!

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Cantwell breezes into town, speaks, then bolts

I just attended my first Cantwell event, and boy was that a letdown. The woman may be a consistent Democratic vote in the Senate, but she is not that interesting to listen to. Christine Gregoire was much more fiery.

By the way, the petition calling for an end to the violence against the people of Oaxaca is still building signatures. Please take the time to sign it here. We will be delivering these signatures to our candidates very soon.

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Oaxaca crisis on Democracy Now!

Excellent coverage of the Oaxaca situation on Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! For those who haven't yet heard this award-winning program, tune in today. IN the Western Washington area, Democracy Now! can be heard at 6 AM and again at 5 PM on KBCS 91.3 FM.

Sign the petition to our legislators to stand up for the people of Oaxaca!

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Last chance to sign the petition before we deliver it to Cantwell, Dicks and Smith

Sign the petition now! These three will be here in the Tacoma area Monday night at 5:30 at the Longshore Hall in Fife.

You can also call or send letters - this has a huge impact if enough of us do it. Here are the contact pages for our legislators.

Maria Cantwell

Norm Dicks

Adam Smith

Go to www.congress.org for more.

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Oaxaca defends their university from heavily armed force

Finally some good news from Oaxaca. Here's CNN's take on it.

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Open letter to all those who I may leave behind

Well brothers and sisters, it looks like George Bush has now received everything he needs to institue a massive fascist crackdown of the entire country. Habeas Corpus? Gone. Posse Comitatus? Gone. Halliburton run detention centers with inward-facing barbed wire? Here to stay. A FEMA that no one can trust to deliver quality life-saving care, and a system of domestic spying that pundits claim is keeping us safe from terrorism? Here to stay, and getting worse all the time.

So now what? What can we expect from our government? Well, if you are a trade unionist or other protestor for justice in Oaxaca, Mexico, you can expect to be shot at, to be hit with tear gas canisters, or just picked up and "disappeared". If you think this sort of thing is utterly disgusting and an affront to freedom as I do, then please, sign the petition and send Congress the message that Mexico should treat her citizens with respect by refraining from this kind of violence now and in the future.

Of course, what's happening in Mexico right now is just a few strokes of the Presidential pen from happening right here in the US of A. Which brings me to the point of this post: explaining to all of you what you must do in my absence.

If, as some have suggested, the President and his "Justice" Department will use the techniques practiced in the FALCON exercises to round up their political opponents following the elections, yours truly could very well end up being rounded up in such a purge. And considering that habeas corpus has been wiped away by this servile Congress, someone picked up in the US wouold never have an opportunity to challenge his or her detention, which means that they could essentially do whatever they wanted, whether it's legal or not.

But I'm not afraid. I know what sort of person I've been these last three years, fighting to improve my community and working to build relationships between people that will last long after I am gone. I'm proud of what I've accomplished in such a short time. My only hope is that there will be someone who tries to find out what happened to me and other political prisoners, and that that someone manages to expose the individuals responsible for subverting our democracy. If I end up dying as a result, so be it. There are worse ways to die than dying for the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

But before I go, I'd like to just set a few things down for the record, to clear up a few misconceptions and to add to the discussion surrounding my disappearance, or untimely death.

Number One: I am not a Communist. I have never even attended a Socialists meeting. I've been friendly with people from organizations like this but never wanted to get drawn into discussions of which philosophy is most pure or which old hardliner is more worth following (I'm talking to you, Bob Avakian). I've chosen instead to follow the movement for grassroots change in America. Call it pragmatic social democracy, or even anarchistic socialism, but it sure as hell ain't Communism.

Number Two: I'm not a terrorist. Secretary of Education Rod Paige called the Teacher's Union a bunch of terrorists, but let me just state for the record - terrorists are people that use violence to achieve political ends. Trade unionists use direct action to achieve political ends. It's a very different thing. Terrorists tend to have very secretive organizations that insulate the leaders from having to do any actual killing, preferring to use instead lonely, angry young people who have a beef with the "enemy". Trade unionists prefer to work in solidarity, moving in large numbers and breaking up property instead of people's skulls. Terrorists blow things up while trade unionists slow things down. Given the choice, I'll go with nonviolent civil resistance any day. It's a lot more fun, and less bloody, too.

