Music and Culture [http://northbayuprising.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-12-09-music-and-culture.html]
Bay Area news [http://northbayuprising.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-12-09-bay-area-news.html]
Attention:
- Omissions in the following articles are noted as "[ ... ]"
- Anything added by the blog's editors are shaded blue
Political Prisoner
DECEMBER 9, 2010 IS THE 29TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAY THE PHILADELPHIA COPS ATTEMPTED TO KILL MUMIA ABU JAMAL.
THEY TERRORIZED, BEAT, SHOT, KIDNAPPED, JAILED, FRAMED, AND SENTENCED HIM TO DEATH ROW.
MUMIA IS A POLITICAL PRISONER IN PENNSYLVANIA.
[http://redwoodcurtaincopwatch.net/node/645]
[http://freemumianow.blogspot.com/2010/12/december-9-in-nyc-international.html]
[http://www.prisonradio.org/mumia.htm]
[http://www.freemumia.org]
[http://www.emajonline.com]
Student Power! Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
2010-12-08 “Videos: Puerto Rico Strikes Student Clash W/Security Guards” from Daniel Rivera Greetings:
Putting into action the decision of an assembly declaring a two-day strike, students at the Rio Piedras (San Juan) campus of the University of Puerto Rico mounted barricades at 4:00 AM December 7.
They then clashed with private security guards. Marches and rallies were held all day.
The University of Puerto Rico with some 60,000 students is being threatened with privatization...piece meal. Students, professors and staff have voted throughout the system to hold one day strikes, although not all on the same day.
Over the last 80 years, university struggles have reflected and at times preceeded national struggles. There were actions through out the country.
Videos:
1. Fighting off private security guards who taunted them and attempted to destroy the barricades. [http://www.elnuevodia.com/videos-violentamadrugadaenlaupr-191763.html]
2. Students mounting the barricades. [http://www.elnuevodia.com/videos-construyenbarricadas-191762.html]
3. Masked women students explain their actions. [http://www.elnuevodia.com/videos-encapuchassedefienden-191806.html]
4. Staff at the Mayaguez chapter of the UPR on one day strike. [http://www.elnuevodia.com/videos-paroenlauprdeponce-191788.html]
5. Staff at Ponce chapter of UPR on one day strike. [http://www.elnuevodia.com/videos-paroenlauprdemayaguez-191809.html]
Wikileak "scandal"
By now, the "Wikileaks" project had affected world history, which appears to relate to everyone from USA, Venezuela, and the European Union to the Federation of Russia, Iran and Pakistan [with the notable exception of Israel]. Monopolized media cartels use their newspapers and cable news channels to pretend like the Wikileak information is not extraordinary...
What is news is the fall-out... including the potential for war-crimes trials against the USA military, solidarity with the "Wikileak" political prisoners, and an internet war against online information suppression!!!
2010-12-03 "The WikiLeaks Saga" by Evan Shamar, David Goodman, Jason Bermas, Alan Cowell and The Information Clearing House.
The United States government is up in arms over WikiLeaks deliverance of thousands of classified documents that have given stark and disturbing insight into the foreign policy of the US government and their allies. Julian Assange is the founder of the whistle blowing agency,WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks is responsible for the publication of tens of thousands of classified government and military documents, as well as phone conversations,emails and videos. All of which shed a spotlight directly onto the despotic nature of the US government and their allies abroad. The contentious documents were smuggled from a military office,disguised on a disc with an image of Lady Gaga. No wonder the disc made it through without being checked,either that, or the man who successfully smuggled the information had an unreadable poker face.
One example of the leaked documents: Marine troops, with the average soldier being between 18 and 35 years old, were ordered to exterminate an entire village in Iraq.
[ ... ]
The US government has been caught red-handed ordering troops to ambush villages where people live, work, kids play and live daily life - and savagely obliterate them as though they were coach-roaches.
[ ... ]
With this tyranny being clearly exposed, there is now undeniable evidence that the US government is engaged in treason. One with a functional brain would commend Assange, instead the tyrants in Washington are calling for his imprisonment. Hilary Clinton, secretary of state, has gone on record stating that the leaks must stop. “ The publication of these classified documents puts lives in jeopardy and undermines our efforts to work with other countries to solve problems.It harms our troops who are fighting to restore liberty” said Clinton in a press conference last Tuesday. She went on to say that future leaks would only intensify an already turbulent situation. No. It would lay bare the criminality of this rogue and illegitimate administration. The absurdity continues as members of congress have denounced Assange, calling him a traitor to America. What ignorant fools they are. Assange is Australian,therefore he cannot be a traitor to America. To be a traitor, one has to be of the nationality. This is double speak.
[ ... ]
The US governments reaction to these leaked documents is principle evidence that we are living in the most uncanny and staggering times in human history. What a mesmerizing time it is to be alive. Fuck 2011. Happy 1984!
2010-12-08 "Hackers strike at MasterCard to support WikiLeaks" by Raphael Satter and Jill Lawless from Associated Press newswire
LONDON -- Hackers rushed to the defense of WikiLeaks on Wednesday, launching attacks on MasterCard, Visa, Swedish prosecutors, a Swiss bank and others who have acted against the site and its jailed founder Julian Assange. Internet "hacktivists" operating under the label "Operation Payback" claimed responsibility in a Twitter message for causing severe technological problems at the website for MasterCard, which pulled the plug on its relationship with WikiLeaks a day ago. MasterCard acknowledged "a service disruption" involving its Secure Code system for verifying online payments, but spokesman James Issokson said consumers could still use their credit cards for secure transactions. Later Wednesday, Visa's website was inaccessible. The online attacks are part of a wave of support for WikiLeaks that is sweeping the Internet. Twitter was choked with messages of solidarity for the group, while the site's Facebook page hit 1 million fans. Late Wednesday, Operation Payback itself appeared to run into problems, as many of its sites went down. It was unclear who was behind the counterattack. MasterCard is the latest in a string of U.S.-based Internet companies - including Visa, Amazon.com, PayPal Inc. and EveryDNS - to cut ties to WikiLeaks in recent days amid intense U.S. government pressure. PayPal was not having problems Wednesday but the company said it faced "a dedicated denial-of-service attack" on Monday.
[ ... ]
PayPal Vice President Osama Bedier said the company froze WikiLeaks' account after seeing a letter from the U.S. State Department to WikiLeaks saying that the group's activities "were deemed illegal in the United States."
