Hosted by Dr.G., Minister of Information of the Northbay MDS. Tune in Thursdays 4 to 5pm (PST), at 89.5FM in the northeast San Pablo Bay Area, or on a Smart Phone [link], Desktop U-stream [link], Live Mp3 (.pls) stream [link], Netbook [link]. Be a Community Journalist with our Community Journalist's Notebook [link]. Send news & info to [NorthbayMDS@) gmail.com]! Northbay Uprising News scripts [link]. Archived webpages at (archive.org) and at (archive.today) are available even if the original is taken down. News links are provided for educational purposes only, and do not constitute an endorsement of political tendencies, or, of foreign governments.
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Recommended Radical Newsletters:
* CCDSLinks: Radical Ideas for Radical Change (2015-03-20) [https://archive.today/kWDE4]
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ACTION HEADLINES!
Stories are reviewed and provided by Northbay MDS Committees and Affiliates
information collected by the
SOLANO PEACE, JUSTICE, AND FREEDOM COALITION
* "The CIA Just Declassified the Document That Supposedly Justified the Iraq Invasion" (2015-03-19, vice.com) [https://archive.today/Lekdf]
whowhatwhy.org writes: Journalists and researchers have long sought access to an unredacted or, at least, a far-less redacted version of the infamous National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) used by Team Bush to justify the invasion of Iraq. In January, their wish came true. The CIA gave The Black Vault a newly-declassified version of the document. Guess what? It shows a wide gulf between Team Bush’s wild claims and the document’s much less hysterical reality … on supposed links between Saddam and al-Qaeda, on Saddam’s supposed biological weapons program and, according to then-President Bush, his “reconstituted” nuclear program … which the NIE said lacked “sufficient material” to be viable.
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* "US soldier admits killing unarmed Afghans for sport; Jeremy Morlock, 23, tells US military court he was part of a 'kill team' that faked combat situations to murder Afghan civilians" (2011-03-23, theguardian.com) [https://archive.today/bfNlF]
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* "BIG BANK’S ANALYST WORRIES THAT IRAN DEAL COULD DEPRESS WEAPONS SALES" (2015-03-20, firstlook.org) [https://archive.today/UZXVg] [begin excerpt]: The Deutsche Bank-Lockheed exchange “underscores a longstanding truism of the weapons trade: war — or the threat of war — is good for the arms business,” says William Hartung, director of the Arms & Security Project at the Center for International Policy. Hartung observed that Hewson described the normalization of relations with Iran not as a positive development for the future, but as an “impediment.” “And Hewson’s response,” Hartung adds, “which in essence is ‘don’t worry, there’s plenty of instability to go around,’ shows the perverse incentive structure that is at the heart of the international arms market.” [end excerpt]
Listen to the recording here [https://soundcloud.com/firstlookmedia/q4-2014-lockheed-martin-corp-earnings-call-audio]
* "Some Things NPR Doesn’t Tell Its Listeners About the “Iranian Nukes” Controversy" (2015-03-25, greanvillepost.com) [https://archive.today/M6W45]
Also see:
* "Revealed: The Secrets of Israel's nuclear arsenal" (1986-10-05, The Times daily newspaper) [https://archive.today/K96Rk]
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SAVE AFRIKA TOWN!
WE NEED YOU! Self Defense Matters!! Defend Your Community! The Time Has Come for YOU to defend what is YOURS!
Contact Info: [AfrikaTowncom@) gmail.com], Qilombo [510-338-6409], [https://www.facebook.com/qilombo], [https://www.facebook.com/events/752451231518622/]
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Anita Wills, community liberation advocate, writes (2015-03-25, 7:30 AM):
Dayum! The US Marshalls swarmed my apartment this morning. They claimed to be looking for someone who lived here before us. Why wouldn't they ask the landlord before coming here. There were 8 or 10 of them here about ten minutes ago. Why don't I believe them? A redundant question!
Kmani said they were banging on the door. I thought it was SLPD or OPD, but it was the US Marshalls. They told Kmani if he gave them a lead there was a reward out for the guy and fist bumped him! They feds are just as bad as the other police departments.
I am in the back bedroom and Kmani is in the front so he went to the door. I have seen mail with that person's name on it but do not know who he was. I asked him if the man was African American (his name is supposedly Scolaro) and they would not say. They just kept saying they were not looking for Kmani. The people living here before us were African Americans. That is why I asked them what race he was.
I know Kim. They almost killed an Activist (Jabari Shaw of Oakland), his daughter, and friend a couple of weeks ago. They rammed his car and his 4 year olds leg was broken. Then they.said it was mistaken identity. I did not like seeing them in my living room with guns drawn and my grandson in their sights. No! No! No!
They just said US Marshal, but it was about 10 of them. We are under Martial law! It was terrifying to see all those white males with guns in my living room. Cause you know at least one of them is a psycho. My concern was for the black male in the room, my grandson. One of them asked me how long we lived here. I mentioned a year and he said, "I mean here in this apartment". You gone bust in my place and act like you got an attitude? We were under siege! It is strange because I am not out there as much, but I am still Active. I was less a threat to them on the streets then I am now! Who would have thought it (smile). I am not a pretty sight in the morning, and they woke me up out of my beauty sleep. A couple of them stepped back when I came out of my bedroom. I had to laugh when they left cause my morning face is not pretty. They better be glad I put a house coat on (LOL)!
I was really concerned about my 17 year old grandson! There were only two that spoke, one was nice and the other one was aggressive (good cop bad cop). I am somewhere between upset and puzzled! My question is what is their end game? I don't know if they were even who they say they were! I did not see anything that said US Marshalls, but that is who they said they were and they lie. It is not about my neighbors it is about me and my Activism. I know it and they know it!
I asked my Grandson if he saw US Marshalls on their uniform and he said no! They usually have US Marshalls in Big Yellow Letters on their backs. Not only that, but they did not leave a card or any other information. For all I know they could have been a bunch of KKK in my living room. They were ALL White Males! This is the kind of thing they did during the Hey day of the Black Panthers.
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* "AK PRESS DAMAGED BY WAREHOUSE FIRE" (2015-03-25):
In the early morning of March 21, the building at that houses AK Press caught fire.
The blaze began in the building directly behind the AK Press warehouse, where two people lost their lives. It moved to the mixed-use building AK Press shares with 1984 Printing and 30+ residents. Everyone in their building got out safely, but several units were completely destroyed. There was extensive water and smoke damage to other units, including the space occupied by AK Press.
On the afternoon of March 24th, the City of Oakland red-tagged the building, which prohibits the publisher from "entering or occupying" its warehouse.
AK Press, a collectively owned and worker-run business, was in the process of announcing celebrations for its 25th anniversary, with parties planned in New York City and Oakland, CA, in April. The publisher had also just received back from the printer its most anticipated title of recent years, "Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements", for which orders continue to stream in.
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, friends and supporters of the press showed up in large numbers ("a small army" according to the publisher's web site) to help with clean up. The company was in the middle of assessing the damage when the city delivered its red-tag, which will hinder that process considerably.
AK Press has established a fire relief fund (http://www.gofundme.com/akpressfire) that it says will be evenly split three ways between the publisher, 1984 Printing, and affected residents.
About AK Press (taken from http://www.akpress.org/about.html): AK Press is a worker-run collective that publishes and distributes radical books, visual and audio media, and other mind-altering material. We're small: seven people who work long hours for short money, because we believe in what we do. Decisions at AK Press are made collectively, from what we publish, to what we distribute and how we structure our labor. All the work, from sweeping floors to answering phones, is shared. When the telemarketers call and ask, "who's in charge?" the answer is: everyone. Our goal isn't profit (although we do have to pay the rent). Our goal is supplying radical words and images to as many people as possible. The books and other media we distribute are published by independent presses, not the corporate giants. We make them widely available to help you make positive (or, hell, revolutionary) changes in the world.
Contact for more information:
- Charles Weigl [outreach@akpress.org] [510-295-4605]
- AK Press, 674 23rd Street, Oakland CA 94612
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NEED Clothes & Food at PARC [parc.2truth.com] (707) 442-7465
Our free clothes closet AND our sock basket are almost empty! Our public fridge is also bare and our food shelf, close to empty. If you have any food and/or warm and laundered clothes, please call or drop them off at PARC, Peoples' Action for Rights and Community. Blankets or other sleeping gear would be GREAT, too! Here's the online donation link: [http://www.youcaring.com/other/help-keep-parc-open-for-the-people-/153592] Call if you need or want directions to PARC! It's in Eureka! PLEASE DONATE FOOD & CLOTHES
* "Sprouts Management Intimidates Protests of Their Brand" (2015-03-23) [www.boycottsprouts.com] [occupyfarmmedia@) gmail.com]:
The management of the chain supermarket retailer Sprouts “Farmers Market” is intimidating and repressing protestors who are speaking out about their greenwashed brand, which is set to pave historic Gill Tract farmland in the East Bay.
One week after a large demonstration at their chain in Walnut Creek, protestors planned a follow-up action for the chain in Petaluma. Over the course of the week before the Petaluma action, Sprouts management sent protestors legal documents suggesting that the parking lot in front of the chain supermarket was not a "free speech" zone, in an attempt to intimidate protestors. On the morning of the protest, the management called for an unprecedented large turnout of police before the first protestors had even arrived, again as an attempt to intimidate. Finally, the Sprouts Management mislead their employees to perceive protestors as violent, telling them false and embellished stories of past protests.
Sprouts is known to be a union-busting grocery store with frequent labor violations. This corporate-style management is not surprising for the chain, despite their "farmers market brand".
Boycott Sprouts organizers say that they stand with Sprouts employees, who face labor violations in the food system, but they will continue to demonstrate and highlight the greenwashing of the Sprouts corporation, until they pull out of the development of the historic Gill Tract farm.
* "One Protestor Arrested, Stop Sprouts From Opening Store" (2015-03-17, contracostatimes.com) [https://archive.today/eqMm2]
* "Protesters Shut Down Sprouts Farmers Market to Stop Planned Development of Historic Gill Tract" (2015-03-14, Occupy the Farm) [https://archive.today/QuKvq] [begin excerpt]:
A crowd of 100-150 protesters, including a brass band, "occupy the farm" activists, and a large delegation of workers from the Fast Food Workers Union converged on a normally quiet Sprouts Supermarket in suburban Walnut Creek. Protesters held a sit-in to block the main entrance to the store, rallying around a 600 pound stump they had set down in the entranceway. The stump came from an approximately hundred year old Gill Tract tree that had been recently cut down by contractors preparing to pave the Gill Tract for the construction of the Sprouts store. Meanwhile, at the the other set of doors, protesters bearing branches from felled Gill Tract trees held a robust picket line turning away many would be customers.
During the protest, a series of speakers addressed the assembled crowd while protesters distributed flyers to would be shoppers explaining their reasons for boycotting and picketing the store. Many shoppers chose to turn away and honor the picketers. Store employees also received a flyer from union organizers that urged solidarity and encouraged them to join efforts with a newly launched campaign to unionize the Sprouts supermarket.
After the rally concluded, protesters decided to move their pickets into the store for a "shop-in". Protesters grabbed dozens of shopping carts and made their way into the store, with the brass band in tow. The store was filled with noise as the band played while protesters chanted, blew whistles, and spread their message to would be shoppers. Managers and police were unable to address the disruption effectively.
Supporters from the labor and food justice communities, like Brooke Anderson, are also expressing their concerns with Sprouts.
“We do not need another corporate supermarket giant that exploits its workers, especially not on public land. We need a real farmers market.” - Brooke Anderson, Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project
In late February, UC Berkeley cut down 53 trees in preparation for the construction of the new Sprouts store, despite an ongoing lawsuit regarding the projects’ Environmental Impact Report. See [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/03/03/18769462.php].
Farmers and supporters want to see the land used for a community-university partnership exploring innovative solutions to problems in our food system.
[end excerpt]
"Occupy the Farm' Film, Tuesday, 3/31, 7:00 pm, New Parkway Theatre, Oakland
'Occupy the Farm', a film about the 2012 struggle to claim 20 acres of a historic 100 acre farm for community farmers in Albany, will open at the New Parkway Theatre, 474 24th St, in Oakland, on Tuesday, March 31st. The University of California owns the land and it has granted one acre to the community farmers working with the University's Department of Natural Resources. Another 5 to 7 acres has been alloted to University research on corn genetics, and the rest has been promised to a big box grocery store and residential development which local activists are opposing. KPFA spoke to Gil Tract farmer and activist Effie Rawlings about the farm and the movie, Occupy the Farm.
[http://www.anngarrison.com/audio/2015/03/28/560/occupy-the-farm-the-film-opening-in-oakland-tuesday]
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* "Protesters Try to Stop Nestle Water Bottling Plant in South Sacramento" (2015-03-20, fox40.com) [https://archive.today/FuwaD] [begin excerpt]: In the darkness of the early morning hours protesters gathered at the driveway of the Nestlé water bottling plant. Armed with signs and props like torches and pitch forks they made their position known. Environmental and water rights activists blockaded all truck entrances to the plant. At issue: the amount of water the company uses to sell for profit, especially during a drought. [end excerpt]
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SOLIDARITY WITH THE NEW AFRICAN NATION!
Rapper Common said that racism can be cured, "If black people extend a hand of love to white people". Is he right?
* "Common, Pharrell, and ‘The New Black’: An Ignorant Mentality That Undermines the Black Experience" (2015-03-19, thedailybeast.com) [https://archive.today/L7O0A] [end excerpt]: “The New Black doesn’t blame other races for our issues.”
So decreed Pharrell Williams when the hit-making superstar spoke to Oprah last summer about the current racial climate in America. In the months following the release of Pharrell’s sugary soul-pop hit “Happy,” the country struggled through a summer that saw a string of high-profile cases involving police killing innocent black citizens. But while speaking to Oprah, and having watched clips of fans paying tribute to his uber-cheerful single, Pharrell decided to advertise a “new” mindset for black people to adopt—one of good ol’ positive thinking.
“The New Black dreams and realizes that it’s not pigmentation: it’s a mentality, and it’s either going to work for you or it’s going to work against you. And you’ve got to pick the side you’re going to be on,” Pharrell said.
His words were laughably empty and insulting to the current climate, the history of black ambition in the face of tremendous cultural oppression, and the reality of institutional racism; but they also represented a vocal cadre of black celebritydom that is calling for the black community to basically “get over it.” With the racial conversation in the national spotlight, stars like Williams, Kanye West, and others aren’t addressing racism in as much as they are deflecting the conversation.
