Sunday, January 31, 2010
Humanitarian aid or military occupation?
In this piece, Ashley Smith explains why help hasn't reached most of the victims of Haiti's earthquake--because the priority of the U.S. government is on imposing its control. Includes suggested organizations to donate to and real actions that the Obama Administration can take to help the Haitian people. Read more
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Corporations Are Not People, Spending Is Not Speech
PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS CONDEMN SUPREME COURT'S RULING ON CORPORATE MONEY IN ELECTIONS
CALL FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO OVERTURN COURT DECISION
"Free Speech Rights Are For People, Not Corporations"
WATCH AND SHARE THIS VIDEO:
http://freespeechforpeople.org/node/35
A coalition of public interest organizations strongly condemned today's ruling by the US Supreme Court allowing unlimited corporate money in US elections and announced that it is launching a campaign to amend the United States Constitution to overturn the ruling. The groups, Voter Action, Public Citizen, the Center for Corporate Policy, and the American Independent Business Alliance, say the Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC poses a serious and direct threat to democracy. They aim, through their constitutional amendment campaign, to correct the judiciary's creation of corporate rights under the First Amendment over the past three decades. Immediately following the Court's ruling, the groups unveiled a new website – http://www.freespeechforpeople.org – devoted to this campaign.
"Free speech rights are for people, not corporations," says John Bonifaz, Voter Action's legal director. "In wrongly assigning First Amendment protections to corporations, the Supreme Court has now unleashed a torrent of corporate money in our political process unmatched by any campaign expenditure totals in US history. This campaign to amend the Constitution will seek to restore the First Amendment to its original purpose."
Passing a constitutional amendment is a long-term project that requires hard work and grassroots organizing before it will succeed. You can help the campaign reach its goal by helping educate others and spread the word. Here are some easy ways to get started:
Spread the word.
Join us on FaceBook.
Follow us on Twitter.
Endorse as an organization.
Write to editors.
Host educational events.
Pass local resolutions.
Amend Constitution
http://www.freespeechforpeople.org
CALL FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO OVERTURN COURT DECISION
"Free Speech Rights Are For People, Not Corporations"
WATCH AND SHARE THIS VIDEO:
http://freespeechforpeople.org/node/35
A coalition of public interest organizations strongly condemned today's ruling by the US Supreme Court allowing unlimited corporate money in US elections and announced that it is launching a campaign to amend the United States Constitution to overturn the ruling. The groups, Voter Action, Public Citizen, the Center for Corporate Policy, and the American Independent Business Alliance, say the Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC poses a serious and direct threat to democracy. They aim, through their constitutional amendment campaign, to correct the judiciary's creation of corporate rights under the First Amendment over the past three decades. Immediately following the Court's ruling, the groups unveiled a new website – http://www.freespeechforpeople.org – devoted to this campaign.
"Free speech rights are for people, not corporations," says John Bonifaz, Voter Action's legal director. "In wrongly assigning First Amendment protections to corporations, the Supreme Court has now unleashed a torrent of corporate money in our political process unmatched by any campaign expenditure totals in US history. This campaign to amend the Constitution will seek to restore the First Amendment to its original purpose."
Passing a constitutional amendment is a long-term project that requires hard work and grassroots organizing before it will succeed. You can help the campaign reach its goal by helping educate others and spread the word. Here are some easy ways to get started:
Spread the word.
Join us on FaceBook.
Follow us on Twitter.
Endorse as an organization.
Write to editors.
Host educational events.
Pass local resolutions.
Amend Constitution
http://www.freespeechforpeople.org
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Facing 70 Years in Prison for Clothing
On January 8, 2010, The Indypendent ran this story and political cartoon http://www.indypendent.org/2010/01/07/facing-70-years about the outrageous case of Syed Fahad Hashmi, an American citizen who has not been convicted of any crime yet who has been held for more than two years under the harshest conditions of solitary confinement not at Guantanamo, Bagram or some black site but at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan. He is accused by a government informer of allowing a duffel bag of waterproof socks and raincoats to be stored at his house that, without his knowledge, went to terrorists in Afghanistan. His trial was scheduled to begin in February but has been again delayed.
