The week in review (September 18-24)
LIBERTY ACTION NEWS DIGEST
The latest opportunities for freedom activists
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Vol. 1 No. 29
Saturday, September 24, 2005
FROM THE EDITOR
(0) The week in review
THIS WEEK'S NEWS
(1) Anti-war rally to be a first for many
(2) Antiwar protesters going on offense
(3) ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans
(4) ACLU targets abstinence-only programs
(5) Sheehan's anti-war campaign reaches DC
(6) Sheehan caravan stopped by police
(7) Protesters draw link between Katrina and Iraq war
(8) Baker-Carter commission recommends national voter ID card
(9) Sheehan anti-war tour lands in New York
THIS WEEK'S COMMENTARY
(10) Gitmo's passive resisters
(11) The anti-war moment
(12) Trial of the St. Patrick's Four, Day 1
(13) The Cindy Sheehan peace train
(14) Sheehan takes on the Democrats
(15) Time to also march on the media?
(16) NYPD unplugs Sheehan
(17) Sit down in DC
(18) How the GOP stole America's 2004 election & is rigging 2008
(19) Far cry from Vietnam
(20) Seeking real resistance to the war
(21) The Gitmo hunger srikers
(22) Government failure, private success
(23) Failed hurricane response is an opportunity for libertarians
(24) Watch out
(25) New Orleans, Katrina and the government response
(26) Lessons from the debacle
(27) Today, the anti-war movement goes on trial
(28) Hunger strike against censorship
(29) Katrina and the battered statist syndrome
(30) The same old played out schemes
(31) Don't be surprised who shows up in New Orleans
(32) Blank check for tyranny
(33) How government agencies would respond to Katrina
(34) The feds confront the anti-war movement
ACTIONS
(35) Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
(36) Shame Utah for Rave Bust
(37) Petition: Shield Journalists and Whistleblowers
FROM THE EDITOR
(0) The week in review
This week's activism story: the anti-war 'peace train' ... Sheehan is 'unplugged' by the NYPD (didn't get the right kind of gov't permit to exercise First Amendment rights) but the peace train chugs on to DC, where the caravan is stopped by police to 'check for bombs'. In DC, the caravan merged with other anti-war activists from all over the country for the long planned 'big rally' at the Mall ... organizers estimate crowds of 100,000 or more. (Of course, no matter how many are there, we all know the numbers will be 'downplayed' ... as Danny Schechter says, is it 'Time to also march on the media?'.
In other activism this week, over 200 of the prisoners at Gitmo continue their hunger strike (the gov't is force feeding 16 of them) ... "After three-plus years in confinement, only four of the 504 prisoners have been charged with a crime and none knows what will happen next or when - if ever - he will be released." ('Gitmo's passive resisters'); the second trial of the St. Pat Four continues; the ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans and targets abstinence-only programs; and the Baker-Carter commission recommends national voter ID card while fair election advocates warn that ' the GOP stole America's 2004 election & is rigging 2008'.
The extent of the gov't incompetence (or malfeasance) in the Katrina tragedy is beginning to sink in even to the sheeple and the statists ... and, as several columnists point out, the 'Government failure, private success ' in the 'Failed hurricane response is an opportunity for libertarians' .... if we learn the right ' Lessons from the debacle '.
In humor this week don't miss Brad Rodriquez' blog entry 'How government agencies would respond to Katrina' ... truly a small gem (and, sadly, not too far fectched...)
Two new 'actions' this week .... 'Shame Utah for Rave Bust ' and a 'Petition to Shield Journalists and Whistleblowers'; and a wonderful resource for all of us 'cyberactivists' ... Reporters without Borders downloadable 'Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents '.
Til next week
For freedom!
Mary Lou
THIS WEEK'S NEWS
(1) Anti-war rally to be a first for many
Source: Washington Post
"The seasoned protesters who organized tomorrow's antiwar demonstration are well-versed in many other causes. They have marched and rallied against police brutality, racism, colonialism and the policies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. But their message on the Mall tomorrow will be singular: "End the war in Iraq." Because of that sharp focus, they will be joined by novice protesters such as Patrice Cuddy, 56. Interviewed by phone yesterday, the former public school teacher in Olathe, KS, said she had to pull off her gardening gloves each time a neighbor interrupted her yardwork to ask about joining the bus she had chartered to go to the nation's capital. .... Organizers say that similar busloads of teachers, nurses, housewives and others with little experience in mass protest are coming from Wisconsin, New Mexico, Illinois, Iowa, Georgia, Ohio and many other states. "This demonstration will reflect, by far, the most diverse group of antiwar protesters since before the war began," said Brian Becker, national coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, one of the event's sponsors. "We have people coming from all political persuasions, including a very large number of people who have never before been part of the antiwar movement or protest activity.'" (09/23/05)
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/22/AR2005092202186.html
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(2) Antiwar protesters going on offense
Source: MSNBC
"Antiwar groups are using a $1 million ad campaign and a demonstration they say will attract 100,000 people to try to re-energize their movement and pressure the Bush administration to bring troops home from Iraq. Organizers of Saturday’s protest, which will take marchers past the White House, say it will be the largest since the war began more than two years ago. Cindy Sheehan, the woman who drew thousands of protesters to her 26-day vigil outside President Bush’s Texas ranch last month, is among those planning to participate." (09/22/05)
Link: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9442386/
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(3) ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans
Source: The Raw Story
"The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal lawsuit in Atlanta on behalf of two vegan protesters who were subjected to imprisonment, arrest and harassment by Homeland Security officials, RAW STORY has learned. The lawsuit stems from a Dec. 2003 incident, when vegans Caitlin Childs and Christopher Freeman were protesting on public property outside a Honey Baked Ham store in Georgia's DeKalb County. After the protest, the duo noticed they were being watched and photographed by a man in an unmarked car. They approached the car and wrote down the make, model, color and license plate number on a piece of paper. They then noticed the unmarked car was following them." (09/22/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/c2242
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(4) ACLU targets abstinence-only programs
Source: Washington Times
"The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday began a campaign to urge officials in 18 states to reject abstinence-only sex-education programs. Many abstinence programs contain false or misleading information, discriminate against homosexual youth and promote religion, ACLU leaders said, citing a December report issued by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat. The effort began as Maine announced that it had become the third state to reject federal abstinence-education funding, because of new rules that conflict with state policy. Maine officials said this week that they will forgo a grant offered through the 1996 welfare-reform law because it must be used for abstinence programs and because they prefer comprehensive sex education. They used the grants for abstinence ad campaigns before the rules change." (09/22/05)
Link: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050921-102450-1568r.htm
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(5) Sheehan's anti-war campaign reaches DC
Source: Detroit Free Press
"Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan pledged Wednesday to 'force change to happen' during protest speeches outside the White House and Capitol. Sheehan arrived in Washington after a three-week cross-country bus tour that began near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. She is expected to participate in an anti-Iraq war rally Saturday that organizers hope could draw tens of thousands of people." (09/21/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/cfakh
