The managers of 89.5FM KZCT, their associates, and sponsors, are not to be held liable for the information and commentary provided by the Northbay Uprising Radio News, produced by the Northbay Movement for a Democratic Society, as a non-partisan research and education project.
Interview with...
Jihad Mujahid Muhammad! Minister of Spiritual Affairs for the Black Riders Liberation Party - Oakland Chapter [link]
DEFEND THE PEOPLE'S COMRADE! Info about the campaign here [link].
DONATE TO KEEP JIHAD FREE! [youcaring.com/other/defend-jihad-/156844]
Comrade Jihad was kidnapped by state security agents (including FBI) while he was copwatching in deep E. Oakland, protecting the People from threats of human-rights abuse by local racist police agents, March, 2013. After having a year of his life taken from him in prison, Comrade Jihad was immediately re-incarcerated upon release, facing 2 more charges atop the original, and the state, with it's inhumane "3-strikes" sentencing law, promise to take a many more years of life away from our People's Comrade!!! Currently (2014-06), he is out on bail, and back in the community that he protected, but at any moment, while the people await the verdict of the state overseers at the court, the fascist agencies may attack again! DEFEND JIHAD, COMRADE OF THE PEOPLE!!
ACTION HEADLINES!
Stories are reviewed and provided by Northbay MDS Committees.
ATTENTION: "Oakland Police shut down Marvin X's Academy of da Corner" [link]
We can learn so much from Pan-African scholars: "A mind rich on Ubuntu peels away clan, tribe, gender, race, class, religion and nation identities to see the brother and sister in the other. Such a mind is not quick to kill and plunder. It does not commit genocide or easily go to war. It is a mind that shares and weeps when others suffer. It is a mind that sees dialogue, respect of others and humility as strengths. It is a mind that is happy because it fosters happiness in others."
- Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa
from the Committee for the Investigation of Civil & Human Rights abuse:
Justice for Yanira Serrano! (d.2014-06-03, Half Moon Bay) [link]
"Man Died in Humboldt jail 3 DAYS AGO; Fucking CORONER'S INQUEST now!", 2014-06-16 message from Verbena of Redwood Curtain Copwatch [redwoodcurtaincopwatch.net]:
Cops need to stop arresting people for "being under the influence" !
I am sending out this article because most of it is the SAME "facts" the Sheriff's claim every time the jail kills someone. Question. Demand real answers. DEMAND an end to these absurd arrests. Many of them end tragically, people freezing outside at 4am when released, peoples' sleeping gear GONE once they are released, endless dehumanizing cycle of jail/street/police harassment, and death- as with this man. While we fight here to END the inhumanity and senseless violence of the police and Sheriff's and jail, the failure of the media to investigate, media and societal complicity with the responsible parties' (Sheriff, EPD) lies... I wish this man's family comfort and his spirit Peace.
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"42-Year-Old Man Dies in Custody at Humboldt County Jail", message from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: On 06-13-2014, at about 2:40 pm a 42 year old male, who had been arrested by the Eureka Police Department for being under the influence of alcohol and or drugs, was brought into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. The male was medically cleared by jail staff and was placed into a sobering safety cell by himself. Correctional Officers conducted 15 minute cell checks on the male subject, per their policy.
At about 4:00 pm, a Correctional Officer noticed the male was unresponsive and may not be breathing. The Correctional Officer and jail medical staff immediately began life saving measures which included CPR. The Eureka Fire Department and an ambulance were immediately notified and responded to the Correctional Facility. Once the paramedics arrived on scene they continued efforts on the male. The male was transported to a local hospital by ambulance at about 4:16pm. At the hospital an emergency room Physician pronounced the man deceased. The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office responded to the hospital and took possession of the man A complete joint investigation into the circumstances of the man’s death is being conducted by Investigators with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Humboldt County Districts Attorney’s Office and the Humboldt County Coroner’s Office. The victim’s name is not being released at this time until next of kin is notified by the Humboldt County Coroner’s Office. An autopsy is being scheduled for later this week to determine cause of death.
"Military Style Shock & Awe Assault On Black & Latino Neighborhood! Stand Up! Speak Out! Resist This Outrage!", 2014-06-13 message from Stop Mass Incarceration Network (www.stopmassincarceration.net) & Residents of the West Harlem:
A grandmother stepped from her bedroom to find a gun in her face. She tried to shield her 7 year old grandson from the cops, who revealed his piggish contempt for the people, saying: “We’ll get him later.”
A young woman 16 years old, woke with a gun shoved in her face, dragged from her bed in her underwear she was handcuffed and thrown to the floor next to her mother, while the cops ransacked the apartment. “Now I can't sleep, even a knock on the door makes me jump.”
On June 4th at 6:00 A.M as helicopters hovered overhead, 400 police in body armor, with weapons drawn, charged down hallways breaking down doors with battering rams in private apartment buildings and two housing projects in West Harlem. Mothers scrambled to protect their children, especially their teenaged boys. It was a scene reminiscent of slavery days, or U.S. troops rousting villagers in Vietnam or present day Afghanistan. Dozens and dozens of young men, ages 15 to 30, were dragged away by cops. They have been given bails of hundreds of 1000’s of dollars in some cases and are facing 15 years to life.
