FRONTLINE - The Enemy Within - Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)
in this email:
(1) Great Lakes now a Military Shooting Range
(2) Twilight of the Assassins: Why the U.S. Refuses to Prosecute the Cuban
Exiles Luis Posada Carriles & Orlando Bosch For the 1976 Bombing of Cubana
Airlines Flight 455
(3) Rally and Tribute at Riverside Church in Support of Lynne Stewart
(4) Attack Dogs Used Against Prisoners in the United States
(5) Jennifer Van Bergen - How To Spot a Police Spy
(6) U.S Carrier task force heads to Iran:
Iran War Looms as Eisenhower Carrier Force Deploys
(7) Bush policies triggered North Korean nuke
=========
L.A. Times Letters
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-tuesday10.2oct10,0,5038516.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters
Bush policies triggered North Korean nuke
October 10, 2006
Re "N. Korea Declares Nuclear Test," Oct. 9
It is clear that the Bush administration has no desire to find a diplomatic solution to North Korea's nuclear testing. President Bush has ignored repeated offers by North Korea to hold talks about its nuclear policy. What hypocrisy! The U.S. demands that North Korea stop testing while we continue to expand our arsenal of thousands of nukes. North Korea is the world's eighth declared nuclear power, not the first. The only way to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons is for the U.S. to initiate global nuclear disarmament. That means banning all nuclear weapons in all countries.
TANJA WINTER
La Jolla
•
Suppose you were North Korea and President Bush put you into his "axis of evil," along with Iraq and Iran. You saw him invade Iraq, kill tens of thousands of its people and change its government. Then he began following the same pattern with Iran. Meanwhile, Bush refused to talk to you directly about your nuclear program. Wouldn't you develop and test a nuke to defend yourself? Thanks to Bush's dangerous policies, the chickens have come home to roost.
MARJORIE COHN
President-elect
National Lawyers Guild
San Diego
•
Since late 2002 — when the United States was still ratcheting up its rhetoric and getting ready to wage war on Iraq, when U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was flashing blurred pictures before the U.N. Security Council and when French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and France were the sole hope for sanity — it was widely predicted in international intelligence circles that a nuclear North Korea and a nuclear Iran would be the inevitable consequence of the Bush-led war on Iraq.
It was also inevitable that such a war on a largely secular state such as Iraq — which has not violated human rights much more than nations such as Pakistan, China, Russia and India — would set in motion a geographic expansion with a proportionate deepening of Islamic extremism and terrorism. Particularly as the epicenter of such terrorism and nuclear proliferation — Pakistan — was being entirely bypassed. As always, a hapless world must lie on a bed made by the United States and its staunch allies.
S. SUCHINDRANATH AIYER
Bangalore, India
==============================================================================
TODAY'S DEMOCRACY NOW!:
* Twilight of the Assassins: Why the U.S. Refuses to Prosecute the Cuban
Exiles Luis Posada Carriles & Orlando Bosch For the 1976 Bombing of Cubana
Airlines Flight 455 *
It was the first act of airline terrorism in the Americas: thirty years ago
on October 6, 1976, 73 died in the bombing of a Cuban passenger plane. Now,
one alleged mastermind lives freely in Miami, while another is being held on
immigration charges in Texas. We speak to journalist Ann Louise Bardach.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/10/1355231
=======================================================
Attack Dogs Used Against Prisoners in US
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101006F.shtml
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...The commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Kathleen Dennehy, said that there are other ways to get an inmate to follow orders "than sending in an animal to rip his flesh..."
Attack Dogs Used Against Prisoners
Human Rights Watch
Tuesday 10 October 2006
Five state prison systems in the United States permit the use of aggressive, unmuzzled dogs to terrify and even attack prisoners in efforts to remove them from their cells, Human Rights Watch said today in a new report.
The 20-page report, "Cruel and Degrading: The Use of Dogs for Cell Extractions in U.S. Prisons," publicly reveals this practice for the first time. It also shows that the practice is not only cruel, but wholly unnecessary as there are safer, more humane alternatives that corrections officers can use - and most across the country do use - to remove prisoners from their cells.
In Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, South Dakota and Utah, if a prisoner will not voluntarily leave his cell when ordered to do so, officers may bring a trained attack dog to the cell front to terrify the prisoner into compliance. If the prisoner still refuses, the dog is let into the cell to bite the prisoner. While the prisoner tries to fend off the dog, correctional officers place restraints on him and then remove him from the cell.
"The entire world has seen the photo of an Abu Ghraib detainee crouched in terror before a snarling dog, but the use of attack dogs against prisoners here in the U.S. has been a well-kept secret," said Jamie Fellner, director of the U.S. Program of Human Rights Watch. "Longtime corrections professionals were appalled when we told them that guards in some states use dogs on prisoners."
The state prison systems in Connecticut and Iowa frequently use dogs for cell extractions. In Utah, they have been used extremely rarely. In Delaware and South Dakota, although state corrections policies permit the use of dogs for cell extractions, prison officials say they are not in fact used for this purpose.
Corrections officials in Connecticut and Iowa insist the use of attack dogs is justified because they deter prisoner misconduct and reduce staff injuries. But 45 other states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons reject their views.
The Arizona and Massachusetts prison systems formerly used dogs for cell extractions. In early 2006, both states ended the practice after a review of their use of force policies. The commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Kathleen Dennehy, said that there are other ways to get an inmate to follow orders "than sending in an animal to rip his flesh."
Dogs are frequently used in the United States and elsewhere to patrol prison perimeters and to search for contraband.
"We know of no other country in the world where officers use attack dogs to remove prisoners from their cells," said Fellner. "State prison officials in these five states should adopt the more humane methods that their colleagues across the country already use."
To see videos from two cell extractions, as well as a training video for using dogs in cell extractions, click here.
To read the Human Rights Watch report, "Cruel and Degrading: The Use of Dogs for Cell Extractions in U.S. Prisons," click here.
=============================================
The New York Times
NEW YORK REGION | September 29, 2006
Lawyer in Terror Case Apologizes for Violating Special Prison Rules
By JULIA PRESTON
--------------------------------------------------------
forwarded message:
-------------------------------------------------
ACTIVISTS Thru-out New York City
Rally and Tribute at Riverside Church in Support of Lynne Stewart
A Tribute to her Legal Career & Political Life.