Rapper/actor Common appeared on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart last week to promote his new film Run All Night. Alongside singer-songwriter John Legend, the Chicago rhymer won an Oscar in February for “Glory,” the theme song from the Martin Luther King biopic Selma. While discussing the legacy of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and the current tensions, Stewart expressed what he’s seen from white people who are resistant to discussing structural racism.
“There’s a real vein of anger, like ‘Hey, man—I didn’t have slaves!’” Stewart stated. “But they’re not talking about that, they’re talking about a power structure.”
Common, while not countering Stewart’s statement, offered his perspective on the way to heal wounds that have existed on American soil for centuries.
“We all know there’s been some bad history in our country. We know that racism exists,” the star conceded, before adding, “I’m…extending a hand. And I think a lot of generations and different cultures are saying ‘Hey, we want to get past this. We’ve been bullied and we’ve been beat down, but we don’t want it anymore. We’re not extending a fist and saying, ‘Hey, you did us wrong.’ It’s more like ‘Hey, I’m extending my hand in love. Let’s forget about the past as much as we can, and let’s move from where we are now. How can we help each other? Can you try to help us because we’re going to help ourselves, too.’ That’s really where we are right now.”
“Me as a black man, I’m not sitting there like, ‘White people—y’all did us wrong,’” Common continued. “I mean we know that that existed. I don’t even have to keep bringing that up. It’s like being in a relationship and continuing to bring up the person’s issues.”
Throughout the interview, Common continued to liken American race relations to a difficult romantic relationship (“Let’s get past this”) while echoing comments he’s made both during his Oscar speech in February and in recent interviews. Common wants us all to love each other. His Oscar speech was a sentimental bear hug, the kind of expression of superficial “unity” that tugs at the heartstrings without forcing anyone to think deeper about the specifics of conflict. While turning the Edmond Pettis Bridge—where people marching for the right to vote were beaten by officers of the state—into a symbol for this “unity,” his sentimentality is an easy pill for the Oscar crowd to swallow. “The spirit of this bridge transcends race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and social status. The spirit of this bridge connects the kid from the South Side of Chicago dreaming of a better life to those in France standing up for their freedom of expression, to the people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy,” Common said at the Oscars.
The New Black perspective sounds like an old black pathology. Exceptionalism and respectability have never saved us from the oppressive weight of racism. We’ve always achieved greatness in a country that doesn’t see value in blackness beyond a commodity; maintained dignity in a land that has consistently dehumanized and stigmatized who we are. White supremacy often insists that black people prove themselves exceptional just to share a table with white mediocrity. It is not for black people to extend a hand; it is for the privileged and the powerful to remove their boot from the community’s collective neck. These celebrities seem to be disconnected from the pulse and spirit of many of their peers, but their voices resonate far and wide in pop culture. And more black celebrities should take the struggles of the community at least seriously enough to not offer condescension, rhetoric, and smug dismissals when confronted with the realities of race and racism. Those with the biggest pulpits can’t continue to preach the gospel of positivity, condescension, and denial. It was deflecting when Bill Cosby gave his infamous “Pound Cake speech” in 2004 and it’s deflecting now. It’s an old routine.
When you think about it, there isn’t much “new” about New Blacks at all. [end excerpt]
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* "Local Leader Charged in Police Brutality Protest" (2015-03-23, fox40.com) [https://archive.today/qKc8I]:
SACRAMENTO —
Jamier Sale was at the Carol Miller Justice Center in Sacramento fighting a jaywalking ticket, or so he thought.
The moment he stepped into the courtroom, he says his charges were changed to another kind of traffic infraction.
Family and friends say that’s absurd.
“We have a lot of concern and we also believe he is being charged because he is an organizer of this movement,” said Cres Vellucci of the National Lawyers Guild of Sacramento.
The movement: #blacklivesmatter.
The demonstration: a police brutality protest at the Arden Fair Mall on Black Friday last November.
That’s where the third-year Sac State student got a $200 traffic infraction.
On Monday afternoon, the judge found sale guilty on his new charges.
“There were roughly 200 others who were not charged,” Vellucci said, “A number of white people, like myself were not charged. He is a young black man and he was charged. So our concern is what is happening here is similar to what is happening to Ferguson and other places in the country where they have targeted organizers and people of color in a way to intimidate them.”
Vellucci says sale is far from being intimidated.
He feels he was unfairly cited, just like Maile Hampton, a black woman recently cited in Sacramento for lynching – a charge for trying to stop the arrest of a protestor.
“He is the brother of Maile Hampton. So what a coincidence,” said Vellucci.
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The KKK's 'most violent' Imperial Wizard pictured for the first time since he vanished from America in 1984 - at the paradise resort he owns in a country with a tiny white minority.
SHOULD HE BE BROUGHT BACK TO AMERICA AND TRIED?
He is living like a King in Belize while the FBI Hunts down Assata Shakur!
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* "White Police Supporters Admit on Video They Are Happy Black Man Killed by Cops" (2015-03-21, truthvoice.com) [https://archive.today/MQ5db]:
An all-white pro-police demonstration in Beavercreek Ohio last year was apparently crashed by a masked Anonymous supporter with a video camera who asked hard questions. Beavercreek is the place where an unarmed 21 year old John Crawford picked up an unloaded BB gun from a Walmart shelf; the police later showed up and killed him without any warning.
The man who recorded this vide was apparently also armed, open carrying a Glock, which may be the reason why he was not attacked and assaulted by the crowd.
The crowd interacts in various ways with him but at one point people in the police-loving crowd admit that they are “glad that an innocent black man was shot by the police” and claim that the cop “did was he was trained to do,” namely, kill someone.
Last week a Police Review Board found that the cops did nothing improper. Nobody was ever charged in the shooting and killing of John Crawford and both cops are back on duty.
Watch in amazement how this unfolded.
"Anonymous And Standing For John Crawford" (2014-09-01) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqdwB6kAHvs]: Bigoted Police supporters in Beavercreek Ohio openly speak in support of their police department killing an innocent black man and nearly assault an armed Guy Fawkes asking them questions they don't want to answer.
* "John Crawford III Walmart Shooting Video Cover Up" (2014-09-03) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNQK5MH5GRI]: John Crawford III was shot by police at an Ohio Walmart while carrying a toy rifle after a customer called to warn them of a man carrying an AR-15. The unarmed 22-year-old was killed just four days before the shooting of Michael Brown by police. Ohio is an “open carry” state, which means that carrying an AR-15 rifle around is legal. There is video of the incident, which is currently being withheld from the public. We discuss the shooting, in this Lip News clip with Mark Sovel and Elliot Hill.
* "Was John Crawford Killed in Cold Blood? The Disturbing Walmart Shooting Surveillance Video Released" (2014-09-25) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ltN_uW20nQ]: The disturbing Walmart surveillance footage of the shooting of John Crawford has finally been publicly released, conveniently after a grand jury decides to not press charges on the cops who killed him. Warning: this video contains footage from the shooting of a young unarmed black man who was shot and killed in a Walmart in Ohio while he was holding a BB gun sold in the store.
Previous story segment here: [http://youtu.be/o9y0vWxgi9Q]
Our first segment on the story here: [http://youtu.be/OhzFaaQTdI8]
Filling in for Sam Seder: Majority Report contributor Matt Binder
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* "LA Teacher Told Students Lincoln Was A ‘N*gger Lover’ And Michael Brown ‘Got What He Deserved’ " (2015-03-20) [https://archive.today/FMO9E]
* "Parent Sues LAUSD After Teacher Reportedly Used Racially Charged Comments In Class" (2015-02-19, losangeles.cbslocal.com) [https://archive.today/bnoyO]
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* "Lighten Up" (2015-02, by Ronald Wimberly, thenib.com) [https://archive.today/8PzLk], a remarkable insiders view on the art of hue manipulation in mainstream comic-book publishing.
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* "FBI investigating body of black man found hanging in Miss., official says" (2015-03-19, cbsnews.com) [https://archive.today/nWRDk]
* "Black Man Found Hanging From Mississippi Tree" (2015-03-19, addictinginfo.org) [https://archive.today/QdrgA]:
On Thursday, in Claiborne County, Mississippi, an African-American man was found hanging from a tree. According to the FBI (2015-03-20, cnn.com) [https://archive.today/6Bink]: “It is too early to say what happened and speculate… We don’t know what happened out there, if it is a suicide, a homicide, that is why we investigate these types of cases to determine exactly what happened.”
The local Sheriff’s office had been looking for the man since March 8, when he was first reported missing, although he had been missing since March 2. His body was discovered by the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department and the Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, who had been searching for him since he was reported missing. While the FBI hasn’t released his name, the Claiborne County chapter of the NAACP alongside family and local law enforcement have identified the man as 54-year-old Otis Byrd. Byrd had been convicted of the murder of a woman in 1980 and served 30 years before being paroled in 2006.
In a statement from the FBI: “Earlier in the day, the Claiborne County Sheriffs Department and the Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries and Parks conducted a ground search for a man who had been missing since early March. Officers located a man hanging in the woods near Roddy Road a half mile from his last known residence… The sheriff’s department contacted the MBI [Mississippi Bureau of Investigation] and FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] for forensic and investigative assistance. Investigators are currently processing the scene for evidence to determine the cause and manner of death.”
According to the NAACP: “Considering Mr. Byrd’s body was found hanging from a tree, we are calling on federal authorities to immediately investigate to determine whether his death is a result of a racial hate crime.”
When Byrd’s father, Willie Shorter, was asked how he felt when he heard the news of his son’s death, he said (2015-03-19, huffingtonpost.com) [https://archive.today/Pjf3w]: “I was mad…How would you feel if it was your child hanging from a tree?… “I’m angry, but what am I supposed to do about it?”
The investigation is still underway and autopsy results should be available by next week (2015-03-19, foxnews.com) [https://archive.today/O0wZa].
BAY AREA SOLIDARITY
Updates on campaigns for for Peace, Justice, & Freedom across the greater Bay Area, Norcal, and Socal
SAVE AFRIKA TOWN!
WE NEED YOU! Self Defense Matters!! Defend Your Community! The Time Has Come for YOU to defend what is YOURS!
Contact Info: [AfrikaTowncom@) gmail.com], Qilombo [510-338-6409], [https://www.facebook.com/qilombo], [https://www.facebook.com/events/752451231518622/]
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Anita Wills, community liberation advocate, writes (2015-03-25, 7:30 AM):
Dayum! The US Marshalls swarmed my apartment this morning. They claimed to be looking for someone who lived here before us. Why wouldn't they ask the landlord before coming here. There were 8 or 10 of them here about ten minutes ago. Why don't I believe them? A redundant question!
Kmani said they were banging on the door. I thought it was SLPD or OPD, but it was the US Marshalls. They told Kmani if he gave them a lead there was a reward out for the guy and fist bumped him! They feds are just as bad as the other police departments.
I am in the back bedroom and Kmani is in the front so he went to the door. I have seen mail with that person's name on it but do not know who he was. I asked him if the man was African American (his name is supposedly Scolaro) and they would not say. They just kept saying they were not looking for Kmani. The people living here before us were African Americans. That is why I asked them what race he was.
I know Kim. They almost killed an Activist (Jabari Shaw of Oakland), his daughter, and friend a couple of weeks ago. They rammed his car and his 4 year olds leg was broken. Then they.said it was mistaken identity. I did not like seeing them in my living room with guns drawn and my grandson in their sights. No! No! No!
They just said US Marshal, but it was about 10 of them. We are under Martial law! It was terrifying to see all those white males with guns in my living room. Cause you know at least one of them is a psycho. My concern was for the black male in the room, my grandson. One of them asked me how long we lived here. I mentioned a year and he said, "I mean here in this apartment". You gone bust in my place and act like you got an attitude? We were under siege! It is strange because I am not out there as much, but I am still Active. I was less a threat to them on the streets then I am now! Who would have thought it (smile). I am not a pretty sight in the morning, and they woke me up out of my beauty sleep. A couple of them stepped back when I came out of my bedroom. I had to laugh when they left cause my morning face is not pretty. They better be glad I put a house coat on (LOL)!
I was really concerned about my 17 year old grandson! There were only two that spoke, one was nice and the other one was aggressive (good cop bad cop). I am somewhere between upset and puzzled! My question is what is their end game? I don't know if they were even who they say they were! I did not see anything that said US Marshalls, but that is who they said they were and they lie. It is not about my neighbors it is about me and my Activism. I know it and they know it!
I asked my Grandson if he saw US Marshalls on their uniform and he said no! They usually have US Marshalls in Big Yellow Letters on their backs. Not only that, but they did not leave a card or any other information. For all I know they could have been a bunch of KKK in my living room. They were ALL White Males! This is the kind of thing they did during the Hey day of the Black Panthers.
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* "AK PRESS DAMAGED BY WAREHOUSE FIRE" (2015-03-25):
In the early morning of March 21, the building at that houses AK Press caught fire.
The blaze began in the building directly behind the AK Press warehouse, where two people lost their lives. It moved to the mixed-use building AK Press shares with 1984 Printing and 30+ residents. Everyone in their building got out safely, but several units were completely destroyed. There was extensive water and smoke damage to other units, including the space occupied by AK Press.
On the afternoon of March 24th, the City of Oakland red-tagged the building, which prohibits the publisher from "entering or occupying" its warehouse.
AK Press, a collectively owned and worker-run business, was in the process of announcing celebrations for its 25th anniversary, with parties planned in New York City and Oakland, CA, in April. The publisher had also just received back from the printer its most anticipated title of recent years, "Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements", for which orders continue to stream in.
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, friends and supporters of the press showed up in large numbers ("a small army" according to the publisher's web site) to help with clean up. The company was in the middle of assessing the damage when the city delivered its red-tag, which will hinder that process considerably.
AK Press has established a fire relief fund (http://www.gofundme.com/akpressfire) that it says will be evenly split three ways between the publisher, 1984 Printing, and affected residents.
About AK Press (taken from http://www.akpress.org/about.html): AK Press is a worker-run collective that publishes and distributes radical books, visual and audio media, and other mind-altering material. We're small: seven people who work long hours for short money, because we believe in what we do. Decisions at AK Press are made collectively, from what we publish, to what we distribute and how we structure our labor. All the work, from sweeping floors to answering phones, is shared. When the telemarketers call and ask, "who's in charge?" the answer is: everyone. Our goal isn't profit (although we do have to pay the rent). Our goal is supplying radical words and images to as many people as possible. The books and other media we distribute are published by independent presses, not the corporate giants. We make them widely available to help you make positive (or, hell, revolutionary) changes in the world.