[ ... ]
The pro-WikiLeaks vengeance campaign on Wednesday appeared to be taking the form of denial-of-service attacks in which computers are harnessed - sometimes surreptitiously - to jam target sites with mountains of requests for data, knocking them out of commission. Per Hellqvist, a security specialist with the firm Symantec, said a network of web activists called Anonymous - to which Operation Payback is affiliated - appeared to be behind many of the attacks. The group, which has previously focused on the Church of Scientology and the music industry, is knocking offline websites seen as hostile to WikiLeaks. "While we don't have much of an affiliation with WikiLeaks, we fight for the same reasons," the group said in a statement. "We want transparency and we counter censorship ... we intend to utilize our resources to raise awareness, attack those against and support those who are helping lead our world to freedom and democracy." [ ... ]
Warning: Government and Corporate agencies may use these wikilink mirror websites to spread spy-ware and viruses...
2010-12-04 "WikiLeaks mirror at wikileaks.indymedia.org" by imcista [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/12/04/18665620.php]
Solidarity with freedom of speech defenders!
In the face of a series of corporate denials of service targeting WikiLeaks.org — Amazon and EveryDNS (Dyn Inc.) terminated service and PayPal closed its account — the Indymedia network is now maintaining a WikiLeaks mirror at [http://wikileaks.indymedia.org] While the WikiLeaks website is under attack by the US government, you will still be able to access the website at [http://wikileaks.indymedia.org]
2010-12-04 "Spread Wikileaks Cablegate on Freenet" by Freenet User
In the wake of the Wikileaks takedown, it's clear we need safer ways to propagate knowledge. Freenet is a P2P network similar to Bittorrent or Napster (the old Napster), except it's secure and anonymous.
Now is a good time to learn to use Freenet to create safer networks for sensitive information.
I've put up three copies of Cablegate into Freenet, at the URLs below.
They will work once you have Freenet installed. To get Freenet, go to [http://freenetproject.org]
Once it's running, your computer becomes a node that helps distribute content to the rest of Freenet. Download these files, and you will receive it slowly. The parts of the file are migrating to you, bouncing through dozens of other computers. Each part is encrypted, and no computer knows where the part is headed -- it just travels in your general direction.
No single node knows the entire file, the sender, and the recipient. Then, once you get the files, keep the node up, to support the existence of Freenet.
Domestic Fascism
Of course, Wikileaks isn't the only struggle against internet suppression...
2010-11-29 "Opinion: BitTorrent crackdown is Big Media fascism" by David Gomez
[http://www.tgdaily.com/opinion/52764-feds%E2%80%99-bittorrent-crackdown-is-big-media-fascism]
The government is shutting down Web sites and it looks like they don’t need a law on the books to claim the authority to micromanage the Internet on behalf of Big Media companies.
We reported on it over the weekend [http://www.tgdaily.com/business-and-law-features/52731-feds-in-hard-core-bittorrent-crackdown], but there are more details coming out that have some people wondering if this is the beginning of the end of Internet free speech.
Judging by their actions [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/technology/27torrent.html?_r=2&ref=technology] the feds didn’t want to wait for the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) to go through the proper channels in the Senate before they seized control of the Internet. They also didn’t want to wait for a court order either.
Apparently their controllers in the Big Media companies are not patient people. At least 76 web domains have been shut down by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It looks like Internet piracy and copyright violation is the newest threat to the security of our nation, at least that’s what they’ll probably claim. Why else would DHS shutdown web domains without a court order? Oh, right the Patriot Act. It allows DHS to do whatever they need to do to keep us “safe” without any need for court orders or official laws on the books.
Many of the downed web domains were sites that dealt in counterfeit name goods, some linked to copyright-infringing file sharing areas, and one of the sites was a Google-like search site. They shut down a search engine that tells people where to possibly find copyrighted material, but does not host any material on the site. Can you see why people are worried that this is the beginning of government censorship of the (our) Internet? And as you probably have heard, all of the seized web domains have a government warning (to scare us into obedience) that says copyright violators can get up to five years in prison. Here’s a nice quote from the Raw Story [http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/homeland-security-shuts-dozens-sites/] that sums up the issue nicely.
"When a site has no tracker, carries no torrents, lists no copyright works unless someone searches for them and responds just like Google, accusing it of infringement becomes somewhat of a minefield," writes Torrentfreak, "Unless you’re ICE Homeland Security Investigations that is."
The authority for DHS to shut down whatever sites it wants without a court order supposedly comes from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a Clinton administration law that allows web addresses to be shut down when someone (Big Media) claims there is a copyright violation.
[ ... ]
2010-09-29 "Congress ready to blacklist sites for Big Media" by David Gomez
[http://www.tgdaily.com/opinion-features/51789-congress-ready-to-talk-about-blacklisting-sites-for-big-media]
The legislative branch of the US Government is about to discuss a bill that favors big media corporations. The bill would be a big win for corporate censorship advocates and grant the government increased power to censor the Internet. The heavy hitters from the two-party dictatorship in American politics have joined up [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-segal/stop-the-internet-blackli_b_739836.html] in an effort to mollify the media conglomerates. On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee will have a meeting to hear more about this wonderful bill that was introduced a week ago [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3804].
You can thank Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch for introducing and sponsoring the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA).
Right now the bill is in the first step of the legislative process. COICA would create two blacklists of Internet domains. The first list would be seen to by the courts. Courts would be able to add web addresses to the list. The second would be controlled by the Attorney General. Internet Service Providers and various other related businesses would be required by law to block all domains on the first list. They would also reportedly receive immunity and the government’s good favor for blocking domains on the second list. The lists from the totalitarian law are for sites that are "dedicated to infringing activity."
And it shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone that "infringing activity" is defined very broadly. That way anybody who steps on the wrong toes in Internet land will be dealt with. That’s what this bill opens does, it increases the chance that people will be censored. According to the language in the bill, popular websites, even websites that generate lots of revenue, will be subject to censorship. YouTube for example could potentially be a prime target for government censorship.
Copyright giants like Viacom have made complaints about YouTube before. They have argued that copyrighted material is the driving force behind YouTube’s popularity. YouTube is perfectly legal under U.S. law as long as YouTube takes down copyrighted material when they are notified of it. If COICA passes, it will certainly be much easier for copyright baron Viacom to get YouTube shut down. The wording in the bill makes it so that Viacom doesn’t even have to prove that YouTube is doing anything illegal. No, all they would have to do is convince a court that other people are using the site for copyright infringement. Then it could be censored. If a court decided to rule against the copyright giant, no big deal for Viacom. The Department of Justice could just put the accused copyright violator on the second list. Then it could be blocked without a court order. The second list wouldn’t require ISP’s and similar businesses to block sites on the list by law, but it would be in their best interest to abide by the powerful suggestions of the DOJ. Nobody wants to rub the feds the wrong way these days. The proposed bill is in an early stage at this point. Where it goes from here is truly up to the people. You can help keep the bill from getting any further by signing an online petition to stop the Internet blacklist.