Number Three: I am not a Federal agent. A lot of times, particularly in the 60s, the powers that be would start whispering campaigns against effective organizers in an attempt to poison their friends against them. I f***ing hate the Federal Government, particularly the intelligence agencies, for the actions they undertake overseas, on Indian reservations, and in our inner-cities. Therefore you can be confident that I would never stoop to being a f***ing spook and doing the bidding of the wealthy corporate elite and their pawns in the White House. Anyone who says I'm a federal agent should get their f***ing head examined.

Number Four: George Bush is not stupid. That motherf***er is smarter than you think. He may not be smart when it comes to public policy, but that's because he doesn't give a f*** about it. What he likes is money and power. If you talk to him about those two things, he is very smart indeed. So don't think old George couldn't be a part of a secret conspiracy to dominate the world's oil market, or to plot false-flag terror attacks against our own citizens. Which brings me to...

Number Five: Dick Cheney is the f***ing Antichrist. This disgusting, evil scumbag is Satan incarnate, and will eat your children for breakfast if he can't get any good eight-year-old virgins from Latin America. This guy is toxic, even worse than old Bush 41, and one of the lead architects of the New World Order, along with Wolfowitz, Perle and Kissinger. This guy knows where all the "bodies are buried", cause he's the one who ordered them killed. This piece of s*** not only planned the 9/11 attacks, he brags about it constantly. You can tell he really wants to tell everyone he helped bring about this national nightmare, but he can't without risking the whole operation.

Number Six: 9/11 was an inside job, planned to look like a horrible al Qaeda strike but designed by our own intelligence services and conducted using contract agents from other countries. The information is all over the web - read it, learn it, commit it to memory, and tell everyone you know. This is the greatest crime ever perpetrated upon a people by their government since Hitler and Stalin purged their societies of dissidents and Jews, and they did it right under our noses.

Number Seven: Whatever they tell you, I am a good person. I love my wife, I love my dog, I love my parents. I'm not a freaky sex pervert. I am always respectful to my elders, and I have never committed a crime (except perhaps ingesting controlled substances, which really shouldn't even be a crime). I've always been against violence and degrading treatment, and would never knowingly hurt another human being unless in total self-defense.


So there you have it. Whatever crap they tell you to convince you that I deserved to be "detained" or disappeared, don't believe it. The movement continues, whether I'm here or not.

Keep it up, and don't give up the fight. Our democracy has survived worse than George Bush, and it will survive this. You all just need to keep spreading the truth, telling the stories that aren't being told, writing letters to the editor, organizing protests, and all the other things that free people do. I may not get there with you, but that's alright, because, like Dr. King said to a room full of trade unionists the night before he died: "I have been to the mountaintop, and I have seen the promised land!"

Categories: National Security State

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Tell Senator Cantwell her brothers and sisters are being "disappeared" in Mexico

Folks, now is the time to raise hell on this issue. Senator Cantwell will be coming to Tacoma on Monday and our petition will be delivered to her at that time. We must call and make this issue prominent in any way that we can. Please email this petition to everyone you know, and post wildly about it everywhere you can.

Below the fold is a full report on the disappearances and other activities currently unfolding in Oaxaca as we go about our awesome election spectacle.

In case you're interested, we have over eighty petition signers so far. Keep 'em comin!

By Calamity and Guerrero in Oaxaca

The APPO Repels the PFP from The Benito Juarez University in Oaxaca

Additional comprehensive updates at La Luchita

Keywords: Analysis, Global, Government, War & Peace, Bradley Will,
Confirmed Injured: 15 men and 9 Women Injured in between 19 and 78 years old in one safe space in oaxaca. Hospitals are refusing to admit the injured and red cross is not respoding to calls. Out of the people in this one safe space there is at least one person in grave condition.

17:48 A report from Oaxaca states that thousands of people arriving at the University of Oaxaca, coming in solidaity with blanket and food, yelling "We're are not APPO, we are the people of Oaxaca. There is a long tradition in Oaxaca called tequio: which means to say mutal support, collectiveness, and community, which is done for the common good. The is a massive tequio that is on its way to the University of Oaxaca.