Contact for more information:
- Charles Weigl [outreach@akpress.org] [510-295-4605]
- AK Press, 674 23rd Street, Oakland CA 94612
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NEED Clothes & Food at PARC [parc.2truth.com] (707) 442-7465
Our free clothes closet AND our sock basket are almost empty! Our public fridge is also bare and our food shelf, close to empty. If you have any food and/or warm and laundered clothes, please call or drop them off at PARC, Peoples' Action for Rights and Community. Blankets or other sleeping gear would be GREAT, too! Here's the online donation link: [http://www.youcaring.com/other/help-keep-parc-open-for-the-people-/153592] Call if you need or want directions to PARC! It's in Eureka! PLEASE DONATE FOOD & CLOTHES
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* "Sprouts Management Intimidates Protests of Their Brand" (2015-03-23) [www.boycottsprouts.com] [occupyfarmmedia@) gmail.com]:
The management of the chain supermarket retailer Sprouts “Farmers Market” is intimidating and repressing protestors who are speaking out about their greenwashed brand, which is set to pave historic Gill Tract farmland in the East Bay.
One week after a large demonstration at their chain in Walnut Creek, protestors planned a follow-up action for the chain in Petaluma. Over the course of the week before the Petaluma action, Sprouts management sent protestors legal documents suggesting that the parking lot in front of the chain supermarket was not a "free speech" zone, in an attempt to intimidate protestors. On the morning of the protest, the management called for an unprecedented large turnout of police before the first protestors had even arrived, again as an attempt to intimidate. Finally, the Sprouts Management mislead their employees to perceive protestors as violent, telling them false and embellished stories of past protests.
Sprouts is known to be a union-busting grocery store with frequent labor violations. This corporate-style management is not surprising for the chain, despite their "farmers market brand".
Boycott Sprouts organizers say that they stand with Sprouts employees, who face labor violations in the food system, but they will continue to demonstrate and highlight the greenwashing of the Sprouts corporation, until they pull out of the development of the historic Gill Tract farm.
* "One Protestor Arrested, Stop Sprouts From Opening Store" (2015-03-17, contracostatimes.com) [https://archive.today/eqMm2]
* "Protesters Shut Down Sprouts Farmers Market to Stop Planned Development of Historic Gill Tract" (2015-03-14, Occupy the Farm) [https://archive.today/QuKvq] [begin excerpt]:
A crowd of 100-150 protesters, including a brass band, "occupy the farm" activists, and a large delegation of workers from the Fast Food Workers Union converged on a normally quiet Sprouts Supermarket in suburban Walnut Creek. Protesters held a sit-in to block the main entrance to the store, rallying around a 600 pound stump they had set down in the entranceway. The stump came from an approximately hundred year old Gill Tract tree that had been recently cut down by contractors preparing to pave the Gill Tract for the construction of the Sprouts store. Meanwhile, at the the other set of doors, protesters bearing branches from felled Gill Tract trees held a robust picket line turning away many would be customers.During the protest, a series of speakers addressed the assembled crowd while protesters distributed flyers to would be shoppers explaining their reasons for boycotting and picketing the store. Many shoppers chose to turn away and honor the picketers. Store employees also received a flyer from union organizers that urged solidarity and encouraged them to join efforts with a newly launched campaign to unionize the Sprouts supermarket.
After the rally concluded, protesters decided to move their pickets into the store for a "shop-in". Protesters grabbed dozens of shopping carts and made their way into the store, with the brass band in tow. The store was filled with noise as the band played while protesters chanted, blew whistles, and spread their message to would be shoppers. Managers and police were unable to address the disruption effectively.
Supporters from the labor and food justice communities, like Brooke Anderson, are also expressing their concerns with Sprouts.
“We do not need another corporate supermarket giant that exploits its workers, especially not on public land. We need a real farmers market.” - Brooke Anderson, Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project
In late February, UC Berkeley cut down 53 trees in preparation for the construction of the new Sprouts store, despite an ongoing lawsuit regarding the projects’ Environmental Impact Report. See [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/03/03/18769462.php].
Farmers and supporters want to see the land used for a community-university partnership exploring innovative solutions to problems in our food system.
[end excerpt]
"Occupy the Farm' Film, Tuesday, 3/31, 7:00 pm, New Parkway Theatre, Oakland
'Occupy the Farm', a film about the 2012 struggle to claim 20 acres of a historic 100 acre farm for community farmers in Albany, will open at the New Parkway Theatre, 474 24th St, in Oakland, on Tuesday, March 31st. The University of California owns the land and it has granted one acre to the community farmers working with the University's Department of Natural Resources. Another 5 to 7 acres has been alloted to University research on corn genetics, and the rest has been promised to a big box grocery store and residential development which local activists are opposing. KPFA spoke to Gil Tract farmer and activist Effie Rawlings about the farm and the movie, Occupy the Farm.
[http://www.anngarrison.com/audio/2015/03/28/560/occupy-the-farm-the-film-opening-in-oakland-tuesday]
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===*===*===
SOLIDARITY WITH THE NEW AFRICAN NATION!
Black Power! Revive the Community! Defend the Nation!
Rapper Common said that racism can be cured, "If black people extend a hand of love to white people". Is he right?
* "Common, Pharrell, and ‘The New Black’: An Ignorant Mentality That Undermines the Black Experience" (2015-03-19, thedailybeast.com) [https://archive.today/L7O0A] [end excerpt]: “The New Black doesn’t blame other races for our issues.”
So decreed Pharrell Williams when the hit-making superstar spoke to Oprah last summer about the current racial climate in America. In the months following the release of Pharrell’s sugary soul-pop hit “Happy,” the country struggled through a summer that saw a string of high-profile cases involving police killing innocent black citizens. But while speaking to Oprah, and having watched clips of fans paying tribute to his uber-cheerful single, Pharrell decided to advertise a “new” mindset for black people to adopt—one of good ol’ positive thinking.“The New Black dreams and realizes that it’s not pigmentation: it’s a mentality, and it’s either going to work for you or it’s going to work against you. And you’ve got to pick the side you’re going to be on,” Pharrell said.
His words were laughably empty and insulting to the current climate, the history of black ambition in the face of tremendous cultural oppression, and the reality of institutional racism; but they also represented a vocal cadre of black celebritydom that is calling for the black community to basically “get over it.” With the racial conversation in the national spotlight, stars like Williams, Kanye West, and others aren’t addressing racism in as much as they are deflecting the conversation.
Rapper/actor Common appeared on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart last week to promote his new film Run All Night. Alongside singer-songwriter John Legend, the Chicago rhymer won an Oscar in February for “Glory,” the theme song from the Martin Luther King biopic Selma. While discussing the legacy of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and the current tensions, Stewart expressed what he’s seen from white people who are resistant to discussing structural racism.
“There’s a real vein of anger, like ‘Hey, man—I didn’t have slaves!’” Stewart stated. “But they’re not talking about that, they’re talking about a power structure.”
Common, while not countering Stewart’s statement, offered his perspective on the way to heal wounds that have existed on American soil for centuries.
“We all know there’s been some bad history in our country. We know that racism exists,” the star conceded, before adding, “I’m…extending a hand. And I think a lot of generations and different cultures are saying ‘Hey, we want to get past this. We’ve been bullied and we’ve been beat down, but we don’t want it anymore. We’re not extending a fist and saying, ‘Hey, you did us wrong.’ It’s more like ‘Hey, I’m extending my hand in love. Let’s forget about the past as much as we can, and let’s move from where we are now. How can we help each other? Can you try to help us because we’re going to help ourselves, too.’ That’s really where we are right now.”
“Me as a black man, I’m not sitting there like, ‘White people—y’all did us wrong,’” Common continued. “I mean we know that that existed. I don’t even have to keep bringing that up. It’s like being in a relationship and continuing to bring up the person’s issues.”
Throughout the interview, Common continued to liken American race relations to a difficult romantic relationship (“Let’s get past this”) while echoing comments he’s made both during his Oscar speech in February and in recent interviews. Common wants us all to love each other. His Oscar speech was a sentimental bear hug, the kind of expression of superficial “unity” that tugs at the heartstrings without forcing anyone to think deeper about the specifics of conflict. While turning the Edmond Pettis Bridge—where people marching for the right to vote were beaten by officers of the state—into a symbol for this “unity,” his sentimentality is an easy pill for the Oscar crowd to swallow. “The spirit of this bridge transcends race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and social status. The spirit of this bridge connects the kid from the South Side of Chicago dreaming of a better life to those in France standing up for their freedom of expression, to the people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy,” Common said at the Oscars.
The New Black perspective sounds like an old black pathology. Exceptionalism and respectability have never saved us from the oppressive weight of racism. We’ve always achieved greatness in a country that doesn’t see value in blackness beyond a commodity; maintained dignity in a land that has consistently dehumanized and stigmatized who we are. White supremacy often insists that black people prove themselves exceptional just to share a table with white mediocrity. It is not for black people to extend a hand; it is for the privileged and the powerful to remove their boot from the community’s collective neck. These celebrities seem to be disconnected from the pulse and spirit of many of their peers, but their voices resonate far and wide in pop culture. And more black celebrities should take the struggles of the community at least seriously enough to not offer condescension, rhetoric, and smug dismissals when confronted with the realities of race and racism. Those with the biggest pulpits can’t continue to preach the gospel of positivity, condescension, and denial. It was deflecting when Bill Cosby gave his infamous “Pound Cake speech” in 2004 and it’s deflecting now. It’s an old routine.
When you think about it, there isn’t much “new” about New Blacks at all. [end excerpt]
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* "Local Leader Charged in Police Brutality Protest" (2015-03-23, fox40.com) [https://archive.today/qKc8I]:
SACRAMENTO —
Jamier Sale was at the Carol Miller Justice Center in Sacramento fighting a jaywalking ticket, or so he thought.
The moment he stepped into the courtroom, he says his charges were changed to another kind of traffic infraction.
Family and friends say that’s absurd.
“We have a lot of concern and we also believe he is being charged because he is an organizer of this movement,” said Cres Vellucci of the National Lawyers Guild of Sacramento.
The movement: #blacklivesmatter.
The demonstration: a police brutality protest at the Arden Fair Mall on Black Friday last November.
That’s where the third-year Sac State student got a $200 traffic infraction.
On Monday afternoon, the judge found sale guilty on his new charges.
“There were roughly 200 others who were not charged,” Vellucci said, “A number of white people, like myself were not charged. He is a young black man and he was charged. So our concern is what is happening here is similar to what is happening to Ferguson and other places in the country where they have targeted organizers and people of color in a way to intimidate them.”
Vellucci says sale is far from being intimidated.
He feels he was unfairly cited, just like Maile Hampton, a black woman recently cited in Sacramento for lynching – a charge for trying to stop the arrest of a protestor.
“He is the brother of Maile Hampton. So what a coincidence,” said Vellucci.
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The KKK's 'most violent' Imperial Wizard pictured for the first time since he vanished from America in 1984 - at the paradise resort he owns in a country with a tiny white minority.
SHOULD HE BE BROUGHT BACK TO AMERICA AND TRIED?
He is living like a King in Belize while the FBI Hunts down Assata Shakur!
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* "White Police Supporters Admit on Video They Are Happy Black Man Killed by Cops" (2015-03-21, truthvoice.com) [https://archive.today/MQ5db]:
An all-white pro-police demonstration in Beavercreek Ohio last year was apparently crashed by a masked Anonymous supporter with a video camera who asked hard questions. Beavercreek is the place where an unarmed 21 year old John Crawford picked up an unloaded BB gun from a Walmart shelf; the police later showed up and killed him without any warning.The man who recorded this vide was apparently also armed, open carrying a Glock, which may be the reason why he was not attacked and assaulted by the crowd.
The crowd interacts in various ways with him but at one point people in the police-loving crowd admit that they are “glad that an innocent black man was shot by the police” and claim that the cop “did was he was trained to do,” namely, kill someone.
Last week a Police Review Board found that the cops did nothing improper. Nobody was ever charged in the shooting and killing of John Crawford and both cops are back on duty.
Watch in amazement how this unfolded.
"Anonymous And Standing For John Crawford" (2014-09-01) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqdwB6kAHvs]: Bigoted Police supporters in Beavercreek Ohio openly speak in support of their police department killing an innocent black man and nearly assault an armed Guy Fawkes asking them questions they don't want to answer.
* "John Crawford III Walmart Shooting Video Cover Up" (2014-09-03) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNQK5MH5GRI]: John Crawford III was shot by police at an Ohio Walmart while carrying a toy rifle after a customer called to warn them of a man carrying an AR-15. The unarmed 22-year-old was killed just four days before the shooting of Michael Brown by police. Ohio is an “open carry” state, which means that carrying an AR-15 rifle around is legal. There is video of the incident, which is currently being withheld from the public. We discuss the shooting, in this Lip News clip with Mark Sovel and Elliot Hill.
* "Was John Crawford Killed in Cold Blood? The Disturbing Walmart Shooting Surveillance Video Released" (2014-09-25) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ltN_uW20nQ]: The disturbing Walmart surveillance footage of the shooting of John Crawford has finally been publicly released, conveniently after a grand jury decides to not press charges on the cops who killed him. Warning: this video contains footage from the shooting of a young unarmed black man who was shot and killed in a Walmart in Ohio while he was holding a BB gun sold in the store.
Previous story segment here: [http://youtu.be/o9y0vWxgi9Q]
Our first segment on the story here: [http://youtu.be/OhzFaaQTdI8]
Filling in for Sam Seder: Majority Report contributor Matt Binder
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* "LA Teacher Told Students Lincoln Was A ‘N*gger Lover’ And Michael Brown ‘Got What He Deserved’ " (2015-03-20) [https://archive.today/FMO9E]
* "Parent Sues LAUSD After Teacher Reportedly Used Racially Charged Comments In Class" (2015-02-19, losangeles.cbslocal.com) [https://archive.today/bnoyO]
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* "Lighten Up" (2015-02, by Ronald Wimberly, thenib.com) [https://archive.today/8PzLk], a remarkable insiders view on the art of hue manipulation in mainstream comic-book publishing.
