Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Seymour Hersh on Bush's Iraq policy

[Hersh's article was obviously written before Bush's speech on Iraq yesterday. But clearly the speech changed nothing and said nothing new.- Dan]

UP IN THE AIR
Where is the Iraq war headed next?
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH

Current and former military and intelligence officials have told me that the President remains convinced that it is his personal mission to bring democracy to Iraq, and that he is impervious to political pressure, even from fellow Republicans. They also say that he disparages any information that conflicts with his view of how the war is proceeding.

Bush’s closest advisers have long been aware of the religious nature of his policy commitments. In recent interviews, one former senior official, who served in Bush’s first term, spoke extensively about the connection between the President’s religious faith and his view of the war in Iraq. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the former official said, he was told that Bush felt that “God put me here” to deal with the war on terror. The President’s belief was fortified by the Republican sweep in the 2002 congressional elections; Bush saw the victory as a purposeful message from God that “he’s the man,” the former official said. Publicly, Bush depicted his reĆ«lection as a referendum on the war; privately, he spoke of it as another manifestation of divine purpose.

(For more on this)



Mid-shipmen eagerly anticipate Bush's Iraq speech yesterday at the Naval Academy

















Thanks to Wonkette for posting this photo (No photo credit available)

Stop Scalito

From NARAL pro-choice America
Dear Friend,

Supreme Court Justices hold unparalleled power and shape national law and policy for generations. A new anti-choice Justice could tip the balance in many cases dealing with reproductive rights and other personal freedoms. Unfortunately, in choosing anti-woman Samuel Alito to replace moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, President Bush has caved in to the demands of the right wing. Alito's record indicates a clear willingness to continue dismantling our constitutional freedoms. The American public deserves a nominee who can be counted on to uphold our rights - not take them away.

Please oppose the anti-choice Alito nomination.
Samuel Alito's own words reveal his anti-choice legal philosophy. In an application for a key post in the Reagan administration's Justice Department, he wrote: "I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court ... that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion."

We need you to strongly oppose Samuel Alito! Start by sending an email to your U.S. senators - click here to take action and learn more:

Dec. 1: Shut Down Wall Street

Dec. 1, 2:00 - 6:00 PM

Shut Down Wall Street!
Walk Out!
Leave work early!
Be there to honor Rosa Parks by continuing the struggle!

Schedule of Events for Dec. 1

9:30 am - Student Walkout, gathering on the corner of 19th St. & 8th Ave before marching to Union Square.

11:30 am - Youth rally at Union Sq (North Side of Union Sq), with speakers and live music

2:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Rally on Wall St Against Poverty, Racism, and War. (Wall St. and Broadway). (take A,C, J, M, Z, 2, 3, 4, or 5 train to Fulton St. / Broadway & Nassau)

6:00 pm - March to Thomas Paine Square (Foley Sq. Park)

On Dec. 1, in dozens of cities and towns, students, community organizers, Civil Rights activists, antiwar organizers, veterans, clergy, and military families will be taking to the streets to honor Rosa Parks by continuing the struggle. In New York, thousands will converge on Wall St, the Headquarters of the corporate warmongers, in a rally against Poverty, Racism, and War.

More than 100,000 Iraqi people and 2,100 U.S. soldiers have died as a result of a bipartisan policy of war and greed. Meanwhile, the government's racism and criminal neglect in the face of Hurricane Katrina have left thousands dead, and tens of thousands homeless. Add to this growing unemployment, unionbusting, continued attacks on immigrants, women, and the LGBT community, and cuts in healthcare, housing, and education, and it becomes clear that we need to build a movement that unites the struggles against poverty, racism, and war.

It's time to move from protest to resistance, to say, "Troops Home Now, or we'll shut it down!" Let's begin by shutting down Wall St on Dec. 1--no business as usual. Let's observe Dec. 1, the 50th anniversary of the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and helped launch the modern Civil Rights struggle, to launch a national movement against poverty, racism, and war.

Demand:

Bring the Troops Home Now
Cut the War Budget, Not Healthcare, Housing and Education
Justice for Hurricane Katrina Survivors
Military recruiters out of our schools.
Jobs - A Living Wage - the Right to Organize

Sunday, November 27, 2005

2006, 2008 and Beyond by Ted Glick

[Here is the latest of Ted Glick's Future Hope columns. Much of what Ted talks about below is derived from the ideas of Arthur Kinoy and the Mass Party Organizing Committee with which we both worked in what seems now like another lifetime. But many of Arthur's ideas seem as viable today as they did then. I think these are the core ideas that we need to be talking about right now. What do you think? - Dan]

Future Hope column, Nov. 27, 2005

2006, 2008 and Beyond

by Ted Glick

Within progressive circles there’s growing talk about the 2006 and the 2008 elections. The Bush/Cheney free fall to an average, between them, of 33-34% in the polls, combined with the indictments and investigations of Rove, Libby, Delay, Frist and other top Republicans, has generated hope among Democrats and others that they can take back at least one house of Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008.

For some Democrats, hopefully not many, who call themselves progressive, it doesn’t much matter who their standard bearers are. As long as they win against Republicans, that’s just fine.

I’d prefer a different electoral scenario. One aspect would be some strong, independent Congressional campaigns, Green Party or otherwise, that would result in at least one or two progressive independents to give Bernie Sanders some company. Another aspect would be primary challenges by progressive Democrats of pro-war, Democratic Leadership Council-type Democratic incumbents, the bringing down of some of them, and a Congressional makeup come January, 2007 that is decidedly more progressive as a result.