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(6) Sheehan caravan stopped by police
Source: Village Voice
"At just past noon on Wednesday, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and the rest of the Bring Them Home Now tour were stopped by a pair of squad cars two blocks from the U.S. Capitol by members of the Capitol police force. Officers explained that they wanted to use bomb-sniffing dogs to inspect the caravan of three RVs and several cars. The officers said it was standard practice to inspect large vehicles in the area. “RVs aren't allowed on Capitol Hill,' one said. 'That's standard procedure. Any trucks that come on Capitol Hill are stopped and turned around.' Campers aren't allowed at all, the officer said, 'unless they've been previously authorized.' Officers told the peace activists they couldn't park at the Capitol because they don't have the proper permits. Sheehan and company then began preparing to make the rest of the trek on foot." (09/21/05)
Link: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0538,fergusonweb2,68087,2.html
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(7) Protesters draw link between Katrina and Iraq war
Source: Yahoo! News
President George W. Bush's faltering performance after Hurricane Katrina, like his decision to invade
Iraq, show his priorities are at odds with actions needed to keep Americans safe, anti-war protesters said on Monday. "One of the bogus reasons that George Bushgives for this invasion (and) occupation of Iraq is to make America safer -- and Katrina exposed that clearly he has made America more vulnerable through his policies in Iraq," anti-war activist and bereaved mother Cindy Sheehan told a morning news conference. U.S. troops fighting an unexpectedly stubborn insurgency in Iraq should come home to help face domestic challenges like the unprecedented humanitarian relief and recovery effort on the Gulf Coast, said the activists, who will stage a march on Washington this weekend." (09/19/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/8yz4n
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(8) Baker-Carter commission recommends national voter ID card
Source: Raw Story
"A voting reform commission which has already taken heat for playing host to sham voting rights groups run by members of the Bush-Cheney campaign has now recommended the institution of a national voter ID card. ... Among other major recommendations, the commission calls for voter verifiable paper trails for electronic voting machines, and elections run by nonpartisan officials rather than party-affiliated secretaries of state." (09/19/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/78u36
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(9) Sheehan anti-war tour lands in New York
Source: NewsDay
"Cindy Sheehan brought her anti-war message to a Brooklyn church last night, earning thunderous applause while urging her supporters to help press Congress to end the war in Iraq. 'We are just doing what we believe is right,' Sheehan told 400 people at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene -- the latest stop on the national Bring Them Home Now tour that will culminate with a massive protest in Washington Saturday through next Monday." (09/19/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/8dx4t
THIS WEEK'S COMMENTARY
(10) Gitmo's passive resisters
Source: Baltimore Sun
Author: staff
"The numbers are in dispute, but the fact remains: Dozens of men imprisoned at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are starving themselves. At least 16 are in the infirmary, being tube-fed sustenance to prevent their deaths. It's an ugly reaction to an ugly fact: They are being mistreated by the United States. After three-plus years in confinement, only four of the 504 prisoners have been charged with a crime; none knows what will happen next or when - if ever - he will be released. At least some have been brutalized by their captors. Many are invisible to the world, their names never released to the public or their families. Many apparently have lost faith in their fellow man, or at least Americans. As one told his lawyer last month, "Look, I'm dying a slow death in this place as it is. I don't have any hope of fair treatment, so what have I got to lose?" (09/23/05)
Link: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.gitmo23sep23,1,4635940.story
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(11) The anti-war moment
Source: Common Dreams
Author: Mark Engler
"Growing public dissatisfaction; rumblings in Congress against indefinite occupation; expressions of organized resistance. These three factors represent the pillars of opposition to the war in Iraq. Each can fortify the others, and together they could well grow strong enough to force an ignominious U.S. exit from our country's newest imperial outpost. But while the first two pillars have been holding their weight recently (Bush's approval ratings are at historic lows, and nascent Congressional hearings have been called to discuss potential exit strategies), the peace movement has lately seemed to be missing altogether. Come this weekend that will change. With large crowds amassing just outside the White House, led by the likes of Cindy Sheehan, George W. Bush will once again have "hit the trifecta.'" (09/23/05)
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0923-34.htm
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(12) Trial of the St. Patrick's Four, Day 1
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Lucia Dailey
"This second trial at the behest of federal officials was not completely unexpected by the defendants and their families. Marie De Mott Grady said her family was not entirely surprised when four FBI agents came to her parents' home to serve papers with new charges, the most serious being "conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States." After the first trial they didn't think "the matter was going to be dropped." Although not entirely unexpected, she said, it still came "like a stroke out of the blue." The new charges carry extremely harsh penalties of up to six years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for each defendant. Several lesser charges were filed also against the four. The trial venue was moved from Ithaca to Binghamton, NY where Judge Thomas McAvoy has forbidden mention of the Iraq war in the proceedings thus scuttling the defense the Four used with success in their first trial and preventing them from explaining why they protested as they had on March 17, 2003. "This court offers no opinion on the war in Iraq as it is entirely irrelevant to the matter," the judge said." (09/22/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/dailey09222005.html
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(13) The Cindy Sheehan peace train
Source: National Review
Author: Byron York
"It's not easy staging a cross-country antiwar protest, even a tiny cross-country antiwar protest. Just ask the organizers of Cindy Sheehan's 'Bring Them Home Now' tour, which rolled into Washington Wednesday, starting with a hassle with police near the Capitol and ending with a minor traffic accident just a few yards from the White House. It was that kind of day." (09/22/05)
Link: http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200509220828.asp
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(14) Sheehan takes on the Democrats
Source: Village Voice
Author: Kristen Lombardi
"Sheehan isn't stopping her critique with Bush. On the contrary, she has begun to set her sights on Congress and the Democratic Party as well. When she spoke in Brooklyn on the night before, she took note of the fact that Senator Hillary Clinton voted to authorize Bush to use force in Iraq and -- like most Senate Democrats -- has done little to bring the troops home. Clinton, in fact, has filed legislation calling for more troops. In an interview after her speech, Sheehan told the Voice she was 'so frustrated' by leading Democrats like Clinton 'who should be leaders on this issue, but are not.' Already, she has set up a future meeting with New York's junior senator this weekend. And she plans to sit down with the state's senior senator, Chuck Schumer, too. 'It's time for them to step up and be the opposition party,' she said." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0538,lombardiweb,68015,2.html
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(15) Time to also march on the media?