---
* "FBI investigating body of black man found hanging in Miss., official says" (2015-03-19, cbsnews.com) [https://archive.today/nWRDk]
* "Black Man Found Hanging From Mississippi Tree" (2015-03-19, addictinginfo.org) [https://archive.today/QdrgA]:
On Thursday, in Claiborne County, Mississippi, an African-American man was found hanging from a tree. According to the FBI (2015-03-20, cnn.com) [https://archive.today/6Bink]: “It is too early to say what happened and speculate… We don’t know what happened out there, if it is a suicide, a homicide, that is why we investigate these types of cases to determine exactly what happened.”
The local Sheriff’s office had been looking for the man since March 8, when he was first reported missing, although he had been missing since March 2. His body was discovered by the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department and the Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, who had been searching for him since he was reported missing. While the FBI hasn’t released his name, the Claiborne County chapter of the NAACP alongside family and local law enforcement have identified the man as 54-year-old Otis Byrd. Byrd had been convicted of the murder of a woman in 1980 and served 30 years before being paroled in 2006.In a statement from the FBI: “Earlier in the day, the Claiborne County Sheriffs Department and the Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries and Parks conducted a ground search for a man who had been missing since early March. Officers located a man hanging in the woods near Roddy Road a half mile from his last known residence… The sheriff’s department contacted the MBI [Mississippi Bureau of Investigation] and FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] for forensic and investigative assistance. Investigators are currently processing the scene for evidence to determine the cause and manner of death.”
According to the NAACP: “Considering Mr. Byrd’s body was found hanging from a tree, we are calling on federal authorities to immediately investigate to determine whether his death is a result of a racial hate crime.”
When Byrd’s father, Willie Shorter, was asked how he felt when he heard the news of his son’s death, he said (2015-03-19, huffingtonpost.com) [https://archive.today/Pjf3w]: “I was mad…How would you feel if it was your child hanging from a tree?… “I’m angry, but what am I supposed to do about it?”
The investigation is still underway and autopsy results should be available by next week (2015-03-19, foxnews.com) [https://archive.today/O0wZa].
[end excerpt]
Media Literacy 101: How The mainstream media supports White Supremacy and works to keep Black people Down @CNN
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Trending Now! [https://archive.today/ZNPbZ]: to be clear, white boys singing about hanging niggers got them police protection. Black people chanting Black Lives Matter got them thrown in jail
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May Allah be pleased with elder Shareef Abdullah (ra) original L.A. Black Panther Party member who just returned to the essence after succumbing to cancer..i remember being humbled when i got a friend request from him on here and we had a few good conversations about the BPP, Islam and Struggle in general. I pray this Servant of the People is granted Jannah. Ameen!
* Shareef Abdullah / Black Panther Party [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZmXLzMeI80]: This interview took place at Southern California Library of Social Studies - 44th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party.
* "All Power to the People: Anarcho / Peace Punks & Black Panthers in Orange County" (1997) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99C_kGtuiU0].
Funeral Services for Comrade Shareef Abdullah, former member of the Black Panther Party and Minister of Defense for the New Panther Vanguard Movement
Monday, 11 a.m., March 30, 2015
Apostolic Faith Home Assembly Church [13515 S. Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90061]
Simpson Funeral Home 323 -752-5224
===*===*===Media Literacy 101: How The mainstream media supports White Supremacy and works to keep Black people Down @CNN
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Trending Now! [https://archive.today/ZNPbZ]: to be clear, white boys singing about hanging niggers got them police protection. Black people chanting Black Lives Matter got them thrown in jail
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May Allah be pleased with elder Shareef Abdullah (ra) original L.A. Black Panther Party member who just returned to the essence after succumbing to cancer..i remember being humbled when i got a friend request from him on here and we had a few good conversations about the BPP, Islam and Struggle in general. I pray this Servant of the People is granted Jannah. Ameen!
* Shareef Abdullah / Black Panther Party [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZmXLzMeI80]: This interview took place at Southern California Library of Social Studies - 44th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party.
* "All Power to the People: Anarcho / Peace Punks & Black Panthers in Orange County" (1997) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99C_kGtuiU0].
Funeral Services for Comrade Shareef Abdullah, former member of the Black Panther Party and Minister of Defense for the New Panther Vanguard Movement
Monday, 11 a.m., March 30, 2015
Apostolic Faith Home Assembly Church [13515 S. Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90061]
Simpson Funeral Home 323 -752-5224
NORTHBAY COPWATCH
* "Police: Man fatally shot by Vallejo officer left note" (2015-03-21, timesheraldonline.com) [https://archive.today/j77ng]
* "New Audio, Witness Statements Contradict Vallejo Police Accounts Of Officer-Involved Shooting (VIDEO)" (2015-03-23, by Randa Morris) [http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/23/new-audio-witness-statements-contradict-vallejo-police-accounts-of-officer-involved-shooting-video/] [https://archive.today/9J9ZT]:
Addicting Info first reported an officer-involved shooting in Vallejo, California, on March 22, 2015 [http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/22/vallejo-police-kill-man-with-fake-gun-in-target-parking-lot-video/]. While there is still little information available on what transpired Friday night before an officer, or officers, killed a man who was supposedly armed with a knife and a fake gun, at least one witness has come forward in the past 24 hours.
According to official police statements, officers were dispatched to the scene after a call came in about a man who had thrown a beer bottle and was wielding a large knife in the parking lot.
Lt. Sid DeJesus [https://archive.today/Gli8C] and Lt. John Whitney [https://archive.today/UcDlZ] both issued statements saying police responded to a citizen’s 911 call about a knife-wielding man in the parking lot, at around 6 pm.
But according to the San Jose Mercury News [https://archive.today/033yR], a witness says she saw police following a fast moving black pick-up truck, which was driving north on Admiral Callaghan Lane, just before the shooting. The witness states that police followed the vehicle off the road and into the parking lot where the shooting took place. This statement alone would seem to contradict police statements about responding to a 911 call. The same witness reported hearing ten to twelve shots fired. Audio released on March 22 also contradicts police statements.
Police released audio from the moments leading up to the shooting. ABC 7 aired a portion of the audio in a report on the shooting, on March 22 [https://archive.today/F2z4g]. While little can be heard on the audio, it’s what cannot be heard that is most concerning. He cannot be heard ordering the man to drop a weapon.
Officer: “Subject has a knife and got out of his car.”
Officer: “Subject has a gun in his waistband.”
Dispatcher: “Copy, a gun in his waistband.”
Officer: “Vallejo… two shots fired. Shots fired. I’m okay. Suspect is down.”
Dispatcher: “Shots fired at Sleep Train. Starting medical.”
The gun that the cop supposedly saw in the suspects waistband was not a real gun, but a replica.
This audio also contradicts the official police story of a 911 call reporting a man in the parking lot wielding a knife and throwing beer bottles. The officer says the suspect got out of his car.
The officer is not heard ordering the man to drop a weapon at any time between the moment he says ‘Subject has a gun in his waistband’ and the moment when he says ‘Vallejo, two shots fired. Shots fired. I’m okay. Suspect is down.’
A cop responsible for killing three citizens in five months, all under questionable circumstances, is handling the investigation into Friday’s officer-involved shooting.
As reported earlier this week, the number of officer involved shootings in Vallejo is 38 times the national average.
One officer whose name has become synonymous with officer-involved shootings in Vallejo, Sean Kenney, was recently promoted to detective. Prior to receiving a promotion, Kenney shot and killed three citizens in the span of five months, all under suspicious circumstances.
On March 22, Addicting Info reported [begin excerpt] Officer Sean Kenney was cleared of any wrong doing in the death of 41-year-old Anton Barrett, who was killed after he pulled “a dark metal object out of his waist band.” The object was his wallet. [end excerpt]
Kenney was also cleared of the shooting death of Jeremiah Moore. Kenney claimed that Moore was holding a shotgun against another officer’s stomach when he shot him. Witnesses to the shooting say that Moore was not in possession of a gun when he was killed. Those witnesses were never interviewed by the investigators who cleared Kenney of wrong-doing.
Kenney is accused of planting evidence and falsifying reports, in a third shooting, which took place during the same five month period.
Kenney and another officer, Dustin Joseph, killed 22-year-old Mario Ramero in the driveway of his sister’s house. Kenney fired 24 rounds into Romero’s body, while Joseph fired an additional eight. Police claimed that Ramero exited his vehicle and “drew a gun from his waist band.” However, witnesses say that Ramero never left his vehicle. The official official findings of the internal investigation into Romero’s death also stated that “Mr. Romero’s decision to remove his pellet gun from his waistband and arm himself was also a very poor decision.” However, Kenney also told investigators that he found the pellet gun in the back of Ramero’s car, after the shooting, as he searched the vehicle. This statement was made after investigators disclosed that Kenney’s fingerprints had been found on the pellet gun.
San Jose Mercury News reports that witnesses to Friday’s shooting are being asked to contact Detective Sean Kenney.
The name of the officer responsible for the most recent shooting has not been released to the public.
Police state that the man killed on Friday left an ‘apology note,’ saying that he was sorry for all the trouble he had caused police, and sorry for making them kill him.
For those who take police statements at face value, it would seem that the man intended to commit suicide by cop. It would also seem that there’s nothing about this shooting worth questioning. If not for the background and history of the Vallejo police, if not for the newly released audio, if not for the statements of at least one witness, maybe not.
Put it all together, however, and there’s plenty of reason to question this shooting.
* "Three Shootings In Vallejo: Residents of a Bay Area town wonder how one police officer could gun down three men in five months and earn a promotion" (2015-03-09, buzzfeed.com) [https://archive.today/no9Fp]
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Photo showing the shut-down of the San Francisco Mission District Police station
* (2015-03-24, Davey D Cook) [https://archive.today/nsjjV]:
Breaking News: Folks in dramatic fashion have shut totally down the SF Mission Police station over the one year anniversary shooting death of Alex Nieto.... They are also protesting the 5 SFPD officers who were caught sending racist text messages against Blacks, Filipinos and Gays.. Keep in mind two of those officers have actually shot and killed people including Idriss Stelly... We will be covering this today on HKR..For those who dont know Alex was a young man praying and eating a sandwich in the neighborhood he grew up in, when someone unfamiliar with him called police because he looked suspicious..(Gentrification has resulted in this sort of action happening a lot in the Mission/ Bernal Heights area).
Alex who was a licensed security guard and studying to be a probation officer, was on his way to work had his work taser on him.. Police acting on this phone call, showed up without warning from a 75 foot distance shot Nieto 14x.. They claimed they thought he had a gun and was waving it at them..
After Nieto was shot, SFPD officers went to interview his parents to find out if he had done anything wrong or had problems.. At the time of the interview his parents had no idea Alex had been shot by police when they showed up to do the interview.. The police were trying to gather dirt on him.. That's how shady it got.. The parents then had to sue SFPD to get the names of the officers who shot their son..
Lastly when there was a resolution taken up by the SF Board of Supervisors to condemn the killings of Mike Brown and Eric Garner, Folks here insisted that Alex Nieto's name be included.. When SFPD got word, they went ballstic and pulled all sorts of strings to to get the resolution killed. They felt Nieto's death didnt belong alongside Garner or Brown.. #staywoke
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* "State lawmakers, police groups seek to restrict public access to videos from body cameras" (2015-03-20, AP newswire) [https://archive.today/pzHyB]
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* "Man whose death was ruled a suicide was actually killed by Florissant police, lawsuit says" (2015-03-26, stltoday.com) [https://archive.today/iFzUe]
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* "Mall of America Security Catfished Activists, Documents Show" (2015-03-18, firstlook.org) [https://archive.today/BW5rx].
whowhatwhy.org writes: Catfishing is the practice of pretending to be someone else on Facebook or other social media to attract and engage an unwitting target. And that’s exactly what the Mall of America did to local Black Lives Matter organizers in the Bloomington, Minnesota, area. Yeah, you read that correctly. Not the United States of America … the Mall of America! Their security “forces” used catfishing to create dossiers of potential protesters seeking a retail boycott in the wake of Ferguson unrest. Mall of America’s new motto: Monkey see, monkey do.
from the Committee to
FREE 'EM ALL!
[PoliticalPrisonersUSA.blogspot.com] End the Drug War! Stop Jim Crow! Close the Torture Chambers!
** Become a Human Rights Pen Pal! [link]
* "Hunger strike rally at Corcoran Prison: The sound before the fury" (2013-07-16, sfbayview.com) [https://archive.today/JAlm6]
Jonathan Jackson’s rousing call, “All power to the people who don’t fear freedom,” rang in the ears of the protesters, whose roots span the world and whose chants at the rally they hope reached the ears of the thousands of prisoners inside Corcoran. – Photo: Malaika Kambon
The long-range objective is liberation.
“Our indefinite isolation here is both inhumane and illegal, and the proponents of the prison industrial complex are hoping that their campaign to dehumanize us has succeeded to the degree that you don’t care and will allow the torture to continue in your name. It is our belief that they have woefully underestimated the decency, principles and humanity of the people. Join us in opposing this injustice without end.”
“Injustice without end.” These are prophetic words written by the NCTT, a New Afrikan (Black) collective think tank in the Corcoran SHU, men caged in the 4B-1C section of the SHU (security housing unit), the super-max isolation hellhole at Corcoran State Prison.
The brutal facts that are known do not begin to state all of the issues:
* 7 percent of all California prisoners are in isolation;
* 30 percent of prisoner suicides happen in isolation units;
* 51 percent of Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit (SHU) prisoners have spent at least five years in solitary confinement;
* 89 percent of prisoners in solitary confinement have been there for at least 20 years;
* 6 feet by 8 feet are the dimensions of the average person’s walk-in closet in the U.S., yet 11 feet 7 inches by 7 feet 7 inches are the dimensions of a SHU cell at Pelican Bay;
* 11,730 prisoners are held in solitary confinement in California prisons today.
===*===*===
articles recommended by the
SAN PABLO BAY ECOLOGICAL PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION
Campaigns, info, and more [SanPabloBayEPA.blogspot.com]
* "After mystery spill ravaged bay, law pushed to galvanize response" (2015-03-23, sfgate.com) [https://archive.today/6Q69r]
---Health and the Human Ecology
Monopolists enforce a regime that does not recognize the natural right to health and life
* "Popular Weed-Killer Is Probably Carcinogenic, WHO Says" (2015-02-21, AP newswire) [https://archive.today/dA8ec].
The WHO (the World Health Organisation) just declared RoundUp™ a probable carcinogen. Apparently it doesn't just kill bees. So I have to ask the obvious question here. Whose idea was it to write/edit this story so that it never once in the entire write-up mentions glyphosate's more commonly recognized name, RoundUp™?