Then, come 2008, building upon these political successes, a combination of Greens and other inde -pendents —perhaps the Millions More Movement?—putting forward an alternative to both corporate-dominated parties, on the one hand, and an energized and forceful progressive wing within the Democrats, on the other, will lead to an end of Republican control of Congress and the White House while strengthening mass-based, independent political efforts at local and state levels.

But there’s a huge asterisk which must be applied to these ideas. It’s the asterisk of the need for mass, popular, issue-based movements.

As someone who has labored in the vineyards of electoral activism for about three decades, I’ve come to appreciate both the value and the limitations of this kind of work.

The value of electoral activism is that it allows progressives to put forward an overall platform of what we stand for, a progressive analysis of issues, to build organization in the course of a campaign and, if we win or do well, to have some practical impact upon what government does or does not do. These are all very important. As an activist working on climate crisis issues, for example, I know that having people in Congress who understand this issue and who are prepared to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is an urgent necessity.

Conversely, one limitation of electoral activism is that there is always a danger of individual candidates being seduced by the experience and putting themselves, their individual career advancement, ahead of the demands of the people who voted for them. Another is that, because of the winner-take-all nature of the U.S. electoral system, there is a decided tendency to engage in political compromise to increase the chances of winning office, such as progressive independents running on the Democratic Party line because of the difficulty of winning on an alternative party line in partisan elections.

This is where mass-based movement-building around issues comes in. When there is political movement, when there are large numbers of people coming out to meetings and demonstrations, when new activists are constantly adding fresh energy to the experiential wisdom of the long distance runners, then the inevitable pressures on progressives in office to compromise principles and bow to expediency can be fought as the movement demands accountability by those it helps elect. The movement(s) shape the issues and the approach to the issues, not the other way around. The movement(s) push their representatives in government to stand up to, expose and fight the certain efforts by political reaction to undercut and destroy our pro-justice efforts.

Without movement-building and independent political organization, we can be sure that most of those elected to political office will sooner or later let us down. Indeed, without that “outside” organizing, our standard bearers in office will not have the political strength to significantly advance our agenda even if they want to.

So as the gearing up for 2006, and then 2008, begins, let’s have some serious progressive dialogue not just about candidates for office and how to run effective campaigns but also about how those candidacies can be of use throughout 2006 to strengthen independent grassroots organization, multi-issue, multi-cultural coalition-building and visible mass movements on the issues. The times are too urgent for just “settling.”


Ted Glick is the coordinator of the Climate Crisis, USA Join the World! campaign and acting coordinator of the Independent Progressive Politics Network . He can be reached at indpol@igc.org or P.O. Box 1132, Bloomfield, N.J. 07003.

(Congress and White House photos by John Daly)

Nov. 29: International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Samia Halaby,Palestine, from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River,
2003, acrylic on canvas and paper, 85" x 154"

Nov. 29, 7:00 PM

Inter- national Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.

International Action Center
39 West 14th St, Suite 206,
(between 5th & 6th Ave)
NY, NY, 10011
212-633-6646

Political activist and artist Samia Halaby will discuss the withdrawal from Gaza - The probable Israeli plan. She will also describe the work of Al Jisser and the "Made in Palestine" art exhibition, with commentary about the visual forms that the subject Palestine takes in the work of contemporary Palestinian artists.

On this day, in 1947, the UN voted the partition of Palestine.

It is an important day to say NO to the continuing repression, killing, imprisonment, torture, expulsion and occupation of Palestine by Israel’s apartheid forces. The continuing building of militarized settlements, the apartheid wall, confiscations of land and the tightening Israeli stranglehold continues to be financed, armed and totally supported by Washington and Wall Street.

ALSO Hear plans in NYC and all around the country for Dec 1 Rosa Parks Day.
Pick up flyers and stickers for the Dec 1 Wall Street Rally

Bush Administration Gags Foreign Intellectuals

Dora Maria Telez
A lawsuit wants the Bush administration to explain why it denied entry to intellectuals who've criticized U.S. policy.

By Alexandra Marks
Staff writer
The Christian Science Monitor

Concern is mounting that the U.S. government is using antiterror laws - namely, the Patriot Act - to revive a now-discredited practice common during the cold war: the prevention of foreign intellectuals who are critical of administration policies from entering the country and sharing their views with Americans.
The practice, called ideological exclusion, became illegal in 1990. But a recent lawsuit - brought by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the PEN American Center under the Freedom of Information Act - is asking the Bush administration to explain its decisions to revoke or deny visas to several foreign scholars, and why they don't violate free-speech protections.

Tariq Ramadan
"This is about free speech, the purpose of colleges and univers- ities," says Donna Euben, counsel for the AAUP in Washington. "We're not challenging the [USA Patriot Act] itself. We're just asking for information about its application to these particular scholars where there is no evidence that they have supported terrorism in any way."

In their suit, the groups cite the cases of several foreign scholars. One, Tariq Ramadan, is a prominent Swiss Muslim scholar who has condemned terrorism and routinely come to the United States on speaking tours in the past. In 2004, as he was preparing to take up a teaching post at the University of Notre Dame, his visa was revoked. The US government gave no formal reason, but press reports suggested the denial was based on "antiterrorism law." Another scholar, Dora Maria Tellez, is a former Nicaraguan government official who more than a decade ago was involved in the overthrow of the US-backed Somoza regime. She had been lined up to teach at Harvard University, but last January her visa was denied.