2010-12-08 "Fighting for Internet Freedom: Five Organizations" by Safa S.
[http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/five-organizations-fighting-for-internet-freedom]
The Internet: Journalism? Terrorism? Matchmaker? Bully? Surveillance? Research? Espionage? Information? Networking?
With Wikileaks dominating daily headlines and the FCC proposing a regulated substitution of net neutrality, it's hard to say except for this-- Internet is an exchange, at its best, a free-flowing exchange, filled with both legitimate and bogus resources that maintain equal grounding in existence for our own informed discrimination.
Whether or not we like what we read, seeing different viewpoints in print validates them and opens channels to debates that wouldn't otherwise exist without the prolific flux of alternative and non-mainstream voices.
What we find, what we believe, that's our choice, but the bottom line is that online content is out there, and to restrict access to one thing creates nothing more than a domino effect to restrict access to all things.
The web is more than just a global platform; it's a community, our flat world, a common ground that makes the world smaller, global interactions more immediate, and access more accountable.
Yet like any communal and democratic entity, the governing principles of the Internet, freedom and openness, only exist as long as we vigilantly fight for it. For those who want to join, here are five organizations committed to free exchange and access to online content:
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1. Electronic Frontier Foundation [http://www.eff.org]
EFF is an international non-profit legal organization of lawyers, policy analysts, activists and technologists, all advocating for digital rights. Founded in 1990, this leading civil liberties group calls itself "the first line of defense" in "confront[ing] cutting edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today." While most of their victories are achieved within the courtroom, they do maintain an Action Center where anyone can sign up and help by sending emails and faxes to elected officials regarding issues the organization has taken on.
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2. Global Internet Freedom Consortium [http://www.internetfreedom.org]
Founded in 2006, GIFC is a group of organizations advocating for and developing anti-censorship technologies in countries where Web-based information access is controlled. The consortium works primarily with the issue of Internet freedom in closed societies such as China, Iran and Burma.
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3. Global Network Initiative [http://www.globalnetworkinitiative.org]
GNI is a non-governmental organization working towards two goals: prevent Internet censorship by governments, and protect Internet privacy rights of individuals. Founded in 2008, in the 60th anniversary year of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GNI works to make sure that the document's standards of human rights, freedom of expression, and privacy rights are carried out into the digital world. Its support is widespread, coming from corporations such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo; non-profits such as Center for Democracy and Technology, Human Rights Watch and World Press Freedom Committee; and educational institutions such as Harvard University, UC-Berkeley, University of Hong Kong and University of Southern California.
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4. Latinos for Internet Freedom [http://www.latinonetlibre.com]
Latinos for Internet Freedom is "a coalition of local, regional and national Latino organizations and leaders" that advocates for an open-access Internet that "continues to provide Latinos with good jobs, health care, education, small business innovation and connection to our families, community and neighbors." Because of the high population of Latinos and Hispanics in under-served communities, Latinos for Internet Freedom has been active in questioning the FCC's latest "net neutrality" proposal, arguing that it could lead to telecom companies charging higher prices for Internet speed on websites catered to under-served communities. Not only could the proposal create a a digital divide, Internet speed and access could become a new class divide.
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5. Save the Internet [http://www.savetheinternet.com]
Save the Internet, a project of Free Press [http://www.freepress.net], is a coalition of about two million people and thousands of non-profits, businesses and bloggers, all committed to keeping the Internet a level playing field for all so that it can remain "a crucial engine for economic growth, civic engagement and free speech."
2010-12-07 “Secret GOP plan: Push states to declare bankruptcy and smash unions” by James Pethokoukis from “Reuters” newswire
[http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis/2010/12/07/secret-gop-plan-push-states-to-declare-bankruptcy-and-smash-unions]
Congressional Republicans appear to be quietly but methodically executing a plan that would a) avoid a federal bailout of spendthrift states and b) cripple public employee unions by pushing cash-strapped states such as California and Illinois to declare bankruptcy.
This may be the biggest political battle in Washington, my Capitol Hill sources tell me, of 2011. That’s why the most intriguing aspect of President Barack Obama’s tax deal with Republicans is what the compromise fails to include — a provision to continue the Build America Bonds program. BABs now account for more than 20 percent of new debt sold by states and local governments thanks to a federal rebate equal to 35 percent of interest costs on the bonds. The subsidy program ends on Dec. 31. And my Reuters colleagues report that a GOP congressional aide said Republicans “have a very firm line on BABS — we are not going to allow them to be included.”
In short, the lack of a BAB program would make it harder for states to borrow to cover a $140 billion budgetary shortfall next year, as estimated by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. The long-term numbers are even scarier. Estimates of states’ unfunded liabilities to pay for retiree benefits range from $750 billion to more than $3 trillion. Republicans in the House of Representatives already want to stop state and local governments from issuing tax-exempt bonds unless they are more forthright about these future obligations.
Republican Representatives Devin Nunes and Darrell Issa of California and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin have introduced a bill that would require state and local governments to estimate the size of public pension liabilities if their assets earned a more conservative rate of return than many plans currently expect.
Failure to do so would result in the suspension of their ability to issue tax-exempt bonds Greater transparency on these obligations can’t be bad. In fact, the federal government itself would do well to report deficit numbers not just on the current cash-in, cash-out basis but also incorporating the underfunding of promised pension and healthcare benefits to retirees. But it’s about more than just openness. Some Republicans hope the shock of the newly revealed debt totals will grease the way towards explicitly permitting states to declare bankruptcy.
Indeed, legislation amending federal bankruptcy law is currently being prepared by congressional Republicans. Local municipalities do declare bankruptcy from time to time, most famously California’s Orange County in 1994. But states can’t. Allowing them the same ability to renegotiate obligations could enable them to slash public employees’ lavish benefits, a big factor in their financial woes. In a recent issue of the The Weekly Standard, bankruptcy expert David Skeel of the University of Pennsylvania walks through the implications:
[ … begin quote … ] With liquidation off the table, the effectiveness of state bankruptcy would depend a great deal on the state’s willingness to play hardball with its creditors.