Source: Common Dreams
Author: Danny Schechter
"But, notice, how once again, most of the energy is aimed only at government, at the White House, at Bush and his boys (and girl, Ms. Condoleezza.) They are the targets but, alas, they are only part of the problem. With so many activists coming to town, and some staying for Monday, why not split them up into teams and smaller marches and bring some popular fury to other government institutions and interests that are complicit in the war and the policies that activists want to oppose. Where is the march on the media? The media is the front face of the corporate interests who stage mange the government. In an age of globalization, challenging corporate power is essential." (09/21/05)
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0921-31.htm
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(16) NYPD unplugs Sheehan
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Joshua Frank
"They can't stop the antiwar movement, but that doesn't mean they aren't trying. On Monday Sept. 19, Cindy Sheehan spoke in New York City's Union Square to a group of supporters and onlookers when police rushed in to break up her speech as it was winding down. 'I was speaking and someone grabbed my backpack and pulled me back pretty roughly,' Sheehan told the Associated Press. 'I was shoved around.' Police arrested organizer Paul Zulkowitz, who was charged with disorderly conduct as well as for using an unauthorized sound device. ... There is no question that the New York Police Department overreacted. I can't tell you how many times I've personally shuffled through Union Square where musicians and others were plugged into (unauthorized, I am sure) amplifiers singing their tunes or spewing their political propaganda. And never once I have I seen a police officer run in and pull the Bob Dylan or Abbie Hoffman wannabe from his microphone. No, there's a reason why they targeted Cindy Sheehan and not these fellows." (09/21/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/frank09212005.html
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(17) Sit down in DC
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Mike Ferner
"If nonviolent direct action is the most powerful tool we have to stop this war, what is the best time to exercise it? When a few hundred people surround the White House on September 26 for an orchestrated civil disobedience activity, or when a half-million (and more) people are in the streets September 24?" (09/21/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/ferner09212005.html
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(18) How the GOP stole America's 2004 election & is rigging 2008
Source: Free Press
Author: Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"The stolen elections of 2000, 2002 and 2004 are nowhere to be found in the milquetoast Carter-Baker Report now passing for wisdom on America's broken electoral system. And unless the public is ready to face the reality that we no longer live in a nation with credible elections, the 2008 balloting is all but over." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1462
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(19) Far cry from Vietnam
Source: Pacific News Service
Author: Sanford Gottlieb
"Today's temperate anti-Iraq War movement is a far cry from the turbulent one that mobilized during Vietnam. But it has the potential to be more effective. Big marches on Washington are mostly a thing of the past, although two activist coalitions will sponsor one on Sept. 24. The Internet has replaced them. ... As mainstream support for the Iraq war dissolves, antiwar activists find themselves in a very different position from their Vietnam War counterparts. Can this momentum be sustained, and focused into concrete demands on when and how to pull out from Iraq? One rallying point may be a resolution, introduced in the House by two Republicans and two Democrats, calling for troop withdrawal to begin no later than Oct. 1, 2006." (09/20/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/djwqs
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(20) Seeking real resistance to the war
Source: Common Dreams
Author: Gordon Clark
"Nonviolence, and specifically nonviolent resistance, is probably the single most misunderstood concept in the peace movement. Many committed peace activists believe that nonviolence means simply the absence of violence. Others now use the terms 'protest' and 'resistance' interchangeably, as if they were equivalent. The mass nonviolent resistance action being planned for the White House on September 26th, at the culmination of the upcoming anti-war mobilizations in Washington DC (see below), is still a rarity in a movement which regards Gandhi and King as heroes, yet which rarely discusses nonviolence as a central component of our strategies -- even though it is at the core of everything Gandhi and King taught and practiced." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0920-24.htm
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(21) The Gitmo hunger srikers
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Mike Whitney
"I have a word of advice I would like to offer Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon chieftains who currently preside over the 200 or more hunger-strikers at Guantanamo Bay, 20 of whom are near death. For God's sake, let them die. What more could you possibly want from them? They've already provided you with the subjects you needed for your newly-perfected sense-deprivation techniques and your sadistic methods of torture. They supplied you with the lab-rats for your new drugs, your improved methods of psychological torment, and your sexually-deviant abuses. Now, let them die. The experiment is over. Show that there is some speck of humanity left in your withered heart by allowing these men to pass away with dignity; the dignity you deprived them of in life." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney09202005.html
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(22) Government failure, private success
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Author: Michael Tanner
"While the response to hurricane Katrina has uncovered failures of government at every level -- federal, state, and local -- it has also revealed again the amazing generosity and effectiveness of America's private charitable efforts. ... As we hear calls for a 'compassionate' response to the victims of this tragedy, it is important to remember that you can't be compassionate with other people's money. This difference is as simple as the difference between my reaching into my pocket for money to help someone in need and my reaching into your pocket for the same purpose. The former is charity -- the latter is not. Moreover, private charity has long been recognized as more effective and efficient than government welfare programs. Local churches and community groups are the best positioned to understand the needs in their respective areas, and can direct money or services to where they are most useful." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0920/p09s02-coop.html
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(23) Failed hurricane response is an opportunity for libertarians
Source: Liberty For All
Author: Phil Jacobson
"The ongoing disaster to the US Gulf coast, will have serious consequences for US politics. Libertarians will have a rare opportunity to exploit the policy failures of current and past regimes. But we may not be well prepared to take full advantage, by offering well-considered alternatives. Over a span of decades, the political pendulum in the USA tends to swing back and forth between 'progressive' and 'conservative' forces (I put these terms in quotes because actual regimes, while always claiming to follow some variety of one or the other of these ideologies, are in fact based on opportunism - though they typically get knee-jerk support from true adherents)." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/2005/sept30/response.html
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(24) Watch out
Source: Truthout
Author: Cindy Sheehan
"This week I arrive in Washington DC to begin my Vigil at the White House just like I did in Texas. But this time I'll be joined by Katrina victims as well. In your America we are all victims. The failed bookends of your Presidency are Iraq and Katrina. It is time for all of us to stand up and be counted: to show the media, Congress, and this inept, corrupt, and criminal administration that we mean business. It is time to get off of our collective behinds to show the people who are running our country into oblivion that we will stand for it no longer. That we want our country back and we want our nation's young people back home, safe and sound, on our shores to help protect America. That it is time for a change in our country's "leadership." That we will never go away until our dreams are reality." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091905Z.shtml
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(25) New Orleans, Katrina and the government response
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise
Author: Herself
"The national perception has been that New Orleans was a sort of wide-open dive, filled with strippers and queens, butch lesbians, hustlers, mad masquers of all sort. And now it is being raided, in precisely the manner of a Vice raid on a dive. The Mayor's ordered all the freaks out: stubborn little old ladies, quiet (and loud) urban survivalists, the folks keeping open the bar the never closes in the French Quarter, street people, whatever -- out! And the Feds are beaming with joy. Surely it must indeed be God's Work, their oh-so-concerned expressions tell us, to rid the city of the impoverished hangers-on, the people too cantankerous to depart, the young and careless, the queer, the odd and similar trash! (Were you wondering why the Feds were so slow to proffer help, even to express concern, compared to their usual performance before the cameras when disaster strikes? Is it clearer now?)" (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle337-20050918-04.html
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(26) Lessons from the debacle