(For more on this)

Nov. 30: Upcoming Wal-Mart film screenings

Nov. 29, 8 PM

The Columbia University Working Families Party Club presents a screening of
WAL-MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE

304 Barnard Hall, Columbia University
117th and Broadway
Train #1 to 116 stop


Nov. 30, 7:30 PM

Wal-Mart, The High Cost of Low Price will be screened again, followed by a discussion about the movie and actions to take.

5C Cafe
(a cultural center for education)
5th Street and Avenue C

Donation: $5 requested

WAL-MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE is a feature length documentary that uncovers a retail giant's assault on families and American values.

The film delves into the deeply personal stories and everyday lives of families and communities struggling to fight a goliath. A working mother is forced to turn to public assistance to provide healthcare for her two small children. A Missouri family loses its business after Wal-Mart is given over $2 million to open its doors down the road. A mayor struggles to equip his first responders after Wal-Mart pulls out and relocates just outside the city limits. A California community unites, takes on the giant, and wins.

Producer/Director Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films take you on an extraordinary journey that will change the way you think, feel -- and shop.

www.walmartmovie.com
www.workingfamiliesparty.org

Nov. 30: Protest John Ashcroft

Nov. 30, 6pm

Protest John Ashcroft!

Broadway between 115th st. and 116th st.

(#1 to 116th st.)



Former Attorney General John Ashcroft is speaking at Columbia University next Wednesday, November 30th. In response, a wide coalition of student and New York City activist groups are joining together to welcome Ashcroft back to New York with a large rally/protest directed at Ashcroft's record of civil rights and liberties abuses.
Whether your passion is the USA Patritot Act, the death penalty, reproductive rights, torture, LGBT rights, drug policy, free speech, or civil rights in general, Ashcroft has done enough wrong to accommodate everybody! Come join the fun! Bring signs, chants, and mostly bodies...

Speakers include:

Donna Lieberman, NYCLU Exec. Director

NY City Councilman Bill Perkins (TBC)

Diverse coalition of student activists

More TBA

For more information, email: ashcroftwelcomingcommittee@gmail.com

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Dec. 1: Reading: Letters From Young Activists

Dec. 1, 7pm

LETTERS FROM YOUNG ACTIVISTS: TODAY’S REBELS SPEAK OUT
AT CUNY GRAD CENTER

CUNY Grad Center Room C198
(34th and 5th Avenue)

editor Chesa Boudin and a whole crew of terrific activists read selections from the newly released book.
Q & A afterwards.

"In letters addressed to their parents, to past generations, to each other, to the youth of tomorrow and to their future selves, the authors articulate their vision for the world as they work towards racial, economic, gender, environmental and global justice. As the editors write in their introduction: 'From globalization to the war on terrorism and beyond, our generation is impelled to action in the midst of a rapidly changing and unique political moment…. Our challenge, and yours, is to live our lives in a way that does not make a mockery of our values.'"

Dec. 3: Climate Crisis Rally


KYOTO AND BEYOND CLIMATE CRISIS: USA JOIN THE WORLD!
TAKE ACTION DECEMBER 3 IN NYC!
CALL FOR THE USA TO SIGN KYOTO AND JOIN THE WORLD

DEC. 3, 12:30 -2:30 PM
Rally
Madison Sq. Park
(Madison Ave bt 24th and 25th St.)

Citizens from across the globe will join in simultaneous rallies Dec. 3rd.

From Nov. 28th to Dec. 9th representatives from over 150 nations will be meeting at a crucial Climate Conference in Montreal. And while many of them will be pushing for stronger world action on global warming,
the U. S. official representatives will be there working behind the scenes to block any positive action. This is the role they have played for several years. Our government is fiddling while the earth burns We are witnessing the devastating effects of global climate change with an increase in flooding, drought, diseases, and higher asthma rates and respiratory illnesses. We are outraged that our government has taken this obstructionist approach to one of, if not the, most critical and urgent issues of our time. Powerful dirty energy corporations are calling the shots on U.S. energy policy. Even more disheartening is that resources and lives are being wasted in a tragic war. Instead of energy conservation and development of clean, safe, sustainable energy that would end our reliance on Middle East oil while generating millions of new jobs, the U.S. engages in a senseless war.

For More information
or to help Call Julia Willebrand (212 877-5088)

On Dec. 3rd you can also participate in:

3:00 -6:00 pm
A Global Warming Film Festival at the Community Church,
40 E.35th St.

6:00 -7:00 pm:
An Interfaith Religious Service for the Earth
at Community Church

9:00 pm -a Stop Global Warming party
Habana Outpost,
755 Fulton St.,at S. Portland, Ft.Greene,Brooklyn
For more information
call:973-338-5398
e-mail: usajointheworld @ igc.org

Dec. 16: Salsa for Filiberto

Filiberto Ojeda Rios
Dec. 16, 8pm-??