The principal candidates for restructuring in states like California or Illinois are the state’s bonds and its contracts with public employees. Ideally, bondholders would vote to approve a restructuring. But if they dug in their heels and resisted proposals to restructure their debt, a bankruptcy chapter for states should allow (as municipal bankruptcy already does) for a proposal to be “crammed down” over their objections under certain circumstances. This eliminates the hold-out problem—the refusal of a minority of bondholders to agree to the terms of a restructuring—that can foil efforts to restructure outside of bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy law should give debtor states even more power to rewrite union contracts, if the court approves. Interestingly, it is easier to renegotiate a burdensome union contract in municipal bankruptcy than in a corporate bankruptcy. Vallejo has used this power in its bankruptcy case, which was filed in 2008. It is possible that a state could even renegotiate existing pension benefits in bankruptcy, although this is much less clear and less likely than the power to renegotiate an ongoing contract. [ … end quote … ]
It wouldn’t be easy to change the law. Public employee unions have traditionally carried great influence with Democrats, even if President Barack Obama’s willingness to freeze their pay on the federal level suggests their clout may be waning. From the Republican perspective, the fiscal crisis on the state level provides a golden opportunity to defund a key Democratic interest group. For the GOP, it’s an economic and political win.
2010-12-06 “TSA-Style Pat Downs Hit The Streets” by Paul Joseph Watson from “Info Wars” online journal
[http://www.infowars.com/tsa-style-pat-downs-hit-the-streets]
In Philadelphia, you don't have to visit the airport to have the government molest you, TSA-style "stop, question and frisk" pat downs are already being conducted by police on the streets targeting people who act suspicious, by doing things like putting their hands in their coat pocket. As we have repeatedly warned [http://www.prisonplanet.com/the-secret-the-tsa-doesnt-want-you-to-know.html], everything unfolding in the airports, from naked radiation body scanners to pat downs, is now being implemented on mass transit as well as every major street corner in America.
Constitutional protections of privacy and immunity from unreasonable search and seizure have been abolished, replaced with guilty until proven innocent. As Judge Napolitano reports, residents in the "city of brotherly love" are being patted down by police officers on the streets as part of an aggressive "stop, question and frisk" policy instituted by Mayor Nutter.
The program is now the subject of a class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU which accuses police of routinely violating civil rights, including those of Rep. Jewell Williams, a former Temple University police officer, who was handcuffed and bundled into a squad car after enquiring about the safety of two elderly men police had detained and then threatened to beat up [http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20101105_City_s__stop_and_frisk__policy_draws_lawsuit.html].
In the video, Philadelphia radio host Dom Giordano attempts to defend the unconstitutional policy by claiming residents were "happy" with being treated like criminals by "specially trained squads" who target people for "holding their hands in their coat on a street corner."
Confronted with the fact that such policies are right out of North Korea or East Germany and have no place in a free country, Giordano invoked the non-existent "constitutional right to not have your kid shot," which could also be enforced if authorities simply placed the entire population under house arrest and prevented them from ever going outside.
Much to Giordano's chagrin, Napolitano responded by paraphrasing the most famous Philadelphian of all, founding father Benjamin Franklin, who said, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
The stops have increased from 102,319 in 2005 to 253,333 in 2009 - an increase of 148 percent - with just 8 per cent of all stops leading to arrests. An alarming one in six residents of the entire city of Philadelphia has been stopped and frisked under the program, far more than would ever be subjected to a TSA groping at an airport.
"These unconstitutional actions have had and continue to have a devastating effect on the lives of many Philadelphians," attorney Paul Messing said. "Beyond that, these police practices have had no real impact on stemming criminal conduct in our city. They just subject innocent people to humiliating and degrading treatment."
"Most of those arrests had nothing to do with the reason they were stopped," Messing said. "The charges were often for disorderly conduct because they complained they were stopped for no reason."
By harassing people for putting their hands in their pockets, US authorities are mimicking the British stop and search policy, which by no coincidence has become notorious for its failure to catch any real criminals.
Indeed, in 2008 our own writer Steve Watson was stopped by goons in yellow jackets who proceeded to bark orders at him while standing at a bus stop in Trafalgar Square, London. His crime? He adjusted his clothing and put his hand in his pocket, an action that put him into the category of a potential terrorist, according to section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
In Britain, stop and search powers have been routinely abused to intimidate political protesters and break up demonstrations. Out of the hundreds of thousands of stop and search incidents, not one has led to the arrest or apprehension of a terrorist, and the powers have recently been ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights.
Americans who believe they can avoid being molested by the authorities by simply not flying are going to be in for a rude awakening when they find that body scanners and pat downs have become mandatory to enter shopping malls, sports events, or to simply walk down the street. Unless we stand up in unison and revolt against such unconstitutional intrusions no matter where they take place, America will increasingly resemble the former Soviet Union, where agents of the state ceaselessly demand to see our papers and feel us up as part of the process of humiliation that trains the slaves to fawn over and acquiesce to the orders of their masters.
---
Watch this related video: POLICE STATE 2010: Philly Cops Stopping & Searching Random People On The Streets (Dec 3, 2010) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0h9DAGQiWM]
2010-11-26 "America facing second, not-so-Civil War" letter to the editor of "Ironton Tribune" newspaper of State of Ohio [http://www.irontontribune.com/2010/11/26/america-facing-second-not-so-civil-war]
Jim Crawford is a contributing columnist for The Tribune and a former educator at Ohio University Southern.
---
The American Civil War was, first and foremost, a battle over a small, decentralized federal government, or a larger, more intrusive government that could assert common justice and rights for all its citizens. That war was won physically by the stronger national government of the North. But the philosophical war has never been won, and now America finds itself divided upon fault lines that are about smaller government, more individualism and less social commitment. And while geography still reflects the difference of values, we now find wealth as an additional and important factor. The Civil War South demanded the right to determine whether slavery was a value it could choose to support and expand, and that claim was argued within the framing of states’ rights as proscribed within the Tenth Amendment. The Northern counter to that argument was also a constitutional issue, that of equality of opportunity for all, an argument that would prohibit the continuance of slavery. But there was another argument tucked within the issues that led the nation to war with itself, and that was, and remains, an economic argument. Not so much about tariffs on British goods that the South complained about, and no so much about agrarian versus manufacturing economies that actually worked to complement each other. No, the economic issue was about the issue of whether, as a society we are, for the most part, on our own, or, alternatively, whether we are all in this social construct we call America, together. Civil War Southern politician John C. Calhoun saw states’ rights as, “Governments were formed to protect minorities, for majorities can care for themselves.” Jefferson Davis saw the war as a fight against the “unbridled majorities” of the North. Has the argument really changed today? Republicans, conservatives and Tea Partiers all favor smaller government, less social support and more decentralized government. Their political strength remains in the American South and the economically well-off. The Southern orientation suggests that the war victory by the North never ended the resentment of Southern values. The shared posture of the affluent small government folks reflects the views of Calhoun and Davis. Those views are that government has little help they need…so they would rather keep their money and let everyone else make their own way in the world as they may. That is an easier view to have if your home is paid for, your cars are paid off and your investments produce enough income to live well from. And for many that security makes them insensitive to those who lack food or shelter insecurity, much less job insecurity or health care insecurity. But this is not the world of the 1800s, and nothing can make the changes go away. We cannot revert to no national highway system, no national media, and no public awareness of a nation as a whole. The stand alone argument of self sufficiency failed us when the Great Depression took away the security of those who thought themselves immune from personal disaster. The mid-western Dust Bowl proved even those living off the land were not independent of the rest of the nation when their needs could not be met by crops that no longer could feed their families. And when the Depression broke the wealthy as easily as the poor we discovered, as a nation, that each of us could help the other stand though hard times. We need good government, not too big, not too small … not insensitive to the needs of those who are hungry or those without work, not uncaring about our seniors or our sick. It is time to end the second Civil War.
