Major meatpacking plant gives 15,000 workers day off May  1.

California Senate votes to support work boycott

May 1 immigrant boycott aims to “close” US cities

“There will be 2 to 3 million people hitting the streets in Los Angeles alone. We’re going to close down Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tucson, Phoenix, Fresno,” said Jorge Rodriguez, a union official who helped organize earlier rallies credited with rattling Congress as it weighs the issue.

From the listservs

At yesterday’s National Alliance for Human Rights meeting, it was announced that on May 1st, community leaders announce an international boycott against Coca Cola and its products (Minute Maid, etc.)  If amnesty is not granted then a second international company should be added to the list.  Wal-Mart?

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TheOilDrum, a blog by those in the oil industry with “politically diverse” views, have released a manifesto of sorts detailing why the mainstream response to rising oil prices will not solve anything.

We strongly feel that the leaders of both political parties are not only headed in the wrong direction with respect to gas prices, but we also worry that they fundamentally misunderstand the factors behind the current situation at gasoline stations

A few factors that effect oil pices

1. Oil companies do not single-handedly determine the price of oil. The price of oil is set on the crude oil futures market.

2. The output of major oilfields is declining and that we may now have reached a peak or plateau in global oil supply.

3. The geopolitical situation is volatile, and an astute citizen may notice that every time there is news from Nigeria or Iran, the price of oil goes up.

4. Countries like China and India are industrializing at a great pace.

Demagoguery and grandstanding are not strategies for addressing our energy problems. As an alternative, the editors of The Oil Drum put forth the following recommendations:

1. It is nonsensical for political leaders of both parties to eliminate the gas tax temporarily or permanently as this will only worsen our dependence on oil by disincentivizing the innovation of oil alternatives and oil conservation efforts.

2. Both mainstream American political parties are doing their country a disservice by accusing convenient scapegoats of price gouging or price fixing instead of educating the public about how the price of gas is actually set.

3. Right now, governments should be focused on helping us cure our “addiction to oil.”

The political discourse on this topic is simply so devoid of fact, and constructive discourse so buried and out of the mainstream, that we felt we needed to raise a voice of reason. Public officials will continue to misinform and obfuscate if we allow it.

Read the whole post, the above is an abbreviated version. This is blogging at its best.

Yes, they are completely correct when they say that oil prices are set by futures prices. While oil companies are certainly exploiting this for every penny they can gouge, the real problem, as they note, is that we are running out of cheap oil at the same time that demand rises sharply. Toss in the insurgency in Nigeria and possibility of war in Iran, then prices become even more volatile.

Their real point is, this is not a short term spike. Oil prices will not be going back to $1.50 a gallon ever. So, as a country, we need to come up with a plan now, because prices are going to stay high.

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Not meant to be inclusive!

Another Day in the Empire
Interesting views on the Middle East and the neocons. Impassioned but tends towards extreme gloom. Makes me want to scream, join an group and start organizing, you’ll feel better.

BlairWatch
Hard-hitting leftie blog from Britain. Started the “I’ll print the al-Jazeera memo” memo. It’s not a typo when they spell his name “Bliar.”

The Blue Voice
This one’s getting lots of notice lately. Progressive news and views from multiple bloggers.

Craig Murray
Ex-British ambassador to Uzbekistan who resigned after exposing British/US policy of sending prisoners there to be tortured for information.

Global Voices Online
Aggregates blog content from dozens of countries and assembles it in an easy to use fashion. Listen to what the world is saying.

L.A. Voice
Community blog in and about L.A. Fun to read, tilts leftward, covers all aspects of life in L.A.

Left I on the News
Exposes the deceptions and lies of government and mainstream media. Often uncovers stuff no one else noticed.

Life of Riley
Dave Riley from Australia, long time leftie organizer, blogs and podcasts about socialism, leftie politics, and more.