On the Eve of Her Sentencing
Sunday, October 15, 2006
4 PM to 7 PM
The Riverside Church of New York
120th & Claremont Avenues
(near Riverside Drive)
Raging Grannies, Reverend Billy, Vinie Burrow, Nana Soul, Professor Louie, Eli Smith,Randy Credico - Statements from Mumia Abu Jamal and Cindy Sheehan, MC’s: Attorney Michael Tarif Warren, Attorney Michael Smith, Robert Knight, Sally O’Brien Speakers include: Attorney Michael Ratner, Ralph Schoeman, Pam Africa, Ann Wright, Howie Hawkins, Reverend Tony Johnson, Jeff Mackler, Julia Willebrand, Carol Cage, Nellie Hester Bailey, Sara Founders, Juanita Young, Kathie Cheng, Carol Nixon, Letter Readers: Ernesto Stewart, Florence Morgan, Danny Meyers, Joanne Dwyer, Beverly Mastropolo, Jimmy Dellabella – Lynne Stewart’s attorneys: Jill Shellow-Lavine, Joshua Dratel, Elizabeth Fink, Susan B. Jordan, Ellen Yaroshevsky
For more information contact: Lynne Stewart Defense Committee 350 Broadway, Suite 700, New York, NY 10013 212-625-9696 www.lynnestewart.org
==============================================================================
www.counterpunch.org
October 10, 2006
What You're Missing in Our Subscriber-only CounterPunch Newsletter
How To Spot a Police Spy
Is it the guy who asks you after the meeting about how the antiwar movement needs to get "serious" and asks you lots of questions about terrorism and "fighting back"? Jennifer Van Bergen reports, first-hand. Part 2 of our series on what really happened on 9/11/2001: the physics of collapse, and how not to make a "pancake" by Manuel Garcia, PLUS Engineer Pierre Sprey on why "controlled demolition" theories are off target. What you just missed, but can still get, in our last newsletter: Paul Craig Roberts on the Collapse of America. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation towards the cost of this online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now!
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
forwarded message:
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?
StoryID=20061005-100843-4993r
United Press Ininternational
Oct. 5 2005
Carrier strike group departs
from Norfolk
NORFOLK, Va., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The USS
Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group
deployed Oct. 3 from Norfolk in support of
maritime security operations, or MSO.
The Navy News Stand reported that Rear
Adm. Allen G. Myers is commanding the
Carrier Strike Group. The carrier group
includes the guided-missile cruiser USS
Anzio, guided-missile destroyers USS
Ramage and USS Mason and the
fast-attack submarine USS Newport
News.
Myers said, "I'm extremely proud of
the men and women of the Eisenhower
Carrier Strike Group. They've worked
long and hard, exceeding all expectations
as we prepared for this deployment and
are ready to take on any missions sent our
way. We aim to make a difference with our
unique capability of providing a strong
forward presence anywhere in the world at
any given time, whether we're promoting
peace and security, preserving freedom of
the seas, deterring aggression or providing
sustained combat operations."
During deployment, the group will
operate with coalition partners to
conduct MSO under international
maritime conventions, ensuring
security by denying terrorists use of
the maritime environment.
---------------------------------
2)
http://www2.humboldt.edu/~merge/modules.php?
op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&page_id=1674
Op-Ed News, via
The Lumberjack Online,
Oct. 6, 2006
U.S Carrier task force heads
to Iran: Iran War Looms as
Eisenhower Carrier Force
Deploys
by Dave Lindorff
http://www.opednews.com
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Eisenhower and its accompanying
strike force of cruiser, destroyer
and attack submarine slipped their
moorings and headed off for the
Persian Gulf region on Oct. 2, as I
had predicted in a piece in The
Nation magazine a few weeks back.
The Eisenhower strike force, according
to my sources, is scheduled to arrive in
the vicinity of Iran around October 21,
at the same time as a second flotilla of
minesweepers and other ships.
This build-up of naval power around
the coast of Iran, according to some
military sources, is in preparation for
an air attack on Iran that would target
not just Iran's nuclear enrichment
facilities, but its entire military
command and control system.
While such an attack could be expected
to unleash a wave of military violence
all over Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and
elsewhere against American forces and
interests and against oil wells, pipelines
and loading vacilities, as well as a mining
of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of
Hormuz, with a resulting skyrocketing of
global oil prices, the real goal of this new
war by the U.S. would be ensuring
Republican control of the House and
Senate.
It seems increasingly clear that the
Republican Party is going to lose its
grip on the House of Representatives,
and that it may even lose control of
the Senate, barring some dramatic
October Surprise by the president. So
far, the surprises have been working
against Republicans, with the Foley
sex scandal, the evidence that
Abramoff's bribery reached right into
the inner sanctum of the White House,
and the deteriorating U.S. position in
Iraq.
With the number of House seats
reportedly "in play" now rising from
15 to 30 and now 50, President Bush
is looking at the possibility of a blow
out Nov. 7 that could see him facing a
Democratic Congress bent on revenge
for five six years of systematic abuse.
Bush has committed a long string of
impeachable crimes against the
Constitution, the Republic and the
American people--everything from
lying to the Congress and the 9-11
Commission, obstructing an
investigation into the outing of CIA
agent Valerie Plame, abuse of power,
violation of federal laws like the
Foreign Surveillance Intelligence
Act, dereliction of duty and criminal
negligence, and war crimes. He can
expect a Democratic Congress to call
him to account for at least some of
these crimes, whatever House minority
leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) may say
today.
This means that the worse things look
for Republican chances in November,
the greater the likelihood that a
desperate President Bush will order
a disastrous attack on Iran--one that
would have the country enter into a
third, even worse, war even as it is
currently busy losing two others.
But Bush and his gang of cronies don't
care about initiating a disaster. They're
focussed on the disaster that will hit
them if they don't turn around the
November election. Sacrificing the
country or its young men and
women in uniform, or the lives of
innocent Iranians, is not a concern,
any more than it was when Bush
ordered the invasion of Iraq.
Clearly such a war would be an act
of madness, and yet we know that
the plans, already drawn up, are
being updated and fine-tuned now
by generals and admirals whose
twisted sense of patriotism has them
giving primary loyalty to a demented
commander in chief instead of to the
Constitutional and the people of the
United States, to both of which they
swore an oath to protect.
I hope I am wrong about all this, but
the sailing of the Eisenhower, which
had been pushed forward recently by
about a month by the Pentagon for
clearly political reasons, makes me
think I'm right. A key will be what
happens with the Enterprise carrier
strike force, which has already been
on station in the Arabian Sea for six
months, where it has been launching
air strikes against Afghanistan and
Iraq targets. Ordinarily, such
deployments last six months and then
the carrier group returns to base for
resupply and for R&R for the crew.
