Condi goes to Liverpool
Bob Morris @ Mar 31st 2006 16:54 - Category: Anti-war ;
Archive for March, 2006
Abramoff - little reform coming
Bob Morris @ Mar 31st 2006 16:21 - Category: Unfiled ;
Clients of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff spent $72 million on political influence, including contributions to about 500 members of the U.S. Congress.
But the Senate isn’t about to reform itself
It is fitting that, on the day that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to jail, a U.S. Senate supposedly jolted into recognizing the need for major lobbyist reform by the Abramoff scandal passed a bill that scrapes a little of the muck off the Capitol building and then engaged in self-satisfied congratulation. Mr. Abramoff earned his roughly six years in jail, but one of the legislative bodies on the receiving end of his illegal overtures still can’t come to grips with its addiction to money and perks.
The system itself is corrupt. That’s why piecemeal reform like that proposed in Kos’ “Crashing the Gate” won’t work. Bringing reformists into a corrupt system in hopes of changing things, yet relying on the same old fundraising system to do it, is doomed from the start. Band-aids do little when the patient has been poisoned, and that’s what D.C. has become, a system poisoned by special interests and money.
As long as profits can be ensured by buying off politicians, politics will be dirty and corrupt. This is a fundamental feature of government under capitalism. It is necessary to go beyond the confines of the bourgeois discourse about the Abramoff scandal and use it to expose the rotten nature of capitalism.
To get rid of people like Jack Abramoff and everyone he was able to buy and sell throughout his career, a new system is needed—one where no profit motive or ultra-rich ruling class exists.
‘Classic global warming’ over Antarctica
Bob Morris @ Mar 31st 2006 16:20 - Category: Climate change ;
In the winter sky over Antarctica, scientists have detected a vast cap of steadily warming air, in the first sign that record levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may be trapping heat above the ice sheets of the South Pole.
The temperature of the winter air over Antarctica has been rising at a rate three times faster than the world as a whole, the researchers reported Thursday in the journal Science.
Immigration and White Racism
Bob Morris @ Mar 31st 2006 07:27 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
The Ghost of George Wallace
Sancredo, Sensenbrenner and the extreme, racist, right wing elements they represent were on the verge of a major legislative victory. They were so close they could taste it.
Until La Gran Marcha in Los Angeles.
L.A. - Rally for Immigrant Rights
Bob Morris @ Mar 31st 2006 07:26 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
Stop Attacks on Immigrants! No to Police-Migra Cooperation!
This Saturday, April 1, 10 am
Costa Mesa City Hall
77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa (Corner of Fair Drive and Fairview Ave.)
From ANSWER LA
Join pro-immigrant and community groups, including the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, at a community rally to protest the city of Costa Mesa’s anti-immigrant policies. Costa Mesa is having the police and Orange County sheriffs cooperate with federal immigration authorities to arrest and deport people due to their immigration status. Following the massive pro-immigrant protest in Los Angeles and student walkouts throughout the week, it is more important than ever to come together in unity to stamp out racist government policies that seek to criminalize immigrants.
Supported by March 25 Coalition, Latino Movement USA, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, Mexican American Political Association, A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and many others.
Costa Mesa is a city with an increasing Latino population governed by a mayor who is an “honorary” Minuteman.He is deliberately implementing anti-Latino policies and among other things, brought an author of neo-Nazi literature into the government.
Humberto Caspa, writer for La Opinion and adjunct professor at CSULB, documents this in the following articles.
Why Things are falling apart in Costa Mesa
Considering the number and size of the groups endorsing this demo, I expect it will be large.
Headzup
Bob Morris @ Mar 31st 2006 07:24 - Category: Unfiled ;
HeadZup.tv, “the first video comic strip for cell phones and iPods”
You can view them on your PC too. Check it out, these are fun, politically-edged 5-10 second mini-videos. I met HeadZup Head John Shay last year at Gnomedex. He was wondering if this idea of his would get traction, now he’s getting distribution deals and award nominations.