ProLibertad's annual, SALSA FOR FILIBERTO
SALSA FOR FREEDOM 2005

St. Mary's Episcopal Church
521 W 126th St. Basement
(bt Amsterdam Ave. and Broadway)
(Take the 1 or 9 train to W 125th St. and Broadway)

Suggested Donation: $10 (no one will be turned away)
$5 for Food and Alcohol/Beverages will be sold

Dance to the Latino Rhythms, Eat Delicious Puerto Rican food, and Party the night away for the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners

COME DANCE TO "DJ CARLITO AND HIS MAMBO/SALSA SPINS" Party to all the Salsa, Merengue, and Hip Hop you can dance too

Special Performaces by
Rafael Landron, Nuyorican, poet/Singer/Guitarist and
Mariposa, Boricua Poet/Activist/Singer

BRING YOUR CHECKBOOKS FOR OUR ANNUAL HOLIDAY AUCTION
This year the proceeds of our auction and suggested donations will go to the Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Commissary Fund, Elma Beatriz Rosado Barbosa (Filiberto Ojeda Rios' widow) and for a defense fund for the pending 125 arrests of people in the Puerto Rican Independence movement.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Lieutenant General William E. Odom, U.S. Army (Ret.) on immediate withdrawal from Iraq

[With Democrats issuing statements that waffle on pulling out the troops and ending the war in Iraq,
"GRADUAL WITHDRAWAL"... appears most popular among those seeking a way out of Iraq, especially prominent Democratic senators who may seek the presidency in 2008.

Their ranks include Sens. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, Joseph Biden of Delaware, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Barack Obama of Illinois and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. - William Douglas & James Kuhnhenn in Knight-Ridder Newspapers
Here's what Lieutenant General William E. Odom, U.S. Army (Ret.), a Senior Fellow with Hudson Institute and a professor at Yale University, has to say about the question of "immediate withdrawal"]



So why is almost nobody advocating a pullout? I can only speculate. We face a strange situation today where few if any voices among Democrats in Congress will mention early withdrawal from Iraq, and even the one or two who do will not make a comprehensive case for withdrawal now. Why are the Democrats failing the public on this issue today? The biggest reason is because they weren’t willing to raise that issue during the campaign. Howard Dean alone took a clear and consistent stand on Iraq, and the rest of the Democratic party trashed him for it. Most of those in Congress voted for the war and let that vote shackle them later on. Now they are scared to death that the White House will smear them with lack of patriotism if they suggest pulling out.

Journalists can ask all the questions they like but none will prompt a more serious debate as long as no political leaders create the context and force the issues into the open.

I don't believe anyone will be able to sustain a strong case in the short run without going back to the fundamental misjudgment of invading Iraq in the first place. Once the enormity of that error is grasped, the case for pulling out becomes easy to see.

His conclusion: "If I were a journalist, I would list all the arguments that you hear against pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, the horrible things that people say would happen, and then ask: Aren’t they happening already? Would a pullout really make things worse? Maybe it would make things better."

(To read complete article)

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Robert Scheer on Chaney's lies

[I wonder if Bush will let Chaney "twist in the wind" to save his own ass or is he simply afraid that Chaney would turn on him next? - Dan]

Cheney's trouble with the truth
Robert Scheer, Creators Syndicate
YOU'VE GOT to hand it to Dick Cheney; no other modern politician has come so close to perfecting the theater of the absurd. Even as he protests his innocence of lying about matters of state, he lies about matters of state.

In speeches Friday and Monday, the vice president, who has long insisted Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda were allies, Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, we would be greeted as liberators in Baghdad, and that the Iraqi insurgency is in its ''last throes," again evidenced his trademark inability to speak the truth.

Continuing the administration's recent shrill defensive barrage over whose fault the Iraq mess is and with the truth chasing the lies in full view, Cheney had the gall to smear the war's critics as ''corrupt and shameless." Then, within a few sentences, he showed again why 52 percent of those polled by Newsweek believe Cheney deliberately "misused or manipulated" prewar intelligence.

(To read more; also Galloway)

Protesters arrested outside Bush Crawford Ranch

(McLennan County Sherrif's
deputies arrest peace activist
Tammara Rosenleaf in Crawford)

Police arrested about a dozen protesters near US President George W. Bush's Texas ranch, including the sister of a noted opponent of the war in Iraq, witnesses said.

Among those detained near Bush's Prairie Chapel estate, where he was spending the Thanksgiving holiday, was Dede Miller, sister of Cindy Sheehan, who staged a month-long vigil outside the ranch in August, they said.

Sheehan, who met with Bush not long after her son Casey was killed in Iraq, was expected to return to Crawford later this week to resume her appeals for a second meeting to discuss her opposition to the war.

Local authorities could not immediately be reached for confirmation, but roughly a dozen people could be seen inside two police vans at one of Sheehan's protest sites.

The president traveled here Tuesday after an annual White House ritual, pardoning a turkey that might otherwise have ended up as the main course for the Thanksgiving feast.

Atop a large white tent at Sheehan's main protest site, protesters placed a banner that read: "No Pardon for Crawford's Turkey."


AFP

Poem



A Rep from Ohio quite dour
Had the nerve to call Murtha a coward.
She was forced to back off it.
Her seat she should forfeit.
I can't wait till Ms. Schmidt's disempowered.

(From humor columnist Madeleine Begun Kane, ie. MadKane)

Nov. 25: Starbucks' picket

Nov. 25, 4-7pm (Buy Nothing Day)

A militant picket line celebrating the recent union victory and condemning Starbucks for the discharge of two workers for union activity as alleged in a new National Labor Relations Board complaint.

Outside of Starbucks on 14th St. & 4th Ave, the third U.S. Starbucks store to go union.

Starbucks workers and supporters dressed as life-sized cups, and a special guest appearance by Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir.
Starbucks workers are asking for your solidarity to win their demands of 30 guaranteed work hours per week and an end to Starbucks' relentless union-busting campaign.