17:43 8 people that have been detained today have been taken to Amor park and then taken by helicopters PF302 and PF305 and taken to the woman's jail of Tlacolula.

17:32 Squads of PFP are arresting people in Amor park and in surrounding areas and taking them away in helicopters.

17:20 4 helicopters land at the Amor park.

17:13 Police helicopters are making low sweeps in the city center of Oaxaca.

17:11 There are 4 people reported to be detained in Amor park and taken away by helicopter.

17:08 The PFP that were in the Amor park in Oaxaca is headed toward the center of the city. There are about 15 trucks.

17:07 Mario Trinidad Michel López is reported missing today in Oaxaca.

17:05 Teodoro Aquino Bolaños, a volunteer medic who served at the free first-aid clinics is reported missing. He belongs to the 35th sector of health of Oaxaca

17:03 Eduardo Hernández Mendoza, 22, is being reported missing. He had left is home for groceries at the Candiani market. He was kidnapped by PFP agents and taken away by helicopter.

16:53 The commanders of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation Zebedeo, Grabiela, and Miriam have given a announcement on the recent events of repression in Oaxaca, at the Homiciclo de Juarez in Mexico City.

16:52 An extraordinary assembly of APPO is being announced at 5 o'clock in Oaxaca.

16:42 A report from Radio Universidad of Oaxaca indicates that two paramilitary thugs Luis Morales López and Mario Feria Ortega of the neighborhood 25 de Enero in Oaxaca as of a half hour ago were recruiting were organizing people to carry-out and attack on Radio Universidad of Oaxaca. One of them lives in the same neighborhood on Hidalgo road, house 109.

16:28 People denouce the disappearance of Mr. Victor Cruz Garcia, 39 years of age, that was taken by the police squad car 080987- and the same for two others detain/disappeared in the cars 0291 and 08987 of the PFP.

16:27 On the highway to Puebla a convoy of PFP trucks and cars advance toward Oaxaca.

16:21 a PRIista leader from Oaxaca says to be in support of Ulisies Ruiz and that if the PFP doesn't arrest APPO members that they would do it themselves and that they are not in agreement that the Secretary of Government negotiates with "subversives" ( this message was off of their PRIista declaration read over Radio KeHuelga- time of declaration unknown)

16:17 The newspaper the Universal "After the confrontations with the PFP, it has been reported that a member APPO had died after being hit by a tear-gas grenade.

16:12 Wounded people are being arrested at the Oaxacan Social Security Institute of Mexico as they come in.

16:09 On Radio Universidad a citizen of Oaxaca describes how she saw yesterday the PFP police chasing a man yelling after him "Kill him" Kill him" and how when they caught up they arrested him and beat him dragging him away.

15:52 García Martínez of the Five Señores barrios who stepped out in his slippers to buy tortillas at the same time the PFP operative started against the University of Oaxaca, has been reported missing for 10 hours- he is over 60 years old.

15:49 A commercial radio reports a blockade in solidarity with Oaxaca in Mexico City, on Juarez Avenue in front of Himiciclo (Arc) of Juarez on the central avenue.

15:46 Javier Moreno Colmenares is reported to be missing.

15:42 Fernando Ruiz Santos is reported to be missing.

15:41 15 men and 9 women between the ages of 19 and 78 are reported to be injured, one of the in critical condition. The public hospitals have refused to treat wounded and they have been brought to volunteer first-aid bases that are run by solidarity medic personnel.

15:39 Two Indymedia Gutemala reporters are missing and feared to be disappeared.

15:36 The protest in front of the PFP on Reforma Avenue on the corner of Varsovia, a meeting is being wrapped up and the march is continuing on to the Himiciclo de Juarez (Arc of Juarez)

15:31 Radio Ke huelga reports a blockade on Access 5 highway in mexico City in support of the people of oaxaca and APPO

15:21 Radio university in Oaxaca announces that during the PFP retreat there were reports of provocations in the Sit in zone, and that it is feared that in the following hours there will be attacks by judical state police and paramilitary PRI groups just as has happened in the past months.