Why no bill is better than a bad bill
Bob Morris @ Mar 30th 2006 13:12 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
The Senate version of the Immigration bill, the supposed ‘moderate’ bill, contains some really ugly stuff. Emphasis added.
Call your Senator, get in the streets, let’s stop this noxious bill.
From the Immigrant Solidarity listserv. (I’m printing the whole thing because it’s not online yet.)
Here’s six egregious provisions in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Bill (The Chairman’s Mark/Specter Bill), prepared by New York Immigrant Defense Project.
1. Expedited Removal
The Specter bill allows the government to remove more immigrants without any court hearing. Any immigrant who is found within 14 days of arrival and within 100 miles of the Mexican or Canadian borders — for example, immigrants found in El Paso, San Diego and Detroit – would be subject to this. This would allow ICE to grab people from the streets and increases the ability of the Federal government to engage in selective enforcement.
A separate provision would allow the government to remove any immigrant without a court hearing simply by claiming that they have been convicted of an aggravated felony or a firearm offense — with limited ability to challenge the changes against them and without having the right to apply for relief that may have been available to them.
Why this is bad: This provision would give the Department of Homeland Security unfettered authority to determine who is subject to “expedited removal†and would result in people being detained the ability to have a fair hearing. People who may have a basis to fight their deportation will be deported without being able to present their case.
2. Expansion of term “Aggravated Felony”
The Specter bill expands this term to include misdemeanor drunk driving offenses, minor accessory roles in the conduct of others, additional document-related offenses, providing some types of assistance to undocumented friends, neighbors and family members.
Why this is bad: The provision would result in the mandatory detention and deportation of greencard holders and others who are in the U.S. on visas, such as students. A judge would have no discretion to consider whether a person has a long standing ties to the U.S., kids or a spouse who is a U.S. citizen, law changed that her life around, or other equities.
3. Expansion of mandatory detention and increase in detention beds
The Specter bill increases detention by 50% with the addition of 10,000 beds and allows military bases to be used to meet this increase.
Why this is bad: this expands a system that is already rife with abuse and substandard conditions and exponentially ballooning costs (currently it costs approximate $85 - $100/person per day). It creates armed camps around the country while seducing local communities with the lure of jobs and breaks in their property taxes.
In addition, a separate provision could lead to the mandatory detention of immigrants who fail to file a change of address form with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) within 10 days. This ignores the DHS’s problem with its address system, languages issues, and confusion about where to file address changes.
Why this is bad: It takes away the right to an individual hearing, separates families – children from parents, partners from each other – for long periods of time, and forces people to languish in detention centers for from their homes. The threat of this protracted period of detention also encourages people to give up on fighting their deportation cases and impinges on access control.
4. Indefinite Detention
The Specter bill would overturn Supreme Court decisions and allow the government to indefinitely detain many immigrants with final orders. This would be applied retroactively to individuals.
Why this is bad: Like mandatory detention, indefinite detention also separates families and forces people to languish in detention centers far from their homes. Allowing the Federal government to indefinitely detain such large numbers of people will also contribute to the high cost.
5. Local Law Enforcement
While it does not go as far as some proposed legislation to require cooperation between immigration authorities and local law enforcement, the Specter bill encourages local police to enter into agreements which allow them to enforce immigration law and gives local governments the inherent authority to enforce immigration law.
Why this is bad: This provision would be a public safety disaster. By turning local law enforcement into immigration police, immigrants would be afraid to turn to local police, social service agencies, and even emergency services for assistance.
It also authorizes state and local governments to issues detainers to hold any immigrant after they finish a state prison sentence until DHS takes custody and to detain any “illegal alien” who is removable or not lawfully present for 14 days after completion of a prison sentence.