2010-12-04 "REBELLION IN AMERICA: Virginia plan to cancel Congress' 'authority'; Legislative proposal exempts 'all goods' from oversight by feds" by Bob Unruh from "WorldNetDaily"
[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=235781]
RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 29: U.S. President Barack Obama speaks on the economy to a group gathered at the Southhampton Recreation Association on September 29, 2010 in Richmond, Virginia. The past two days President Obama has traveled to battle ground states speaking about the economy and made his final stop in Richmond speaking to voters in the district of House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA). (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)A state lawmaker in Virginia is proposing that his state adopt a plan that would exempt products made in the state from the federal government's authority under the Commerce Clause to limit, restrict and regulate. The plan by Delegate Mark Cole is House Bill 1438, which the Tenth Amendment Center explains is one – large – step beyond what several states already have done in adopting Firearms Freedom Act provisions. Those plans, which were started in Montana and now have been adopted in seven other states, too, specify that firearms made, sold and kept inside a state's boundaries are not subject to federal rules because those are supposed to apply to commerce "among the states."Cole's plan specifically expands on that idea. His plan states, "All goods produced or manufactured, whether commercially or privately, within the boundaries of the Commonwealth that are held, maintained, or retained within the boundaries of the Commonwealth shall not be deemed to have traveled in interstate commerce and shall not be subject to federal law, federal regulation, or the authority of the Congress of the United States under its constitutional power to regulate commerce."
His plan continues, "This chapter shall apply to goods that are manufactured within the Commonwealth from basic materials or parts. The authority of the Congress of the United States to regulate interstate commerce in basic materials or parts shall not include the authority to regulate goods manufactured within the Commonwealth from such materials or parts."
Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center, said over the years between Congress and the courts the definition of those issues subject to federal control because of "interstate commerce" has expanded to include everything.
"From wheat grown on one's own land for personal consumption, to weed grown in an individual's own home for the same purpose, to guns manufactured, sold and kept in state boundaries, and everything in between," he said.
He said the arguments for such expansive controls have focused on two trains of thought. Citing research from leading constitutional scholar Rob Natelson, Boldin said one argument is that the Founding Fathers meant "all gainful economic activities" when they referred to "commerce."
The other argument, offered by several college researchers, was that "commerce" means "any human interaction."
"Both, however, are wrong," wrote Boldin. "In 2011, state legislative contacts close to the Tenth Amendment Center tell us to expect that a number of states will attempt to resist this federal overreach," he wrote. He said at first glance, Cole's plan might not seem to be out of the ordinary.
"Until one spends a little time thinking about how much of our current unconstitutional federal leviathan the feds have jammed down our throats while claiming 'interstate commerce!' every single time," he said."
From Obamacare to Cap and Trade to the Controlled Substances Act – and everything in between – there are literally countless examples of how the federal government claims the right to not only regulate, but control, prohibit, and mandate under its delegated power to regulate commerce – 'among the several states,'" he said.
But the actual words in the founding document are to regulate "commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes."
"According to constitutional scholar Randy Barnett, the original meaning of 'commerce' was limited to the 'trade and exchange' of goods and transportation for this purpose.
The original meaning of 'to regulate' generally meant 'to make regular' – that is, to specify how an activity may be transacted – when applied to domestic commerce, but when applied to foreign trade also included the power to make 'prohibitory regulations." Among the several States' meant between persons of one state and another," Boldin explained.
He said a simple reading of the documentation specifies that the laws of the federal government are supreme in all matters regarding the powers the Constitution delegates to the federal government.
But "when D.C. enacts laws outside those powers, state laws trump," he said.
"By introducing HB1438, Delegate Cole attempts to place Virginia in a position of proper authority while pressing the issue of state supremacy back into the public sphere," Boldin's analysis said.
AT&T is another of those transnational corporations which supports fascist dictatorships across Latin America and Asia, working hand-in-hand to destroy the security of labor, the ecology, and market regulations...Texas Governor Rick Perry believes that "America" is only for "Americans" [mostly the descendants of European settlers, Blacks if the act "respectable"] and is openly in favor of destroying the USA and allowing the "real American" states to declare absolute state sovereignty as part of the "10th Amendment Legislation Movement" [http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com]
2010-12-04 "AT&T buys over 700 copies of Perry book for luncheon attendees" by DAVE MICHAELS from "The Dallas Morning News" newspaper
[http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/state/stories/DN-perry_04tex.ART.State.Edition1.4ceb3ba.html]
WASHINGTON – The audience listening to Gov. Rick Perry's latest address on Washington's spendthrift ways Friday didn't just hear the speech. They got the book – for free.Dallas-based AT&T sponsored a lunch that included at least 700 copies of the governor's book for state legislators, lobbyists and activists attending a conservative policy summit. Hardback copies were placed on each seat in a ballroom where Perry traced the history of what he called "oppressive government" from the birth of the income tax to the passage of the recent health insurance law.
"It does raise concerns. AT&T has a lot of business before the state of Texas and Texas regulators," said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, a group that tracks money in politics. "They are generally the largest lobby in the state. They can reach out and touch every lawmaker simultaneously."Perry embarked on a nationwide media tour last month after the publication of his book, Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America From Washington. The governor says the book's controversial missives – in it, he calls Social Security a Ponzi scheme, for instance – should prove that he's not running for president in 2012.
Sales of Perry's book benefit the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Center for Tenth Amendment Studies. Both Brooke Rollins, the policy foundation's president, and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz thanked AT&T for paying for the books."Governor Perry has written a book – a book that all of us very kindly have been given by AT&T," Cruz said. "Thank you, AT&T."