Nether World
A fellow traveler to BlairWatch. Hey, things are coming off the wheels for the government in the UK too, as blogged here.

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Sri Lankan rebels appealed to the international community to pressure the government against taking further military action in Tamil areas, saying the raids in response to a suicide bombing amounted to genocide.

The government of Sri Lanka has “openly declared war” and other countries are “turning a blind eye” to the assaults, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said in a statement late yesterday after the air strikes on rebel positions. “We call on the international community to strongly condemn this genocidal attempt on the Tamil-speaking people.”

India loathes Tigers, fears impact of Sri Lanka war

No country mistrust the Tamil Tigers more than India but when Sri Lanka began bombing rebel positions this week its giant neighbour got nervous.

The air and artillery strikes, which followed a suspected Tiger suicide bomb attack that killed 10 and wounded the army commander, halted on Thursday, with the government under international pressure — not least from New Delhi — to stop.

In just a few weeks, things in Sri Lanka have gone from peaceful to nearly out of control.

More from DJ Mitchell, who lived in Sri Lanka for several years, working with Sarvodaya, an organization working to end the civil war.

In the past few weeks, violence has been increasing in the area of Trincomalee. LTTE attacks on the one hand, and Sinhala extremist attacks on the other, had already (according to BBC reports) driven several hundred people from their homes. The military appears not to have been involved in these attacks, although there are reports (also through BBC) of disappearances and extra-judicial killings at the hands of the security forces.

On Tuesday this week, a suicide bomber attacked Army HQ, seriously wounding the top general and killing 8 bystanders. On Wednesday, the military responded by bombing LTTE positions around Trinco, and the LTTE also used mortars against Navy ships. The LTTE reported 40,000 refugees were driven out, though my sources put that number closer to 15,000, and a smaller number around Batticaloa (which has not made the news).

On Thursday, there was a lull in the violence. Public gatherings in Colombo were banned “for public safety.” Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has been working urgently to get the two parties back to the negotiating table.

Is this a return to war, or is it two sides jockeying for better position in prelude to further talks? My sources think it is the latter, though I am not completely convinced. What is most troubling to me about the events of this week is not the inter-party violence, but a return to the indiscriminate killing of civilians: by the LTTE’s suicide bomber and by military’s the shelling.

Everywhere I have gone in the war affected areas, Sinhalese people have told me, “We do not want to fight Tamils,” and Tamil people have told me, “We do not want to fight Sinhalese.” In my opinion, this is a war perpetrated by the leaders of both sides on the people of Sri Lanka. The challenge is getting the voice of the people to be heard.

How can the peace movement respond to this upsurge in violence? The plans we had continue to move forward, but clearly a new and significant response is called for if we are to have any effect on the situation. What that response will be we do not yet know. For now, it is back to the planning stage.

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Right now Congress is pushing a law that would abandon the First Amendment of the Internet — a principle called “network neutrality” that preserves the free and open Internet. Congress needs to hear from you today or they will hand over control of what you do online to companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

Politicians are trading favors for campaign donations from these companies. They’re being wooed by people like AT&T’s CEO, who says “the Internet can’t be free.” Sign this petition to tell your elected representatives to protect Internet freedom now. When you fill out the information and push submit, we will automatically send it to your Members of Congress.

Sign the petition

Online petitions don’t accomplish much, in my opinion, unless there’re people in the streets backing it up. However it only takes a few seconds. This battle is important and happening now. The real solution will come with a restructured system that takes control the Net out of the hands of private corporations - something many countries already have.

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In honor of Abramoff, watered-down ‘reform’

Washington lobbyists lobbied for a weak lobbying reform bill. They got what they lobbied for. Shouldn’t that be proof enough that most lobbyists — Jack Abramoff comes to mind — have too much power?

Not, apparently, for the Republican leadership that is pushing a watered-down version of already watered-down reform.

On the other hand, I’m not hearing Democrats scream loudly for genuine reform, are you?

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