Why this is bad: These provisions would allow local governments to determine whether a person is a non-citizen, is lawful present or removable, which they are not equipped to make. It also gives them free reign to detain immigrants for long periods of time with no criminal or immigration charges filed against them, and invites widespread abuse, including racial profiling, retaliation against specific persons or groups.
6. Increased Border Militarization
Why this is bad: The indiscriminate increase in border patrol agents and resources for enforcement will lead to more deaths on the border and increased militarization of border communities.
This nasty, racist bill must not be allowed to pass.
Condi goes to Liverpool
Bob Morris @ Mar 30th 2006 11:34 - Category: Unfiled ;
CondiWatch UK has this to say about her visit tomorrow.
4,000 ‘NO’s in Blackburn, Lancashire.
Serious protests are planned. More
Maybe she needs Steve Earle to serenade her? He’s got a song called ‘Condi, Condi‘.
AWOL: Black Leaders and Immigration
Bob Morris @ Mar 30th 2006 07:48 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
Where are the Old Line Civil Rights Groups?
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
The great irony in the gargantuan march of tens of thousands in Los Angeles and other cities for immigrant rights is that the old civil rights groups have been virtually mute on immigration and the marches.
The silence from mainstream civil rights groups and the Congressional Black Caucus’s modest support for immigrant rights is a radical departure from the past.
The CBC and civil rights leaders tread lightly on the immigrant rights battle for two reasons. They are loath to equate the immigrant rights movement with the civil rights battles of the 1960s.
Black leaders also cast a nervous glance over their shoulder at the shrill chorus of anger rising from many African-Americans, especially the black poor, of whom a significant number flatly oppose illegal immigrant rights. But illegal immigration is not the prime reason so many poor young blacks are on the streets, and why some turn to gangs, guns and drug dealing to get ahead.
The battle over immigrant rights will be fought as fiercely and doggedly as the civil rights battle of the 1960s. That battle forever altered the way Americans look at race. The immigrant’s rights battle will profoundly alter the way Americans look at immigrants. The silence of civil rights leaders won’t change that.
There’s been considerable silence on this from many places. Speaking as one who was at the L.A. Immigrant Rights March on Saturday, all I can say is, get on board, this train is leaving the station, and a mighty train it is.
We are seeing the birth of a new movement, one like the civil rights movement of the 50’s-60’s. It will change the country forever and will spawn other movements in its wake as it builds.
Watching the marchers pass as I was flyering was an extraordinary experience. Most were workers, maybe working 2-3 jobs to keep food on the table. Some were undocumented, others not. They were happy, smiling. Self-policing too. Sue saw one guy start to drink beer out of a paper bag and others told him no, not now, this is too important. Most of all, it was the way they walked, relaxed, with dignity, and with the knowledge their voice would now be heard, and that the whole world was watching.
Piolin, a radio DJ, was instrumental in getting other DJ’s onboard, and it was by radio that news of the march spread. He spoke at the press conference and afterwards he said to a reporter, I’m paraphrasing, things were hard for me when I first came here and I was treated badly many times. I don’t want that to happen to others. That’s why I’m here.
At heart, that’s what this is about.
Ex-prosecutor in terror inquiry is indicted
Bob Morris @ Mar 30th 2006 07:47 - Category: Unfiled ;
Forget the ‘terrorists’, we need protection from the government!
A grand jury charged Wednesday that a former federal prosecutor in Detroit who led one of the Justice Department’s biggest terrorism investigations concealed critical evidence in an effort to bolster the government’s theory that a group of local Muslim men were plotting an attack.
“I can’t recall a case like this in recent memory where you have not only the collapse of the prosecution’s entire case, but now the prosecutor himself indicted,” said Brian Levin, a professor at California State University, San Bernardino, who has written on terrorism prosecutions.
Not only are the Bushies vicious and nasty, it’s clear they are incompetent as well. They’ve continually botched their ‘terror’ investigations as well as their wars. Think about it. What have they succeeded at?