If the Enterprise is held over for a
longer deployment, after the arrival
of the Eisenhower, we will know
that something serious is planned.
Meanwhile, journalist Larisa
Alexandrovna, in the online publication
Raw Story, reports that top military
leaders are already engaging in
"branches and sequels" planning for
an Iran attack, which her sources tell
her is the kind of planning that is
done "after an initial plan has been
decided upon."
What is deeply troubling here is the
total silence on the part of the Democratic
Party opposition. Not one Democrat in
Congress, and as far as I know, not one
Democratic candidate for Congress--not
even anti-war insurgent Ned Lamont in
Connecticut, has demanded an answer
from Bush and the Pentagon for the
obvious military buildup around Iran,
or about published reports that the U.S.
already has special forces in side Iran
backing the terrorist organization MEK,
and selecting targets for U.S.
bombardment.
If and when the U.S. attacks Iran,
leading to a predicable--if temporary
--rallying around the flag by the
American public, and to an upset win
by incumbent Republican congressional
candidates, Democrats will have only
themselves to blame for the debacle.
But it will be the American people--and
especially the people of Iran--who will
be the victims of this treacherous
deed and this treasonous failure of will.
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
Dave Lindorff, a columnist for Counterpunch,
is author of several recent books ("This Can't
Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of
American Democracy" and "Killing Time: An
Investigation into the Death Penalty Case
of Mumia Abu-Jamal"). His latest book,
coauthored with Barbara Olshanshky, is
"The Case for Impeachment: The Legal
Argument for Removing President George
W. Bush from Office (St. Martin's Press,
May 2006). His writing is available at
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
============================================================
CounterPunch/Weekend Edition
October 7 / 8, 2006
Full Statement of Those Who Occupied the Stage
Why We Confronted the Minutemen at Columbia
By CounterPunch News Service
http://www.counterpunch.org/columbia10072006.html
======================================================
in this e-mail:
(1) FRONTLINE - The Enemy Within - Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)
(2) The NLG Strongly Opposes the Military Commissions Act of 2006
(3) (a) NLG Calls on Columbia University to Drop Investigation of
Students Protesting Minuteman
(b) - take action - sign a petition in support of the students!
(4) The NLG Urges The Media and Federal Authorities to Address Gender Based Violence
(5) Lynne Stewart Alert !
======================
FRONTLINE
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/
- This Week: "The Enemy Within " (60 minutes),
Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)
- Inside FRONTLINE: The Lodi, California terror case
- Live Discussion: Chat with correspondent Oriana Zill de Granados
Wed., Oct. 11, at 11 am ET
Since 9/11, authorities say they have made more than 400 terrorism-related
arrests inside the U.S. The news headlines from Atlanta, Miami, New York and
other cities play to the sense of fear that the country may be subjected to
another terrorist attack. Just how real is the threat of home grown
terrorism is the question posed in "The Enemy Within," a FRONTLINE
investigation in association with The New York Times that airs this Tuesday.
Veteran correspondent Lowell Bergman and producer Oriana Zill de Granados
report on a new FBI approach towards domestic terrorism that emphasizes
'disruption' rather than building legal cases. The Bureau is trying to
transform itself into a domestic intelligence agency like Britain's MI-5.
The FBI claims to have disrupted plots all around the country, but critics
argue many of the headline cases are overblown. Take Lodi, California. Was
this highly publicized case of a Pakistani American ice cream vendor and his
son really part of an Al Qaeda plot in the making? At first the government
said it was, and trumpeted the case in Washington. FRONTLINE revisits the
facts of this investigation and tests the government's thesis in an
extraordinary interview with a 35-year veteran of the FBI who has serious
concerns about how it was handled. Bergman tells me that the ex-FBI
investigator, James Wedick, has paid a steep price for stepping forward to
question what happened in the Lodi case.
Co-chair of the 9/11 Commission Thomas Kean worries that the FBI's
resources will be dissipated if every criminal activity with a vague
terrorism connection is redefined as an Al Qaeda threat. Others are
concerned about the implications of the FBI's new 'disruption' role for the
exercise of basic freedoms of speech and religion. " Beyond the particulars
of these cases," says Bergman, "sources tell me that some of the new
methods being employed by the Bureau are bound to generate controversy as
the need for security collides with our democratic principles ."
I hope you will join us Tuesday, and a reminder -- this program can be
watched in full on our Web site a few hours following broadcast. Take a look
at our higher quality video and explore the interviews, features and
additional reports on the site. And express your opinion about this program
at http://www.pbs.org/frontline/enemywithin/
Louis Wiley, Jr.
Executive Editor
=======================
THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD STRONGLY OPPOSES THE MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT OF 2006
Contact: Marjorie Cohn
President-elect, NLG
marjorie@tjsl.edu
619-374-6923
Heidi Boghosian
Executive Director, NLG
director@nlg.org
212- 679-5100
The National Lawyers Guild is strongly opposed to the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The culmination of relentless fear-mongering by the Bush Administration, this law was rammed through Congress with very little debate. Contrary to Bush's claims that it will protect us against terrorism, the Act strips detainees of basic constitutional rights and makes a mockery of the United States government's stated commitment to human rights.
This law denies the right of habeas corpus to non-U.S. citizens whom Bush has declared to be enemy combatants. Thus, the nearly 500 men detained at Guantánamo will have no opportunity to convince a federal court that their detention is unlawful; they will spend the rest of their lives in prison, never being charged with any crime. Since the U.S. Constitution allows Congress to suspend habeas corpus only in times of invasion or rebellion, this provision is unconstitutional.
It further gives the government the right to declare any persons, including U.S. citizens, "unlawful enemy combatants" if they are determined to have "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States or its co-belligerents." Anyone who donates money to a charity that turns up on Bush's list of "terrorist" organizations, or who writes or speaks out against the government's policies, could be declared an "unlawful enemy combatant" and imprisoned indefinitely.
The United States, as a party to the Geneva Conventions, is obliged to enforce their provisions. Yet the new bill denies any person who claims his or her rights under Geneva have been violated from raising those claims in U.S. courts.
The bill immunizes Bush and his officials from war crimes prosecution for past torture and abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody. It also waters down the list of war crimes punishable by the U.S. War Crimes Act.