“All the police and helicopters, radios popping… I thought there was a terrorist attack or something. Then when I saw what was happening I realized it was terrorism. The police was terrorizing the neighborhood.”
The June 4th raid was a brutal escalation of this system’s war on Black and Latino people, especially the youth. It is bound up with the criminalization of generations of young people by a system that has no future for them other than the horror of mass incarceration, poverty, misery, or death at an early age. It is part of a slow genocide that could become a fast one.
The authorities have seized center stage - lying about what they did and why – laying the groundwork for even more vicious, brutal, and totally illegitimate attacks.
We Must Not, We Will Not Accept These Attacks on the People!
Stand Up! Speak Out! Resist This Outrage!
from Hands Off Our Homes! [link]:
"Affordable housing industry targets public housing for termination with RAD program" [link]
"Affordable housing industry targets public housing for termination with RAD program" [link]
from the Committee to Defend those without homes! [link]:
* A view against those without homes in Garberville [link]
People's Media in defense of those without homes:
* Without a Roof [woaroof.tumblr.com] [facebook.com/withouta.roof]
* Humboldt Edge newspaper [HumboldtEdge.wordpress.com]
Download pdf copies of the print edition [HumboldtEdge.wordpress.com/editions]
Arcata Food not Bombs and a Free Box: "I think food should be free, it's abundant and grows everywhere. We shouldn't have to be slaves just to eat and survive." - Nathan / "Food not Bombs is good for humanity." - Sarah. [youtube.com/watch?v=mfQob8WuQbI]
from the Committee to Defend Workers' Rights! [link]:
"Minimum Wage Campaign: 48,000 Oakland workers would receive pay raise", 2014-06-17 from "1021 Newswire": Join the Campaign: Lift Up Oakland [http://www.liftupoakland.org].
New research has found that up to 48,000 Oakland workers will receive a pay raise — and 56,700 will get paid sick days — under a minimum wage initiative expected to appear on the November 2014 ballot. In addition, researchers estimate a significant economic boon from the $120 million in increased earnings the initiative will create.
The data marks the first independent research on a proposed Oakland ballot measure that would raise the minimum wage to $12.25 and guarantee paid sick days for Oakland workers. The research was conducted by leading economists and policy experts from the UC Berkeley's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
“This research shows what Oaklanders already know: raising the minimum wage is going to lift up thousands of people,” said John Jones, a Burger King security officer who currently makes $10 an hour.
The numbers add up -
SEIU 1021 is a member of Lift Up Oakland, the coalition of labor, community, faith, student and small business organizations that collected 33,682 signatures to place the measure on the ballot. More than 253 volunteers with the support of 45 organizations engaged in the signature drive this spring. The Oakland Chamber of Commerce continues to push opposition to the measure. The Oakland City Clerk's office has completed its first count of the signatures. Final verification by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters is expected later this month.
More than one-quarter of all Oakland workers — up to 48,000 people — would directly or indirectly receive a wage increase if the measure passes, and roughly 56,700 would win paid sick days, according to the researchers. Between $115-$126 million in additional wages would be generated by the measure, while operating costs would increase by an estimated 0.2 to 0.3 percent for retail businesses and 2.7-2.9 percent for restaurants.
“A citywide minimum wage can help make the economy more equitable without harming economic growth,” said Michael Reich, director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. “That’s more money in low-wage workers’ pockets for a healthier city and a healthier economy.”
An economic benefit -
Research evidence indicates that employers adjust to minimum wage increases in many ways, and benefit from increased worker productivity and reduced turnover. The UC Berkeley researchers referenced a 2013 study that shows a 10 percent increase in minimum wage reduces employee turnover by more than two percent, and that minimum wage increases do not have statistically significant negative effects on employment or hours.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research also found that more than one-third of both men and women — nearly 57,000 people — currently get no paid sick days at all; more than half of Hispanic workers do not get them; nor do a full two-thirds of workers currently earning less than the $12.25/hour set in the ballot measure.
"The facts are clear. Raising Oakland's minimum wage will help tens of thousands of workers, increase spending in Oakland's economy, and especially benefit communities of color," said Gary Jimenez, SEIU 1021's East Bay regional vice president.
Join a community Solidarity network!
East Bay Solidarity Network [eastbaysol.wordpress.com] has a new fight with some tenants in east Oakland, and we are doing a demand delivery action on Friday, June 20th at 2pm! We are fighting with an amazing family whose landlord refused to fix their house after multiple pipes burst and responded to their complaints by evicting them. Help us demand compensation and for the landlord to drop the eviction! We will be meeting at 2pm, at the corner of College Ave. and Chabot, a block away from the landlords business. If you want more details check out our website!
On June 18th, the East Bay Solidarity Network organized a public forum at the One Fam community center in Oakland with member Attorney Michael Flynn of the NLG, to cover the facts about basic workers' rights, how to file complaints against employers and how to develop direct action campaigns against scummy bosses, and to address concrete problems in your own workplace or just to learn how to support other folks fighting back against their bosses.