Iraq leader warns U.S. to stop interfering
Bob Morris @ Mar 30th 2006 07:46 - Category: Unfiled ;
In the face of growing pressure from the Bush administration for him to step down, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari of Iraq on Wednesday vigorously asserted his right to stay in office and warned the Americans against undue interference in Iraq’s political process.
Gee, didn’t Dubya say the invasion would create democracy for Iraq? To the neocons it appears “democracy” means “do what we say’, which of course is no democracy at all. Not that they ever cared about it in the first place.
The US has lost in Iraq. Bush will go down as one of the worst presidents in history. I predict Bush will not last out his term. Conditions will force him to leave early.
Let’s make it happen.
Malo’s back
Bob Morris @ Mar 30th 2006 07:42 - Category: Unfiled ;
Malo, our favorite fleshing eating turtle from Hell has just emerged from several months hiberation. Here he is sunning himself, hoping no doubt we will feed him baby carrots. He likes them because they look like fingers.
Condi in Liverpool
Bob Morris @ Mar 29th 2006 23:13 - Category: Anti-war ;
From StopTheWar in the UK
War criminals not welcome here
“The most unwelcome visit to Liverpool since Oswald Mosley came here in the 1930s”, is how the mass circulation Liverpool Echo newspaper describes Condoleezza Rice’s visit to the city on Friday 31 March, organised for her by UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Condeleezza Rice, George Bush’s Secretary of State, is one of the architects of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and directly implicated in the horrific levels of death and destruction inflicted on those countries.
Anti-war activists in Liverpool and in Blackburn are outraged by her visit and have organised demonstrations on 31 March and 1 April. Support for these demonstrations is being called from across the country.
Artists have already refused to perform for her at the Liverpool Philharmonic and the Blackburn mosque just cancelled Condi’s invite.
Looks like the demos will be miltant and large. Welcome to Liverpool, Ms. War Criminal.
Update:
Liverpool singer Jennifer John will sing John Lennon’s anti-war anthem, Imagine, at the concert in honour of Condoleezza Rice.
She said: “There was no way on earth that I was prepared to sing at this event purely for entertainment value. I felt it would have been immoral for me to not make a stand.
“After conversations with Simon Glinn from the Philharmonic we decidedthe only song I could and should sing was Imagine by John Lennon”
Meanwhile, the British government is spreading tales that protestors might pick up concrete slabs and throw them at Condi. You didn’t know we were that strong, did you?
Podcast: L.A. Immigrant Rights March press conference
Bob Morris @ Mar 29th 2006 00:02 - Category: Immigrant rights, Podcasts ;
The press conference was held Friday 3/24/06, the day before the massive L.A. march.
Speakers include Piolin (DJ), Javier Rodriguez, Jessie Diaz, Juan Jose Gutierrez (Latino Movement USA), Angela Sambrano (CARECEN), Mike Garcia (SEIU), Preston Wood (ANSWER), Gloria LaRiva (Committee to Free the Five), and others equally important whose names I can’t make out in the podcast, my apologies.
If what happened Saturday turns into a civil rights movement, this mp3 will become a historical document.
(It was recorded on the internal mic of my MP3 player, so the sound is variable.)
MP3 (43:41, 14.9MB)
AFL-CIO opposes guest workers
Bob Morris @ Mar 29th 2006 00:01 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
The nation’s largest labor organization today criticized plans to expand guest worker programs for immigrants seeking to come to the United States, parting company with longtime Senate Democratic allies who pushed successfully to include them in broad-based immigration legislation.
“Guest worker programs are a bad idea and harm all workers,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a statement released the day after the Senate Judiciary Committee cleared an immigration bill. “They cast workers into a perennial second-class status, and unfairly put their fates into their employers’ hands.”
Ratbag Radio, and more
Bob Morris @ Mar 29th 2006 00:01 - Category: Blogging Tags: Venezuela;
Dave Riley blogs at Life of Riley, and podcasts at Ratbag Radio and Leftcast.