===*===*===
The WHO (the World Health Organisation) just declared RoundUp™ a probable carcinogen. Apparently it doesn't just kill bees. So I have to ask the obvious question here. Whose idea was it to write/edit this story so that it never once in the entire write-up mentions glyphosate's more commonly recognized name, RoundUp™?
===*===*===
articles recommended by the
NO NUKES! campaign
[StopNuclearDeath.blogspot.com]
* "Fukushima Watch: Images Confirm Meltdown" (2015-03-20, wsj.com) [https://archive.today/8YKEF]
Jeremy writes: And just as recently a couple of radiation scans TEPCO has been sitting on for over a year turned up, indicating that Reactor No. 2 melted down as well. And Reactor No. 3 blew up, casting traces of plutonium as far away as Namie Town. Why are we still "discovering" that this happened four years ago? Maybe it's time to start treating it like the worldwide crisis it is instead of letting TEPCO hide it for all they're worth (not very much by now.)
===*===*===
UNITED STATES FASCISM WATCH
[UnitedStatesFascism.blogspot.com] Current trends among fascists, monopolists, and their vanguards.
* "The New American Order: 1% Elections, The Privatization of the State, a Fourth Branch of Government, and the Demobilization of 'We the People' " (2015-03-19, tomdispatch.com) [https://archive.today/ZWiHu]
---
* "I HATE THE PERSON WHO WROTE THIS CL AD AND YOU SHOULD TOO" (2015-03-18, thebolditalic.com) [https://archive.today/1WLm2], an insight into the ideology of the capitalist who seeks to dominate all for the sake of personal self worship.
---
---
Counter-Culture is, of course, commodified and alienated from it's revolutionary expression...
* "Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization" [https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html]:
The hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture lost in the superficiality of its past and unable to create any new meaning. Not only is it unsustainable, it is suicidal. While previous youth movements have challenged the dysfunction and decadence of their elders, today we have the “hipster” – a youth subculture that mirrors the doomed shallowness of mainstream society.
Take a stroll down the street in any major North American or European city and you’ll be sure to see a speckle of fashion-conscious twentysomethings hanging about and sporting a number of predictable stylistic trademarks: skinny jeans, cotton spandex leggings, fixed-gear bikes, vintage flannel, fake eyeglasses and a keffiyeh – initially sported by Jewish students and Western protesters to express solidarity with Palestinians, the keffiyeh has become a completely meaningless hipster cliché fashion accessory.
The American Apparel V-neck shirt, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Parliament cigarettes are symbols and icons of working or revolutionary classes that have been appropriated by hipsterdom and drained of meaning.
---
This is an example of those who seek to impose a theocracy across the USA. Although a lone individual, the justification for this act is sought and received by millions who adhere to a Christian Dominionist ideology.
* "Texas woman smiles with pride after setting fire to yoga studio to ‘get rid of the devil’s temple’ " (2015-03-26, rawstory.com) [https://archive.today/zgv8b]
---
GEOPOLITICAL NEWS
Provided by Northbay MDS Committees, the Solano Peace, Justice & Freedom Coalition, and Dawnstar INC's 5th World News service.
WORLD FASCISM WATCH
Fascism is for the benefit of the economic dictatorship, whereby entire regions have been made deserts for the purpose of enhancing the private wealth of individuals.
Following is a quote from Aldous Huxley, 1958:
---
Weapons for a New World Order
* "New gene-altering technique worries scientists" (2015-03-21, sfgate.com) [https://archive.today/bb0sW]
* "Anti-robot march held at SXSW" (2015-03-16, UPI newswire) [https://archive.today/jJJnE], photo of the protest [https://archive.today/O1zIs]
* "Swiss defense firm marketing new mortar system" (2015-03-19, UPI newswire) [https://archive.today/nUnqq]
* "Clyde Space wins Outernet contract" (2015-03-17, spacedaily.com) [https://archive.today/923c3] [begin excerpt]: Outernet's aim is to make web access free and unrestricted all over the world through space-based telecommunications. As the project develops, Clyde Space hopes to secure business from the New York based company to develop 200 satellites broadcasting the service.
The constellation of CubeSats in low earth orbit would revolutionise the provision of low cost data to remote regions of the world and Clyde Space's expertise will help Outernet advance this unique project to supply an inexpensive alternative to traditional telecommunications infrastructure.
Craig Clark, CEO of Glasgow-based Clyde Space, said: "Outernet is an ambitious and hugely important initiative to bring free information access to the world and we're absolutely thrilled to be involved. The mission itself is a great example of how a spacecraft that is small enough to hold in your hand can provide what I believe will become a vital global service. [end excerpt]
EDSN CubeSat Swarm – NASA
===*===*===* "Anti-robot march held at SXSW" (2015-03-16, UPI newswire) [https://archive.today/jJJnE], photo of the protest [https://archive.today/O1zIs]
* "Swiss defense firm marketing new mortar system" (2015-03-19, UPI newswire) [https://archive.today/nUnqq]
* "Clyde Space wins Outernet contract" (2015-03-17, spacedaily.com) [https://archive.today/923c3] [begin excerpt]: Outernet's aim is to make web access free and unrestricted all over the world through space-based telecommunications. As the project develops, Clyde Space hopes to secure business from the New York based company to develop 200 satellites broadcasting the service.
The constellation of CubeSats in low earth orbit would revolutionise the provision of low cost data to remote regions of the world and Clyde Space's expertise will help Outernet advance this unique project to supply an inexpensive alternative to traditional telecommunications infrastructure.
Craig Clark, CEO of Glasgow-based Clyde Space, said: "Outernet is an ambitious and hugely important initiative to bring free information access to the world and we're absolutely thrilled to be involved. The mission itself is a great example of how a spacecraft that is small enough to hold in your hand can provide what I believe will become a vital global service. [end excerpt]
EDSN CubeSat Swarm – NASA
United States of Mexico
* "Can You Say "Blowback" in Spanish? The Failed War on Drugs in Mexico (and the United States)" (2015-03-22, tomdispatch.com) [https://archive.today/L1M5M]
===*===*===
Republic of Honduras
[northbaymds.blogspot.com/2014/10/world-fascism-watch-honduras.html] Most of the comments are collected from the daily "Presente Honduras Digest", and from the "Honduras Solidarity Network" listserve, authored by experts in geopolitics and history of Latin America. Libre is the "leftist" party working to uphold human rights and sovereignty, JOH is the dictator of Honduras supported by the USA.
45 basic goods have seen recent price rises in Honduras. The reaction to freeze the prices of some goods, has seen heavy criticism by the private business lobby group COHEP, normally a strong ally of JOH. Sources in Spanish: (1) [https://archive.today/pu3w5], (2) [https://archive.today/JjCKg]
---
* "Evictions and Violence for National Campesino Day in Hondura" (2015-03-23, hondurasresists.blogspot.com) [https://archive.today/uQQob]
---
In a recent report, the US State Department writes that 90% of the drugs coming from South America pass through Honduras. The US also lists Honduras as one the countries prone to money laundering. Sources in Spanish: (1) [https://archive.today/GA464], (2) [https://archive.today/ao3zc]
CEPR published a new article on the failures of the US government to prevent labor rights violations in Honduras. Source [https://archive.today/fjTcI].
---
---
Televicentro published a video on Youtube of the agression by Military Police against their reporters.
Source in Spanish [https://archive.today/AFvGU].
---
C-Libre offers an overview off the recent protests by students and the repression of the state forces. Source in Spanish [https://archive.today/4Mddo].
---
Moskitia nation within the Republic of Honduras
The Honduran press reports on conflicts in the La Moskitia area. Sources in Spanish: (1) [https://archive.today/Czawk], (2) [https://archive.today/FG9yp]
* "Indigenous Communities Resist Dams in the Face of Threats and Violence" (2015-03-08, upsidedownworld.org) [https://archive.today/rAhE1]
===*===*===
Republic of Haiti
HAITI SOLIDARITY, newsletter of Haiti Action Committee
[http://www.haitisolidarity.net/article.php?id=627] [http://www.haitisolidarity.net/downloads/HAITI%20SOLIDARITY%20NO%205.pdf]
This new issue of Haiti Solidarity features:
Cover Art - "Dechoukaj" - Nia Imara
Evolution of a Revolution - Charlie Hinton
Interview with Pierre Labossiere on the Tavis Smiley show
Combat Genocide - Akinyele Omowale Umoja
Interview with Mildred Aristide, former First Lady of Haiti
Dechoukaj - poem by Carolyn Scarr
===*===*===
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Republic of Ecuador
[northbaymds.blogspot.com/2014/10/world-fascism-watch-honduras.html] Most of the comments are collected from the daily "Presente Honduras Digest", and from the "Honduras Solidarity Network" listserve, authored by experts in geopolitics and history of Latin America. Libre is the "leftist" party working to uphold human rights and sovereignty, JOH is the dictator of Honduras supported by the USA.
45 basic goods have seen recent price rises in Honduras. The reaction to freeze the prices of some goods, has seen heavy criticism by the private business lobby group COHEP, normally a strong ally of JOH. Sources in Spanish: (1) [https://archive.today/pu3w5], (2) [https://archive.today/JjCKg]
---
* "Evictions and Violence for National Campesino Day in Hondura" (2015-03-23, hondurasresists.blogspot.com) [https://archive.today/uQQob]
---
In a recent report, the US State Department writes that 90% of the drugs coming from South America pass through Honduras. The US also lists Honduras as one the countries prone to money laundering. Sources in Spanish: (1) [https://archive.today/GA464], (2) [https://archive.today/ao3zc]
---
CEPR published a new article on the failures of the US government to prevent labor rights violations in Honduras. Source [https://archive.today/fjTcI].
---
CESADEH denounces various cases of forced sterilizations of Honduran women. Source in Spanish [https://archive.today/QIX9E].
---
According to Cholusat Sur, the number of mutilated bodies appearing in different locations in Honduras has grown under the JOH administration. Source in Spanish [https://archive.today/pKfFf].
---
Journalist Dina Meza outlines how difficult it is to get information from the government since JOH took over. Source in Spanish [https://archive.today/K7DCx]
---
These ZEDEs are the "model cities" in the new law that will let corporations rule people and take away human rights, aren't they? This is trickle-down economics: let the rich run amok, exploit nature and people, and they'll gladly let lots of money trickle down to all the rest of us. We all know the fraud of that.
* "How ZEDEs Can Make Honduras Prosperous" (2015-03-20, panampost.com) [https://archive.today/4WcPI]
---
Taiwan continues to make advances in a few select counties in Latin America: they are now "Honduras' largest military aid provider", according to Sin Embargo (2015-03-18) [https://archive.today/4XCKX]
---
Journalist Dina Meza outlines how difficult it is to get information from the government since JOH took over. Source in Spanish [https://archive.today/K7DCx]
---
These ZEDEs are the "model cities" in the new law that will let corporations rule people and take away human rights, aren't they? This is trickle-down economics: let the rich run amok, exploit nature and people, and they'll gladly let lots of money trickle down to all the rest of us. We all know the fraud of that.
* "How ZEDEs Can Make Honduras Prosperous" (2015-03-20, panampost.com) [https://archive.today/4WcPI]
---
Taiwan continues to make advances in a few select counties in Latin America: they are now "Honduras' largest military aid provider", according to Sin Embargo (2015-03-18) [https://archive.today/4XCKX]
Televicentro published a video on Youtube of the agression by Military Police against their reporters.
Source in Spanish [https://archive.today/AFvGU].
---
C-Libre offers an overview off the recent protests by students and the repression of the state forces. Source in Spanish [https://archive.today/4Mddo].
---
Moskitia nation within the Republic of Honduras
The Honduran press reports on conflicts in the La Moskitia area. Sources in Spanish: (1) [https://archive.today/Czawk], (2) [https://archive.today/FG9yp]
* "Indigenous Communities Resist Dams in the Face of Threats and Violence" (2015-03-08, upsidedownworld.org) [https://archive.today/rAhE1]
===*===*===
Republic of Haiti
HAITI SOLIDARITY, newsletter of Haiti Action Committee
[http://www.haitisolidarity.net/article.php?id=627] [http://www.haitisolidarity.net/downloads/HAITI%20SOLIDARITY%20NO%205.pdf]
This new issue of Haiti Solidarity features:
Cover Art - "Dechoukaj" - Nia Imara
Evolution of a Revolution - Charlie Hinton
Interview with Pierre Labossiere on the Tavis Smiley show
Combat Genocide - Akinyele Omowale Umoja
Interview with Mildred Aristide, former First Lady of Haiti
Dechoukaj - poem by Carolyn Scarr
===*===*===
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
* "World Bank Rules in Venezuela's Favor, Rejects "Exorbitant Compensation" in Tidewater Nationalization Case" (2015-03-18, venezuelanalysis.com) [https://archive.today/EmT0n]
===*===*===Republic of Ecuador
* "Ecuador's Correa Refutes AFP on CIA-Opposition Protest Link" (2015-03-22, telesurtv.net) [https://archive.today/4Wa5T]
===*===*===European Union (EU)
* "Interesting photo of Joseph Tusk, Donald Tusk's grandfather, which can explain the pro-fascist political activity of Donald Tusk" (text by Konstantin, 2015-03-18) [https://archive.today/hVHJF]:
Donald Franciszek Tusk - Polish and European politician. Prime Minister of Poland from 16 November 2007 to September 2014. August 30, 2014 was elected to the presidency of the European Council.Donald Tusk opposed against the celebration of the victory over fascism at May 9 in Moscow. Also, he supports the current fascist regime in Ukraine.
Perhaps the answer to this behavior of the "Polish and European leader" contained in the file photo of the Bundeswehr. Joseph Tusk, Donald Tusk's grandfather served in a reserve of SS death squads. This information was leaked to the media of Poland during the so-called war of compromising materials, which began during the presidential elections in 2005.
Looks like the authorities in EU are relatives of collaborators of Nazi Germany, they support the current fascist regime in Kiev and do not want to come to celebrate the victory in the capital of Russia, the successor to the USSR, which made a major contribution to the victory over fascism. They support the ethnic cleansing in eastern Ukraine and provide the fascist regime by weapons.
Source of information about photo: (2014-09-03, ridus.ru) [https://archive.today/NqhDP]
Source of photo: Sept. 1939, "Poland, the arrest of Jews, SD men" (Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-380-0069-37) [https://archive.today/VceBC], from the Propagandakompanien der Wehrmacht - Heer und Luftwaffe (Bild 101 I), German Federal Archives. The original caption is, "SD - Four men sitting in a convertible (from left to right: Sergeant, pack leader, Second Lieutenant, Sergeant); KBK Lw 4", alongside a 2nd caption that reads, "Poland, arrested in Ustronie / Opatow.- transport Jews on a truck under guard by police and the SD."