15:16 The commericial radio reports that there was a confrontation for the third time with the police on the corner of Eje Central and juarez en the center of mexico City

15:15 its reported that the Federal Preventice Police are heading towards the Zocalo, central plaza, of oaxaca

15:14 The Fine Arts Palace of Mexico City is surrounded by riot police. Surrounding there have been strong protests in support of the people of oaxaca.

15:07 It is reported that Isabel Galindo Aguila, Amado Aguilar, Hector Guzman, of the faculty of politcial cientas of the university UNAM have been detained at 13:00.

15:05 The helicopters cover the retreat of the PFP at Cinco Senores barricade in oaxaca

15:03 The march in Mexico City has arrived to Angel de La independencia, where there are PFP offices

14:57 helicopters continue circuling around the university zone of oaxaca

14:56 The march arrives to help support the barricade at the Five Señores just outside the University of Oaxaca.

14:55 The APPO march in the center of Oaxaca is heading toward the University of Oaxaca.

14:54 A reporter has been injured at the Radio Planton in Oaxaca, apparently by being hit by a tear-gas grenade

14:48 the PFP retreats from the Five Señores intersection.

14:30 A commercial radio is reporting a confrontation on Hidalgo Avenue in Mexico City, in one of the blockades on the Central Axis (main avenue in the city) Another blockade in Mexico City on Juarez in the center of the city. The march continues advancing toward the PFP offices.

14:28 The severely injured, with cranial-encephalic trauma, who we are pleading for urgently for an ambulance from the Red Cross International, is named Angel Santos Gallegos. It's been hours since we've made this call to the International Red Cross and still no ambulance.

14:21 There is a report of a tank burning.

14:20 A reporter from Channel 40 was returned and not kidnapped.

14:19 The Patrol 09035 is making its way around the center of Oaxaca with detained people

14:17 In the Ferrocarril Avenue and 5 señores in Oaxaca the PFP is throwing gas

13:56 A report that photographe David Jaramillo, from the commercial news agency "Universal" is wounded and is being taken to the 4th military region hospital by PFP helicopter – number PF318. He is in stable condition.

13:55 Another person detained is being reported at the Five Señores intersection-happened two hours ago.

13:53 A called has been made to the International Red Cross to come to the help of a person wounded with a encephalic-cranial trauma, who is at the University of Oaxaca.

13:51 The University director announces that he is putting himself in front of the University entrance.

13:48 The blockade at the central axis Lazaro Cardenas (main avenue in Mexico City) has ended- demostrators are now moving toward the Secretary of the Federal Government building.

13:47 Judicial state police, dressed in grey, entered into the Institute of Communication Sciences of the university of Oaxaca

13:46 Another person detained at the Noria Avenue at the entrance to the Five Señores intersection

13:41 Felix Jiménez Fabián a carpenter's assistant, was detained and was visibly beaten. 2 helicopters are dropping tear-gas, trying to take out the Radio Universidad antenna. There is a house on fire set by the police attacks. David Jarramillo, photographer from the Universal, was wounded, in the police attacks.

13:38 A dramatic report from a woman on the Radio Universidad in Oaxaca, who explains how the judicial state police (Policia ministariales) attacked people in the streets- the helicopters flying above dropping tear-gas bombs. Two helicopters are dropping concution grenades.

13:55 Another person detained is being reported at the Five Señores intersection-happened two hours ago.

13:53 A called has been made to the International Red Cross to come to the help of a person wounded with a encephalic-cranial trauma, who is at the University of Oaxaca.

13:51 The University director announces that he is putting himself in front of the University entrance.

13:48 The blockade at the central axis Lazaro Cardenas (main avenue in Mexico City) has ended- demostrators are now moving toward the Secretary of the Federal Government building.

13:47 Judicial state police, dressed in grey, entered into the Institute of Communication Sciences of the university of Oaxaca

13:46 Another person detained at the Noria Avenue at the entrance to the Five Señores intersection

13:41 Felix Jiménez Fabián a carpenter’s assistant, was detained and was visibly beaten. 2 helicopters are dropping tear-gas, trying to take out the Radio Universidad antenna. There is a house on fire set by the police attacks. David Jarramillo, photographer from the Universal, was wounded, in the police attacks.