Ratbag features his podcasts, while Leftcast aggregates other podcasts, including some from here.
He lives in Australia, is a longtime socialist and activist, and writes for Green Left Weekly.
Dave emails
I have plans to create a LatinAmerican podcast to go in tandem with all the Venezuelan plus reporting we do here through the pages of GLW and the local Venezuelan Solidarity Network.
GLW has correspondants stationed in Craracas and has linked up with the new network being established by the Bolivarian government — such as that which brings out Venezuelan Analysis.
They have plans to create a sort of Latino CNN but without the cpaitalistic attributes and none, definitely, of the imperialistic ones!
He’s got lots of stuff happening, check out his sites.
Men’s restroom mural
Bob Morris @ Mar 29th 2006 00:01 - Category: Unfiled ;
From Sandi:
“Edge Designs is an all women run company that designs interior office space. They had a recent opportunity to do an office project in NYC. The client allowed the women of this company a free hand in all design aspects. The client was a company that was also run by all women execs…. The result….”
Update: 07/08/07. The mural was done by Perron Developments. See comments and here.
Click to view full-sized
L.A. student walkouts continue
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2006 18:56 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
Don White of CISPES continues his reports on the student walkouts in L.A. He is a longtime organizer and often assists ANSWER LA during large demos. His first report was yesterday.
One thing you must understand. People in Los Angeles do not go outside if it rains. For students to spend all day protesting outside in heavy rain is quite extraordinary.
—
Arrests, crackdowns and threats directed at students protesting immigration legislation.
City, educators and police reverse “permissive” policy and threaten retaliation against youth.
By Don White.
Los Angeles, March 28, 2006
In a clear reversal by city officials, educators and police, student protesters today faced campus lockdowns, arrests and threats with both Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Schools Superintendent Ray Romer threatening consequences to further student protests and “truancy.” Police have made it clear they will no longer tolerate traffic closings and freeway protests.
In a driving rain, thousands of students again left their campuses, often climbing over school fences, and targeted government buildings, freeways and streets calling for no government attacks on their families, neighborhoods and communities.
At Carson High School police firmly brought to the ground a student protester, handcuffed him and booked him. The behavior of police was clearly an angry and brutal response. Several arrests at Carson High and in areas around high schools were reported.
At a joint press conference, Mayor Villaraigosa and School Superintendent Ray Romer firmly told students to stay in class or face the consequences. Romer said that families which did not have their students in class may be called in for conferences. He mentioned that the senior class should especially not take part in the protests, sending a threat about graduation participation.
Continue Reading »
Shed a tear for Condi
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2006 17:17 - Category: Unfiled ;
She’s going to Liverpool Friday, a massive protest is planned, and the Liverpool Philharmonic can’t find any artists to perform at the gala planned for her. In fact, some declined, saying they’ll be outside protesting instead.
Prog blogs and the movement(s)
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2006 12:31 - Category: Blogging, Immigrant rights ;
Daniel Rivera-Franqui emails
It’s no wonder why the “progressive” blogs are silent on both the antiwar and immmigration marches: Maybe they rely on the mainstream media!
Oddly, mainstream media is giving the immigration rights movement more press than progressive blogs.
Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos is American-born of El Salvador ancestry, and lived in in El Salvador as a child. He lists Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero (murdered by death squads) and Cesar Chavez as heros. Yet DailyKos has had little coverage of the Immigrant Rights movement. Kos could do a huge amount of positive work here if he spoke out about it. I hope he does.
While reading Kos’ bio, I clicked through to their Sitemeter stats. DailyKos is down about 20% from their October peak. This dovetails with what AmericaBlog said a few days ago, that their ad revenue is precipitously down, and that this was across the board for progressive blogs. Something’s happening, that’s for sure.
At the bottom of Kos’ bio he says
We desperately need to catch the Right in the Blogger Wars, and I am proud of each and every person who has the guts and initiative to start his or her own weblog. The progressive movement of the future will be built, in large part, on this digital foundation.