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise
Author: Ron Beatty
"The final lesson, and one of the most important, is this: The government is not your friend. As we have seen in New Orleans, government agents will evict you from your home, steal your property, threaten you, arrest you, and in general treat you like scum for the crime of surviving without government aid. We have seen reports that indicate that survivors are being put into refugee camps, which they will not be allowed to leave for months, if ever. In summation, it is up to each and every one of us to make preparations and plans to take care of ourselves, should the need ever arise." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle337-20050918-05.html
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(27) Today, the anti-war movement goes on trial
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Leigh Saavedra
"Today, the rights of all peace activists go on trial. Representing us are four Catholic antiwar activists who have already stood trial for their stand against the invasion of Iraq. Now, more than two years later, cleared of the original charge of criminal mischief, they are being charged with conspiracy and will be tried again. ... Whether our constitutional right to freedom of speech will live or not is the point. What happens in Binghamton in the coming week or weeks will probably be a barometer. If Daniel, Clare, Peter, and Teresa are found guilty of conspiracy, then all those who vocally support them are guilty. And if we are, then our worst fears about the so-called PATRIOT Act have grown as real as a match held up to our Constitution." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/saavedra09192005.html
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(28) Hunger strike against censorship
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Katherine Yeaw
"Seven antiwar activists remain on a hunger strike in front of the Farnesina, the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome, to protest censorship. Leonardo Mazzei, 49, employed by national electric company and spokesman for the Italian 'Free Iraq' Committee; Anika Persiani, 31, active in the 'Free Iraq' Committee; Lara Wintzer, 21, active in the 'Free Iraq' Committee in Germany; Ilia Montani, 20, philosophy student and activist in the Umbria Student Movement; Jörg Ulrich, 38, student and former PKK militant of the 'Free Iraq' Committee in Germany; Roberto Gabriele, 66, of the international Foundation 'Nino Pasti' of Rome; and Emanuele Fanesi, student-worker in Perugia active in the 'Anti-Imperialist Camp' have been on strike since August 31 to protest the refusal of the Foreign Affairs Minister of Italy, Gianfranco Fini, to grant visas for six prominent Iraqi anti-occupation activists to attend the 'Leave Iraq in peace -- support the legitimate resistance of the Iraq people' conference in Chianciano, Italy." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/yeaw09192005.html
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(29) Katrina and the battered statist syndrome
Source: Strike the Root
Author: Per Bylund
"It seems there is no end to how much beating these people can take .... They still return to the source of this domestic violence demanding it to 'do more.' Like any victim of the Battered Woman Syndrome, they refuse to admit that they have been beaten or that there is something fundamentally wrong here: 'It was an accident.' They offer excuses for the beating, they blame themselves, and they have to convince themselves that 'it won’t happen again'." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/bylund/bylund3.html
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(30) The same old played out schemes
Source: Common Dreams
Author: Christopher Cooper
"All we have is our voices and our bodies. Few of us will risk our lives for truth or decency, and not just because of fear or lack of strength, but because there is no opportunity for me here on a crumbling country road in Maine to attack Donald Rumsfeld with a fence post or to force Barbara Bush at the point of an electric prod to live for a week with one of the poor black families she thought were enjoying such a good deal in the shelter. But we can risk our reputations. We can put our comfort on the line. We can say, loudly, in the October sunshine outside the store or post office, 'President Bush is stupid, incompetent, uncaring. Condoleeza Rice is a liar. America is reviled the world over for evil done in our name, with our money, with our acquiescence.' Our neighbors will object. Many will not listen, others will argue, still others may shun us." (09/18/05)
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0918-27.htm
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(31) Don't be surprised who shows up in New Orleans
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Alexander Cockburn
"So, as Sonny Landreth puts it in his song Levee Town, 'Don't be surprised at who shows up, down in the Levee Town.' As the waters recede, poor neighborhoods will be swiftly redtagged for the bulldozers and their erstwhile occupants scheduled for permanent expulsion. The post-Katrina 'reconstruction' of New Orleans promises to be the first really big outing for the Kelo decision." (09/18/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn09172005.html
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(32) Blank check for tyranny
Source: Moscow Times
Author: Chris Floyd
"Four years ago, the United States was hit by a terrorist attack. Three days later, the U.S. Congress signed away the people's freedom, writing a blank check for tyranny to a ludicrous little man installed in office after the most dubious election in American history. Last week, the poisonous after-effects of this abject surrender took yet another sinister turn, as Bush factotums in the courts once again upheld the Leader's arbitrary power over the life and liberty of his subjects" (09/16/05)
Link: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/16/120.html
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(33) How government agencies would respond to Katrina
Source: McBlog
Author: Bradfor J. Rodriquez, Ph.D.
"I blame the late night pizza and resulting indigestion. That's why I woke up this morning thinking about how various government departments would have handled Katrina. (Warning: black humor.) Postal Service -- Takes two weeks to deliver supplies to New Orleans; 10% of the supplies are lost. Nevertheless, demands that no private firm be allowed to deliver supplies. Recipients must wait in line for hours at a few inconvenient offices to receive their supplies. A few postal workers fire guns at recipients. Asks for a postage increase. ... Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) -- Surrounds New Orleans with snipers and shoots anyone attempting to escape. Eventually requests military support to bomb the city with napalm. Afterwards finds some unregistered firearms in the rubble; officially exonerated for its actions. Asks for more money." [editor's note: And what's worse ... this is not that far-fetched:-) ... be sure to read em all - MLS] (09/17/05)
Link: http://www.zetetics.com/mac/blog/00001094.html
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(34) The feds confront the anti-war movement
Source: CounterPunch
Author: James Petras
"On September 19 the first federal conspiracy trial of civilian war resisters to the US invasion of Iraq will take place in Binghamton, New York, a declining and decaying city in upstate New York, 3 hours northwest of New York City. This is the second trial of the 'St Patrick Four' ... they were acquitted a year earlier by a jury in Ithaca, New York by a 9 to 3 vote in which the presiding Judge David Peeble conceded that the four had represented themselves 'probably better than some of the attorneys that practice in this court.' The trial of the St. Pat Four has national significance because it raises several fundamental issues regarding constitutional freedoms and the Bush-Gonzalez ongoing campaign to silence and intimidate dissent and public expressions of opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. " (09/16/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/petras09162005.html
ACTIONS
(35) Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
Source: Reporters without Borders
"Blogs get people excited. Or else they disturb and worry them. Some people distrust them. Others see them as the vanguard of a new information revolution. Because they allow and encourage ordinary people to speak up, they’re tremendous tools of freedom of expression. Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest.
Reporters Without Borders has produced this handbook to help them, with handy tips and technical advice on how to to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation. It also explains how to set up and make the most of a blog, to publicise it (getting it picked up efficiently by search-engines) and to establish its credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles." Download the handbook online.
Link: http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542
----------------
(36) Shame Utah for Rave Bust
Source: Drug Policy Alliance
Event Date(s): ongoing
"An armed SWAT team with helicopters and dogs violently raided a party in Utah on Aug.20,2005. Though the partygoers attempted to disperse peacefully, several were tackled, hit and kicked. There is never an acceptable excuse for using such extreme force against people who are peacefully assembled. Tell the governor and the state tourism office that your tourist dollars will not support this kind of civil liberties violation!" (09/05)
Link: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=27658
----------------
(37) Petition: Shield Journalists and Whistleblowers
Source: Free Press
Event Date(s): ongoing
"The Supreme Court recently refused to hear a case that could imprison two reporters for refusing to reveal their anonymous sources to a federal prosecutor. The decision casts a chill over investigative reporters, whistleblowers and the public's need to know about government wrongdoing -- information that would not see the light of day without laws to shield journalists and their sources.