The Labor Fightback Network [laborfightback.org], based on its program of solidarity and labor-community unity are necessary, continues to advocate the formation of labor-community coalitions to promote a program of action that truly reflects the needs and aspirations of the working class majority. Such a program could include redirecting war and military spending to ensure jobs for all; a minimum wage of $15 an hour; single-payer universal health care; an end to deportations; programs to eradicate poverty and end homelessness; defense of public education; rescinding anti-labor legislation and guaranteeing the right to organize; and expanding and improving safety net programs, especially Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Labor cannot go it alone. We must forge stronger ties with our community partners if we are to make significant progress. Together we can mount sizable demonstrations in the streets and be heard.
In the final analysis, we must look elsewhere for political leadership. This means running independent working class/community candidates in support of the kind of program suggested above. It means laying the foundation for a workers party based on the unions and progressive community organizations. which can compete with the corporate parties in the electoral arena. The time to move forward on this front is now.
Donate to the Fightback! "Labor Fightback Network", P.O. Box 187, Flanders, NJ 07836.
Contact the Network [973-944-8975] [conference@laborfightback.org] [facebook.com/laborfightback].
from the Committee to Free 'em All! [link]
* Lorenzo and Tazza Need Your Help! [link]
* "New proposed censorship rules mean more torture for California prisoners in solitary confinement" [link]
* "Free Kunta Kinta Green: When someone is innocent, it’s everyone’s business" [link]
* "We interrupt this program: Prison censorship of TV news" [link]
* "Review Board suggests Pelican Bay prisoner stop political writing for favorable placement" [link]
from the Liaison group to the Sovereign San Pablo Bay think-tank [link]:
"Solidarity Economy: Building Alternatives for People and Planet" [link], $25, 441 Pages, edited by Carl Davidson. The emergence of the global grassroots economic structural reform movement known as the Solidarity Economy. This book contain the core papers, discussion and debates on the topic at the U.S. Social Forum of 10,000 people in Atlanta in the summer of 2007.
* "PG&E, Ed Lee and the SFPUC v. clean energy" [link]
* "Empty lots now can be designated agricultural zones", 2014-06-14 from "SFGate.com" [link]:
The permaculture garden at 18th and Potrero streets might be part of the city's new designated Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone. (Photo: Sarah Roggero)
Today San Francisco officials showed how serious they are about urban agriculture by announcing a new Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone Ordinance that will allow land owners to take advantage of a property tax break when they allow a parcel of land to be used for agriculture and educational purposes.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, Assemblymember Phil Ting announced the ordinance in a press conference this morning at the 18th and Rhode Island Permaculture Garden, which will probably be the first piece of land to take advantage of the tax break. Converted into a garden from an empty 5,000 square foot lot in 2008, the garden is full of vegetables and fruit trees. Produce gets donated to local food banks and neighbors, and the garden hosts camps for kids and workshops.
Property owners who take part in the program have to guarantee the land will stay in agricultural use only (it can’t be on land with a house for example) for at least 10 years. Assemblymember Ting, who represents part of San Francisco, wrote the state bill which allows for the tax break partly as a way to prevent urban blight, since gardens are added to otherwise empty lots, to increase green spaces, and to offer opportunities for education about healthy food.
You can even raise bees and livestock in these agricultural zones — maybe all the city’s chefs will soon have an even more local source for their charcuterie?
Is Big Pharma set to corner the American market on medical marijuana? [link]:
Last week, British prescription drug manufacturer GW Pharmaceuticals announced a licensing agreement with drug giant Novartis, maker of Ritalin and Excedrin, to begin selling GW’s drug Sativex in markets across Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Middle East. The medication is already available in Britain, where it’s produced and marketed by Bayer, and in Canada and Spain. It’s on the market in those countries as a liquid that patients spray under the tongue and is prescribed primarily for sufferers of multiple sclerosis and cancer.
If the name “Sativex” rings a distant bell, that’s because it’s derived from Cannabis sativa, the scientific name for the plant from which both hemp and marijuana are harvested. It’s an appropriate name because, unlike other cannabinoids produced for recreational and medicinal use (and plagued by side effects not present in natural cannabinoids), Sativex is not a synthetic concoction, but essentially liquefied marijuana. It’s an extract of whole-plant cannabis that includes the psychoactive agent THC as well as cannabidiol (CBD), the chemical thought to be responsible for some of the anti-nausea and cancer-cell-killing effects of medical marijuana. So how are pharmaceutical companies looking to succeed where medical marijuana dispensaries are failing in getting marijuana recognized by the FDA without any federal agencies breathing down their necks? One answer could be in the clout the industry holds in Washington. The pharmaceutical industry is far and away the biggest spender on federal lobbying. Between 1998 and 2010, Big Pharma spent more than $2 billion sending lobbyists to the capital to fight for industry-friendly legislation and regulations.
All this puts the surging federal clampdown on medical marijuana in a new light. As nationwide support for medical marijuana reaches record levels, it may just be the pharmaceutical industry that rides that wave of support to huge profits.