===*===*===
Republic of France (EU)
* "France Moves to Make ‘Conspiracy Theories’ Illegal by Government Decree" (2015-03-19, 21stcenturywire.com) [https://archive.today/S16pU]
* "The State Against The Republic" (2015-03-14, voltairenet.org) [https://archive.today/eVZEt]
* "Censorship of the Internet" (2002, update 2012, germarrudolf.com) [https://archive.today/9pC2D].
The censorship laws against "conspiracy theory" is already targeted against websites and printed materials by those who can be regarded as authors of the "Dark Enlightenment" of "neo-Reactionary Studies" [historyandcurrentcontext.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-dark-enlightenment-and-neo.html] , including, for example, Eustace Mullins, described in the article "Militia Leader Urges Discreet Use of Force, Says Guns, Bullets Should Be Last, Lowest Choice" (by Bill Morlin, 1995-04-16 The Spokesman-Review. p. B1) [begin excerpt] Beckman and Mullins are considered national leaders in the antigovernment, constitutionalist movement [end excerpt]. And, according to the article "Conspiracy Theories are Groups' Lifeblood" (by Dennis B. Roddy, 1995-04-30 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. A-1) [begin excerpt] Similarly, it is Eustace Mullins' book, 'The Secrets of the Federal Reserve,' that provides fodder for the movement's belief that a handful of wealthy internationalists control the money supply through the Fed. ... Mullins' books contend that the Federal Reserve was concocted in the early part of the century as a means for a handful of banking families to take control of the world money supply. [end excerpt]
More info about Eustace Mullins (retrieved 2015-03-23, wikipedia.org) [https://archive.today/4n3kL] [begin excerpt]: In Mullins on the Federal Reserve (1952), (the updated edition published in 1983 was called Secrets of the Federal Reserve) Mullins argued that there was a conspiracy among Paul Warburg, Edward Mandell House, Woodrow Wilson, J.P. Morgan, Benjamin Strong, Otto Kahn, the Rockefeller family, the Rothschild family, and other European and American bankers which resulted in the founding of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. He argued that the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 defies Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 5 of the United States Constitution by creating a "central bank of issue" for the United States. Mullins went on to claim that World War I, the Agricultural Depression of 1920, the Great Depression of 1929 were brought about by international banking interests in order to profit from conflict and economic instability. Mullins also cited Thomas Jefferson's staunch opposition to the establishment of a central bank in the United States.
In the 1983 edition of his book, he argued that Kuhn, Loeb & Co. and the House of Morgan were fronts for the Rothschilds. In this edition, he also outlined how financial interests connected to the J. Henry Schroder Company and the Dulles brothers financed Adolf Hitler (in contrast to the claims of his mentor, Ezra Pound, that Hitler was a sovereign who was completely against the interests of international finance.). He also alleged that the Rothschilds were world monopolists. He furthermore claimed that most of the stock of member banks that owned stock in the Federal Reserve was owned by City of London bankers, since they owned much of the stock of the member banks. He attempted to trace stock ownership, as it changed hands via mergers and acquisitions, from the inception of the Federal Reserve in 1913 to the early 1980s.
In the last chapter of the book, he noted various Congressional investigations, and criticized the immense degree of power that these few banks who owned majority shares in the Federal Reserve possessed. He also criticized the Bilderberg Group, attacking it as an international consortium produced by the Rockefeller-Rothschild alliance. In an appendix to the book, he delved further into the City of London, and criticized the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, which he claimed helps to conduct psychological warfare on the citizens of Britain and the United States.
A central theme of Mullins' book is that the Federal Reserve allows bankers to monetize debt, creating it out of nothing by book entry, and thus they have enormous leverage over everyone else. Near the end of the book, he said of the Federal Reserve:
"The Federal Reserve System is not Federal; it has no reserves; and it is not a system, but rather, a criminal syndicate. It is the product of criminal syndicalist activity of an international consortium of dynastic families comprising what the author terms "The World Order". The Federal Reserve system is a central bank operating in the United States. Although the student will find no such definition of a central bank in the textbooks of any university, the author has defined a central bank as follows: It is the dominant financial power of the country which harbors it. It is entirely private-owned, although it seeks to give the appearance of a governmental institution. It has the right to print and issue money, the traditional prerogative of monarchs. It is set up to provide financing for wars. It functions as a money monopoly having total power over all the money and credit of the people."
Eustace Mullins dedicated Secrets of the Federal Reserve to George Stimpson and Ezra Pound. It is Mullins's most widely known book. [end excerpt]
He wrote an article (1952-10) titled "Adolf Hitler: An Appreciation", according to a government report [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204112208/http://debs.indstate.edu/u588n4_1954.pdf].
And, absolute censorship is the norm in the Federal Republic of Germany (European Union)
* "Censorship in Germany? Never! Unless…" (2003, update 2012, germarrudolf.com) [https://archive.today/LBNAq], visit article link for footnotes [begin excerpt]:
The first step in the process of German censorship is the black-listing or "indexing" of, for example, a book or pamphlet. This indexing is done by the Federal Review Office for Youth-Endangering Media (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien, BPjM). Until 2002, this authority could only become active after a complaint by, e.g., a public youth welfare department. However, a more restrictive law introduced in 2002 now allows this authority to index media without the need of a complaint. This indexing means that the black-listed work may no longer be advertised and that it may not be sold or otherwise made available to persons under 18 years of age. In practical terms this means that the work ceases to exist for the public, as one can then legally learn of its existence only by private means – or, alternately, via the list of indexed works, which the BPjM regularly publishes in its Report. By now this list includes thousands of printed, audio and audio-visual works. Once readily accessible by everybody, this Report is now sold only to libraries, wholesalers, and retailers, and even libraries have stopped giving free access to it, which renders the censorship activities of this authority more and more obscure. This tendency to hide its censorship activities was even more enhanced in 2002, when the law was changed so that media regarded to be an especially severe threat to the mental development of young people are now listed in secret lists.
The victims of this secret censorship are primarily media whose content, according to German courts of law, violates German criminal law (libel, denigration of the dead, incitement to hatred, stirring up the people), which includes basically the entire gamut of media by political and historical dissidents.
Ever since then, the public has had no way of finding out, which media are declared illegal and which are not. This is a violation of the fundamental legal principle that both statutory and case law must be publicly accessible so that every citizen can gain knowledge of them and act accordingly. The German federal government, however, keeps its decisions secret, and those citizens who disseminate banned literature are in violation of the law without ever having had an opportunity of avoiding this. This is a first-class example of a totalitarian law.
The second stage of German censorship is the so-called confiscation (or seize-and-destroy) stage. This stage hardly registers with the public at all, and even Professor E. Jesse, whom I quoted earlier, seems either not to be aware of it or to ignore it. The confiscation of a publication takes place at the order of a court. What happens to the confiscated copies of such a publication is not quite clear, but it probably varies with the police station in charge. One publisher who is quite frequently the target of such book confiscations reported that he had been told that the books are burned under police supervision. In one case the press reported that confiscated literature is being burnt in waste incinerators. This is only consequential, as dangerous books have to be dealt with like dangerous drugs in the eyes of the authorities: they poison the brain and turn us into “improperly” functioning members of society. Hence the weapons of crime – drug or book – are destroyed by fire (an alternative for books would be the shredder).
According to information from the German Federal Government, and unlike for indexed works, there is no office or authority which publishes an even remotely complete list of confiscated books; similarly, the confiscation orders issued by the courts are not published anywhere. Certainly every court that orders or revokes the confiscation of a publication is required to communicate its decision to the German Federal Criminal Investigation Office (Bundeskriminalamt), which therefore ought to have a complete and current list, particularly as it serves the courts as an information database regarding confiscation orders already issued. However, these confiscation orders are published only every now and then in the official Bundeskriminalblatt, a publication not readily accessible to the public. When approaching the Bundeskriminalamt in order to obtain such a list, one does not obtain an answer, which contributes to the secretiveness about the above-mentioned list of “dangerous” prohibited media.
Hence, here as well the public is left completely in the dark about which media are confiscated and which are not. Those who dare to import, export, store, publish, promote, disseminate or sell a confiscated media item will find themselves in the dock accused of a thought crime.
Germany Today: 233,862 Criminal Investigations Because of “Thought Crimes” During the Last 18 Years. Source: Bundesministerium des Inneren (ed.), Bundesverfassungsschutzbericht (Report of the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution), Bundesdruckerei, Bonn 1995-2012, acc. to the German FBI (BKA) [end excerpt]
Republic of Ukraine
* "Ukraine's former ruling party hit by spate of apparent suicides; Four members of Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions have died within weeks as investigations into old regime officials mount up" (2015-03-23, theguardian.com) [https://archive.today/Y0Hzb]---
* "The second phase of ATO began in Odessa" (translated 2015-03-22, en.voicesevas.ru) [https://archive.today/wK510], (source: 2015-03-21, novorossia.su) [https://archive.today/kvqpe] [begin excerpt]: On March 21 the second phase of the so-called "anti-terrorist operation" began in Odessa. This was reported in the press department of the regional management of the SBU. The SBU investigators seized 25 grenade launchers, more than 20 kilograms of explosives, 150 grenades, about fifty firearms and ammunition of criminals during the operational activities. Unfortunately, they did not specify whether they seized weapons of the "treacherous separatists" or another "ATO heroes" who are pilfering weapons from the area of the ATO throughout Ukraine. [end excerpt]
* "A mass brawl with shooting In Odessa" (translated 2015-03-25, en.voicesevas.ru) [https://archive.today/uFL0C], (original 2015-03-25, timer-odessa.net) [https://archive.today/rBn4m], video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ChoLTrvf0].
On March 24 activists of "Self-Defense" and "AutoMaidan" attacked the workers and guards at the building site in the "Yunost" park. The fight turned into the shooting, there are several victims, the site was destroyed.
We are talking about one of the controversial sites previously belonging to the park, but later privatized by a group of persons. At one of these sites owned by the son-in-law of Ilyichevsk Mayor, according to available information, they tried to start construction of a house again: they fenced it and even began to excavate. Local residents asked "Self-Defense" for help, while the developer has called the security company "Center".
The parties clashed, and "Euromaidan" activists achieved a decisive victory. As the correspondent of the local newspaper "Timer" reported from the scene, the collision was quite fierce, in particular, gunfire was heard (apparently with a traumatic weapon), there are victims.
After winning "Euromaidan" demolished the fence and crushed the building site.
* "US paratroopers to train Ukrainian national guard" (2015-03-19, AFP newswire) [https://archive.today/p9WIx]
===*===*===
Union of People's Republics of NovorossiyaFor more info, with maps, and news links, visit [NovorossiyaSolidarity.blogspot.com].
Ukrainian crisis news
* (2015-03-23) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-qSQmvyAc]
* (2015-03-20) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxoyEGPvNek]
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* "LPR sees no sense to withdraw from Minsk Agreement - Plotnitsky" (translated 2015-03-23, en.voicesevas.ru) [https://archive.today/CzReb], (original 2015-03-23, lug-info.com) [https://archive.today/Lnqy6]
* Ukraine: "FICTICIOUS WITHDRAWAL" (2015-03-22, en.voicesevas.ru) [https://archive.today/oIw0O], (original 2015-03-06) [https://archive.today/pq8Eb]
===*===*===
Federation of Russia
* "Russia and South Ossetia signed an agreement on alliance (video)" (translated 2015-03-20, en.voicesevas.ru) [https://archive.today/aIIZO], (original 2015-03-18, lenta.ru) [https://archive.today/9jkHI]
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* "NATO allies come to grips with Russia's 'hybrid warfare' " (2015-03-18, AFP newswire) [https://archive.today/oh3md]. An interesting article shwoing the propaganda points given to USA monopolist media. [begin excerpt]: NATO allies are scrambling to protect vulnerable Baltic partners from the threat of hybrid warfare, a Russian tactic that officials and experts say is based on deception rather than formal declaration of war. Russian President Vladimir Putin's use of anonymous "little green men" to slice Crimea away from Ukraine last year sent alarm bells ringing throughout the three small Baltic NATO and EU members. Putin's brand of hybrid warfare also relies on "misinformation, bribery, economic pressure", which are designed to "undermine the nation", according to Latvian Defence Minister Raimonds Vejonis. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite did not mince her words when she said: "The first stage of confrontation is taking place -- I mean informational war, propaganda and cyber attacks. So we are already under attack."
NATO is "looking at how we prepare for, deter, and -- if required -- defend against hybrid threats," the former US ambassador to Moscow said recently at a security conference in the Latvian capital Riga. Not to be caught off guard amid an increased Russian military presence in the Baltic, alliance members have mounted a series of troop rotations into the region. The United States also deployed a cargo ship full of heavy armour there this month, including helicopters and tanks for exercises dubbed Atlantic Resolve. [end excerpt]
===*===*===
Global Islamic Caliphate / Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL ; ISIS)
* "Life under Isis: An explosion at the gates, sleeper cells attacking from within – how militants overthrew the city of Hit in less than 24 hours" (2015-03-17, independent.co.uk) [https://archive.today/gbF0B]
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* " ‘Islamic State’ as a Western Phenomenon? Reimagining the IS Debate" (2015-03-19, commondreams.org) [https://archive.today/bIiTt]
===*===*===
Rojava (Western Kurdistan)
* "Kobane: second phase of resistance and reconstruction" statement, translations, (1) [https://archive.today/sKJnD], (2) [https://archive.today/QiJLB]
* "ROJAVA VERSUS THE WORLD", [https://archive.today/dx05d] a shortened transcript of the 2015-02-21 episode of "This is Hell"! [https://soundcloud.com/this-is-hell/837dilardirik]. “The people of Kobanê were about to face a massacre, and the president of Turkey just wore his sunglasses and made macho statements. He exploited the desperate situation in Kobanê.”
