Archive for March 4th, 2007


Fireworks in South America?

A little bird tells us

This week Dubya will be in Montevideo, Uruguay, at about the same time Hugo Chávez will be visiting the Río de la Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Will there be fireworks across the River Plate? Stay tuned!

No Comments »

URGENT ACTION: Right-wing militia attacking PAPERNAS again

We have just received an urgent appeal by SMS from Katarina Pujiastuti, International Relations Officer for the National Liberation Party of Unity, PAPERNAS, in Indonesia. PAPERNAS presidential election candidate for Dita Indah Sari is at the venue under seige now and has appealed for urgent international solidarity.

A regional conference of PAPERNAS in East Java is now under attack from 100 right-wing militia claiming to belong to the Front Anti Komunis Indonesia (FAKI). The conference has been forced to stop but the participants have resolved to carry on with their legitimate agenda. FAKI is the same militia group that attacked the founding conference of
PAPERNAS in early January.

PAPERNAS comrades are asking for urgent messages of protest to be faxed to the Chief of Police, General Sutanto +62 818 315703.

Please pass this urgent request to any contacts you have who may help and post to any appropriate lists you are on.

Please send copies of messages of protest and solidarity messages to:
dpp_papernas@yahoo.com


LATEST UPDATE: The right-wing militia have now broken into the conference venue and fighting is raging with the PAPERNAS conference participants right now.

1 Comment »

The Amistad sails again

Amistad
In June, a replica of the slave ship Amistad will sail from Connecticut to Liverpool, which had been a major slaving port. From there it will sail to the old slave coast of Africa in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of a vote by the British Parliament in 1807 to outlaw slavery. It will then return to Connecticut, a journey of 14,000 miles.

In 1839, slaves revolted on the Amistad. They seized the ship, were captured, but were eventually freed by the United States Supreme Court. The story was popularized in the movie Amistad, which was directed by Speilberg.

Some thoughts from the past and present captains of the Amistad.

These guys made a fortune,” Pinkney said. “The industrial revolution was financed by the slave trade. There’s no getting around it,” he said.

Garfield nodded and repeated, “There’s no getting around it.” The abolition acts of 1807 are important because they mark the beginning of the end of the slave trade, Pinkney said.

“But it took a long time for it to end,” he said. “It lasted so long its tentacles had spread deep into the economics of many nations.”

This time, the Amistad sails for peace, mutual understanding, and the hope that such barbarities never happen again.

3 Comments »

Judge cartwheels for sobriety

For real!

No Comments »