Held under Special Administrative Measures (SAMs), Fahad, who is a US citizen and Brooklyn College graduate who grew up in Flushing, Queens, has been allowed no contact with anyone except his lawyers and one immediate family member every other week; no calls, no letters, no radio, no newspapers until they are 30 days old and censored by his jailers; no contact with other prisoners; no group prayer or worship; and for more than 29 months now, no fresh air or sunlight. His cell is electronically monitored inside and out, so he showers and goes to the bathroom in view of the camera. He is allowed only one hour "out" of his cell but must exercise alone in a solitary cage. Under the Classified Information Procedures Act but in direct contradiction to basic due process, the U.S. government has not allowed Fahad to review all of the evidence against him. Fahad is charged with four counts of “material support of terrorism.” The "centerpiece" of the U.S. government's case against Fahad is that for two weeks he allowed an acquaintance who had a suitcase full of waterproof socks and ponchos to stay in his apartment. This acquaintance allegedly delivered this suitcase to a member of Al Qaeda and used Fahad's cell phone to call co-conspirators.
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:
The official website of the Free Fahad campaign is www.freefahad.com You can watch a video with Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights speak about the case there. There is also a statement of concern petition there signed by over 500 prominent scholars and writers and you can add your name to the list.
Please send an email to Attorney General Eric Holder and US Attorney for the Southern District of New York regarding the Special Administrative Measures under which Fahad is held. There is an email form to Eric Holder and the US Attorney you can use on-line at: http://www.educatorsforcivilliberties.org/. There are also links to other stories that prominent media have already published about the case including Democracy Now, The Nation and others.
Theaters Against War http://www.thawaction.org has information about vigils being held on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday (Jan 18) and, beginning in February, twice a month - every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month. The vigil dates are: February 8 and 22, March 8 and 22 and April 12 and 26. The vigils take place every Monday night from 6-7PM directly outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center, 150 Park Row (at the corner Pearl Street), in lower Manhattan. Take the 4/5/6 train to Brooklyn Bridge – walk north on Centre Street to Pearl Street which is located between the two major federal courthouses on Foley Square. Walk down Pearl Street until it dead-ends on Park Row and look for the vigil.
Held under Special Administrative Measures (SAMs), Fahad, who is a US citizen and Brooklyn College graduate who grew up in Flushing, Queens, has been allowed no contact with anyone except his lawyers and one immediate family member every other week; no calls, no letters, no radio, no newspapers until they are 30 days old and censored by his jailers; no contact with other prisoners; no group prayer or worship; and for more than 29 months now, no fresh air or sunlight. His cell is electronically monitored inside and out, so he showers and goes to the bathroom in view of the camera. He is allowed only one hour "out" of his cell but must exercise alone in a solitary cage. Under the Classified Information Procedures Act but in direct contradiction to basic due process, the U.S. government has not allowed Fahad to review all of the evidence against him. Fahad is charged with four counts of “material support of terrorism.” The "centerpiece" of the U.S. government's case against Fahad is that for two weeks he allowed an acquaintance who had a suitcase full of waterproof socks and ponchos to stay in his apartment. This acquaintance allegedly delivered this suitcase to a member of Al Qaeda and used Fahad's cell phone to call co-conspirators.
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:
The official website of the Free Fahad campaign is www.freefahad.com You can watch a video with Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights speak about the case there. There is also a statement of concern petition there signed by over 500 prominent scholars and writers and you can add your name to the list.
Please send an email to Attorney General Eric Holder and US Attorney for the Southern District of New York regarding the Special Administrative Measures under which Fahad is held. There is an email form to Eric Holder and the US Attorney you can use on-line at: http://www.educatorsforcivilliberties.org/. There are also links to other stories that prominent media have already published about the case including Democracy Now, The Nation and others.
Theaters Against War http://www.thawaction.org has information about vigils being held on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday (Jan 18) and, beginning in February, twice a month - every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month. The vigil dates are: February 8 and 22, March 8 and 22 and April 12 and 26. The vigils take place every Monday night from 6-7PM directly outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center, 150 Park Row (at the corner Pearl Street), in lower Manhattan. Take the 4/5/6 train to Brooklyn Bridge – walk north on Centre Street to Pearl Street which is located between the two major federal courthouses on Foley Square. Walk down Pearl Street until it dead-ends on Park Row and look for the vigil.
Bhopal: 25 years of poison
Dec 3, 2009 marked the 25th anniversary of the entirely preventable Bhopal disaster which killed 20,000 and has left 500,000 injured, maimed or chronically ill. Union Carbide purchased by Dow Chemical in 2001 still has not been held accountable. This wrenching account from The Guardian describes the factory conditions before and after the disaster, Union Carbide's negligence, and the ongoing health and environemental effects suffered by the victims to this day.
U.S. based persons can donate to help the victims via the Pesticide Action Network North America. You can donate to support either the Bhopal Medical Appeal (the Margaret Mead award-winning Sambhavna Clinic) or the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.
U.S. based persons can donate to help the victims via the Pesticide Action Network North America. You can donate to support either the Bhopal Medical Appeal (the Margaret Mead award-winning Sambhavna Clinic) or the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)