Sign our petition to support federal shield laws (S.340 and H.R.581) protecting journalists and their confidential sources." (09/05)
Link: http://www.freepress.net/action/shield
-----
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Vol. 1 No. 29
Saturday, September 24, 2005
FROM THE EDITOR
(0) The week in review
THIS WEEK'S NEWS
(1) Anti-war rally to be a first for many
(2) Antiwar protesters going on offense
(3) ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans
(4) ACLU targets abstinence-only programs
(5) Sheehan's anti-war campaign reaches DC
(6) Sheehan caravan stopped by police
(7) Protesters draw link between Katrina and Iraq war
(8) Baker-Carter commission recommends national voter ID card
(9) Sheehan anti-war tour lands in New York
THIS WEEK'S COMMENTARY
(10) Gitmo's passive resisters
(11) The anti-war moment
(12) Trial of the St. Patrick's Four, Day 1
(13) The Cindy Sheehan peace train
(14) Sheehan takes on the Democrats
(15) Time to also march on the media?
(16) NYPD unplugs Sheehan
(17) Sit down in DC
(18) How the GOP stole America's 2004 election & is rigging 2008
(19) Far cry from Vietnam
(20) Seeking real resistance to the war
(21) The Gitmo hunger srikers
(22) Government failure, private success
(23) Failed hurricane response is an opportunity for libertarians
(24) Watch out
(25) New Orleans, Katrina and the government response
(26) Lessons from the debacle
(27) Today, the anti-war movement goes on trial
(28) Hunger strike against censorship
(29) Katrina and the battered statist syndrome
(30) The same old played out schemes
(31) Don't be surprised who shows up in New Orleans
(32) Blank check for tyranny
(33) How government agencies would respond to Katrina
(34) The feds confront the anti-war movement
ACTIONS
(35) Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
(36) Shame Utah for Rave Bust
(37) Petition: Shield Journalists and Whistleblowers
FROM THE EDITOR
(0) The week in review
This week's activism story: the anti-war 'peace train' ... Sheehan is 'unplugged' by the NYPD (didn't get the right kind of gov't permit to exercise First Amendment rights) but the peace train chugs on to DC, where the caravan is stopped by police to 'check for bombs'. In DC, the caravan merged with other anti-war activists from all over the country for the long planned 'big rally' at the Mall ... organizers estimate crowds of 100,000 or more. (Of course, no matter how many are there, we all know the numbers will be 'downplayed' ... as Danny Schechter says, is it 'Time to also march on the media?'.
In other activism this week, over 200 of the prisoners at Gitmo continue their hunger strike (the gov't is force feeding 16 of them) ... "After three-plus years in confinement, only four of the 504 prisoners have been charged with a crime and none knows what will happen next or when - if ever - he will be released." ('Gitmo's passive resisters'); the second trial of the St. Pat Four continues; the ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans and targets abstinence-only programs; and the Baker-Carter commission recommends national voter ID card while fair election advocates warn that ' the GOP stole America's 2004 election & is rigging 2008'.
The extent of the gov't incompetence (or malfeasance) in the Katrina tragedy is beginning to sink in even to the sheeple and the statists ... and, as several columnists point out, the 'Government failure, private success ' in the 'Failed hurricane response is an opportunity for libertarians' .... if we learn the right ' Lessons from the debacle '.
In humor this week don't miss Brad Rodriquez' blog entry 'How government agencies would respond to Katrina' ... truly a small gem (and, sadly, not too far fectched...)
Two new 'actions' this week .... 'Shame Utah for Rave Bust ' and a 'Petition to Shield Journalists and Whistleblowers'; and a wonderful resource for all of us 'cyberactivists' ... Reporters without Borders downloadable 'Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents '.
Til next week
For freedom!
Mary Lou
THIS WEEK'S NEWS
(1) Anti-war rally to be a first for many
Source: Washington Post
"The seasoned protesters who organized tomorrow's antiwar demonstration are well-versed in many other causes. They have marched and rallied against police brutality, racism, colonialism and the policies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. But their message on the Mall tomorrow will be singular: "End the war in Iraq." Because of that sharp focus, they will be joined by novice protesters such as Patrice Cuddy, 56. Interviewed by phone yesterday, the former public school teacher in Olathe, KS, said she had to pull off her gardening gloves each time a neighbor interrupted her yardwork to ask about joining the bus she had chartered to go to the nation's capital. .... Organizers say that similar busloads of teachers, nurses, housewives and others with little experience in mass protest are coming from Wisconsin, New Mexico, Illinois, Iowa, Georgia, Ohio and many other states. "This demonstration will reflect, by far, the most diverse group of antiwar protesters since before the war began," said Brian Becker, national coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, one of the event's sponsors. "We have people coming from all political persuasions, including a very large number of people who have never before been part of the antiwar movement or protest activity.'" (09/23/05)
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/22/AR2005092202186.html
-----
(2) Antiwar protesters going on offense
Source: MSNBC
"Antiwar groups are using a $1 million ad campaign and a demonstration they say will attract 100,000 people to try to re-energize their movement and pressure the Bush administration to bring troops home from Iraq. Organizers of Saturday’s protest, which will take marchers past the White House, say it will be the largest since the war began more than two years ago. Cindy Sheehan, the woman who drew thousands of protesters to her 26-day vigil outside President Bush’s Texas ranch last month, is among those planning to participate." (09/22/05)
Link: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9442386/
-----
(3) ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans
Source: The Raw Story
"The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal lawsuit in Atlanta on behalf of two vegan protesters who were subjected to imprisonment, arrest and harassment by Homeland Security officials, RAW STORY has learned. The lawsuit stems from a Dec. 2003 incident, when vegans Caitlin Childs and Christopher Freeman were protesting on public property outside a Honey Baked Ham store in Georgia's DeKalb County. After the protest, the duo noticed they were being watched and photographed by a man in an unmarked car. They approached the car and wrote down the make, model, color and license plate number on a piece of paper. They then noticed the unmarked car was following them." (09/22/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/c2242
---------
(4) ACLU targets abstinence-only programs
Source: Washington Times
"The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday began a campaign to urge officials in 18 states to reject abstinence-only sex-education programs. Many abstinence programs contain false or misleading information, discriminate against homosexual youth and promote religion, ACLU leaders said, citing a December report issued by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat. The effort began as Maine announced that it had become the third state to reject federal abstinence-education funding, because of new rules that conflict with state policy. Maine officials said this week that they will forgo a grant offered through the 1996 welfare-reform law because it must be used for abstinence programs and because they prefer comprehensive sex education. They used the grants for abstinence ad campaigns before the rules change." (09/22/05)
Link: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050921-102450-1568r.htm
-----
(5) Sheehan's anti-war campaign reaches DC
Source: Detroit Free Press
"Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan pledged Wednesday to 'force change to happen' during protest speeches outside the White House and Capitol. Sheehan arrived in Washington after a three-week cross-country bus tour that began near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. She is expected to participate in an anti-Iraq war rally Saturday that organizers hope could draw tens of thousands of people." (09/21/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/cfakh