A foundation spokesman said the book purchase was arranged between the company and the American Legislative Exchange Council, the conservative outfit that invited Perry to speak at its annual policy summit. A spokeswoman for the Exchange Council said the book order cost more than $13,000. AT&T said the sponsorship was meant to share Perry's agenda with people who attended the summit, many of whom are state legislators from across the country.
"I can only tell you that we worked with ALEC to provide enough copies to give to the conference attendees," said Kerry Hibbs, an AT&T spokesman, in an email.
AT&T is one of the most active corporations in Washington and Austin. This year, the firm has spent as much as $9.3 million to lobby Austin lawmakers and regulators, according to Texas Ethics Commission data. AT&T's political action committee has donated $494,740 to Perry during his nine years in office, according to Texans for Public Justice.
Perry referred to his book Friday as he argued that state legislators and conservative activists should press the federal government to shrink its reach and reduce spending. He bashed Social Security and President Lyndon Johnson for creating Medicare, and said the New Deal worsened the Great Depression. "That is why I so passionately wrote that book Fed Up! that is at each of your places," Perry said. "It is intended to point out those specific areas where government has overflowed its boundaries and explain how liberty is maximized by a limited government set closest to the people."
In the speech, Perry acknowledged that Texas faces fiscal challenges, but he said they pale in comparison to the federal government's. Per-capita state debt in Texas is about $530, compared to $42,600 at the federal level, he said.
He said other states were following Texas' lead under the direction of new Republican governors. "Now trust me, the American people can do the math," Perry said. "They clearly see the difference in value between the state and the federal approach."
2010-12 "Gays Most Targeted for Hate Crimes" from "Outword" magazine from Sacramento [http://www.outwordmagazine.com/index.php/inside-outword/glbt-news/438-gays-most-targeted-for-hate-crimes]
Hate Crimes Gay men and lesbians are far more likely to be victims of a violent hate crime than any other minority group in the United States, according to a new analysis of federal hate crime statistics in the latest issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, released Nov. 22, 2010.
The SPLC’s analysis of 14 years of hate crime data found that homosexuals, or those perceived to be gay, are more than twice as likely to be attacked in a violent hate crime as Jews or blacks; more than four times as likely as Muslims; and 14 times as likely as Latinos. The findings are based on FBI hate crime statistics from 1995 to 2008, the period for which there is complete data. The basic pattern also holds true in individual years.
The analysis is being released to coincide with the release of the FBI’s hate crime statistics for 2009. These findings come as a wave of anti-gay attacks have washed across the country. In New York, for example, 10 suspects were arrested for brutally torturing three gay victims. And in Covington, Ky., a neighborhood was hit by a series of violent anti-gay attacks. Most dramatically, four teenagers committed suicide in September after being bullied, taunted or outed as homosexuals. This analysis of hate crime data can be found in the Winter 2010 issue of the Intelligence Report, which also explores how the hard-core anti-gay movement in America is becoming more extreme in the face of gay rights advances. The complete issue can be read at www.splcenter.org.
“As Americans become more accepting of homosexuals, the most extreme elements of the anti-gay movement are digging in their heels and continuing to defame gays and lesbians with falsehoods that grow more incendiary by the day,” said Mark Potok, editor of the Intelligence Report. “The leaders of this movement may deny it, but it seems clear that their demonization of homosexuals plays a role in fomenting the violence, hatred and bullying we’re seeing.”
Even after the recent string of teen suicides, which brought national attention to the issue of anti-gay bullying, leaders of these groups blamed those seeking to protect students from bullying. Eighteen anti-gay groups are profiled in the Winter 2010 issue, which also contains an article debunking 10 key claims spread by the anti-gay movement to demonize homosexuals. These claims – ranging from the myth that homosexuals don’t live nearly as long as heterosexuals to the utterly bizarre claim that gays helped orchestrate the Holocaust – are examined in detail.
[ ... ]
Anti-Fascism
2010-11-30 "Antifa [anti-Fascist] hackers destroy dozens of websites, publish private databases and emails" [http://artculturework.tumblr.com/post/2051122355/update-most-of-the-files-that-were-hosted-on-the]
Hackers have destroyed over a dozen white supremacist websites, releasing private information on a variety of nazi, KKK, and other racist organizations. Private email correspondence, online forum and store databases, and thousands of home addresses and phone numbers belonging to known fascists leaders were posted on the defaced websites along with anarchist propaganda.
The hackers have targeted a variety of different fascist groups, including Blood & Honour, Combat 18, the Creativity Movement, Vinlanders Social Club, Aryan Front, White Power Skinheads, the Empire Knights of the KKK, the National Socialist Movement, ISD Records, and more. The released private email correspondence reveals a number of embarrassing and often disturbing stories about top neo-nazi leaders in the US and is expected to cause infighting and disunion in the white supremacist scene. Some of the profiled nazis were involved in the military, have been to prison for hate crimes, have raped or molested people, or are just plain racist losers - making one wonder why such a supposed “master race” attracts some sick and disturbed people to their movement.
The release of personal identifying information (including full names, addresses, phone numbers, passwords, and private pictures) gives anti-fascist researchers and activists a treasure trove of intel to work with, and is also sure to make the boneheads sleep a little less easy at night.
We did this in solidarity with our comrades who have been attacked by organized fascists in the past year - the November 8 attack at Jason and Bonnie Devine’s home in Calgary, the March 27th shooting of SHARP Luke Querner in Portland OR, the April 6 bombing of an anti-fascist house in Vancouver, and the murder of Russia RASH founder Ivan Khutorskoy just over one year ago. These incidents further demonstrate that the fascist threat can’t be ignored, and we need to take any and all forms of action to drive them off the street and off the internet. Confronting fringe nazi boneheads is just one front in the larger struggle against the institutional racism which attacks colonized people in relation to land and labor.
We are also fighting anti-immigrant “papers please” laws like SB1070, racist pigs in the police force like Joe Arpaio, John Burge and Johannes Mehserle, and the prison industrial complex which disproportionately targets people of color and the impoverished.
We won’t stop until everyone is freed from the gulags, until the fascists are driven off the streets, until the last capitalist has been hung with the guts of the last bureaucrat. We will continue to use militant direct action to destroy that which stands in the way of us creating an egalitarian society free from racism, sexism, homophobia and all other forms of oppression.