Non-citizens who are charged, tried, convicted and executed in military commissions can be denied basic due process rights under the new bill. The government can use hearsay evidence and evidence obtained by coercion to secure convictions. The accused can be denied the right to see all of the evidence against him.
"Historically, in times of war and national crisis, the government has targeted immigrants and dissidents. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 follows in the footsteps of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Alien Enemies Act, the Alien Friends Act, the internment of citizens and non-citizens of Japanese, German and Italian descent, and red-baiting that destroyed many lives during the McCarthy era," according to Marjorie Cohn, president-elect of the National Lawyers Guild.
Our constitutional right to dissent is in grave jeopardy. The National Lawyers Guild strongly opposes the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
# # #
==========================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, October 9, 2006
Contact: Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, 212-679-5100, ext. 11
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CALLS ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TO DROP INVESTIGATION OF
STUDENTS PROTESTING MINUTEMEN
New York. The National Lawyers Guild urges Columbia University to drop its
investigation of the students who held banners in protest of the Minutemen
last week. Videotape coverage of last week's event shows that the students
standing with banners were not responsible for that evening's violence,
rather they were attacked and kicked by the Minutemen when they engaged in
peaceful protest.
The University's response to this event is reminiscent of the 1960s, when
the Guild defended Columbia students who protested the University's
affiliation with the weapons think tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses.
After the New York Police Department injured 150 non-violent protesters
there, Columbia failed to take action against the police-instead it
suspended at least 30 students.
The Minutemen have referred to themselves as "white Martin Luther Kings."
Yet, among them are members of the National Alliance, the largest neo-Nazi
group in the United States.
Dr. King's agenda supported peaceful activism and equal rights for all. The
Minutemen's agenda perpetuates "White Power," seeks to annihilate a
multi-racial society, to degrade, subjugate and deny equality to people
based on national origin or to people of color.
NLG Executive Director Heidi Boghosian said, "Just as the National Lawyers
Guild defended Columbia protesters in the 1960s, we defend them now for
continuing their legacy of protest against societal injustice. We support
their right to object-free from University reprisal-to the Minutemen and
their racist and violent agenda. And we support the human rights of
immigrants that the Minutemen so viciously attack."
Four decades ago, Columbia investigated peaceful protestors, effectively
exonerating those who used violence against them. Today's Columbia
administration should take the high road, the moral road, and drop its
investigation of those who peacefully defend the principles that Martin
Luther King held dear-principles that we trust Columbia University also
holds dear.
Founded in 1937, the National Lawyers Guild is headquartered in New York and
has chapters in nearly every state, as well as over 100 law school chapters.
The Guild has a long history of representing individuals whom the government
has deemed a threat to national security, including helping expose illegal
FBI and CIA surveillance, infiltration and disruption tactics (COINTELPRO)
that the U.S. Senate "Church Commission" hearings detailed in 1975-76 and
that led to enactment of the Freedom of Information Act and other
limitations on federal investigative power.
# # #
==============================================================================
Human Rights Watch: UN: New Report Says Violence Against Women is a Human Rights Violation
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1009-06.htm
===========================================================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, October 6, 2006
Contact: Kerry McLean - 917 334 9331
Mel Campagna – 415-336-7578
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD URGES MEDIA AND FEDERAL AUTHORITIES TO ADDRESS GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
Calls on Bush Administration to Develop Meaningful Federal Response
New York. The National Lawyers Guild urges the media and authorities to recognize as hate crimes the violent attacks on girls that have taken place in Colorado and Pennsylvania schools over the past few weeks. The Guild also urges the Bush Administration's proposed conference on school violence to development a meaningful federal response both to preventing and dealing with consequences of this problem.
In both the Colorado and Pennsylvania attacks the perpetrators specifically targeted female students. In Colorado, the gunman sexually assaulted several schoolgirls before murdering one. In Pennsylvania, the gunman told his wife of his desire to molest girls, and eventually killed five schoolgirls. Strangely, few media outlets have acknowledged the gender dynamics of the crimes.
"It's the elephant in the room," remarked Kerry McLean, co-chairperson of the Anti-Sexism Committee of the Guild. " The fact that these girls were targeted because of their gender is staring us in the face, but the majority of the mass media have failed to discuss that dimension."
Mel Campagna, Vice President of the Legal Workers in the Guild, concurs. "The absence of an analysis that takes sexism into account prevents us from comprehending both why these situations occurred and what can be done to prevent such attacks in the future."
=======================================
forwarded message (pasted together from various sources) -
support the Columbia University students who unfurled a banner last week at a Minutemen talk at Columbia U.
** ** **
comments:
Students at Columbia confronted Jim Gilchrist and the Minutemen are being threatened with disciplinary action. They need our support, so please sign the petition.
also see -
http://www.bwog.net/index.php?page=post&article_id=2308&lionshare=66d6d6ee7553fd0d5779131f3c93d58c#jump
To sign petition and get more information:
Here are links with more information:
UNIVISION COVERAGE
Part 1 and 2..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N41eXtVK7hA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwqPRmlb3Xg
Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/nominute/petition.html
================================================================================
forwarded message -
Lynne Stewart ALERT, ALERT, ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10/16 is Sentence Day.
OK, we all want and need to do all we can to keep Lynne out of Federal Prison, right?
Two old friends (one from college, one from pre-kindergarten) were hanging out near DC last weekend, and worrying about Lynne and washing it all down with vino when they thought up a great idea...
Everybody can make CONTACT Where you live, work, pray, meet, talk, speak, draw, cook, etc.
Many of Lynne's supporters are in Chicago, Portland, Oakland, St. Petersburg, Burlington, Boston, San Diego, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Providence, Atlanta....... Not in the NYC area, Unable to Attend Events
Get on your RADIO/ TV (call in to talk shows and make your comment relevant to Lynne's sentencing, ask the people who host radio, tv,web sites to feature Lynne's story in the next two weeks)!
Write a letter to the Editor: tie it to something recent ie destruction of habeas corpus!
Get a local paper to publish a Lynne story or take out an ad with others!
Where people gather: church, Your livingroom, temple, mosque-- Make an announcement, say a prayer, show the video, distribute a hand bill!!
Artists, Poets: go to the Malls, the Squares, the Monuments Draw, Paint Dedicate it to Lynne, Speak, Show Videos. Read her letters of Support!!
Host a dinner in your apartment or home, show the Lynne Stewart video "The Struggle Continues" or Paul Chan's (see website) Politics meets Poetics. Raise funds for the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee.