-----
(6) Sheehan caravan stopped by police
Source: Village Voice
"At just past noon on Wednesday, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and the rest of the Bring Them Home Now tour were stopped by a pair of squad cars two blocks from the U.S. Capitol by members of the Capitol police force. Officers explained that they wanted to use bomb-sniffing dogs to inspect the caravan of three RVs and several cars. The officers said it was standard practice to inspect large vehicles in the area. “RVs aren't allowed on Capitol Hill,' one said. 'That's standard procedure. Any trucks that come on Capitol Hill are stopped and turned around.' Campers aren't allowed at all, the officer said, 'unless they've been previously authorized.' Officers told the peace activists they couldn't park at the Capitol because they don't have the proper permits. Sheehan and company then began preparing to make the rest of the trek on foot." (09/21/05)
Link: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0538,fergusonweb2,68087,2.html
--------
(7) Protesters draw link between Katrina and Iraq war
Source: Yahoo! News
President George W. Bush's faltering performance after Hurricane Katrina, like his decision to invade
Iraq, show his priorities are at odds with actions needed to keep Americans safe, anti-war protesters said on Monday. "One of the bogus reasons that George Bushgives for this invasion (and) occupation of Iraq is to make America safer -- and Katrina exposed that clearly he has made America more vulnerable through his policies in Iraq," anti-war activist and bereaved mother Cindy Sheehan told a morning news conference. U.S. troops fighting an unexpectedly stubborn insurgency in Iraq should come home to help face domestic challenges like the unprecedented humanitarian relief and recovery effort on the Gulf Coast, said the activists, who will stage a march on Washington this weekend." (09/19/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/8yz4n
--------------
(8) Baker-Carter commission recommends national voter ID card
Source: Raw Story
"A voting reform commission which has already taken heat for playing host to sham voting rights groups run by members of the Bush-Cheney campaign has now recommended the institution of a national voter ID card. ... Among other major recommendations, the commission calls for voter verifiable paper trails for electronic voting machines, and elections run by nonpartisan officials rather than party-affiliated secretaries of state." (09/19/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/78u36
--------
(9) Sheehan anti-war tour lands in New York
Source: NewsDay
"Cindy Sheehan brought her anti-war message to a Brooklyn church last night, earning thunderous applause while urging her supporters to help press Congress to end the war in Iraq. 'We are just doing what we believe is right,' Sheehan told 400 people at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene -- the latest stop on the national Bring Them Home Now tour that will culminate with a massive protest in Washington Saturday through next Monday." (09/19/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/8dx4t
THIS WEEK'S COMMENTARY
(10) Gitmo's passive resisters
Source: Baltimore Sun
Author: staff
"The numbers are in dispute, but the fact remains: Dozens of men imprisoned at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are starving themselves. At least 16 are in the infirmary, being tube-fed sustenance to prevent their deaths. It's an ugly reaction to an ugly fact: They are being mistreated by the United States. After three-plus years in confinement, only four of the 504 prisoners have been charged with a crime; none knows what will happen next or when - if ever - he will be released. At least some have been brutalized by their captors. Many are invisible to the world, their names never released to the public or their families. Many apparently have lost faith in their fellow man, or at least Americans. As one told his lawyer last month, "Look, I'm dying a slow death in this place as it is. I don't have any hope of fair treatment, so what have I got to lose?" (09/23/05)
Link: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.gitmo23sep23,1,4635940.story
--------
(11) The anti-war moment
Source: Common Dreams
Author: Mark Engler
"Growing public dissatisfaction; rumblings in Congress against indefinite occupation; expressions of organized resistance. These three factors represent the pillars of opposition to the war in Iraq. Each can fortify the others, and together they could well grow strong enough to force an ignominious U.S. exit from our country's newest imperial outpost. But while the first two pillars have been holding their weight recently (Bush's approval ratings are at historic lows, and nascent Congressional hearings have been called to discuss potential exit strategies), the peace movement has lately seemed to be missing altogether. Come this weekend that will change. With large crowds amassing just outside the White House, led by the likes of Cindy Sheehan, George W. Bush will once again have "hit the trifecta.'" (09/23/05)
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0923-34.htm
------
(12) Trial of the St. Patrick's Four, Day 1
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Lucia Dailey
"This second trial at the behest of federal officials was not completely unexpected by the defendants and their families. Marie De Mott Grady said her family was not entirely surprised when four FBI agents came to her parents' home to serve papers with new charges, the most serious being "conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States." After the first trial they didn't think "the matter was going to be dropped." Although not entirely unexpected, she said, it still came "like a stroke out of the blue." The new charges carry extremely harsh penalties of up to six years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for each defendant. Several lesser charges were filed also against the four. The trial venue was moved from Ithaca to Binghamton, NY where Judge Thomas McAvoy has forbidden mention of the Iraq war in the proceedings thus scuttling the defense the Four used with success in their first trial and preventing them from explaining why they protested as they had on March 17, 2003. "This court offers no opinion on the war in Iraq as it is entirely irrelevant to the matter," the judge said." (09/22/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/dailey09222005.html
-----
(13) The Cindy Sheehan peace train
Source: National Review
Author: Byron York
"It's not easy staging a cross-country antiwar protest, even a tiny cross-country antiwar protest. Just ask the organizers of Cindy Sheehan's 'Bring Them Home Now' tour, which rolled into Washington Wednesday, starting with a hassle with police near the Capitol and ending with a minor traffic accident just a few yards from the White House. It was that kind of day." (09/22/05)
Link: http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200509220828.asp
---------
(14) Sheehan takes on the Democrats
Source: Village Voice
Author: Kristen Lombardi
"Sheehan isn't stopping her critique with Bush. On the contrary, she has begun to set her sights on Congress and the Democratic Party as well. When she spoke in Brooklyn on the night before, she took note of the fact that Senator Hillary Clinton voted to authorize Bush to use force in Iraq and -- like most Senate Democrats -- has done little to bring the troops home. Clinton, in fact, has filed legislation calling for more troops. In an interview after her speech, Sheehan told the Voice she was 'so frustrated' by leading Democrats like Clinton 'who should be leaders on this issue, but are not.' Already, she has set up a future meeting with New York's junior senator this weekend. And she plans to sit down with the state's senior senator, Chuck Schumer, too. 'It's time for them to step up and be the opposition party,' she said." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0538,lombardiweb,68015,2.html
-------------
(15) Time to also march on the media?