While the system of crony city elections are corrupt, in San Francisco the election has been joined by a genuine Community Liberation builder, and, if elected, he will give the People access to what power there is that his office holds...
Fly Benzo for San Francisco's District 10 Supervisor
[www.facebook.com/FlyBenzoForSanFranciscosDistrict10Supervisor]: "We all want a candidate who will fight for the people. Why not someone with a track record? Vote for a candidate who is not afraid to tell it like it is. Vote for Truth, Vote for Equality, Vote for Fly Benzo."
UPDATE, 2014-06-23 from Fly Benzo: Open letter to the Department of Elections
UPDATE, 2014-06-21 from Fly Benzo: "If you ever thought your vote didn't matter, why was I cheated off of the candidates list, though I'd turned in the required signatures, paperwork and paid $500? GET REGISTERED AND VOTE!"
Fly Benzo is part of an unofficial slate with two other candidates in the district.2014-06-18 from Ed Donaldson: "United we stand divided we fall! #RankChoiceVoting #District10Supervisor2014 #StrategicThinking #StayTuned — with Shawn M. Richard and Fly Benzo."
Fly Benzo is capable of activating the next generation of community builders... 2014-06-10 update from Fly Benzo: "Thanks for the signatures..."
Suspicion is aroused when a rumor campaign had been initiated prior to the conclusion of Fly Benzo's successful petition campaign that he had quit the election. 2014-06-10 update from Fly Benzo: "Someone said I dropped out of the race, but a picture says a thousand words..."
"Dialogue & Initiative" [link], $10, 172 pages, edited by Harry Targ, annual journal of analysis and commentary on the U.S. socialist and progressive movements for change. 14 critical essays on left strategy, austerity, war and the far right. Published annually by the Committees of Correspondence Education Fund.
from the Liaison group to the Solano Peace, Justice & Freedom Coalition [link]:
* New African Peace Movement: "Africa’s betrayal by African leaders" [link]
March Forward! [link]
* 10-Point Program for Struggle [link]
* "Remember Sgt. Kirkland! No more deaths from Wall Street’s wars!" [link]
* Demand justice for SSG Jared Hagemann! No more needless deaths—no more Army lies [link]
What the Corporate Media is not telling the American public about the VA Crisis [link]
Americans Welcome Home Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl [link]
Fox News, and other fellow ideological media, continue to demonize Sgt. Bergdahl for his criticism of war in Afghanistan, while veterans claim Sgt. Bergdahl is responsible for the deaths of soldiers who were sent out to search for and rescue him. His father is a registered Republican, but his party has chosen to vilify him as the father of a "traitor" and a "muslim" (in reference to his beard).
Meanwhile, as a method of further demonization, Sen. John McCain, himself a former POW, describes the five Afghani citizens, exchanged by the USA Military for Sgt. Bergdahl, as “the five biggest murderers in world history,” even though it is on the record that none of the five are found to have murdered anybody.
Sgt. Bergdahl’s dream was to help Afghan villagers rebuild their lives and learn to defend themselves, according to his dad, Bob, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. “The whole ‘COIN’ thing ... We were given a fictitious picture, an artificially created picture of what we were doing in Afghanistan.”
(2010-09 photo showing Marine Corps Scout Snipers in Afghanistan's Sangin province posing in front of their flag, which is also the flag used by the Nazi Germany SS Army, more info here [link])
Sgt. Bergdahl's words of reconciliation: "OBEY YOUR CONSCIENCE!" “I am ashamed to be an American. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools. I am sorry for everything. The horror that is America is disgusting. ( ... ) I am sorry for everything here. These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid.”
Former Spc. Jason Fry, during an interview with Rollingstone magazine, said “He spent more time with the Afghans than he did with his platoon,” and one night, after finishing a guard-duty shift, Sgt. Bergdahl asked his team leader whether there would be a problem if he left camp with his rifle and night-vision goggles — to which the team leader replied “yes.” He then returned to his bunker, picked up a knife, water, his diary and a camera, and left camp. The next morning, he was reported missing, and later that day, a drone and four fighter jets began to search for him. Taliban commander Mulvi Sangeen claimed a drunken Bergdahl was snatched while he stumbled to his car in the Yousaf Khel district of Paktika. Weeks of searching turned into months. The military pushed his parents and fellow soldiers to sign nondisclosure agreements. But before everyone signed, a comrade from his unit publicly called on Facebook for Bergdahl’s execution as a deserter. Propaganda videos of his captivity — which featured Bergdahl denouncing American foreign policy — were released. At least once, in 2011, the prisoner, looking more haggard, fought back and tried to escape. “He fought like a boxer,” a Taliban fighter told Newsweek.
Afghan & Pakistani Deaths 2 million +
U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan 2,331
Coalition Deaths in Afghanistan 3,450
According to information from the Ecumenical Peace Institute [www.epicalc.org] [510-655-1162].