13:38 A dramatic report from a woman on the Radio Universidad in Oaxaca, who explains how the judicial state police (Policia ministariales) attacked people in the streets- the helicopters flying above dropping tear-gas bombs. Two helicopters are dropping concution grenades.

13:29 On the second floor of the vetenary building, the security commission (APPO) have identified and removed a reporter from channel 40 that was recording the meeting without permission, recording details of their plans, a practice that is widely used by police in mainstream media channels.

13:28 The tanks that had retreated, had only gone to re-fill their barrels with water (for their water-cannons)- and are now returning to repress the peaceful protesters.

13:25 The Secretary of the Federal Government makes a call to APPO so that the PFP may retreat. The facts are that the Secretary of Government made public announcement two days ago stating “In the name of God, there will not be repression in Oaxaca” Days later there are deaths, hundreds of wounded, an unaccounted number of detained, and dozens of people that have “disappeared”. In this sense the state of Oaxaca is under military law and the civil society is being attacked military personnel.

13:23 A truck-load of police in the Amor Park are heading to the University.

13: 11 Reporters at the Radio Universidad in Oaxaca have picked up bullet casings that belonged to the PFP that have fallen. They are 7.62 caliber casings.

13:05 At a commercial radio, Ardelio Vargas Fosado, general of the PFP, who commanded the masscre in Atneco, continues saying that the PFP will not enter into Radio Univerisdad in the U of Oaxaca, despite all the events that have happened that we are becoming aware of.

13:04 At “Five Señores” tear-gas bombs are being shot at people’s homes.

12:57 Judicial state police have just entered by way of the administration building.

12:51 Judicial state police have have entered into Radio University of Oaxaca

12:50 Besides that the authorities are saying that the PFP has drawn back- what is for certain is that they are still coming into the university- by way of Rio Salado road, in the back of the university of Oaxaca. The PFP are re-grouping to confront the people of APPO that have come in solidarity that have come in this direction. The AFI has entered and have passed the admin and accounting buildings

12:47 Two girls have been taken by helicopter. People in the Noria Hotel have been detained.

12:28 It been confirmed that the reporter of the Free Media Network from Mexico City- who has his arm broken and head bleeding is free and has not been arrested.

12:14 There have detained a reporter from Radio Libre from the Network for Free Media (Rad de medios Libres) from DF (Mexico City) : Mario Mosqueda- he has his arm broken and his headed bashed in bleeding.

12:12 At the Chedruai (shopping store/mall) the PFP has surrounded a group of reporters and had gassed them with a red gas. There are various wounded. The PFP are starting fights.

11:58 In the plaza del valle, on one side of the soriana the PFP is kicking in the doors of the entrance of the university.

11:48 journalist in the zone report that the federal preventive police are readying weapons. meaning that they are introducing guns and later before the mass meida they will say that the guns were in possesion of the APPO. Attention, the PFP is introducing arms into the university

11:47 The hunger strikers, members of APPO and people in solidarity, indefinatly block Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas Avenue in the center of mexico City, until there is a solution in Oaxaca.

11:46 in the places where the PFP retreated some meters back independent media found AK47 7.62 shells . There is a military marine helicopter and a tank in the doors of the university center of Oaxaca. There are people in two lines on both sides of the line of PFP.

11:43 Three thousand members of the Federal preventive Police arrive in the oaxaca airport , to "heroicly" assault a university radio: Radio Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca.

11:42 It is confirmed that a helicopter landed in the sports arena of the universidad. The Five Men in a RAM truck took away a protester. the helicopter landed in the same place.

11:37 Mario Trinidad Michel López has been detained. The tanks attacked the people in the administration building. The tanks are washing people with water and phosphorescent ink that lasts 40 hours.

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Older Updates
9:35 Otros 200 policías de la PFP se suman al operativo contra ciudad Universitaria de Oaxaca. Hay colonos solidarizándose, saliendo desde las colonias aledañas. Se está escuchando la campana de cinco señores, alguien logró que saliera de su enmudecimiento. La gente grita consignas y está pacificamente.