I disagree. The movement will be built by people in the streets and by organizing in the real world not in cyberspace. The Net is a tool. The real work is done face-to-face, in meetings, by the grunt work of flyering, postering, and building events and coalitions. That’s how you build a movement. The Net can help get the word out, but can never replace that.
Saturday’s historic immigrant rights march in L.A. aptly demonstrates how a massive movement can be built without the Net. While march organizers have websites, using the Net to build the march played a minor role. Instead, it was done one-on-one, by phone, and by radio.
Liberal and progressive bloggers. You’ve been on the outside looking in at the antiwar and immigrant rights movements. Jump on in. We can all learn from and help each other. Then we can work together and win.
L.A. Times says 40,000 walked out
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2006 08:31 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
Nearly 40,000 students from across Southern California staged walkouts to protest proposed immigration legislation Monday, blocking traffic on four freeways and leaving educators concerned about how much longer the issue will disrupt schools.
Nativo Lopez of MAPA said on KPFK this morning it was probably closer to 100,000. L.A. schools are locked down today (I forget, are these schools or prisons?)
These students, as well as the marchers on Saturday, aren’t about to accept a noxious (or even a semi-noxious) law on immigration. Jesse Diaz, one of the march organizers, summed it up at the press conference Friday, “no bill is better than a bad bill.”
The bill that past the Senate Committee yesterday is inadequate. It also won’t survive during the coming fractious Senate debate. Then it must be reconciled with the viciously racist House version.
Immigrant Rights leaders will be meeting April 8 in L.A. to plan coming actions. These include “Day without an Immigrant” general strikes as well as boycotts and walkouts.
The demands are amnesty and full rights for immigrants. What happened Saturday was historic. We may well be witnessing the birth of a new civil rights movement.
For those who say demonstrations don’t accomplish anything, the immigrant rights movement has just conclusively proven that they do.
Massive demos and strikes in France
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2006 08:30 - Category: Unfiled ;
A nationwide strike has closed large parts of France’s transport networks.
Workers and students in more than 100 cities are calling for the government to scrap the controversial employment contracts.
Unions reported a huge turnout for a march in Marseille, and large crowds were expected in other cities.
Libcom has continuing coverage, reporting that unions are saying 2.6 million are in the streets.
Hey, there’s been huge immigrant rights protests in the US and a massive general strike in France. Just when you least expect it, the Left is suddenly resurgent.
FireFoxFacts
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2006 08:28 - Category: Unfiled ;
155 page pdf, chock full of tips about Firefox, from Lockergnome.com and Gada.be. Free!
Oh, the students booed the mayor
Bob Morris @ Mar 27th 2006 22:08 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
At the student walkout today, thousands walked to City Hall. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came out to speak to them. He uttered a few bland words of support then said “when your parents protested, they went back to school after that.”
He was loudly booed. Just then, a contingent of 200 students walked in and got many cheers. The mayor kept talking, and got more boos.
The boos continued. He finally walked away.
Student walkout and protest in L.A.
Bob Morris @ Mar 27th 2006 16:37 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
Thousands of Los Angeles high school students walked out of class today to protest the proposed immigration laws.
The LA School District is reporting 24,680 students walked out. LA Indymedia has breaking news.
Students sat down in streets and at one point closed a freeway. The protests are expected to grow tomorrow. This from someone who participated.
The following report is from Don White via the CISPES listserv.
Mayor, others, address students on steps of City Hall; some marchers take the streets and freeways; no arrests up to 2:00 p.M.
Peaking at about 5000 students, a demonstration Monday on the south lawn of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles was addressed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as the youth chanted, applauded and waved banners and flags. His appearance from a City Hall door created a surge of students to the steps of the building.
Earlier students poured into the City Hall lawn after walking out of scores of local high school and middle schools to protest the immigration legislation now in Congress. As each student contingent enter the area, deafening cheers greeted the newcomers.