Defaced Domains: bloodandhonour.com, bloodandhonour.net, bloodandhonour-usa.com, combat18.org, isdrecords.com, vinlanders.com, aryan-front.com, creativitymovement.net, skrewdriverdvd.com, ns88.org, top88sites.com. radio.bloodandhonour.com, whitepowerskinheads.com, knights311.org, white-media.info, ainaskin.com, inter-stream.com
Download and mirror the leaked files: [For complete and updated list, visit the link below the headline]
5th World News
[Indigenous nations, oppressed cultures]
2010-12-06 "Independent North Coast Journalist Reports on Cancun UN Climate Negotiations"
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/12/06/18665829.php]
Stormy Staats, an independent video journalist and member of the Klamath Justice and Coastal Justice coalitions, reports from Cancun, Mexico for the UNFCCC COP16 (United Nations Climate negotiations), where she is helping out with the COP16 Independent Media Centers.
Stormy has covered numerous environmental justice battles in recent years, including the direct action protests by Klamath River tribes, fishermen and environmentalists in Portland, Oregon and Omaha, Nebraska to bring down PacifiCorp dams and the protests by North Coast tribes, fishermen and grassroots conservationists to defend tribal rights under assault by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrupt and unjust Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process.
"We are posting stories and video from the voices of people outside the meeting who have the real solutions to climate change," Stormy says. "We are trying to put the actual event in context for what it really is...a corporately hijacked, green washed vacation for those representing the governments who keep us on the track to profits over people."
Their videos cover rampant police surveillance of a permitted March "For Life and Climate Justice," police harrassment of a Mayan Caravan headed to COP16, including the stopping of a religious ceremony, and other events. All posts are on the Mobile Broadcast News website. http://mobilebroadcastnews.com/MBN/story/Cancun-COP16. "I heard from members of a youth delegation inside the Moon Palace (the resort where the meeting is being held) that a lot of young people, among others are feeling dis-empowered," she explained. "A few people from Friends of the Earth International said this is the same meeting as the last few COP meetings, just in a new location."
"The New Zealand youth delegates said that if you go by the rules (for fearing getting kicked out), you have to submit action plans to the event authorities 48 hours in advance of doing actions that make a statement in the Moon Palace," she emphasizes. "Action plans are unsurprisingly being edited and denied. I encouraged them to just go for it, and join us on the outside. They got in trouble and were threatened with removal for standing in line wearing t-shirts that spell 'Stop the Tar Sands'."
Stormy said it is "a lot more interesting" at the alternative forums (http://www.dialogoclimatico.org) and at the encampments where thousands of people from around the Americas are arriving and participating in alternative workshops and forums.
Check out their videos to see whats happening in the streets! "Some of my favorite media-ninja friends and I have created a collective tactical media team, which means we are part of creating the history and future of this movement in our voice, the voice of those who believe in community rooted solutions to climate chaos," Stormy reports. "If news media is reporting in a timely fashion, and documentary is telling a story long after an event, tactical media is telling the story fast enough to effect the future for change."
Community rooted solutions to "climate chaos" are much different from the "green energy" scams proposed by ruling elites throughout the world, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, corporate environmental NGOs and gas, oil and energy corporations.
Each video you see is the product of 4-6 people filming, editing, and distributing media every day. "We are simultaneously filming ourselves working in this collective process to teach other people how to do the same. Sometimes it's like the Mad Max thunder dome...two editors go in and only one comes out! We are having a great time challenging each other and ourselves to creatively go beyond the limits of our imaginations!" Stormy adds.
These are the latest videos from independent journalists outside the COP16. Please pass on and post everywhere!!
People's Caravans Arrive in Cancun to offer Alternative Voice to COP16 Summit [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw9ULKRXt2g]
COP16: Rampant Police Surveillance of Legal, Permitted March "For Life and Climate Justice" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHzJJ7oeVZM]
Police Harass Mayan Caravan Headed to COP16, Stopping religious ceremony [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwgv4FjfJOM], [http://mobilebroadcastnews.com/MBN/story/Cancun-COP16]
Glassbead Report from Espacio Mexicano [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BD3ZG80GCQ]
2010-12-06 "BOLIVIA: NEW TEXT BY LCA CHAIR IS IMBALANCED, ALL VOICES MUST BE HEARD" from Plurinational State of Bolivia
In a press conference this morning at the COP16 climate negotiations in Cancun, Ambassador Pablo Solon of the Plurinational State of Bolivia said that a new text released yesterday by the Chair of the working group on Long-Term Cooperative Action is imbalanced, and excludes the proposals of Bolivia and many other developing nations. The main differences, Solon indicated, must be ironed out in negotiations among countries rather than unilaterally decided by a Chair. “Debates should continue on the negotiating text that includes the proposals of all parties,” Solon said. Ambassador Solon enumerated some of the proposals by Bolivia that have been left out: a consideration of the impact of war on greenhouse gas emissions, respect for human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples in climate policy, the creation of a declaration on the rights of Mother Earth, a definition of forests that does not include plantations, rejection of new market mechanisms that treat nature as merchandise, and the creation of a climate justice tribunal. Solon did note that one essential proposal by his delegation remains: a 50% reduction of domestic emissions by developed countries by 2017. He pointed out that this position is very much in line with that of most developing nations in the G77 and China, where the minimum demand is for a 40% reduction. In response to accusations that Bolivia is blocking progress in Cancun, Solon said that his proposals are motivated simply by the desire to prevent the kind of disastrous rise in global temperatures that would condemn humanity to death. “We have come to seek an accord for humanity and nature in its totality… The most current research indicates that 300,000 people die each year due to natural disasters. You’re playing with human lives,” Solon said. Solon indicated that the recent revelation on Wikileaks that countries were pressured by the US government to associate themselves with the Copenhagen Accord was no surprise to the Bolivian delegates. Along with Ecuador, Bolivia had $3 million dollars of climate finanace withdrawn by the US in April 2010 as a result of refusing to sign the Copenhagen Accord. “It confirms what we’ve been saying all along… That is not a climate negotiation, it’s an imposition. We will not be bought,” Solon said. The Bolivian negotiator also indicated his intention to remain at the table during the entire course of the talks this week. “We will never close ourselves off from any kind of negotiation among parties,” said Solon.
2010-12-07 "Cancun: The Peoples March for Climate Justice Begins" from "Censored News"
[http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/12/cancun-peoples-march-for-climate.html]
Tuesday morning: La Via Campesina's Peoples March for Climate Justice begins!
Photos copyright Brenda Norrell.
Top Photo: Sarah James, Gwich'in, marched for the protection of the Arctic, homeland of her people and caribou.
Photo 2: Chiapas Caravan.
Photo 3: March begins.