9:35am- Another 200 police from the PRP have joined the operative against the University of Oaxaca. There are towns people coming from far away communities coming to the aid of the others at the university clashing with police. The church-bells of the “Five Lords” are ringing- someone has it to start ringing to alarm. Chants and being yelled and are being passive.

9:56 El rector de la Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez declara al aire."la universidad no merece un allamiento de esta naturaleza, es una universidad pobre, marginada por el gobierno federal, es una universidad de donde han salido grandes hombres, grandes científicos, personas valerosas." "Retírense de ahí, por que están atentando contra la historia."

9:56am The director of the Autonomous Univeristy Benito Juarez (U of Oaxaca) declares” the University does not deserve this type of raid, it is a poor university, marginalized by the federal government- it is a university that has graduted great people (men), great scientist, valorous people- Leave this place (to the police), you are attacking history”

10:05 La APPO llama a retroceder uno o dos metros, ahí donde la población se mantiene frente a frente con la PFP, defendiendo pacíficamente la Universidad de Oaxaca. Ello para evitar la confrontación, pues hay grupos de priistas paramilitares y provocadores que podrían generar un enfrentamiento.

10:05 APPO has called to retreate one or two meters where the people are maintaining a front against the PFP. Defending peacefully the University of Oaxaca. They’re doing this to avoid a confrontation with PRIista paramilitary groups and provocatures that could start a conflict.

10:07 Reportan que en el crucero de cinco señores en Oaxaca la PFP agredió severamente a la población. Se reportan en algunas colonias de la ciudad a los priistas lanzando tiros de armas de fuego al aire para evitar que la gente salga a solidarizarse con la Radio Universidad de Oaxaca.

10:07 It’s being reported that the PFP is severely repressing the people of APPO at the “Five Señores” intersection. It’s also being reported that PRIistas in their controlled barrios are firing gun shots in the air to discourage people from coming out and going to the Oaxaca University to help defend it.

10:09 El rector de la Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca el Dr. Felipe Martínez hace presencia en la barricada de Cinco Señores, para apoyar la resistencia pacífica de los ciudadanos que se manifiestan en contra de la entrada de la Policía Federal Preventiva y los paramilitares a la Universidad y a Radio Universidad de Oaxaca.

10:09 The director of Oaxaca Autonomous University Benito Juarez, Dr. Felipe Martinez is at the barricade of the Five Señores to help the passive resistance of the APPO folks that are impeding the entrance of the PFP and the paramilitaries into the university and University Radio of Oaxaca.

10:12 Retén en Ocotlán por el basurero general. Están revisando a la gente, desnudándola incluso.

10:12 The Ocatlán military base near the local trash dump, are detaining people and doing strip seaches

10:13 La PFP detiene a un adulto y tres niños frente a Radio Universidad de Oaxaca. Al adulto se le conoce como Conejo, tiene 28 años, tiene un gaban azul tipo jerga, tiene una mano quemada. Tambien detienen a 3 menores de edad, 2 de quince años y uno de 12 años a quien llaman Marcelo.

10:13 The PFP has detained an adult and three children in front of University Radio of Oaxaca. The adult is known as “Conejo”, 28 years old, he’s wearing a blue wool sweater, and his hand is burnt. They have also detained 3 minors- 2 of 15 years of age and the other of 12 years of age and his name is Marcelo.

10:29 En la línea de la PFP están quitando otra barricada. Por el lado de la barricada de soriana están avanzando camionetas de la policía ministerial y camionetas, así como camiones de volteo, que han estado recogiendo material de las barricadas.

10:29 On the PFP line, they are taking down another barricade. On the other side of the Soriana Barricade, police trucks and dump trucks anr advancing picking up barricade materials.

10:31 Siguen saliendo marchas de personas solidarias en Oaxaca, que van en dirección hacia Radio Universidad de Oaxaca.

10:31 There are still hordes of people coming out in solidarity in Oaxaca and heading in the direction of University Radio of Oaxaca

10:34 La PFP llega a soriana en Oaxaca. A las afueras de la Universidad de Oaxaca siguen llegando personas solidarias.