Nov. 29: Cuba solidarity presentation

Nov. 29, 6:30 PM

Javier Dominguez, the North American Director of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), presentation and Q&A

1199/SEIU Building,
310 West 43rd St.
(bt 8th and 9th Aves, Times Square subway stop)

In recent days there has been much press coverage regarding a major speech by President Fidel Castro discussing the important economic gains made by Cuba in the past period, which have put the worse disruptions and hardships of the “Special Period” behind them. (In the speech Fidel also addressed and ridiculed the latest bullshit from the CIA Dis- information Factory on his having Parkinson’s Disease) The progressive improvements in the Cuban economy, highlighted by growing trade and exchange with Bolivarian Venezuela, have created new possibilities to tackle and overcome the inequalities and corruption that inevitably accompanied the economic measures reluctantly undertaken by the Cuban government following the near-collapse of the economy during the onset of the Special Period when trade and commercial exchange with the former Soviet Union and eastern European bloc countries collapsed overnight some 15 years ago. Javier will focus on these questions and also talk of the remarkable mobilization that Cuba was able to carry out to rapidly recover from the flooding of Havana from Hurricane Wilma last month.

Following Javier’s presentation and Q&A, there will be a break and the previously scheduled business meeting of CSNY will take place which those gathered are welcome to attend. The brief CSNY meeting will focus of two items. First, organizing a broad New York-New Jersey delegation to attend the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela which starts on January 24, 2006 and, secondly, organizing a broad, united mass rally in February, 2006 in support of the Cuban 5 at a major venue such as Town Hall. The arguments before the full 11th circuit Appeals Court will be heard in late February.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

A Thanksgiving reminder

In memorium. Lest we forget.
The First Thanks- giving

(From the Community Endeavor News, November, 1995, as reprinted in Healing Global Wounds, Fall, 1996)

The first official Thanksgiving wasn't a festive gathering of Indians and Pilgrims, but rather a celebration of the massacre of 700 Pequot men, women and children, an anthropologist says. Due to age and illness his voice cracks as he talks about the holiday, but William B. Newell, 84, talks with force as he discusses Thanksgiving. Newell, a Penobscot, has degrees from two universities, and was the former chairman of the anthropology department at the University of Connecticut.

"Thanksgiving Day was first officially proclaimed by the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 to commemorate the massacre of 700 men, women and children who were celebrating their annual green core dance-Thanksgiving Day to them-in their own house," Newell said.

"Gathered in this place of meeting they were attacked by mercenaries and Dutch and English. The Indians were ordered from the building and as
they came forth they were shot down. The rest were burned alive in the building," he said.

Newell based his research on studies of Holland Documents and the 13 volume Colonial Documentary History, both thick sets of letters and reports from colonial officials to their superiors and the king in England, and the private papers of Sir William Johnson, British Indian agent for the New York colony for 30 years in the mid-1600s.

"My research is authentic because it is documentary," Newell said. "You can't get anything more accurate than that because it is first hand. It is not hearsay."

Newell said the next 100 Thanksgivings commemorated the killing of the Indians at what is now Groton, Ct. [home of a nuclear submarine base] rather than a celebration with them. He said the image of Indians and Pilgrims sitting around a large table to celebrate Thanksgiving Day was "fictitious" although Indians did share food with the first settlers

And Leonard Peltier is in his 30th year of imprisonment!

[A reminder from my friend Ted Glick-Dan]

Nov. 28: Book Party/Forum: Chinese America


Nov. 28, 7:30 pm

Peter Kwong
Chinese America: A History in the Making
Book Party/Forum

The Brecht Forum
451 West St. (Bt Bank & Bethune)
(212) 242- 4201
(1,2,3 A,C,E to 14th st; 14A,11,20 buses to Abingdon Square/12th St; 8 bus to Christopher St; L to 8th Ave @14th st; F,V to 14th St. B,D to W. 4th St.)


Suggested donation: $6/$10/$15

Since their first arrival in the 1840s to supply the workforce needed to develop the West, the Chinese have participated in America’s evolution from an expansionist continental power to the modern-day global empire. Even though many Chinese Americans today have integrated into mainstream American society as other “old immigrants” such as the Germans and the Irish have done, most Americans still see them, collectively, as “foreigners.”
In Chinese America, Peter Kwong and co-author Dusanka Miscevic trace the genealogy of animosity toward Chinese Americans, from the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and their profiling as disloyal aliens during the McCarthy era. However, they also cover the Chinese American success story, including their contribution to building the infrastructure of the nation and their vital role in linking American corporations to China’s market in today’s globalized economy. Beyond a strictly American context, the book traces political changes in China, showing how these changes influence shifting attitudes in U.S. society toward Chinese Americans.

Peter Kwong is the author of several books, including Chinatown, N.Y. and Forbidden Workers. He teaches at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New Yorkand is a regular contributor to The Nation and The Village Voice.

Dec. 1: Argentinian torture survivor speaks

Dec. 1, 7:30 pm

Surviving the Dirty War: Argentinian Torture Survivor Patricia Isasa

7:30 pm Patricia Isasa
8:30 pm Film screening of Patricia’s documentary El Cerco,

The Brecht Forum
451 West St. (Bt Bank & Bethune)
(212) 242- 4201
(1,2,3 A,C,E to 14th st. 14A,11,20 buses to Abingdon Square/12th St; 8 bus to Christopher St.; L to 8th Ave @14th st; F,V to 14th St. B,D to W. 4th)

Suggested donation: $6/$10/$15

At the time of her kidnapping in July of 1976, architect Patricia Indiana Isasa was 16 years old. She was her class delegate to the high-school Students Union in the province of Santa Fe in Argentina. She was taken by a commando group of the state police and was “disappeared” (held clandestinely) for three months. She was then taken to a military barracks, where she was held prisoner without trial or due process for two years and two months.
In 1997 Patricia initiated an investigation into her kidnappers’ identities, still unknown to her. Thanks to her relentless research, today eight people are in jail and awaiting trial, including an ex-federal judge, an ex-assistant secretary for security of Santa Fe, and several ex-policemen (one of them a graduate of the School of the Americas). All of them had been previously detained when the Spanish judge Baltasar GarzĆ³n requested their extradition to Spain. Then-President Fernando De La RĆŗa denied the extradition request; now they are awaiting trial in Argentina. Patricia just spoke last week at the annual vigil to close the S.O.A. in Ft. Benning, Georgia.

