The March to Redeem the Soul of America began, fittingly, at the headquarters of ExxonMobil, war profiteer and evil greedhead.

The march will continue for 120 miles, ending in Crawford, Texas on April 13.

Bruce Sterling, sf author and futurist, heads Viridian Design, a net-based movement concerned about global warming. He’s usually mostly non-political. Times are changing. Radicalization is happening everywhere. As a Viridian member since Day One, I was startled by his comments on the march (from Viridian Design newsletter #463, currently on the home page)

It’s not too surprising that these proletarian lefties and inveterate peaceniks should attack Exxon, for (by my modest count there) war profiteering, racism, overcrowded jails, civil liberties, human rights, HIV, hepatitis, mental illness, combat fatalities, the Pentagon’s budget, the need for prosthetics, pollution, environmental illnesses, foreign adventurism and buying Congress wholesale.

But wait till it starts dawning on conservatives and rich people that climate-change is Exxon’s biggest product, and that climate disruption is causing horrific economic damage  to their own pocketbooks. Somebody somewhere is gonna go down hard for that. There really isn’t a better candidate for scapegoating and deliberate public punishment than the people of Exxon.  And they’re sure not gonna lack for fingerpointing.  They’re all over the world, and all over the world people hate them.

Useful links

http://www.exxonsecrets.org/

http://www.exxposeexxon.com/

http://www.stopesso.org/

http://weblog.greenpeace.org/esso/

http://www.exxonclimatefootprint.com/

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Susan Sarandon has now supassed Eddie Vedder in the coveted “Most Linked to Photo on Polizeros” category, no doubt because she has recently become seriously outspoken and is taking risks, not just the usual lukewarm liberal Hollywood blah blah. Good. Thank you, Susan.

Sarandon: ‘This is 1984′

“I believe our next election should be monitored by international entities, just like it happened in Haiti and Iraq.

“The last one was an embarrassment. Everybody knew there was fraud, but nothing was done about it. In some states there were more votes than people able to vote.

“I think we’ve never been as close to George Orwell’s 1984 as before.

“We live in a society where individual rights and legality are definitely threatened and that’s scary.”

I’m getting hundreds if not thousands of hits for the photo, so here it is again. I took it an an ANSWER LA antiwar street corner demo at the CNN Building in Hollywood on March 22, 2003. Sarandon, Eddie Vedder, Tim Robbins, and Pedro Almodovar walked and asked if they could talk. You betcha. Here’s all four photos.

Here she is again!

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Immigration law proposals currently in Congress create three classes of immigrants; those here a) less than 2 years, b) 2-5 years, and c) over 5 years. It mandates they be able to prove this.

Earth to Congress. Undocumented immigrants often work under the table for cash or under fake names. Many of them no doubt can not prove when they got here. It’s not like their passports were stamped when they crossed the border.

That’s what ‘undocumented’ means. Those on Capitol Hill need to get into the real world more often.

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Insurers saw record gains in year of catastrophic loss.

Yet insurers want the government to prop them up and, oh yes, higher rates and less coverage too.

They said that even with the increase, insurers face deep problems that can be fixed only by substantial premium hikes, a scaling back of commitments by several firms to the most disaster-prone portions of the country and, according to some, a greatly expanded role for the state and federal governments in insuring individuals against the largest of catastrophes.

Socialism only works if it’s for everyone. Insurance companies demanding government aid (and they will be demanding it) is a bailout for the already wealthy. Under socialism, everyone benefits from what the government does, not just the wealthy.

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Israeli Settler & State Violence: The Case of Tel Rumeida

Friday, April 7, 7:30 pm
ANSWER LA office
1800 Argyle Ave, #410, Los Angeles

In April 2005, independent international activists began regular visits to the neighborhood of Tel Rumeida, Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.

Tel Rumeida is a small neighborhood known for housing the most violent and racist faction of the Israeli settler movement. Palestinian families who live directly next to these settlers are often virtual prisoners in their homes and subject to the settlers’ violent attacks and destruction of property. The 400 fascist settlers, protected by thousands of Israeli troops, control 20% of the city of Hebron, home to 160,000 Palestinians.

After meeting Palestinian families in Tel Rumeida, documenting the circumstances in which they are forced to live, and experiencing the settlers’ violence, the international activists developed the foundations to begin a permanent presence in Tel Rumeida.

Eyewitness report, discussion and video from U.S. activists Chelli Stanley and John Harmer of the Tel Rumeida Project.

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