Join their Living Graveyard peace memorial vigil, every 3rd Monday of the month, Noon to 1:00 p.m., at the Oakland Federal Building [1301 Clay].
from the Committee for the Study of Fascism:
* Worker's Power! Teacher's Unions defend public education, engage in social justice and democracy [link]
* "Teachers Sound Alarm over 'Anti-Public Education' Ruling: Ruling slammed for 'scapegoating teachers for problems originating in underfunding, poverty, and economic inequality.'" [link]
* "Frankenstein Fears His Monster: The Gates Foundation Wants You To Boycott High-Stakes Tests" [link]
"Texas GOP Platform: Defund Education Across the Board", 2014-06-12 by Natalie San Luis [link]:
The 2014 Texas Republican Party Platform clearly states that:
* "Since data is clear that additional money does not translate into educational achievement, and higher education costs are out of control, we support reducing taxpayer funding to all levels of educational institutions." (Section 5-10)
* "We support objective teaching and equal treatment of all sides of scientific theories [so, presumably science teachers will be discussing the plausibility of gravity not existing]. We believe theories such as life origins and environmental change should be taught as challengeable scientific theories subject to change as new data is produced." (Section 3-6)
* "We oppose the use of quotas, diversity, and the ten percent rule. We support Texas college admissions based solely on merit." (Section 3-13)
* "Since education is not an enumerated power of the federal government, we believe the Department of Education (DOE) should be abolished and prohibit the transfer of any of its functions to any other federal agency." (Section 3-35)
Fascism and the Democrat Party:
* Hillary Clinton publicly claims NSA Whistle-blower Edward Snowden should have relied on the government for protection [link]
* "Illinois Democrats gut Chicago city worker pensions" [link]
* "Rally and march on the White House demands economic and social justice; Demonstration calls attention to administration's broken promises" [link]
Exposed: USA plans to assassinate elected President of Venezuela, launch death-squads against civilian population [link]
"America’s Covert Re-Invasion of Iraq" [link]
Fascists attempt to show Libertarian guerrillas are actually "communists" because they advocated ending the Drug War:
* "Nice Try, Right-Wingers, But There's No Way to Spin Vegas Shooters as Lefty Radicals" [link]
* "Cop-killer was a Pothead" [link]: "He was completely in favor of legalizing marijuana and perhaps other drugs. This puts him firmly on the “progressive” side of the political spectrum."
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Jerad Miller's YouTube account was called “USATruePatriot”, with videos titled “second amendment logic,” “Would George Washington use an AK?,” and “Police confiscate guns and threatened to kill me.” In two videos, he stands in front of an American flag dressed as the Joker and speculates about what it would be like to be president of the United States. “A new world order under the Joker!”
The Lafayette Journal & Courier interviewed Connie Kennedy, a woman who lived across from the Millers prior to their move to Las Vegas in January. She said the first time she met Jerad Miller, he ranted about pollution and America turning communist. Millers went to the Bundy Ranch near Bunkerville in April, hoping to join a militia standoff with federal agents who were trying to remove Cliven Bundy’s cattle from federal land. Miller on Facebook said Bundy’s ranch was “under siege,” and he hoped to help save the rancher “and his family from Federal Government slaughter.” On his Google+ account, Jerad Miller said he was shunned by the Bundy Ranch group for being a felon. He posted that he and Amanda “sold everything” they had and quit their jobs to go to the ranch. “As far as I am concerned my government is a fascist enemy,”…. “My family has bled for this nation and our freedoms and I will not let their sacrifice go unanswered without my own sacrifice.”
Jerad Miller's "facebook manifesto": “We can hope for peace. We must, however, prepare for war. We face an enemy that is not only well funded, but who believe they fight for freedom and justice. Those of us who know the truth and dare speak it, know that the enemy we face are indeed our brothers. Even though they share the same masters as we all do. They fail to recognize the chains that bind them. To stop this oppression, I fear, can only be accomplished with bloodshed. May the best men of our beloved nation stand and fight tyranny, without fear and without regret. May we stand proud as free men instead of kneeling as slaves. May we offer our children a free and just world with our blood, sweat and tears as payment. Let our wives and lovers take vengeance upon our enemies in our absence. We cannot fail in this endeavor of Liberty, if we do we risk leaving our orphaned children to the will of tyrants. We, cannot with good conscience leave this fight to our children, because the longer we wait, our enemies become better equipped and recruit more mercenaries of death, willing to do a tyrants bidding without question. I know you are fearful, as am I. We certainly stand before a great and powerful enemy. I, however would rather die fighting for freedom, than live on my knees as a slave. Let it be known to our children’s children that free men stood fast before a tyrants wrath and were found victorious because we stood together. That we all cast aside our petty differences and united under the banner of Liberty and Truth. May future generations look back upon this time in history with awe and gratitude, for our courage to face tyranny, so that they could live happy and free”
"The Ayn-Rand Loving Billionaires and Vast Right-Wing Machine Behind David Brat; David Brat's "surprise" win over Eric Cantor was in the works for years" [link]
'Citizen Koch': The Movie About Our Sick Democracy PBS Tried to Kill [link]
"Koch Brothers: Exposed!", 2014 from "Brave New Films"
"How Joe Montana refused to play ball when FBI tried to sting him" [link]: The FBI sent an undercover agent posing as a real estate investor to meet with Joe Montana in an attempt to lure the former 49er football star player into a sting. There is no indication that Montana was asked to do anything illegal. The Montana meeting was part of a four-year investigation in which the FBI pointed undercover agents at a variety of targets to try to ferret out corruption. "In a sting, they have real reason to believe someone is committing a crime, but here they fanned out all over California to see who would talk to them about anything."