Go to: www.lynnestewart.org. Call us 212-625-9696
(1) Great Lakes now a Military Shooting Range
(2) Twilight of the Assassins: Why the U.S. Refuses to Prosecute the Cuban
Exiles Luis Posada Carriles & Orlando Bosch For the 1976 Bombing of Cubana
Airlines Flight 455
(3) Rally and Tribute at Riverside Church in Support of Lynne Stewart
(4) Attack Dogs Used Against Prisoners in the United States
(5) Jennifer Van Bergen - How To Spot a Police Spy
(6) U.S Carrier task force heads to Iran:
Iran War Looms as Eisenhower Carrier Force Deploys
(7) Bush policies triggered North Korean nuke
=========
L.A. Times Letters
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-tuesday10.2oct10,0,5038516.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters
Bush policies triggered North Korean nuke
October 10, 2006
Re "N. Korea Declares Nuclear Test," Oct. 9
It is clear that the Bush administration has no desire to find a diplomatic solution to North Korea's nuclear testing. President Bush has ignored repeated offers by North Korea to hold talks about its nuclear policy. What hypocrisy! The U.S. demands that North Korea stop testing while we continue to expand our arsenal of thousands of nukes. North Korea is the world's eighth declared nuclear power, not the first. The only way to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons is for the U.S. to initiate global nuclear disarmament. That means banning all nuclear weapons in all countries.
TANJA WINTER
La Jolla
•
Suppose you were North Korea and President Bush put you into his "axis of evil," along with Iraq and Iran. You saw him invade Iraq, kill tens of thousands of its people and change its government. Then he began following the same pattern with Iran. Meanwhile, Bush refused to talk to you directly about your nuclear program. Wouldn't you develop and test a nuke to defend yourself? Thanks to Bush's dangerous policies, the chickens have come home to roost.
MARJORIE COHN
President-elect
National Lawyers Guild
San Diego
•
Since late 2002 — when the United States was still ratcheting up its rhetoric and getting ready to wage war on Iraq, when U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was flashing blurred pictures before the U.N. Security Council and when French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and France were the sole hope for sanity — it was widely predicted in international intelligence circles that a nuclear North Korea and a nuclear Iran would be the inevitable consequence of the Bush-led war on Iraq.
It was also inevitable that such a war on a largely secular state such as Iraq — which has not violated human rights much more than nations such as Pakistan, China, Russia and India — would set in motion a geographic expansion with a proportionate deepening of Islamic extremism and terrorism. Particularly as the epicenter of such terrorism and nuclear proliferation — Pakistan — was being entirely bypassed. As always, a hapless world must lie on a bed made by the United States and its staunch allies.
S. SUCHINDRANATH AIYER
Bangalore, India
==============================================================================
TODAY'S DEMOCRACY NOW!:
* Twilight of the Assassins: Why the U.S. Refuses to Prosecute the Cuban
Exiles Luis Posada Carriles & Orlando Bosch For the 1976 Bombing of Cubana
Airlines Flight 455 *
It was the first act of airline terrorism in the Americas: thirty years ago
on October 6, 1976, 73 died in the bombing of a Cuban passenger plane. Now,
one alleged mastermind lives freely in Miami, while another is being held on
immigration charges in Texas. We speak to journalist Ann Louise Bardach.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/10/1355231
=======================================================
Attack Dogs Used Against Prisoners in US
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101006F.shtml
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...The commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Kathleen Dennehy, said that there are other ways to get an inmate to follow orders "than sending in an animal to rip his flesh..."
Attack Dogs Used Against Prisoners
Human Rights Watch
Tuesday 10 October 2006
Five state prison systems in the United States permit the use of aggressive, unmuzzled dogs to terrify and even attack prisoners in efforts to remove them from their cells, Human Rights Watch said today in a new report.
The 20-page report, "Cruel and Degrading: The Use of Dogs for Cell Extractions in U.S. Prisons," publicly reveals this practice for the first time. It also shows that the practice is not only cruel, but wholly unnecessary as there are safer, more humane alternatives that corrections officers can use - and most across the country do use - to remove prisoners from their cells.
In Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, South Dakota and Utah, if a prisoner will not voluntarily leave his cell when ordered to do so, officers may bring a trained attack dog to the cell front to terrify the prisoner into compliance. If the prisoner still refuses, the dog is let into the cell to bite the prisoner. While the prisoner tries to fend off the dog, correctional officers place restraints on him and then remove him from the cell.
"The entire world has seen the photo of an Abu Ghraib detainee crouched in terror before a snarling dog, but the use of attack dogs against prisoners here in the U.S. has been a well-kept secret," said Jamie Fellner, director of the U.S. Program of Human Rights Watch. "Longtime corrections professionals were appalled when we told them that guards in some states use dogs on prisoners."
The state prison systems in Connecticut and Iowa frequently use dogs for cell extractions. In Utah, they have been used extremely rarely. In Delaware and South Dakota, although state corrections policies permit the use of dogs for cell extractions, prison officials say they are not in fact used for this purpose.
Corrections officials in Connecticut and Iowa insist the use of attack dogs is justified because they deter prisoner misconduct and reduce staff injuries. But 45 other states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons reject their views.
The Arizona and Massachusetts prison systems formerly used dogs for cell extractions. In early 2006, both states ended the practice after a review of their use of force policies. The commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Kathleen Dennehy, said that there are other ways to get an inmate to follow orders "than sending in an animal to rip his flesh."
Dogs are frequently used in the United States and elsewhere to patrol prison perimeters and to search for contraband.
"We know of no other country in the world where officers use attack dogs to remove prisoners from their cells," said Fellner. "State prison officials in these five states should adopt the more humane methods that their colleagues across the country already use."
To see videos from two cell extractions, as well as a training video for using dogs in cell extractions, click here.
To read the Human Rights Watch report, "Cruel and Degrading: The Use of Dogs for Cell Extractions in U.S. Prisons," click here.
=============================================
The New York Times
NEW YORK REGION | September 29, 2006
Lawyer in Terror Case Apologizes for Violating Special Prison Rules
By JULIA PRESTON
--------------------------------------------------------
forwarded message:
-------------------------------------------------
ACTIVISTS Thru-out New York City
Rally and Tribute at Riverside Church in Support of Lynne Stewart
A Tribute to her Legal Career & Political Life.