10:34 The PFP have made it to the Soriana in Oaxaca- and are outside of the Oaxaca University- People in solidarity are still arriving 10:37 The PFP has entered into the science education Institue of Oaxaca (oart of the U of Oaxaca) There are violating the university autonomy, plus other diverse local and federal laws- They are launching tear gas from the university plaza.

10:39 The people that are being arrested are being taking to a temporary detantion center at the airport. There are reports of 15 people that have been detained at the entrance of the Universty of Oaxaca

10:45 The PFP are shooting tear-gas in the back side of the Autonomous University of Oaxaca Benito Juarez. In the "claws of war" tear-gas is illegal. However in "times of peace" the Mexican government is launching tear-gas at peaceful demonstrators.

10:55 Reposts on the University Radio of Oaxaca- peole are calling in with report of police shooting tear-gas. A helicopter has landed at the Five Se?ores and at the admin building of the University of Oaxaca

0:57 Two track loads of assailants are roving around the city streets detaining and taking people coming to help the University Radio. Tear-gas is still being shot at the entrance of the University of Oaxaca.

11:03 A helicopter is flying/hovering over the University Radio of Oaxaca.

11:06 Tear-gas still being launched at the U of Oaxaca- Reports coming in that university people are defending and pushing back the advance of the PFP at the entrance of the Science Education Institute. Over the radio people calling in by telephone can be heard screaming and coughing due to the tear-gas in the air.

11:07 People are being asked to continue ringing there alarm bells and car alarms in protest to the police attacks.

11:08 Medical help is being asked for. There are many wounded- the PFP are shooting tear-gas canisters shooting directly at peoles bodies. This was the same way the PFP shot and killed a "non-lethal" weapon a university student in San Salvador de Atenco, according to reports by the National Commission on Human Rights and many other national and international human rights organizations. Its being reported the Red Cross is on the side of the PFP and isn't

11:15 Radio Universidad in Oaxaca is calling to NOT confront the PFP- "We are confronting the PFP, but we do not want more deaths"

11:20 3 Helicopters have landed near by Radio Universidad Oaxaca.

11:23 Shots are still being heard. Tear-gas bombs are being dropped onto Radio Universidad. People are bring asked to form a human barrier. There is a bombardment of tear-gas and there are more wounded by tear-gas shots. They are violating the autonomy of the university of Oaxaca. Helicopters can be heard above in the air. The PFP are entering the University with tanks moving toward Radio Universidad. The PFP are marching toward Radio University. A camouflage pa

11:28 PFP tanks are at the admin building of the U of Oaxaca.

11:31 A heicopter has landed at the Faculty of Ontology in the U of Oaxaca

11:32 The PFP is shooting tear-gas from their helicopters at unarmed peaceful protester. Just like in Atenco, there have been many shots that have been taken with tear-gas guns- shoting to kill.

11:36 Near the Oaxacan Technological Institute (AFI), 20 Federal Investigation Agency trucks are advancing.

Categories: World News, Revolution, Politics - Local

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Maria Cantwell needs to know - Students and workers will die in Oaxaca if she does nothing

Urgent Action Alert! Call these phone numbers and call your legislators about the imminent death of our companeros to the South. There are Americans down there who are living and working with these poor people!

Here's the latest:

Priistas are planning to remove CIPO out of the neighborhood by force!

This part of Santa Lucia is enemy territory. It is near Barricade Three, the Príista attack of last Friday, and the site of Brad Will's murder. It's also where the CIPO house is located. When the Príistas first set up their barricades, some were directly in front of the CIPO house, one using materials that had been propped up against the outside wall. Now, less than a week after Brad Will's murder, some of the same Príistas have agreed to "dislodge" CIPO from the neighborhood. If history, recent and distant, teaches us anything, their method will be violence. It is important that they know that acts of violence will not go unseen, even in this small neighborhood that they control. Please contact some or all of those listed below; tell them that if CIPO is attacked, that the Mexican state is responsible. And please also keep this in mind as solidarity actions are planned and carried out.