* "Rewriting women's history in Rojava" Part 2 (2015-03-02, jinha.com.tr) [https://archive.today/8PrPV], originally at [https://archive.today/Al5wQ]
* Interview with a member of DAF on the Slovenian anarchist radio show Črna luknja in early January, 2015 [https://archive.today/IeKPa]
===*===*===
State of Israel, occupied territories, international operations
* "Sixty percent of global drone exports come from Israel" (2015-03-24, electronicintifada.net) [https://archive.today/BsHbd]
----
* "Israel Reinstates Life Terms On Former Political Prisoner" (2015-03-23, imemc.org) [https://archive.today/CvmbU]
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* "It’s Official: The Pentagon Finally Admitted That Israel Has Nuclear Weapons, Too" (2015-03-20, thenation.com) [https://archive.today/1WFRr].
whowhatwhy.org writes: Last month the Department of Defense released a secret document from 1987 confirming the worst-kept secret in the world—the existence of Israel’s nuclear arsenal. So, why has it been a "secret"? Unlike Iran, Israel hasn’t signed onto the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. So, Israel’s nukes are the elephant in the room during nuclear negotiations with Iran. And it is hard to ignore the incredible hypocrisy of America’s tacit support for Israel’s nuclear program, even as Israel works to scuttle any deal with Iran.
---
It's not the letter that's treason. It's disseminating actual classified information for political favor to a foreign government, even if a strategic partner of the USA.
* "Espionage, by Any Other Name" (2015-03-25, huffingtonpost.com) [https://archive.today/FPdgH][begin excerpt]: The Israelis have used information so gathered to enable a program of directed political action in Washington, DC designed to undermine the policies of the United States.
While much has been made about the so-called "treasonous" actions of 47 members of Congress, led by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, in penning an ill-advised letter to the Government of Iran aimed at undermining the ongoing nuclear negotiations, there is a stark difference between political stupidity -- which the act of writing such a letter represents -- and espionage, which is what those members of Congress who have aided and abetted the Government of Israel in its efforts to collect and disseminate classified U.S. information to unauthorized persons have engaged in. [end excerpt]
---
* "Missouri museum censors Ferguson-Mexico solidarity event for including Palestinians" (2015-03-20, electronicintifada.net) [https://archive.today/Z1A6M]
===*===*===
Ansarullah Revolutionary Government of Yemen
* "Ansarullah: Terrorist Attacks Led by Foreign, Regional Powers" (2015-03-21, english.farsnews.com) [https://archive.today/9abDV]:
Yemeni revolutionary movement, Ansarullah, stressed that the terrorist bombings which targeted two mosques in Sanaa Friday are part of the all-out war launched by certain regional and world states against the Yemeni people.
In a statement released late Friday, the political bureau of the movement lashed out at "those who are justifying such heinous crimes through defaming revolution and opposing the security operations against criminals", Al-Manar reported.
The movement said that the statement is an "important message to the embassies and the (local) political parties".
"These criminal acts are being controlled by foreign powers that have hostile position from the Yemeni revolution," Ansarullah’s political bureau said in the statement noting that these foreign powers are the US and some regional states.
The movement also said that hindering the national dialogue aims at giving time to terrorists to spread chaos in the country.
In this context, Ansarullah called for confronting these criminal terrorists on all levels: political, security and media.
[end article]
* "Arab Tribes Union Denounces Yemen Blasts, Shows Support for Ansarullah" (2015-03-24, almanar.com.lb), text-only cached version [https://archive.today/BMyMA], syndicated at [https://archive.today/4xDDs]:
The Union of Shiite and Sunni Arab Tribes denounced on Tuesday "the coward criminal attack on the Yemeni people and their noble revolution."
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Union expressed confidence in the Yemeni people, who will be more powerful and steadfast despite the attacks.
Moreover, it declared solidarity with "this proud people and all honorable fighters, led by Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi and the popular Committees."
Offering condolences to the families of the martyrs, the Union statement stressed that those terrorists indiscriminate attacks against civilians are the best proof of the terrorists' near end.
Three terrorist explosions - claimed by the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group - went off on Friday in two separate mosques in Sanaa, leaving 141 killed and hundreds others injured.
[end article]
* "Shiite rebels fire on protesters in south Yemen, killing 6" (2015-03-24, AP newswire) [https://archive.today/5oGVP]
Photo showing the "protesters", representing a vanguard for the independence of South Yemen, in opposition to the Ansarullah Revolutionary Government of Yemen, and in opposition to the USA-backed Republic of Yemen.
* "Reports: Yemen's Houthis advance towards Aden; Senior officials dispute claims that President Hadi has fled and his military leaders are under arrest in southern city" (2015-03-25, aljazeera.com) [https://archive.today/FIM0n] [begin excerpt]: Reports from Yemen say President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his top military commander are on the run while other military leaders, including the defence minister, are under arrest after Shia Houthi fighters entered the southern city of Aden.
The developments came just hours after a television station said Houthi fighters and their allies had seized an airbase where US troops and Europeans helped the country in its fight against al-Qaeda.
The Al-Masirah TV station reported that the Houthis had "secured'' the al-Annad airbase near the town of Lahij, and claimed the base had been looted by both al-Qaeda fighters and troops loyal to Hadi.
That airbase is only 60km away from Aden, the port city where Hadi had established a temporary capital. The advance of the Houthis threatens to plunge the Arab world's poorest country into a civil war that could draw in its Gulf neighbours. Already, Hadi has asked the UN to authorise a foreign military intervention in the country.
Saud Al Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, had previously warned that his country would take "necessary measures" if the Houthis did not resolve the crisis peacefully, without elaborating further.
Diplomatic missions of Hadi's Arab Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait, have evacuated their diplomatic staff from Aden over the past few days, officials said.
They earlier evacuated from Sanaa and relocated to Aden to support Hadi.
[end excerpt]
* "Yemen army units allied with Ansarullah take over Aden intl. airport" (2015-03-25, iran-daily.com) [https://archive.today/syQW4]
* "Ansarullah forces capture southern Houta city, key airbase near Aden" (2015-03-25, presstv.ir)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0M6-e7AveQ]:
Reports coming out of Yemen say Ansarullah forces and their allies have gained control of al-Houta city, the provincial capital of the southern Lahij province.
The Shia fighters, backed by Special Forces, overran Houta after seizing a key airbase just 50 kilometers north of the port city of Aden. They faced no resistance from forces loyal to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi when they captured the al-Anad base. The military facility used to home some 100 American servicemen. They evacuated the airbase a few days ago over security concerns. The seizures are significant as reports suggest Ansarullah are inching toward Hadi's stronghold in Aden.
[end article]
* "Debate: Ansarullah advances across Yemen" video (2015-03-25, presstv.ir) [http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/03/25/403377/Debate-Ansarullah-advances-across-Yemen]:
Yemen's Army forces allied with Houthi movement's Ansarullah fighters have reportedly taken over the international airport of the southern port city of Aden.
The Houthi fighters managed to capture the airport after intense fighting with forces loyal to Yemen’s fugitive President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
In this edition of the debate, we will talk about the Ansarullah group’s advances with the support of the army and several tribes from across Yemen.
Press TV's guests Daoud Khairallah, a professor at Georgetown University, and Daniel Serwer, a professor at John Hopkins University, both from Washington will comment on the issue.
[end article]
* "Yemen's president flees by boat as Shiite rebels advance" (2015-03-25, AP newswire) [https://archive.today/XNkMC]
* "US evacuates troops from south Yemen base" (2015-03-21, AFP newswire) [https://archive.today/Ap3Ul]
* "Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen, launches coalition op against Houthi rebels" (2015-03-25, rt.com) [https://archive.today/TqQ6W] [begin excerpt]:
Saudi Arabian forces, joined by nine other countries, have launched a military operation in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels, the Saudi ambassador to the US said. The offensive, which started with airstrikes, will also involve “other military assets.”
US President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-led military operations in Yemen, the White House said in a statement, confirming that Washington had close communication with Hadi, the Saudis and other GCC states prior to the launch of the military operation.
“While US forces are not taking direct military action in Yemen in support of this effort, we are establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate US military and intelligence support,” the statement said.
The Saudi-led coalition has declared Yemeni airspace a “restricted zone.” Ships in the region have also been urged not to approach Yemen’s ports due to the ongoing military operation.
More than 20 people have reportedly died and over 30 others were injured following Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes in Yemen, Sputnik news agency cited local security and medical sources as saying.
The majority of the strikes around Sanaa hit residential areas located near the capital’s international airport. Government buildings and the airport were also hit during the offensive.
Reports from the ground indicate that Saudi forces have bombed an office belonging to Houthi rebels in Sanaa’s Jiraf area. A Houthi-run TV channel reported dozens of civilian casualties following airstrikes north of Sanaa.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait issued a joint statement saying that they “decided to repel Houthi militias, Al-Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State) in the country.” The Gulf states said they were responding to a “major threat” to the stability of the region, saying that their cause is to “repel Houthi aggression” in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia is planning to commit 100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers to the Yemen offensive, according to Al Arabiya. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan are also willing to contribute aircrafts, while Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, and Sudan want to contribute to ground operations.
Egypt is providing political and military support for the operation, the country’s state media said. Cairo is prepared to take part in air, naval and ground operations if necessary, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has announced.
Media reports said that Jordan, Sudan, Morocco and Pakistan are also part of the coalition and have offered their support for military operation in Yemen.
While the Saudi envoy insisted Washington only “consulted” Riyadh, a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that America has been supporting the military operation in an unspecified way.
Before the launch of the offensive in Yemen, Houthi militants claimed to have captured the southern seaport of Aden, President Hadi’s stronghold. The fighters said the city was under their control and the president’s supporters were being arrested.
[end excerpt]
* "Saudi Arabia Makes Its Move in Yemen" (2015-03-25, theatlantic.com) [https://archive.today/7bhSR]
* "Saudi Arabia Launches Airstrikes as Yemen Civil War Ignites Regional Firestorm" (2015-03-25, commondreams.org) [https://archive.today/fWcud]
* "IMF declares suspension of Yemen loan amid Saudi airstrikes" (2015-03-26, presstv.ir) [https://archive.today/Wp7KP]
* "Saudi prince and Emirate's first female pilot lead the blitz on ISIS as Arab states send squadrons of fighters to blast terror group in Iraq and Syria" (2014-09-25, dailymail.co.uk) [https://archive.today/KMPW2]
===*===*===Yemeni revolutionary movement, Ansarullah, stressed that the terrorist bombings which targeted two mosques in Sanaa Friday are part of the all-out war launched by certain regional and world states against the Yemeni people.
In a statement released late Friday, the political bureau of the movement lashed out at "those who are justifying such heinous crimes through defaming revolution and opposing the security operations against criminals", Al-Manar reported.
The movement said that the statement is an "important message to the embassies and the (local) political parties".
"These criminal acts are being controlled by foreign powers that have hostile position from the Yemeni revolution," Ansarullah’s political bureau said in the statement noting that these foreign powers are the US and some regional states.
The movement also said that hindering the national dialogue aims at giving time to terrorists to spread chaos in the country.
In this context, Ansarullah called for confronting these criminal terrorists on all levels: political, security and media.
[end article]
* "Arab Tribes Union Denounces Yemen Blasts, Shows Support for Ansarullah" (2015-03-24, almanar.com.lb), text-only cached version [https://archive.today/BMyMA], syndicated at [https://archive.today/4xDDs]:
The Union of Shiite and Sunni Arab Tribes denounced on Tuesday "the coward criminal attack on the Yemeni people and their noble revolution."In a statement issued Tuesday, the Union expressed confidence in the Yemeni people, who will be more powerful and steadfast despite the attacks.
Moreover, it declared solidarity with "this proud people and all honorable fighters, led by Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi and the popular Committees."
Offering condolences to the families of the martyrs, the Union statement stressed that those terrorists indiscriminate attacks against civilians are the best proof of the terrorists' near end.
Three terrorist explosions - claimed by the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group - went off on Friday in two separate mosques in Sanaa, leaving 141 killed and hundreds others injured.
[end article]
* "Shiite rebels fire on protesters in south Yemen, killing 6" (2015-03-24, AP newswire) [https://archive.today/5oGVP]
Photo showing the "protesters", representing a vanguard for the independence of South Yemen, in opposition to the Ansarullah Revolutionary Government of Yemen, and in opposition to the USA-backed Republic of Yemen.
* "Reports: Yemen's Houthis advance towards Aden; Senior officials dispute claims that President Hadi has fled and his military leaders are under arrest in southern city" (2015-03-25, aljazeera.com) [https://archive.today/FIM0n] [begin excerpt]: Reports from Yemen say President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his top military commander are on the run while other military leaders, including the defence minister, are under arrest after Shia Houthi fighters entered the southern city of Aden.
The developments came just hours after a television station said Houthi fighters and their allies had seized an airbase where US troops and Europeans helped the country in its fight against al-Qaeda.
The Al-Masirah TV station reported that the Houthis had "secured'' the al-Annad airbase near the town of Lahij, and claimed the base had been looted by both al-Qaeda fighters and troops loyal to Hadi.
That airbase is only 60km away from Aden, the port city where Hadi had established a temporary capital. The advance of the Houthis threatens to plunge the Arab world's poorest country into a civil war that could draw in its Gulf neighbours. Already, Hadi has asked the UN to authorise a foreign military intervention in the country.
Saud Al Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, had previously warned that his country would take "necessary measures" if the Houthis did not resolve the crisis peacefully, without elaborating further.
Diplomatic missions of Hadi's Arab Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait, have evacuated their diplomatic staff from Aden over the past few days, officials said.
They earlier evacuated from Sanaa and relocated to Aden to support Hadi.
[end excerpt]
* "Yemen army units allied with Ansarullah take over Aden intl. airport" (2015-03-25, iran-daily.com) [https://archive.today/syQW4]
* "Ansarullah forces capture southern Houta city, key airbase near Aden" (2015-03-25, presstv.ir)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0M6-e7AveQ]:
Reports coming out of Yemen say Ansarullah forces and their allies have gained control of al-Houta city, the provincial capital of the southern Lahij province.
The Shia fighters, backed by Special Forces, overran Houta after seizing a key airbase just 50 kilometers north of the port city of Aden. They faced no resistance from forces loyal to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi when they captured the al-Anad base. The military facility used to home some 100 American servicemen. They evacuated the airbase a few days ago over security concerns. The seizures are significant as reports suggest Ansarullah are inching toward Hadi's stronghold in Aden.
[end article]
* "Debate: Ansarullah advances across Yemen" video (2015-03-25, presstv.ir) [http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/03/25/403377/Debate-Ansarullah-advances-across-Yemen]:
Yemen's Army forces allied with Houthi movement's Ansarullah fighters have reportedly taken over the international airport of the southern port city of Aden.
The Houthi fighters managed to capture the airport after intense fighting with forces loyal to Yemen’s fugitive President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
In this edition of the debate, we will talk about the Ansarullah group’s advances with the support of the army and several tribes from across Yemen.