On the Eve of Her Sentencing
Sunday, October 15, 2006
4 PM to 7 PM
The Riverside Church of New York
120th & Claremont Avenues
(near Riverside Drive)
Raging Grannies, Reverend Billy, Vinie Burrow, Nana Soul, Professor Louie, Eli Smith,Randy Credico - Statements from Mumia Abu Jamal and Cindy Sheehan, MC’s: Attorney Michael Tarif Warren, Attorney Michael Smith, Robert Knight, Sally O’Brien Speakers include: Attorney Michael Ratner, Ralph Schoeman, Pam Africa, Ann Wright, Howie Hawkins, Reverend Tony Johnson, Jeff Mackler, Julia Willebrand, Carol Cage, Nellie Hester Bailey, Sara Founders, Juanita Young, Kathie Cheng, Carol Nixon, Letter Readers: Ernesto Stewart, Florence Morgan, Danny Meyers, Joanne Dwyer, Beverly Mastropolo, Jimmy Dellabella – Lynne Stewart’s attorneys: Jill Shellow-Lavine, Joshua Dratel, Elizabeth Fink, Susan B. Jordan, Ellen Yaroshevsky
For more information contact: Lynne Stewart Defense Committee 350 Broadway, Suite 700, New York, NY 10013 212-625-9696 www.lynnestewart.org
==============================================================================
www.counterpunch.org
October 10, 2006
What You're Missing in Our Subscriber-only CounterPunch Newsletter
How To Spot a Police Spy
Is it the guy who asks you after the meeting about how the antiwar movement needs to get "serious" and asks you lots of questions about terrorism and "fighting back"? Jennifer Van Bergen reports, first-hand. Part 2 of our series on what really happened on 9/11/2001: the physics of collapse, and how not to make a "pancake" by Manuel Garcia, PLUS Engineer Pierre Sprey on why "controlled demolition" theories are off target. What you just missed, but can still get, in our last newsletter: Paul Craig Roberts on the Collapse of America. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation towards the cost of this online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now!
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
forwarded message:
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?
StoryID=20061005-100843-4993r
United Press Ininternational
Oct. 5 2005
Carrier strike group departs
from Norfolk
NORFOLK, Va., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The USS
Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group
deployed Oct. 3 from Norfolk in support of
maritime security operations, or MSO.
The Navy News Stand reported that Rear
Adm. Allen G. Myers is commanding the
Carrier Strike Group. The carrier group
includes the guided-missile cruiser USS
Anzio, guided-missile destroyers USS
Ramage and USS Mason and the
fast-attack submarine USS Newport
News.
Myers said, "I'm extremely proud of
the men and women of the Eisenhower
Carrier Strike Group. They've worked
long and hard, exceeding all expectations
as we prepared for this deployment and
are ready to take on any missions sent our
way. We aim to make a difference with our
unique capability of providing a strong
forward presence anywhere in the world at
any given time, whether we're promoting
peace and security, preserving freedom of
the seas, deterring aggression or providing
sustained combat operations."
During deployment, the group will
operate with coalition partners to
conduct MSO under international
maritime conventions, ensuring
security by denying terrorists use of
the maritime environment.
---------------------------------
2)
http://www2.humboldt.edu/~merge/modules.php?
op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&page_id=1674
Op-Ed News, via
The Lumberjack Online,
Oct. 6, 2006
U.S Carrier task force heads
to Iran: Iran War Looms as
Eisenhower Carrier Force
Deploys
by Dave Lindorff
http://www.opednews.com
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Eisenhower and its accompanying
strike force of cruiser, destroyer
and attack submarine slipped their
moorings and headed off for the
Persian Gulf region on Oct. 2, as I
had predicted in a piece in The
Nation magazine a few weeks back.
The Eisenhower strike force, according
to my sources, is scheduled to arrive in
the vicinity of Iran around October 21,
at the same time as a second flotilla of
minesweepers and other ships.
This build-up of naval power around
the coast of Iran, according to some
military sources, is in preparation for
an air attack on Iran that would target
not just Iran's nuclear enrichment
facilities, but its entire military
command and control system.
While such an attack could be expected
to unleash a wave of military violence
all over Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and
elsewhere against American forces and
interests and against oil wells, pipelines
and loading vacilities, as well as a mining
of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of
Hormuz, with a resulting skyrocketing of
global oil prices, the real goal of this new
war by the U.S. would be ensuring
Republican control of the House and
Senate.
It seems increasingly clear that the
Republican Party is going to lose its
grip on the House of Representatives,
and that it may even lose control of
the Senate, barring some dramatic
October Surprise by the president. So
far, the surprises have been working
against Republicans, with the Foley
sex scandal, the evidence that
Abramoff's bribery reached right into
the inner sanctum of the White House,
and the deteriorating U.S. position in
Iraq.
With the number of House seats
reportedly "in play" now rising from
15 to 30 and now 50, President Bush
is looking at the possibility of a blow
out Nov. 7 that could see him facing a
Democratic Congress bent on revenge
for five six years of systematic abuse.
Bush has committed a long string of
impeachable crimes against the
Constitution, the Republic and the
American people--everything from
lying to the Congress and the 9-11
Commission, obstructing an
investigation into the outing of CIA
agent Valerie Plame, abuse of power,
violation of federal laws like the
Foreign Surveillance Intelligence
Act, dereliction of duty and criminal
negligence, and war crimes. He can
expect a Democratic Congress to call
him to account for at least some of
these crimes, whatever House minority
leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) may say
today.
This means that the worse things look
for Republican chances in November,
the greater the likelihood that a
desperate President Bush will order
a disastrous attack on Iran--one that
would have the country enter into a
third, even worse, war even as it is
currently busy losing two others.
But Bush and his gang of cronies don't
care about initiating a disaster. They're
focussed on the disaster that will hit
them if they don't turn around the
November election. Sacrificing the
country or its young men and
women in uniform, or the lives of
innocent Iranians, is not a concern,
any more than it was when Bush
ordered the invasion of Iraq.
Clearly such a war would be an act
of madness, and yet we know that
the plans, already drawn up, are
being updated and fine-tuned now
by generals and admirals whose
twisted sense of patriotism has them
giving primary loyalty to a demented
commander in chief instead of to the
Constitutional and the people of the
United States, to both of which they
swore an oath to protect.
I hope I am wrong about all this, but
the sailing of the Eisenhower, which
had been pushed forward recently by
about a month by the Pentagon for
clearly political reasons, makes me
think I'm right. A key will be what
happens with the Enterprise carrier
strike force, which has already been
on station in the Arabian Sea for six
months, where it has been launching
air strikes against Afghanistan and
Iraq targets. Ordinarily, such
deployments last six months and then
the carrier group returns to base for
resupply and for R&R for the crew.