Contact the State Commission on Human RIghts in Oaxaca at:
Central Oaxaca - 011 52 (951) 513 51 85
011 52 (951) 513 51 91
011 52 (951) 513 51 97

la Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos
Tel. 011 52 (951) 5141634
rodhmx@prodigy. net.mx
rodhmx@yahoo. com.mx

Vicente Fox Quesada
Presidente de la Republica
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos Casa Miguel Aleman
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, C.P. 11850
Distrito Federal, Mexico
Telephone: 011 52 (55) 52772376
Fax: 011 52 (55) 527 723 376
E-mail directory at: http://www.presiden cia.gob.mx/ directorio/

Contact Nearest Mexican Consulate
Directory at http://mexonline. com/consulate. htm

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John Kerry will be fine, the people of Oaxaca will not!

Yeah, yeah, John Kerry, George Bush, should he have said "you get us stuck in Iraq"?, I really don't care.

What I do care about is are the people of Oaxaca going to be brutally slain by militarized policemen intent on showing the people who's boss. You must sign the petition to get our elected officials to do something about this - it's on the right side of the page. Please sign this petition, then print it out and take it to your union meetings and get more signatures for it. Please hand the signatures to your elected officials or call them on the phone and tell them what's going on. We have to make sure someone in leadership calls Mexico out on this. Please do it, for the children.

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My Work

This is all the stuff I've done that I'd like to actually get published. Any helpful advice?

The New American Populists and their Progressive Prescription for America

The Citizenship Toolkit

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The New American Populists and the Progressive Prescription for America

That's the name of the new book I'm writing, to honor all the wonderful progressive heroes working to bring about lasting, positive, progressive changes for America, and exactly what we can learn from their activism.

Here's the text from the inside of the book jacket:

In the New American Populists, first time author Jeff Richardson delivers a powerful argument for how We, the People, can once again have a proud and prosperous country that serves the need of all its citizens. His approach is unique - he builds each chapter around one of his personal heroes, giving a short biography followed by interviews and lessons that he's learned from each individual that express an important element in the Progressive Movement for lasting social change in this country.

Every man, woman, or child in America who's ever asked the question "What can I do about all this?" will surely learn something valuable from reading this book. Organizers, activists, history professors and politicians - all should have this book on their bookshelf, or better yet, sitting open on their bedside table.

Each of the individuals profiled in this book will inspire you to get involved and to stay motivated, and the ideas they have on how to improve this country will surely motivate you to want to go out and make them a reality.

In the words of the immortal Thom Hartmann, one of many progressive individuals profiled in the book, "Democracy begins with you. Tag, you're it!"

Categories: My Work

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Sign the petition to call for an end of the violence against the Mexican people

For days now the Mexican militarized police force, or PFP, has been ravaging Oaxaca City in an attempt to dislodge the protestors from that city, who have been calling for the resignation of the brutal tyrannical governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruis.

The police have killed several people and detained many more without charge. This has to stop. Please call your legislators and tell them that the people of Oaxaca need their help. If you believe in the freedom of people to petition the government for redress, then you must contact your legislators and explain to them what's happening.

Here's a petition I set up for that express purpose of petitioning the Congress. Also, if you talk to any of these legislators in person, ask them to make a statement and to pressure the State Department to take action. We can keep the Mexicans from committing huiman rights abuses if we take action now.

Categories: World News, Revolution, Politics - National

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Air America is being destroyed by US Corporations, including our own United States Postal Service

Here's the report, from FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting):


Air America is a network that will work, if enough businesses support its efforts. According to this report, 90 US Corporations have colluded to ensure that Air America will not be able to survive, by withholding their advertising dollars from stations that carry Air America.

As an employee of the United States Postal Service, I am outraged. This is a company who, in theory at least, serves the American people. If it can be proven that any government-owned company or agency is blacklisting Air America for reasons that are not legitimate, they must be exposed. I have a feeling that the Navy and the USPS advertise on stations that carry right-wing propaganda like Limbaugh, so this kind of blacklist simply must be a violation of law.

Get out there and research, and tell your legislators what you find. The toll-free number for the Capitol Switchboard (for now) is 1-800-862-5530

The United States Postal Service is not a tool of the religious right, and must not be allowed to become one.

Categories: Media Activism, Alternative Media

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