94% OF ALL TERRORIST ATTACKS ARE INVENTED BY THE FBI – NEW STUDY SHOWS:
Of the hundreds of convictions made foiling acts of terror over the last few years, 94% of them were actually fabricated by the FBI, a new study by Project Salam shows. The FBI is entrapping people that ‘look like’ they could commit terrorist acts by offering money and coercing them into committing these acts. They then step in and make busts for acts they have completely set up.
“What they were trying to do is to convince the American public that there is this large army of potential terrorists that they should all be very-very scared about. They are very much engaged in world-wide surveillance and this surveillance is very valuable to them. They can learn a lot about all sorts of things and in a sense control issues to their advantage. And the entire legal justification for that depends on there being a war on terror. Without a war on terror they have no right to do this. So they have to keep this war on terror going, they have to keep finding people and arresting them and locking them up and scarring everybody,” states Steven Downs, attorney for Project SALAM.
"Inventing Terrorists: US orchestrated most domestic 'terror-plots'?", 2014-06-15 [youtube.com/watch?v=KpUkRchJxv0]:
from the Committee for the Study of History and Current Context [link]:
* "Tribute to Mabel Robinson Williams (1931-2014): Mabel and Robert F. Williams led a campaign for self-defense that shaped the 1960s" [link]
* "THE WARS OF RECONSTRUCTION: The Brief, Violent History of America's Most Progressive Era,"
Book Review by Erik J. Chaput [link]:
“THE WARS OF RECONSTRUCTION: The Brief, Violent History of America’s Most Progressive Era,” by Douglas R. Egerton. Bloomsbury Press. 448 pages. $30.
In early October 1864, a convention of more than 140 African-Americans from 18 states met in Syracuse, N.Y., to discuss the future of American freedom. The convention was chaired by Frederick Douglass.
With the reelection of Abraham Lincoln secure, thanks in large part to the fall of Atlanta, the delegates turned to what postwar America would look like. They demanded the “complete abolition” of slavery and “political equality.” Shall “we toil with you to win the prize of free government, while you alone shall monopolize all its valued privileges?” asked the delegates of the war-torn country. In his magisterial new book, Douglas R. Egerton chronicles the Syracuse meeting, along with others that were organized throughout the South after the Civil War, in order “to establish a network of activism designed” to bring a reform agenda to the attention of Congress and a recalcitrant president.
Egerton, the author of the definitive account of the election of 1860, “Year of Meteors,” has written the most important book on Reconstruction since the publication of Eric Foner’s 1988 classic, “Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877.”
“The Wars of Reconstructions” tells the story of “black veterans, activists, ministers, assemblymen, registrars, poll workers, editors, and handful of dedicated white allies” who set out to make the decades after the Civil War the “most democratic” in the 19th century. They ultimately lost their fight due to the violence of white Southerners who were determined to restore the old order. Students of Rhode Island history will enjoy the treatment of Newport restaurateur George T. Downing, who helped to found the Colored National Labor Union.
Egerton provides a concise overview of the Freedmen’s Bureau, along with the American Missionary Association. The Freedmen’s Bureau was tapped with numerous tasks, including education and land distribution. Prior to 1865, no Southern state had a system of public education. As the editor of the “Anglo-African” newspaper wrote as early as November 1861, land owned by Southern slaveholders should be “immediately bestow[ed]” upon the “freedmen.”
The freedmen, however, did not find an ally in President Andrew Johnson, who took office after Lincoln was assassinated and serves as the villain in Egerton’s narrative. Johnson’s racist policies allowed white supremacists to commit “arson and murder,” along with targeted “assassinations” of reformers such as Octavius Catto.
Though often a tragic story, Egerton convincingly argues that Reconstruction was a progressive period, with many policies, even if they resembled a flickering flame, surviving on. As Egerton notes, “black literacy increased four hundred percent in the thirty-five years after Appomattox.” Black churches continued to grow. The black conventions continued to meet in the 1870s and ’80s. Pushed by the efforts of Congressman James O’Hara, a black Republican from North Carolina, African-Americans filed lawsuits against railroads that denied them access and sometimes won.
Clearly written, engaging, meticulously researched, and often moving, Egerton’s “The Wars of Reconstruction,” is simply a must-read for anyone looking to understand what is without a doubt the most misunderstood period in our nation’s history.
Erik J. Chaput teaches at Providence College and The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. He is the author of “The People’s Martyr: Thomas Wilson Dorr and His 1842 Rhode Island Rebellion.”
"Listen in to how the imperialists really talk... in private", 2014-06-11 by Brian Becker [link]:
President Richard Nixon told his National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, in May 1972 in a taped phone call that he wanted to step up the bombing of North Vietnam and he "didn't give a damn" about how many thousands of Vietnamese civilians died as a result.