Source: Common Dreams
Author: Danny Schechter
"But, notice, how once again, most of the energy is aimed only at government, at the White House, at Bush and his boys (and girl, Ms. Condoleezza.) They are the targets but, alas, they are only part of the problem. With so many activists coming to town, and some staying for Monday, why not split them up into teams and smaller marches and bring some popular fury to other government institutions and interests that are complicit in the war and the policies that activists want to oppose. Where is the march on the media? The media is the front face of the corporate interests who stage mange the government. In an age of globalization, challenging corporate power is essential." (09/21/05)
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0921-31.htm
-----
(16) NYPD unplugs Sheehan
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Joshua Frank
"They can't stop the antiwar movement, but that doesn't mean they aren't trying. On Monday Sept. 19, Cindy Sheehan spoke in New York City's Union Square to a group of supporters and onlookers when police rushed in to break up her speech as it was winding down. 'I was speaking and someone grabbed my backpack and pulled me back pretty roughly,' Sheehan told the Associated Press. 'I was shoved around.' Police arrested organizer Paul Zulkowitz, who was charged with disorderly conduct as well as for using an unauthorized sound device. ... There is no question that the New York Police Department overreacted. I can't tell you how many times I've personally shuffled through Union Square where musicians and others were plugged into (unauthorized, I am sure) amplifiers singing their tunes or spewing their political propaganda. And never once I have I seen a police officer run in and pull the Bob Dylan or Abbie Hoffman wannabe from his microphone. No, there's a reason why they targeted Cindy Sheehan and not these fellows." (09/21/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/frank09212005.html
------------
(17) Sit down in DC
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Mike Ferner
"If nonviolent direct action is the most powerful tool we have to stop this war, what is the best time to exercise it? When a few hundred people surround the White House on September 26 for an orchestrated civil disobedience activity, or when a half-million (and more) people are in the streets September 24?" (09/21/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/ferner09212005.html
-----------
(18) How the GOP stole America's 2004 election & is rigging 2008
Source: Free Press
Author: Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"The stolen elections of 2000, 2002 and 2004 are nowhere to be found in the milquetoast Carter-Baker Report now passing for wisdom on America's broken electoral system. And unless the public is ready to face the reality that we no longer live in a nation with credible elections, the 2008 balloting is all but over." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1462
----------------
(19) Far cry from Vietnam
Source: Pacific News Service
Author: Sanford Gottlieb
"Today's temperate anti-Iraq War movement is a far cry from the turbulent one that mobilized during Vietnam. But it has the potential to be more effective. Big marches on Washington are mostly a thing of the past, although two activist coalitions will sponsor one on Sept. 24. The Internet has replaced them. ... As mainstream support for the Iraq war dissolves, antiwar activists find themselves in a very different position from their Vietnam War counterparts. Can this momentum be sustained, and focused into concrete demands on when and how to pull out from Iraq? One rallying point may be a resolution, introduced in the House by two Republicans and two Democrats, calling for troop withdrawal to begin no later than Oct. 1, 2006." (09/20/05)
Link: http://tinyurl.com/djwqs
---------
(20) Seeking real resistance to the war
Source: Common Dreams
Author: Gordon Clark
"Nonviolence, and specifically nonviolent resistance, is probably the single most misunderstood concept in the peace movement. Many committed peace activists believe that nonviolence means simply the absence of violence. Others now use the terms 'protest' and 'resistance' interchangeably, as if they were equivalent. The mass nonviolent resistance action being planned for the White House on September 26th, at the culmination of the upcoming anti-war mobilizations in Washington DC (see below), is still a rarity in a movement which regards Gandhi and King as heroes, yet which rarely discusses nonviolence as a central component of our strategies -- even though it is at the core of everything Gandhi and King taught and practiced." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0920-24.htm
-----------
(21) The Gitmo hunger srikers
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Mike Whitney
"I have a word of advice I would like to offer Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon chieftains who currently preside over the 200 or more hunger-strikers at Guantanamo Bay, 20 of whom are near death. For God's sake, let them die. What more could you possibly want from them? They've already provided you with the subjects you needed for your newly-perfected sense-deprivation techniques and your sadistic methods of torture. They supplied you with the lab-rats for your new drugs, your improved methods of psychological torment, and your sexually-deviant abuses. Now, let them die. The experiment is over. Show that there is some speck of humanity left in your withered heart by allowing these men to pass away with dignity; the dignity you deprived them of in life." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney09202005.html
------------
(22) Government failure, private success
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Author: Michael Tanner
"While the response to hurricane Katrina has uncovered failures of government at every level -- federal, state, and local -- it has also revealed again the amazing generosity and effectiveness of America's private charitable efforts. ... As we hear calls for a 'compassionate' response to the victims of this tragedy, it is important to remember that you can't be compassionate with other people's money. This difference is as simple as the difference between my reaching into my pocket for money to help someone in need and my reaching into your pocket for the same purpose. The former is charity -- the latter is not. Moreover, private charity has long been recognized as more effective and efficient than government welfare programs. Local churches and community groups are the best positioned to understand the needs in their respective areas, and can direct money or services to where they are most useful." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0920/p09s02-coop.html
--------------
(23) Failed hurricane response is an opportunity for libertarians
Source: Liberty For All
Author: Phil Jacobson
"The ongoing disaster to the US Gulf coast, will have serious consequences for US politics. Libertarians will have a rare opportunity to exploit the policy failures of current and past regimes. But we may not be well prepared to take full advantage, by offering well-considered alternatives. Over a span of decades, the political pendulum in the USA tends to swing back and forth between 'progressive' and 'conservative' forces (I put these terms in quotes because actual regimes, while always claiming to follow some variety of one or the other of these ideologies, are in fact based on opportunism - though they typically get knee-jerk support from true adherents)." (09/20/05)
Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/2005/sept30/response.html
-------------
(24) Watch out
Source: Truthout
Author: Cindy Sheehan
"This week I arrive in Washington DC to begin my Vigil at the White House just like I did in Texas. But this time I'll be joined by Katrina victims as well. In your America we are all victims. The failed bookends of your Presidency are Iraq and Katrina. It is time for all of us to stand up and be counted: to show the media, Congress, and this inept, corrupt, and criminal administration that we mean business. It is time to get off of our collective behinds to show the people who are running our country into oblivion that we will stand for it no longer. That we want our country back and we want our nation's young people back home, safe and sound, on our shores to help protect America. That it is time for a change in our country's "leadership." That we will never go away until our dreams are reality." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091905Z.shtml
------------
(25) New Orleans, Katrina and the government response
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise
Author: Herself
"The national perception has been that New Orleans was a sort of wide-open dive, filled with strippers and queens, butch lesbians, hustlers, mad masquers of all sort. And now it is being raided, in precisely the manner of a Vice raid on a dive. The Mayor's ordered all the freaks out: stubborn little old ladies, quiet (and loud) urban survivalists, the folks keeping open the bar the never closes in the French Quarter, street people, whatever -- out! And the Feds are beaming with joy. Surely it must indeed be God's Work, their oh-so-concerned expressions tell us, to rid the city of the impoverished hangers-on, the people too cantankerous to depart, the young and careless, the queer, the odd and similar trash! (Were you wondering why the Feds were so slow to proffer help, even to express concern, compared to their usual performance before the cameras when disaster strikes? Is it clearer now?)" (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle337-20050918-04.html
-----------
(26) Lessons from the debacle
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise
Author: Ron Beatty