If the Enterprise is held over for a
longer deployment, after the arrival
of the Eisenhower, we will know
that something serious is planned.
Meanwhile, journalist Larisa
Alexandrovna, in the online publication
Raw Story, reports that top military
leaders are already engaging in
"branches and sequels" planning for
an Iran attack, which her sources tell
her is the kind of planning that is
done "after an initial plan has been
decided upon."
What is deeply troubling here is the
total silence on the part of the Democratic
Party opposition. Not one Democrat in
Congress, and as far as I know, not one
Democratic candidate for Congress--not
even anti-war insurgent Ned Lamont in
Connecticut, has demanded an answer
from Bush and the Pentagon for the
obvious military buildup around Iran,
or about published reports that the U.S.
already has special forces in side Iran
backing the terrorist organization MEK,
and selecting targets for U.S.
bombardment.
If and when the U.S. attacks Iran,
leading to a predicable--if temporary
--rallying around the flag by the
American public, and to an upset win
by incumbent Republican congressional
candidates, Democrats will have only
themselves to blame for the debacle.
But it will be the American people--and
especially the people of Iran--who will
be the victims of this treacherous
deed and this treasonous failure of will.
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
Dave Lindorff, a columnist for Counterpunch,
is author of several recent books ("This Can't
Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of
American Democracy" and "Killing Time: An
Investigation into the Death Penalty Case
of Mumia Abu-Jamal"). His latest book,
coauthored with Barbara Olshanshky, is
"The Case for Impeachment: The Legal
Argument for Removing President George
W. Bush from Office (St. Martin's Press,
May 2006). His writing is available at
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
============================================================
CounterPunch/Weekend Edition
October 7 / 8, 2006
Full Statement of Those Who Occupied the Stage
Why We Confronted the Minutemen at Columbia
By CounterPunch News Service
http://www.counterpunch.org/columbia10072006.html
======================================================
in this e-mail:
(1) FRONTLINE - The Enemy Within - Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)
(2) The NLG Strongly Opposes the Military Commissions Act of 2006
(3) (a) NLG Calls on Columbia University to Drop Investigation of
Students Protesting Minuteman
(b) - take action - sign a petition in support of the students!
(4) The NLG Urges The Media and Federal Authorities to Address Gender Based Violence
(5) Lynne Stewart Alert !
======================
FRONTLINE
http://www.pbs.org/frontline/
- This Week: "The Enemy Within " (60 minutes),
Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)
- Inside FRONTLINE: The Lodi, California terror case
- Live Discussion: Chat with correspondent Oriana Zill de Granados
Wed., Oct. 11, at 11 am ET
Since 9/11, authorities say they have made more than 400 terrorism-related
arrests inside the U.S. The news headlines from Atlanta, Miami, New York and
other cities play to the sense of fear that the country may be subjected to
another terrorist attack. Just how real is the threat of home grown
terrorism is the question posed in "The Enemy Within," a FRONTLINE
investigation in association with The New York Times that airs this Tuesday.
Veteran correspondent Lowell Bergman and producer Oriana Zill de Granados
report on a new FBI approach towards domestic terrorism that emphasizes
'disruption' rather than building legal cases. The Bureau is trying to
transform itself into a domestic intelligence agency like Britain's MI-5.
The FBI claims to have disrupted plots all around the country, but critics
argue many of the headline cases are overblown. Take Lodi, California. Was
this highly publicized case of a Pakistani American ice cream vendor and his
son really part of an Al Qaeda plot in the making? At first the government
said it was, and trumpeted the case in Washington. FRONTLINE revisits the
facts of this investigation and tests the government's thesis in an
extraordinary interview with a 35-year veteran of the FBI who has serious
concerns about how it was handled. Bergman tells me that the ex-FBI
investigator, James Wedick, has paid a steep price for stepping forward to
question what happened in the Lodi case.
Co-chair of the 9/11 Commission Thomas Kean worries that the FBI's
resources will be dissipated if every criminal activity with a vague
terrorism connection is redefined as an Al Qaeda threat. Others are
concerned about the implications of the FBI's new 'disruption' role for the
exercise of basic freedoms of speech and religion. " Beyond the particulars
of these cases," says Bergman, "sources tell me that some of the new
methods being employed by the Bureau are bound to generate controversy as
the need for security collides with our democratic principles ."
I hope you will join us Tuesday, and a reminder -- this program can be
watched in full on our Web site a few hours following broadcast. Take a look
at our higher quality video and explore the interviews, features and
additional reports on the site. And express your opinion about this program
at http://www.pbs.org/frontline/enemywithin/
Louis Wiley, Jr.
Executive Editor
=======================
THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD STRONGLY OPPOSES THE MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT OF 2006
Contact: Marjorie Cohn
President-elect, NLG
marjorie@tjsl.edu
619-374-6923
Heidi Boghosian
Executive Director, NLG
director@nlg.org
212- 679-5100
The National Lawyers Guild is strongly opposed to the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The culmination of relentless fear-mongering by the Bush Administration, this law was rammed through Congress with very little debate. Contrary to Bush's claims that it will protect us against terrorism, the Act strips detainees of basic constitutional rights and makes a mockery of the United States government's stated commitment to human rights.
This law denies the right of habeas corpus to non-U.S. citizens whom Bush has declared to be enemy combatants. Thus, the nearly 500 men detained at Guantánamo will have no opportunity to convince a federal court that their detention is unlawful; they will spend the rest of their lives in prison, never being charged with any crime. Since the U.S. Constitution allows Congress to suspend habeas corpus only in times of invasion or rebellion, this provision is unconstitutional.
It further gives the government the right to declare any persons, including U.S. citizens, "unlawful enemy combatants" if they are determined to have "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States or its co-belligerents." Anyone who donates money to a charity that turns up on Bush's list of "terrorist" organizations, or who writes or speaks out against the government's policies, could be declared an "unlawful enemy combatant" and imprisoned indefinitely.
The United States, as a party to the Geneva Conventions, is obliged to enforce their provisions. Yet the new bill denies any person who claims his or her rights under Geneva have been violated from raising those claims in U.S. courts.
The bill immunizes Bush and his officials from war crimes prosecution for past torture and abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody. It also waters down the list of war crimes punishable by the U.S. War Crimes Act.
Non-citizens who are charged, tried, convicted and executed in military commissions can be denied basic due process rights under the new bill. The government can use hearsay evidence and evidence obtained by coercion to secure convictions. The accused can be denied the right to see all of the evidence against him.