Dec. 5: The Wobbly Show - exhibit/book party

Dec. 5, 6:30 PM

THE WOBBLY SHOW:
Exhibit Opening/ Book Party/ Performance

The Brecht Forum,
451 West Street


Featuring historian/author Paul Buhle, artist Nicole Schulman (co-editors, WOBBLIES! A GRAPHIC HISTORY) and artists Sabrina Jones, Tom Keough, Peter Kuper, Mac Magill, Seth Tobocman and others.

Music by The Flames of Discontent (John Pietaro-vocals/electrified 5-string banjo & Laurie Towers-fretless electric bass).

This is the final New York stop of 'The Wobbly Show', the traveling,
global event in commemoration of the centenary of the Industrial
Workers of the World. Conceived by noted historian/author Paul Buhle.
The Show features artwork by some of today's most ground- breaking underground comic book artists and tells the story of the Wobblies' first 100 years. The IWW was the very first ecumenical Labor federation in U.S. history. Its organizers made wide use of radical arts in an attempt to create a revolutionary workers' movement. The Wobbly
Show celebrates both this militant spirit and the use of radical art, poetry and music in an attempt to rekindle it.

Nov. 30: Cindy Sheehan reading

Nov. 30, 6:30 p.m.

Cindy Sheehan will read from her new book, NOT ONE MORE MOTHER'S CHILD

Coliseum Books
11 West 42nd Street,
(bt Fifth and Sixth Aves.)

In Not One More Mother's Child, Sheehan chronicles her thoughts and actions, reflections on war and peace, truth and accountability, sharing for the first time in book form the story of her journey from grieving mom to effective activist. With a Foreword by Congressman John Conyers, Jr.

What Cindy Sheehan has done for our country is just miraculous and a mighty blessing. A thaw is felt throughout the land. People have started to speak, and their voices are being heard. — Martin Sheen, actor, West Wing
If you haven't yet heard Anti-war activist and co-founder of Miltary Families Speak Out Cindy Sheehan speak, she is truly impressive and inspiring. - Codepink, NYC
For more information: coliseumbooks

(For more info on CodePink NYC contact codepinknyc @ hotmail.com)

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Clinton: Immediate Iraq Exit a Mistake

[It seems to me more and more that the Left has to find a candidate to run for the Senate against Sen. Clinton, who seems to share the Bush administration fantasies about our role in Iraq. Foolish White House spokespeople not withstanding.-Dan]

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton Says Immediate Withdrawal From Iraq Would Be 'A Big Mistake'
By JIM FITZGERALD
The Associated Press
RYE BROOK, N.Y. - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would be "a big mistake."
The New York Democrat said she respects Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., the Vietnam veteran and hawkish ex-Marine who last week called for an immediate troop pullout. But she added: "I think that would cause more problems for us in America."
"It will matter to us if Iraq totally collapses into civil war, if it becomes a failed state the way Afghanistan was, where terrorists are free to basically set up camp and launch attacks against us," she said.
At the same time, Clinton said the Bush administration's pledge to stay in Iraq "until the job is done" amounts to giving the Iraqis "an open-ended invitation not to take care of themselves."
Clinton, who is running for re-election to the Senate and is seen as a likely presidential candidate in 2008, suggested that the United States wait for Iraq's Dec. 15 elections for an indication about how soon the Iraqis can take over.
"Until they vote for a government, I don't know that we will have adequate information about how prepared they are," she said.
She blamed the problems facing the United States in Iraq on "poor decision-making by the administration," but added: "My view is we have to work together to fix these problems."
White House spokesman Ken Lisaius responded Monday: "Reasonable people can disagree about the conduct of the war ... but members of Congress saw the same intelligence and reached the same conclusions about going into Iraq."

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

(Thanks to Chelsea Neighbors Against the War for bringing this article to my attention)

(Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures)

Dec. 2-4: A weekend for political prisoners

WHERE THERE IS INJUSTICE, THERE IS RESISTANCE.
WHERE THERE IS RESISTANCE, THERE IS REPRESSION.
WHERE THERE IS REPRESSION, THERE ARE POLITICAL PRISONERS.
WHERE POLITICAL PRISONERS ARE REMEMBERED AND SUPPORTED, THERE IS CONTINUITY OF RESISTANCE.

Dec. 2, 8pm - 2am

2006 Certain Days calendar release party

136 Cambridge Place (#1)(top buzzer)
Brooklyn
(C train to Clinton/Washington - get out at the Washington side, go two blocks up Fulton (north), left on Cambridge Place)

Please mark your calendars for the 2006 Certain Days release party in Brooklyn. This is a chance to mix and mingle with old and new friends and learn more about the
organizations that this year's proceeds will go to. It's also a chance to purchase copies of the Certain Days wall calendar, which features 12 full color images -including collages, murals, paintings and more - and over a dozen pages of writing created by and about former and current political prisoners and prisoners of war.