"The final lesson, and one of the most important, is this: The government is not your friend. As we have seen in New Orleans, government agents will evict you from your home, steal your property, threaten you, arrest you, and in general treat you like scum for the crime of surviving without government aid. We have seen reports that indicate that survivors are being put into refugee camps, which they will not be allowed to leave for months, if ever. In summation, it is up to each and every one of us to make preparations and plans to take care of ourselves, should the need ever arise." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.ncc-1776.com/tle2005/tle337-20050918-05.html
------------
(27) Today, the anti-war movement goes on trial
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Leigh Saavedra
"Today, the rights of all peace activists go on trial. Representing us are four Catholic antiwar activists who have already stood trial for their stand against the invasion of Iraq. Now, more than two years later, cleared of the original charge of criminal mischief, they are being charged with conspiracy and will be tried again. ... Whether our constitutional right to freedom of speech will live or not is the point. What happens in Binghamton in the coming week or weeks will probably be a barometer. If Daniel, Clare, Peter, and Teresa are found guilty of conspiracy, then all those who vocally support them are guilty. And if we are, then our worst fears about the so-called PATRIOT Act have grown as real as a match held up to our Constitution." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/saavedra09192005.html
---------------
(28) Hunger strike against censorship
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Katherine Yeaw
"Seven antiwar activists remain on a hunger strike in front of the Farnesina, the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome, to protest censorship. Leonardo Mazzei, 49, employed by national electric company and spokesman for the Italian 'Free Iraq' Committee; Anika Persiani, 31, active in the 'Free Iraq' Committee; Lara Wintzer, 21, active in the 'Free Iraq' Committee in Germany; Ilia Montani, 20, philosophy student and activist in the Umbria Student Movement; Jörg Ulrich, 38, student and former PKK militant of the 'Free Iraq' Committee in Germany; Roberto Gabriele, 66, of the international Foundation 'Nino Pasti' of Rome; and Emanuele Fanesi, student-worker in Perugia active in the 'Anti-Imperialist Camp' have been on strike since August 31 to protest the refusal of the Foreign Affairs Minister of Italy, Gianfranco Fini, to grant visas for six prominent Iraqi anti-occupation activists to attend the 'Leave Iraq in peace -- support the legitimate resistance of the Iraq people' conference in Chianciano, Italy." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/yeaw09192005.html
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(29) Katrina and the battered statist syndrome
Source: Strike the Root
Author: Per Bylund
"It seems there is no end to how much beating these people can take .... They still return to the source of this domestic violence demanding it to 'do more.' Like any victim of the Battered Woman Syndrome, they refuse to admit that they have been beaten or that there is something fundamentally wrong here: 'It was an accident.' They offer excuses for the beating, they blame themselves, and they have to convince themselves that 'it won’t happen again'." (09/19/05)
Link: http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/bylund/bylund3.html
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(30) The same old played out schemes
Source: Common Dreams
Author: Christopher Cooper
"All we have is our voices and our bodies. Few of us will risk our lives for truth or decency, and not just because of fear or lack of strength, but because there is no opportunity for me here on a crumbling country road in Maine to attack Donald Rumsfeld with a fence post or to force Barbara Bush at the point of an electric prod to live for a week with one of the poor black families she thought were enjoying such a good deal in the shelter. But we can risk our reputations. We can put our comfort on the line. We can say, loudly, in the October sunshine outside the store or post office, 'President Bush is stupid, incompetent, uncaring. Condoleeza Rice is a liar. America is reviled the world over for evil done in our name, with our money, with our acquiescence.' Our neighbors will object. Many will not listen, others will argue, still others may shun us." (09/18/05)
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0918-27.htm
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(31) Don't be surprised who shows up in New Orleans
Source: CounterPunch
Author: Alexander Cockburn
"So, as Sonny Landreth puts it in his song Levee Town, 'Don't be surprised at who shows up, down in the Levee Town.' As the waters recede, poor neighborhoods will be swiftly redtagged for the bulldozers and their erstwhile occupants scheduled for permanent expulsion. The post-Katrina 'reconstruction' of New Orleans promises to be the first really big outing for the Kelo decision." (09/18/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn09172005.html
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(32) Blank check for tyranny
Source: Moscow Times
Author: Chris Floyd
"Four years ago, the United States was hit by a terrorist attack. Three days later, the U.S. Congress signed away the people's freedom, writing a blank check for tyranny to a ludicrous little man installed in office after the most dubious election in American history. Last week, the poisonous after-effects of this abject surrender took yet another sinister turn, as Bush factotums in the courts once again upheld the Leader's arbitrary power over the life and liberty of his subjects" (09/16/05)
Link: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/16/120.html
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(33) How government agencies would respond to Katrina
Source: McBlog
Author: Bradfor J. Rodriquez, Ph.D.
"I blame the late night pizza and resulting indigestion. That's why I woke up this morning thinking about how various government departments would have handled Katrina. (Warning: black humor.) Postal Service -- Takes two weeks to deliver supplies to New Orleans; 10% of the supplies are lost. Nevertheless, demands that no private firm be allowed to deliver supplies. Recipients must wait in line for hours at a few inconvenient offices to receive their supplies. A few postal workers fire guns at recipients. Asks for a postage increase. ... Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) -- Surrounds New Orleans with snipers and shoots anyone attempting to escape. Eventually requests military support to bomb the city with napalm. Afterwards finds some unregistered firearms in the rubble; officially exonerated for its actions. Asks for more money." [editor's note: And what's worse ... this is not that far-fetched:-) ... be sure to read em all - MLS] (09/17/05)
Link: http://www.zetetics.com/mac/blog/00001094.html
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(34) The feds confront the anti-war movement
Source: CounterPunch
Author: James Petras
"On September 19 the first federal conspiracy trial of civilian war resisters to the US invasion of Iraq will take place in Binghamton, New York, a declining and decaying city in upstate New York, 3 hours northwest of New York City. This is the second trial of the 'St Patrick Four' ... they were acquitted a year earlier by a jury in Ithaca, New York by a 9 to 3 vote in which the presiding Judge David Peeble conceded that the four had represented themselves 'probably better than some of the attorneys that practice in this court.' The trial of the St. Pat Four has national significance because it raises several fundamental issues regarding constitutional freedoms and the Bush-Gonzalez ongoing campaign to silence and intimidate dissent and public expressions of opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. " (09/16/05)
Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/petras09162005.html
ACTIONS
(35) Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
Source: Reporters without Borders
"Blogs get people excited. Or else they disturb and worry them. Some people distrust them. Others see them as the vanguard of a new information revolution. Because they allow and encourage ordinary people to speak up, they’re tremendous tools of freedom of expression. Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest.
Reporters Without Borders has produced this handbook to help them, with handy tips and technical advice on how to to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation. It also explains how to set up and make the most of a blog, to publicise it (getting it picked up efficiently by search-engines) and to establish its credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles." Download the handbook online.
Link: http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542
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(36) Shame Utah for Rave Bust
Source: Drug Policy Alliance
Event Date(s): ongoing
"An armed SWAT team with helicopters and dogs violently raided a party in Utah on Aug.20,2005. Though the partygoers attempted to disperse peacefully, several were tackled, hit and kicked. There is never an acceptable excuse for using such extreme force against people who are peacefully assembled. Tell the governor and the state tourism office that your tourist dollars will not support this kind of civil liberties violation!" (09/05)
Link: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=27658
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(37) Petition: Shield Journalists and Whistleblowers
Source: Free Press
Event Date(s): ongoing
"The Supreme Court recently refused to hear a case that could imprison two reporters for refusing to reveal their anonymous sources to a federal prosecutor. The decision casts a chill over investigative reporters, whistleblowers and the public's need to know about government wrongdoing -- information that would not see the light of day without laws to shield journalists and their sources.
Sign our petition to support federal shield laws (S.340 and H.R.581) protecting journalists and their confidential sources." (09/05)
Link: http://www.freepress.net/action/shield
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