"Historically, in times of war and national crisis, the government has targeted immigrants and dissidents. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 follows in the footsteps of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Alien Enemies Act, the Alien Friends Act, the internment of citizens and non-citizens of Japanese, German and Italian descent, and red-baiting that destroyed many lives during the McCarthy era," according to Marjorie Cohn, president-elect of the National Lawyers Guild.
Our constitutional right to dissent is in grave jeopardy. The National Lawyers Guild strongly opposes the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
# # #
==========================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, October 9, 2006
Contact: Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, 212-679-5100, ext. 11
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CALLS ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TO DROP INVESTIGATION OF
STUDENTS PROTESTING MINUTEMEN
New York. The National Lawyers Guild urges Columbia University to drop its
investigation of the students who held banners in protest of the Minutemen
last week. Videotape coverage of last week's event shows that the students
standing with banners were not responsible for that evening's violence,
rather they were attacked and kicked by the Minutemen when they engaged in
peaceful protest.
The University's response to this event is reminiscent of the 1960s, when
the Guild defended Columbia students who protested the University's
affiliation with the weapons think tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses.
After the New York Police Department injured 150 non-violent protesters
there, Columbia failed to take action against the police-instead it
suspended at least 30 students.
The Minutemen have referred to themselves as "white Martin Luther Kings."
Yet, among them are members of the National Alliance, the largest neo-Nazi
group in the United States.
Dr. King's agenda supported peaceful activism and equal rights for all. The
Minutemen's agenda perpetuates "White Power," seeks to annihilate a
multi-racial society, to degrade, subjugate and deny equality to people
based on national origin or to people of color.
NLG Executive Director Heidi Boghosian said, "Just as the National Lawyers
Guild defended Columbia protesters in the 1960s, we defend them now for
continuing their legacy of protest against societal injustice. We support
their right to object-free from University reprisal-to the Minutemen and
their racist and violent agenda. And we support the human rights of
immigrants that the Minutemen so viciously attack."
Four decades ago, Columbia investigated peaceful protestors, effectively
exonerating those who used violence against them. Today's Columbia
administration should take the high road, the moral road, and drop its
investigation of those who peacefully defend the principles that Martin
Luther King held dear-principles that we trust Columbia University also
holds dear.
Founded in 1937, the National Lawyers Guild is headquartered in New York and
has chapters in nearly every state, as well as over 100 law school chapters.
The Guild has a long history of representing individuals whom the government
has deemed a threat to national security, including helping expose illegal
FBI and CIA surveillance, infiltration and disruption tactics (COINTELPRO)
that the U.S. Senate "Church Commission" hearings detailed in 1975-76 and
that led to enactment of the Freedom of Information Act and other
limitations on federal investigative power.
# # #
==============================================================================
Human Rights Watch: UN: New Report Says Violence Against Women is a Human Rights Violation
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1009-06.htm
===========================================================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, October 6, 2006
Contact: Kerry McLean - 917 334 9331
Mel Campagna – 415-336-7578
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD URGES MEDIA AND FEDERAL AUTHORITIES TO ADDRESS GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
Calls on Bush Administration to Develop Meaningful Federal Response
New York. The National Lawyers Guild urges the media and authorities to recognize as hate crimes the violent attacks on girls that have taken place in Colorado and Pennsylvania schools over the past few weeks. The Guild also urges the Bush Administration's proposed conference on school violence to development a meaningful federal response both to preventing and dealing with consequences of this problem.
In both the Colorado and Pennsylvania attacks the perpetrators specifically targeted female students. In Colorado, the gunman sexually assaulted several schoolgirls before murdering one. In Pennsylvania, the gunman told his wife of his desire to molest girls, and eventually killed five schoolgirls. Strangely, few media outlets have acknowledged the gender dynamics of the crimes.
"It's the elephant in the room," remarked Kerry McLean, co-chairperson of the Anti-Sexism Committee of the Guild. " The fact that these girls were targeted because of their gender is staring us in the face, but the majority of the mass media have failed to discuss that dimension."
Mel Campagna, Vice President of the Legal Workers in the Guild, concurs. "The absence of an analysis that takes sexism into account prevents us from comprehending both why these situations occurred and what can be done to prevent such attacks in the future."
=======================================
forwarded message (pasted together from various sources) -
support the Columbia University students who unfurled a banner last week at a Minutemen talk at Columbia U.
** ** **
comments:
Students at Columbia confronted Jim Gilchrist and the Minutemen are being threatened with disciplinary action. They need our support, so please sign the petition.
also see -
http://www.bwog.net/index.php?page=post&article_id=2308&lionshare=66d6d6ee7553fd0d5779131f3c93d58c#jump
To sign petition and get more information:
Here are links with more information:
UNIVISION COVERAGE
Part 1 and 2..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N41eXtVK7hA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwqPRmlb3Xg
Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/nominute/petition.html
================================================================================
forwarded message -
Lynne Stewart ALERT, ALERT, ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10/16 is Sentence Day.
OK, we all want and need to do all we can to keep Lynne out of Federal Prison, right?
Two old friends (one from college, one from pre-kindergarten) were hanging out near DC last weekend, and worrying about Lynne and washing it all down with vino when they thought up a great idea...
Everybody can make CONTACT Where you live, work, pray, meet, talk, speak, draw, cook, etc.
Many of Lynne's supporters are in Chicago, Portland, Oakland, St. Petersburg, Burlington, Boston, San Diego, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Providence, Atlanta....... Not in the NYC area, Unable to Attend Events
Get on your RADIO/ TV (call in to talk shows and make your comment relevant to Lynne's sentencing, ask the people who host radio, tv,web sites to feature Lynne's story in the next two weeks)!
Write a letter to the Editor: tie it to something recent ie destruction of habeas corpus!
Get a local paper to publish a Lynne story or take out an ad with others!
Where people gather: church, Your livingroom, temple, mosque-- Make an announcement, say a prayer, show the video, distribute a hand bill!!
Artists, Poets: go to the Malls, the Squares, the Monuments Draw, Paint Dedicate it to Lynne, Speak, Show Videos. Read her letters of Support!!
Host a dinner in your apartment or home, show the Lynne Stewart video "The Struggle Continues" or Paul Chan's (see website) Politics meets Poetics. Raise funds for the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee.
Go to: www.lynnestewart.org. Call us 212-625-9696
posted by peaceandjustice2005 at 9:10 PM
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