To learn more about Certain Days, or to order copies online, visit: certaindays.org

Ashanti Alston
Dec. 3,

International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners

Reception at 6:30,
program 7pm - 10pm

Columbia Law School,
435 West 116th Street, Room 103
(C or 1 train to 116th St.)
$5 donation requested

Speakers: Ninotchka Rosca (Philippines, Gabriela network); Andra (Basque Country, Kalera Project); Ashanti Alston (Black Liberation Movement, U.S.), Frank Velgara (Puerto Rican Independence Movement, U.S. and Puerto Rico); plus a Palestinian comrade TBA and statements from David Gilbert and Marilyn Buck, white anti- imperialist political prisoners.

Also - Fred Ho, Saxophone; Kgafela Magogodi, Azanian Spoken Word Poet.

For more info: 718-220-6004.
Sponsored by Columbia Univ. SLPA Human Rights program, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement; Jericho (national and NYC); Hands Off Assata Coalition, NY Taskforce on Political Prisoners; Gabriela Network, ProLiberttad Freedom Campaign; Resistance in Brooklyn; Women's Anti-Imperialist League; NYC Mumia Colition; Latins for Mumia.

Dec. 4, 4pm-7 pm

U.S. Political Prisoner Holiday Card Writing Party

309 Park Place,
(bt. Vanderbilt & Underhill, Prospect Heights, Bklyn)
(2,3,4,5 trains to Grand Army Plaza; B train to Seventh Ave)

Join Resistance in Brooklyn for our annual event to remind the many U.S. political prisoners -- Black/New Afrikan, Puerto Rican, Native American, Chicano/Mexican, Cuban, and white North American -- that we remember and care about them. No artistic ability required (though everyone has some!).

This is always a fun event, sharing good food and great conversation while making and signing beautiful handmade cards. These cards mean alot to folks who have sacrificed so much for the struggle for liberation.

Art materials, paints, stamps, envelopes, and refreshments will be provided.
Donations requested for stamps.

Info: (718) 399-8366 or mmmsrnb @ igc.org

Nov. 25: Fur Free Friday protest

Nov. 25, Noon until the store closing at 6:00 PM

Dennis Basso,
Madison Ave. & 66th St.

2:00 PM
Fur Fashion Show

Dinner following Demo (tba at the protest)

ENOUGH! THIS IS A FUR WAR.

FUR FREE FRIDAY NYC
AT DENNIS BASSO

"In this day and age, after countless years of educating consumers with a compassionate approach, everyone knows about the horrors, the pain and the torture inflicted by the avaricious, uncaring fur industry. More and more consumers are turning a blind eye to the suffering of fur bearers in order to pander to their own greed, pride, comfort and vanity."
We at WAR say......."ENOUGH". Win Animal Rights declares WAR on those who either sell or buy fur. That starts at the top with those who sell full length coats all the way down to those who sell products using just a splash of fur trim. Whether it is draped over your torso or snug around your neck, that skin does not belong to you. It belongs to its original owner. Do not expect us to be kind or caring about wearing fur. We will not tolerate it any longer. Enough! If you sell or buy fur expect to pay the price. We vow to confront anyone who dares cross our picket lines or attempt to buy, sell or wear fur in our presence. If you want a kind & compassionate protest, this one isn't for you.

Nov. 30: A Day of Action in Support of NYU's TA Union

Nov. 30, A day of action

Noon
Undergrad Rally and Speak Out in Washington Square Park - A group of delegates will then present an open letter to Pres. Sexton demanding that he negotiate.

1:00pm
a free lunch on the Picket Line with GSOC

2:00pm
an Indoor Event with Speakers and Entertainment.

NYU undergraduates will not attend classes so that they can gather to demand that Pres. Sexton end the strike by negotiating with GSOC. Grad/Undergrad Solidarity, a group of undergraduates that formed in Spring of 2004 to support GSOC in their fight for a second contract, is calling for a day of action to demonstrate to the Sexton administration that it is imperative that they end the strike now by agreeing to re-open negotiations.

This will be a huge event that sends a strong message to Sexton.
Negotiations with the union are in the best interest of the entire university community! They'll end the strike and create a more stable educational environment.

Improved working conditions for TAs mean that learning conditions will improve. The TAs who grade papers, hold office hours, and lead recitations will have more time to spend helping students get the education they have paid for and deserve.

To let the administration know that students want their high tuition to be spent on their education and on the healthcare and training of those
who provide it! For more information nyuinc.org/negotiate-now

Monday, November 21, 2005

Nov. 30: Protest the Execution of Stan Tookie Williams

A CALL TO ACTION: DON'T LET CALIFORNIA EXECUTE A PEACEMAKER
PROTEST THE EXECUTION OF STAN TOOKIE WILLIAMS!

Nov. 30, 5:45 pm

Press conference and rally

115th & Broadway

Nov. 30 is the National Day of Action to save California death row prisoner Stan Tookie Williams, who is scheduled to die on Dec. 13. As his time runs out, only Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can stop his execution. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 5
times, Tookie is a hero to thousands of youths who have been inspired by his campaign against gang violence. He is innocent and has never had a fair trial. His murder would be a gross injustice.

Also on Nov. 30, former Attorney General, Bush crony, and death penalty enthusiast John Ashcroft will speak at Columbia University.
Thousands across the country are speaking out to demand justice: Join the NYC Coalition to Save Stan Tookie Williams to send a message to the Terminator and the Texecutioner: Stop the execution! Save Stan Tookie Williams!