"The only place where you and I disagree ... is with regard to the bombing," Nixon said. "You're so goddamned concerned about the civilians and I don't give a damn. I don't care."
Kissinger made it clear that his concern about civilian deaths was only about politics and appearances at a time when the people of the United States and the world were engaged in a fierce struggle opposing the U.S. carnage in Vietnam.
"I'm concerned about the civilians because I don't want the world to be mobilized against you as a butcher," Kissinger said. "We can do it without
killing civilians."
The taped call was part of the Nixon files released by the National Archives in 2002, thirty years after the conversation was recorded.
ACTION CALENDER!
Marchers demand "one person, one vote" political equality, an end to big money corruption in politics
480 Miles. 37 Days. 1 Mission.
Contact: Curt Ries [media@99rise.org] [415-847-5351]
Photos and videos: [marchfordemocracy.org] & [flickr.com/marchfordemocracy]
California, USA – On May 17th, dozens of activists led by the grassroots organization 99Rise departed Los Angeles to embark on a 480-mile “March for Democracy” across the state of California to raise awareness and mobilize the public around the issue of big money in politics. They plan to complete their march at the state capitol building in Sacramento on June 22nd, where they will demand that the state legislature publicly acknowledge what they are calling “the crisis of corruption” and take immediate action to end it.
“This nation was founded on the principle of one person, one vote,” said Kai Newkirk, co-founder and organizer of 99Rise. “Generations of Americans have shed blood, sweat, and tears to make that principle a reality, from the abolitionists to women’s suffragists, to supporters of The Civil Rights Movement. But now their hard work and sacrifice is being systematically undermined by the out-of-control political spending of a small wealthy elite. It’s time for our generation to step up and do whatever it takes to reclaim democracy for the people of this country. That’s why we’re marching to Sacramento,” Newkirk explained.
The statewide march comes on the heels of two Supreme Court decisions—Citizens United vs. FEC and McCutcheon vs. FEC—that have further enabled wealthy donors to contribute even larger sums to candidates running for political office. 2012 was the most expensive election in the country’s history, with a price tag exceeding 6 billion dollars, but with only 0.04% of Americans contributing more than $200 to political candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Newkirk recently made headlines for his interruption of Supreme Court proceedings and his subsequent arrest, the first time such an act of civil disobedience has been caught on video.
The 480-mile march dubbed the “California March for Democracy” is endorsed by a number of prominent political organizations and activists including MoveOn, WolfPAC, Rootstrikers, Money Out Voters In, the Dream Defenders, and public intellectual, Noam Chomsky. Co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association and long time labor and civil rights leader, Dolores Huerta, will be walking a section of the march, as will Harvard University Professor of Law and political activist, Lawrence Lessig.
“The fight against political corruption is one that must be taken up by a movement of citizens,” remarked Lessig. “It will take an army of ordinary people, from both the left and the right, doing the hard work that is needed to fundamentally reform our government and restore our democracy. No matter how difficult, how impossible it may appear, we must have hope. We have to fight.”
For more information about 99Rise and the California March for Democracy, including interview and photo opportunities, please visit marchfordemocracy.org or contact Curt Ries at media@99rise.org or call (415) 847-5351. You can also follow us on facebook and twitter. #m4d #WeThePeople #99rise
About 99Rise & The California March for Democracy -
99Rise is calling for a mass movement of escalating direct nonviolent action to get big money out of politics and reclaim democracy for the 99%. The California March for Democracy will began May 17th in Los Angeles and will conclude June 22nd in Sacramento. Marchers will are attending local events along the march route, which traverses California’s central valley, passing through Bakersfield, Fresno, and Stockton on its way to the state capitol.
99Rise is demanding that the California state legislature call for an Article V convention to amend the US constitution to get big money out of politics and guarantee political equality. If the state legislature fails to call for the convention by the time marchers reach Sacramento on June 22nd, activists plan on nonviolently occupying the capitol until the campaign’s demands are met.
For a preliminary itinerary of the march, go to [www.marchfordemocracy.org/march_route].
For the campaign's list of demands and featured endorsements, go to
[www.marchfordemocracy.org/call_to_action]
To find out how to support the march, go to [www.marchfordemocracy.org/volunteer]
NO NEW U.S. WAR ON IRAQ!
Sat. June 21st 12pm
Powell and Market Sts., SF
For more information please contact ANSWER [415 821 6545] [http://www.AnswerCoalition.org], with Veterans for Peace, Codepink, World Can't Wait, Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center and many other organizations nationwide.
It has become increasingly likely that the U.S. government will once again take military action in Iraq. It is urgent that anti-war forces mobilize to tell the Obama administration that the people of this country completely oppose any new war on Iraq.
The ANSWER Coalition is gearing up for such efforts, and is calling for nationwide demonstrations on Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21, as well as emergency actions the day U.S. bombing starts, in the event that it happens before these dates.
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld should be arrested and prosecuted for their criminal acts in Iraq. It was the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq that destroyed the country and brought about the current crisis. There is nothing the Pentagon can do with more air strikes and destruction to undo that, or bring about peace now.