2010-12-06 "Huicholes form alliance to fight mining on sacred land" by Brenda Norrell from "Censored News" newswire [http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com]
CANCUN, Mexico -- A Canadian mining company is threatening the most sacred place of the Huicholes, where sacred water is found and where prayers are said for the balance of the world. The Huicholes, who call themselves Wixarika, make pilgrimages to their ceremonial place in the Sierra Madres across the Chihuahua desert to Leunar in Mexico, their sacred mountain where the sun first rose. A Canadian mining company, First Majestic Silver Corporation, plans to exploit and mine this area. The company is planning to use cyanide to mine the sacred region. This disastrous mining will destroy the ecosystem and the sacred places of the Wixarika. The Franks Landing Indian Community in Washington State is spearheading a project to bring support to the Wixarika. Franks Landing Indian youths planned to meet with the Wixarika in Cancun, but were unable to secure passports. Still, Robert Free Galvan of Seattle met with the Wixarika in Cancun, and new alliances were made with other Indigenous Peoples, including Sarah James, Gwich'in from Alaska, and Ofelia Rivas, O'odham from the US/Mexico border. During an interview with Censored News in Cancun, Wixarika said that the balance of the world will be upset if the Wixarika do not continue their prayers here. Wixarika said they have gone to their sacred place for a millennium to collect their sacred waters and sacred peyote for ceremonies. Mining will contaminate the water and the land there. Wixarika said they came to the Cancun Climate Summit looking for alliances, urging people to write letters to the government of Mexico and put pressure on Mexico to halt this mining. “What this comes down to is an extermination of the Wixarika people," a member of the Wixarika delegation said in a radio interview with Censored News. Calling for the First Majestic Silver Corporation from Canada to halt the mining plans, Wixarika said their ancestors have told them that they must continue to preserve their sacred sites in order to survive. The Wixarika sent this message to Canada: "We know that Canadians take care of their natural resources, and we would ask them to allow us to take care of our natural resources." The issue is of urgent importance. “We are praying for the equilibrium of the balance of the planet.” Wixarika said their prayers in this sacred place are essential to keeping the world in balance. Listen to this interview at Censored News Blogtalk Radio: [http://www.blogtalkradio.com/brenda-norrell/2010/12/06/huicholes-fight-mining-sacred-land]
Read more: [http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/12/huicholes-form-alliance-to-fight-mining.html]
Photograph by Robert Free showing Huicholes in Toluca, Mexico. 2010-12-03 "RAPANUI (EASTER ISLAND) UNDER FIRE BY CHILEAN TROOPS" press statement
[http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/12/chilean-troops-open-fire-on-unarmed.html]
Early this morning armed Chilean troops opened fire on unarmed Rapanui civilians. The police started shooting and tear gassing as the Rapanui people started gathering in solidarity. Now there is blood on the streets.
Leviante Araki, the President of the Rapanui Parliament was shot twice about his hip and rib cage and is being air lifted to Santiago for medical care.
A young man, Richard Tepano, was shot at short range in his right eye and is now in critical condition in the hospital.
Maori Pakarati was shot above his right eye and in his arm, a rubber bullet remains encrusted in his arm.
Zita Atan was shot in the head, Pia Vargas was shot in her right leg.
Honu Tepano was shot in his shoulder. As the Chilean troops were charging towards the fleeing Rapanui. ClaudioTuki was hit in the forehead Enrique Tepano was shot in his face.
Santi Hitorangi was shot in his right leg from behind, and as he attempted to continue to film the situtation he was shot twice in his back.
At 5:45 Jose Rikorokoi who was on the premise of Rapanui land adjacent to the bank building and was beaten by a baton in his head.
At this site Chileans troops violently routed out the unarmed family of Michael Tuko Tuki, Rapanui nationals. The unarmed Rapanui people are determined not to be removed from their lands.
The Rapanui people defended themselves by throwing rocks amid the bullets flying toward them. The judge and fiscal official who activated the order has disappeared, No officials can be found and the police say they are only following orders.
Yesterday the Governor asked the Rapanui people to evacuate the premises, they refused. She has no control to stop the police as it is not within her power. After months of relatively peaceful reoccupation of their lands by the Rapanui people, the Chilean government attacked with force, brandishing automatic rifles and shotguns.
The state of Chile has refused to hold meaningful discussions to resolve this situation, which could be resolved by issuing title to the Rapanui people of their lands as required under Chilean law. Instead of finding a peaceful solution the Chilean government has all that delayed and criminalized the Rapanui clans that are in re-occupation and has now violently attacked them. Regardless, the Rapanui commitment and steadfastness is unwavering and inspirational.
The unfunded and unarmed Rapanui are fighting colossal well financed foreign and Chilean private interests to privatize the Rapanui island and its archeological treasures, the MOAI.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Susana Hito (845) 596-5403
Santi Hitorangi 011569 62411364
Afghanistan
2010-12-03 "Obama's "Sneak-n-Peek II" into America's neoColony" commentary by DLi
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/12/03/18665587.php]
Once again the Imperial master is dissing the "Mayor of Kabul" Hamid Karzai, in his second inspection trip of a supposedly "sovereign" Afghanistan. By speaking only with his Occupation soldiers--and ignoring the nominal Afghan head of state--the USA empire shows it clearly doesn't care what Afghans think about the US role in the continuing Occupation. Where else in the civilized world can a foreign visitor refuse to meet with the top local official, while violating the local airspace with impunity with a surprise tour in the middle of the night? That's the major problem with the American Occupation of Afghanistan(now in its 9th year, even surpassing the Soviet Union's disastrous foray into the Hindu Kush)--every action that the USA empire carries out completely undercuts its professed goals. If the Kabul government is indeed an equal and sovereign partner in this project, why does every US official treat their "partners" with such disdain and contempt(normal diplomatic protocol or even simple courtesy would dictate that a visitor would at least first check in with the local chieftain before meeting with his foreign military "advisers"!) Moreover, the constant harping on the Afghans' corruption is utterly hypocritical. The US picked ex-Unocal agent Karzai to be the Afghan "President" back in 2002 precisely because he had been America's paid agent for years while negotiating with the Taliban regime on the gas pipeline. Hence US officials and Karzai's circle had been long-term co-conspirators in the deadly "Great Game" of Central Asia. At this late hour, the US empire is simply throwing hundreds of billions of dollars(and viciously escalating the violence via its assassination teams and drone missle attacks on the populace!), in order to stave off a Dienbienphu-like military defeat on the ground. All the talk about "democratic governance" and "winning the hearts and minds" is just rhetorical cover for an Imperial Occupation going Nowhere. Meanwhile, clueless and unwitting young Western cannonfodders and thousands more innocent Afghan civilians will be sacrificed in this mindless continuation of America's "Operation Enduring Fiasco."
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