About Stan Tookie Williams:

Stan Tookie Williams co-founded the Crips gang in Los Angeles as a teenager in 1971. In 1979 he was convicted on flimsy evidence for four murders and sentenced to die by an almost all white jury who at the urging of a prosecutor who compared him to a "Bengal tiger" and South Central L.A. as his "natural habitat." Dissenting Ninth
Circuit judges last year called the racial bias in his trial "blatant."

Stan has maintained his innocence during his 25 years on death row, while at the same time becoming a powerful voice against gangs. He has published 9 books for kids discouraging them from following his path and has received thousands of letters and e-mails from teenagers who credit him with helping them reject gang life.

Tookie has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize multiple times and recently won the Presidential Call to Service Award. He is living proof of the potential for human transformation. In his own words,
I had to seriously question whether I was a human or a beast. In choosing not to be a beast, I discovered my humanity.
For more information, visit savetookie.org or nodeathpenalty.org .

Dec. 5: Benefit for Three Cities Against the Wall

DEC. 5, 8 P.M.

BENEFIT FOR “THREE CITIES AGAINST THE WALL”


TONIC,
107 Norfolk St.
(between Delancey & Rivington Sts.)
(F train to Delancey St. or J/M/Z trains to Essex St.)

Donation: $12 to $20.


Palestinian, Israeli, American artists work together for a just peace; lineup to include Seth Tobocman, ex-Lion Tamer, Bonfire Madigan, and Wharton Tiers Ensemble

Three Cities against the Wall, which opened Nov. 9 in Ramallah, New York, and Tel Aviv, is an historic show by 56 artists from all three nations that includes painting, sculpture, illustration, graphics, video and performance
art. Each artist exhibits a work in each city and most are present at the exhibition in one of the three locations. The artists and organizers are united in opposition to the “Separation Wall” that Israel is constructing in the Occupied Territories of Palestine.

This benefit is being held to raise funds for travel, transportation, and other expenses related to the show. In New York City, Three Cities Against the Wall is exhibiting through Dec. 8 at ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St. (between Clinton & Suffolk) and Sixth Street Community Center, 638 East Sixth St. (between Aves. B & C).

Artists performing at the benefit are:

Seth Tobocman (9 p.m.), author/ illustrator of three graphic books: YOU DON’T HAVE TO FUCK PEOPLE OVER TO SURVIVE, WAR IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, and PORTRAITS OF ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS. Multi-media show using slides, music, spoken word.

Ex-Lion Tamer (9:30 p.m.), band from Tel Aviv combining noise, shoegazer, and broken-pop into a melodic stew. Frontman Assaf Tager (guitar and vocals) is a London Music Academy graduate. After playing second guitar for the late Elliot Smith during the XO tour, he went back to his homeland to “make some noise.” Now recording their debut album with producer Wharton Tiers.

Bonfire Madigan (10:30 p.m.), Kill Rock Stars recording artist. San Francisco-based chamber-punk band with two releases on Kill Rock Stars. “Easily drawing comparisons to the dramatic, fearless artists Tori Amos and PJ Harvey, Ms Madigan belts out her songs with such abandon, so high on emotion, that it's just as much a cathartic experience for the listener as it seems to be for her. ­ Aquarius Records.

The Wharton Tiers Ensemble (11:30 p.m.), experimental guitar orchestra. “Onetime Glenn Branca collaborator Wharton Tiers’ enduring claim to fame is his role as Fun City recording studio guru, the man behind the dials on key releases by Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., White Zombie and Helmet. Tiers began to put together something of a guitar orchestra with an evolving, revolving roster of players bolstered by his own puissant drumming and the sax bleats of Fletcher Buckley.” ­ Trouser Press.

Art has the possibility to unite different cultures into harmony and to create new options for individuals, in order to live and work together for justice, equality and peace.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Off to New Mexico! I'm back!

Here's my one (or three) sentence summary of our trip. More later.

I hated Albuquerque (One large trailer Park). Loved Santa Fe (One of the great cities we've visited). Taos, I can take it or leave it.


Well, we're off to New Mexico for a week of R & R and hopefully some great photos. As usual, if I can find a way to post I'll talk to you from there; if not, I'll be back soon . See you then.
I'll miss you.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Nov. 14: Protest Andean Free Trade Agreement in DC

CATCH THE BUS TO DC TO PROTEST THE ANDEAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT!

LEAVING: NOV.16, 5:30AM
RETURNING: ACCORDING TO MAJORITY
RSVP B4 SUNDAY NOV 14: Eliza: 646-285-8491


ALSO, email Eliza if you plan to drive and have room in your car.

SAY NO TO THE WALMARTIZATION OF LATIN AMERICA!

Nov 14-18 final round of AFTA negotiations in DC.
A press conference & demo is being planned for the 16th.


Nov. 16, 5:00AM - Meet the Pastors for Peace Bus - The bus has room for 20 people, first come first served.

(Corner of Hoyt and Schermerhorn Streets, Brooklyn, outside the Hoyt-Schermerhorn stop of the A, C or G TRAIN or the B37, B41, B45, B63, B65, B67 buses. [or a 10 minute walk from the 2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall, M, R to Court-Borough Hall, F to Jay St.-Borough Hall.)

NYC CISPES is a sponsor of the NYC People's Referendum on Free Trade, a grassroots coalition of organizations and individuals that is part of the national and hemisphere-wide Global Justice and Fair Trade movement to stop so-called Free Trade agreements.