We in the anti-war movement fought too long and too hard to prevent and end that illegal and unjust war. We cannot sit by idly today when the Pentagon may be about to open a new chapter in its history of death and destruction.
4 Facts You Need to Know:
1. The Iraq war killed millions — the politicians responsible are still walking free.
From 1991 to 2003, U.S. bombing and sanctions took 1 million Iraqi lives, including 500,000 children. Between 2003-2011 the U.S. war took another 1 million Iraqi lives. 5 million were made refugees. Tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers were killed or wounded. The U.S. policymakers—the war criminals—who carried out this human atrocity are still walking free, giving speeches and raking in millions of dollars in book deals.
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2. The U.S. invasion and occupation is what caused the present situation.
The present civil conflict in Iraq is a result of the U.S. war and occupation, which destroyed the Iraqi government and divided the country along sectarian lines in order to conquer it. This reversed Iraq’s long history of secularism, and the coexistence and intermarrying among its diverse communities. Islamic extremist forces were practically non-existent in Iraq until the Pentagon invaded.
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3. The Iraqi people OPPOSE U.S. intervention.
Huge numbers of Iraqis fought the U.S. occupation. While the sectarian Iraqi government led by Maliki has requested U.S. intervention, that is the last thing that the majority of Iraqi people want.
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4. The Pentagon and Wall St. want to control Iraq, not help it.
Millions of people protested Bush’s war. It was built on lies. Iraq was no threat and had no connection to the 9/11 attacks. It was a war for oil, profit and control. The same war criminals are now calling for new U.S. attacks in Iraq and escalating the war against the independent government of Syria. Don’t fall for their lies!
A World to Win, A Planet to Save
Sunday, June 22, 3:00pm, Potluck & Social 5:00pm
How do we create a just and healthy world? Students, unionists, immigrant rights organizers, queers, ecologists, and feminists from Australia, Latin America and across the U.S. met in Los Angeles, May 24-27 to strategize on just this question. Hear assessments and plans, and add your ideas for building a militant fightback to stop environmental degradation, perpetual war and relentless budget cuts. Highlights include:
* In the Midst of the Great Recession: Reaction Rebellion and Opportunity
* Which Way Forward for Immigrant Rights?
* Students of Color and the Corporate Campaign to Wreck Public Education.
* The Power of Union Caucuses to Spark Labor Militancy
Sunday, June 22, 3:00pm, Potluck & Social 5:00pm
Call for location
For info: 415-864-1278, baFSP@earthlink.net; on-site childcare
Celebrate Community Radio with KPFA Activists
Save the Morning Mix! Support Local Programming
Cookout and Performances!
Sunday, June 22nd 2 pm to 6 pm
2022 Blake Street, Berkeley
$5 to $25 sliding scale
You are invited to a gathering of supporters of the Morning Mix, the unpaid staff, United for Community Radio and those who want to make sure that KPFA keeps the door open to local struggles and communities. Spend an afternoon listening to music and chatting with other folks who believe in free speech, local community-based radio.
We provide the hot dogs/ veggie dogs and chips.
Bring a dish or food to share.
Special Performances and Appearances by:
* Carol Denny
* Andrea Prichett
* Renee Asteria
* With Morning Mix Hosts and special guests!
And a Special Twit Wit Radio Skit!
Bring your politically-minded friends and your enthusiasm
for the best of KPFA's programming.
OCCUPY BEALE AFB: JUNE 23 & 24
WAR IS NOT GREEN......MILITARISM IS TOXIC
While we vigil at Beale to protest drone warfare, we also occupy Beale AFB every month to oppose militarism and global militarization. This month please join us as we try to underline the threat militarism has on the health of our mother earth.....WAR IS NOT GREEN THEME!
Depleted uranium, nuclear weapons, agent orange, toxic waste dumps, white phosphorous, napalm....the list is endless.....not to mention the grossly excessive use of fossil fuel that contributes to climate change. The U.S. military uses more fossil fuel than any other institution on the planet! And our soldiers suffer too.....high cancer rates, birth defects in their children, sterility, etc., etc.
Dress yourself up in GREEN clothing to emphasize the point, or come as you are....but we welcome large signs and banners to help with the messaging.
We will also be honoring and welcoming home: Bowe Bergdahl....one more soldier who had the courage to listen to his conscience and act!
WELCOME HOME BOWE!
OCCUPY BEALE AFB Monthly NO DRONES PEACE ENCAMPMENT
Join CodePink, VFP, and activists throughout Northern California
June 23, Monday, 3pm-5pm, Wheatland Gate, S. Beale Rd. and Ostrom Rd.
Mon. Night Encampment, Main Gate, N. Beale Rd.
June 24, Tuesday, 6-8am, Main Gate, N. Beale Rd.
Mark your calendar: Next action at Beale: July 28-29
For more info./carpooling,
* Nevada/Yuba County: Shirley 941-320-0291 slogood481@hotmail.com
* Sacramento Area: Barry 916-284-0944, bbinks@comcast.net
* Bay Area: Toby 510-215-5974, ratherbenyckeling@comcast.net
Join us in uniting for Peace,
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