Press TV's guests Daoud Khairallah, a professor at Georgetown University, and Daniel Serwer, a professor at John Hopkins University, both from Washington will comment on the issue.
[end article]
* "Yemen's president flees by boat as Shiite rebels advance" (2015-03-25, AP newswire) [https://archive.today/XNkMC]
* "US evacuates troops from south Yemen base" (2015-03-21, AFP newswire) [https://archive.today/Ap3Ul]
* "Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen, launches coalition op against Houthi rebels" (2015-03-25, rt.com) [https://archive.today/TqQ6W] [begin excerpt]:
Saudi Arabian forces, joined by nine other countries, have launched a military operation in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels, the Saudi ambassador to the US said. The offensive, which started with airstrikes, will also involve “other military assets.”
US President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-led military operations in Yemen, the White House said in a statement, confirming that Washington had close communication with Hadi, the Saudis and other GCC states prior to the launch of the military operation.
“While US forces are not taking direct military action in Yemen in support of this effort, we are establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate US military and intelligence support,” the statement said.
The Saudi-led coalition has declared Yemeni airspace a “restricted zone.” Ships in the region have also been urged not to approach Yemen’s ports due to the ongoing military operation.
More than 20 people have reportedly died and over 30 others were injured following Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes in Yemen, Sputnik news agency cited local security and medical sources as saying.
The majority of the strikes around Sanaa hit residential areas located near the capital’s international airport. Government buildings and the airport were also hit during the offensive.
Reports from the ground indicate that Saudi forces have bombed an office belonging to Houthi rebels in Sanaa’s Jiraf area. A Houthi-run TV channel reported dozens of civilian casualties following airstrikes north of Sanaa.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait issued a joint statement saying that they “decided to repel Houthi militias, Al-Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State) in the country.” The Gulf states said they were responding to a “major threat” to the stability of the region, saying that their cause is to “repel Houthi aggression” in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia is planning to commit 100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers to the Yemen offensive, according to Al Arabiya. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan are also willing to contribute aircrafts, while Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, and Sudan want to contribute to ground operations.
Egypt is providing political and military support for the operation, the country’s state media said. Cairo is prepared to take part in air, naval and ground operations if necessary, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has announced.
Media reports said that Jordan, Sudan, Morocco and Pakistan are also part of the coalition and have offered their support for military operation in Yemen.
While the Saudi envoy insisted Washington only “consulted” Riyadh, a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that America has been supporting the military operation in an unspecified way.
Before the launch of the offensive in Yemen, Houthi militants claimed to have captured the southern seaport of Aden, President Hadi’s stronghold. The fighters said the city was under their control and the president’s supporters were being arrested.
[end excerpt]
* "Saudi Arabia Makes Its Move in Yemen" (2015-03-25, theatlantic.com) [https://archive.today/7bhSR]
* "Saudi Arabia Launches Airstrikes as Yemen Civil War Ignites Regional Firestorm" (2015-03-25, commondreams.org) [https://archive.today/fWcud]
* "IMF declares suspension of Yemen loan amid Saudi airstrikes" (2015-03-26, presstv.ir) [https://archive.today/Wp7KP]
* "Saudi prince and Emirate's first female pilot lead the blitz on ISIS as Arab states send squadrons of fighters to blast terror group in Iraq and Syria" (2014-09-25, dailymail.co.uk) [https://archive.today/KMPW2]
People's Republic of China
History & the Current Context [historyandcurrentcontext.blogspot.com/1979/10/peoples-republic-of-china.html]
* "Private companies asked to join moon program" (2015-03-19, Xinhua News) [https://archive.today/YlZSv]
---
* "Global Warming: Obama’s Failures Compared to China’s Real Action" by Steven Argue
[https://archive.today/eBIlC]
===*===*===
National Democratic Alliance of Kokang region
* "China 'concerned' after Myanmar fighting crosses border" (2015-03-10, AFP newswire) [https://archive.today/2f8fR]
===*===*===
Occupied State of West Papua ===*===*===
research from the Committee for the Study of
HISTORY AND THE CURRENT CONTEXT
"Anarchism in the Ottoman Empire" articles (machine translation):
* Part 1, "The Anarchist Resistance to the palace gate: Italian Workers Union" [https://archive.today/nqHZD]
* Part 2, "Effect of Anarchism in the Ottoman Period Bulgarian and Armenian Movement" [https://archive.today/W3rDW]
* "Anarchists in Bulgaria during the Ottoman Period" by Zlatko F. [https://archive.today/Shlss]
---
The City of St. Louis is a Democratic Party controlled town. No Republican has represented any significant portion of the City since 1953 in the House of Representatives, as just one example. While in 1940 only 13% of the population was African American, as of 2010 the census showed it to be just under 50% black, 3 ½% Hispanic, and just under 3% Asian.
St. Louis County on the other hand is around 70% white and about ¼ of the population is African American. It was a bastion of Confederate support in the civil war, as opposed to St. Louis City which even then had significant abolitionist sentiment amongst the German American immigrant population. Inspired by Karl Marx’s call to support the Union cause, three brigades of German Americans enlisted, one known as the Karl Marx Brigade and another named the Carl Schurz Brigade after their German American abolitionist U.S. Senator.From Wikipedia: German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, U.S. Minister to Spain, Union Army General in the American Civil War, U. S. Senator, and Secretary of the Interior. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.
---
"Imperial Brain Trust: The Council on Foreign Relations and Untied States Policy" book pgs. 43-44 by Laurence Shoup: The Council and the Cold War -
During the war years, the Council and the government planners gave little attention to the Soviet Union in their plans for a new world order. What attention they did pay was of a negative kind, focusing especially on how to keep the Soviets from controlling Eastern and Central Europe. Leading Council theorists had long seen Eastern Europe as a possible bulwark against the expansion of Russian bolshevism. Isaiah Bowman, as early as 1922, had recommended that Poland and Romania be extended so as to give them a common border. They would thus be linked in a continuous belt iron the Black to the Baltic Seas and jointly form a barrier to this expansion of communism.58
Council planners during the Second World War had a similar approach. In postwar planning sessions at the Department of State in early March 1942 CFR leader Hamilton Fish Armstrong argued that Polish Soviet relations involved a question of "what steps we would wish to take to keep these Eastern European states from becoming Communist."59
Council president Norman H. Davis stated in May 1942 that the Eastern European area could serve as a buffer against the USSR.60
To achieve this goal, the Council and the Department of State worked out plans for an Eastern European federation, with a customs union, one central bank, and a unified transportation system, eventually leading to political unification of the area from the Baltic states on the north to Greece on the south.61
The Territorial Group of the War and Peace Studies Project produced a memorandum on the subject of an Eastern European federation in late October 1942, arguing that the United States and Britain could not "afford to see one hundred million Europeans added to the Soviet power."62
The Council recommended that the British and Americans should therefore try to establish such a union over possible Russian opposition.63
---
* "NYT Reported Japanese Internment as ‘Pioneering Chapter in US History’" (2015-03-24, fair.org) [https://archive.today/2Bj4t]
---
* "Slovakian Fascists Complain That Owners of Factories Taken from Jews Mistreat Employee"
(1943-03-01, jta.org) [https://archive.today/rwCjQ]: Zurich (Feb. 28) - The “Gardista” organ of the Hlinka Guards in Slovakia, received here today, carries an article bitterly attacking employers who have enriched themselves by acquiring confiscated Jewish enterprises, but who “refuse to fulfill their duties to their Slovak employees, which even the former Jewish owners fulfilled.”
---
---
* "How Racism Became Policy in Ferguson" (2015-03-05) [http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/how-racism-became-policy-in-ferguson] [begin excerpt]: The motives and the consequences were unmistakable. In 1937, the city of Berkeley, Missouri was created, on a peculiar half-donut plot, for the express purpose of cleaving the residents of Kinloch (99.3 percent black) into a separate and segregated school district. In 1960, a polio outbreak in Elmwood Park was traced to the absence of potable water, in a neighborhood surrounded by conventional suburban development in Overland to the north and Olivette to the south. In 1965, five children died in a horrific fire in Meacham Park: the unincorporated neighborhood of 100-odd black families was not part of the local fire district and its rickety community fire truck would not start. In the 1970s, even the United Nations took notice of the fact that Meacham Park, at the heart of suburban central county, lacked basic sanitary sewer service. And, in each of these settings, bordering communities used industrial or commercial zoning to create buffers or barriers between white and black occupancy.
The second part of the story was expulsion. Having quarantined these pockets of African-American occupancy, local officials then looked upon them as unfortunate interruptions in the suburban landscape—and targeted them for redevelopment. St. Louis County was slow to get into the urban renewal game, largely because it had no interest in setting up the public housing authorities that federal law required. But when plans did progress, their intent was clear.
The major redevelopment plans drafted in the late 1950s and early 1960s zeroed in on the county’s pockets of black occupancy. Unincorporated Kinloch was wiped out by the expansion of the St. Louis Airport. Elmwood Park was knocked down in the late 1960s and not fully redeveloped for nearly a decade. African-American homes were razed in Malcolm Terrace and, when local officials discovered that residential redevelopment would, under federal law, have to be made available to displaced residents, they turned the neighborhood into a park instead. The City of Kirkwood chipped away at Meacham Park, annexing its sole commercial strip in 1957 and then pushing this commercial development further in the early 1990s, clearing a third of Meacham Park’s homes to build a shopping mall. “That was a city ghetto sitting in a suburban community,” argued Kirkwood’s mayor. “Now it looks like a normal neighborhood.” [end excerpt]
A 1916 leaflet proposes to segregate St. Louis. The measure passed
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February 8, 1968, South Carolina State University at Orangeburg, 3 killed and 23 wounded by police while protesting racial segregation.
Mary Ann Vecchio at Kent State May 4, 1970
May 4, 1970, 4 killed, 9 wounded by Ohio National Guard at Kent State University during Vietnam War protest.
May 8, 1970, 11 students and journalists bayoneted at University of New Mexico by New Mexico National Guard during Vietnam War Protest.
Jackson State, May 12, 1970, 2 killed, 12 wounded at Vietnam War protest at Jackson State University.
August 29, 1970, journalist Ruben Salazar and two members of the Brown Berets killed by Los Angeles Sheriffs at then-Laguna Park (now Salazar Park) when law enforcement attacked a peaceful anti-war/Chicano Power demonstration of 30,000 people in East Los Angeles.
---
* "CIA Document Reveals Ecuador Part of Operation Condor" (2015-03-27, telesurtv.net) [https://archive.today/0JLz1]
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* "San Jose Cinco De Mayo Riot 1997" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DijtD3-Dslc]
Start at 3:30. These youngsters be burning and looting, this is Eastside raza here, who done been getting the jackboots on their necks FOR YEARS, on Cinco de Mayo, San Jose PD's annual Beat-An-F--k-Wit-A-Mexican-Day
===*===*===* "NYT Reported Japanese Internment as ‘Pioneering Chapter in US History’" (2015-03-24, fair.org) [https://archive.today/2Bj4t]
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* "Slovakian Fascists Complain That Owners of Factories Taken from Jews Mistreat Employee"
(1943-03-01, jta.org) [https://archive.today/rwCjQ]: Zurich (Feb. 28) - The “Gardista” organ of the Hlinka Guards in Slovakia, received here today, carries an article bitterly attacking employers who have enriched themselves by acquiring confiscated Jewish enterprises, but who “refuse to fulfill their duties to their Slovak employees, which even the former Jewish owners fulfilled.”
---
---
* "How Racism Became Policy in Ferguson" (2015-03-05) [http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/how-racism-became-policy-in-ferguson] [begin excerpt]: The motives and the consequences were unmistakable. In 1937, the city of Berkeley, Missouri was created, on a peculiar half-donut plot, for the express purpose of cleaving the residents of Kinloch (99.3 percent black) into a separate and segregated school district. In 1960, a polio outbreak in Elmwood Park was traced to the absence of potable water, in a neighborhood surrounded by conventional suburban development in Overland to the north and Olivette to the south. In 1965, five children died in a horrific fire in Meacham Park: the unincorporated neighborhood of 100-odd black families was not part of the local fire district and its rickety community fire truck would not start. In the 1970s, even the United Nations took notice of the fact that Meacham Park, at the heart of suburban central county, lacked basic sanitary sewer service. And, in each of these settings, bordering communities used industrial or commercial zoning to create buffers or barriers between white and black occupancy.
The second part of the story was expulsion. Having quarantined these pockets of African-American occupancy, local officials then looked upon them as unfortunate interruptions in the suburban landscape—and targeted them for redevelopment. St. Louis County was slow to get into the urban renewal game, largely because it had no interest in setting up the public housing authorities that federal law required. But when plans did progress, their intent was clear.
The major redevelopment plans drafted in the late 1950s and early 1960s zeroed in on the county’s pockets of black occupancy. Unincorporated Kinloch was wiped out by the expansion of the St. Louis Airport. Elmwood Park was knocked down in the late 1960s and not fully redeveloped for nearly a decade. African-American homes were razed in Malcolm Terrace and, when local officials discovered that residential redevelopment would, under federal law, have to be made available to displaced residents, they turned the neighborhood into a park instead. The City of Kirkwood chipped away at Meacham Park, annexing its sole commercial strip in 1957 and then pushing this commercial development further in the early 1990s, clearing a third of Meacham Park’s homes to build a shopping mall. “That was a city ghetto sitting in a suburban community,” argued Kirkwood’s mayor. “Now it looks like a normal neighborhood.” [end excerpt]
A 1916 leaflet proposes to segregate St. Louis. The measure passed
---
February 8, 1968, South Carolina State University at Orangeburg, 3 killed and 23 wounded by police while protesting racial segregation.
Mary Ann Vecchio at Kent State May 4, 1970
May 4, 1970, 4 killed, 9 wounded by Ohio National Guard at Kent State University during Vietnam War protest.
May 8, 1970, 11 students and journalists bayoneted at University of New Mexico by New Mexico National Guard during Vietnam War Protest.
Jackson State, May 12, 1970, 2 killed, 12 wounded at Vietnam War protest at Jackson State University.
August 29, 1970, journalist Ruben Salazar and two members of the Brown Berets killed by Los Angeles Sheriffs at then-Laguna Park (now Salazar Park) when law enforcement attacked a peaceful anti-war/Chicano Power demonstration of 30,000 people in East Los Angeles.
---
* "CIA Document Reveals Ecuador Part of Operation Condor" (2015-03-27, telesurtv.net) [https://archive.today/0JLz1]
---
* "San Jose Cinco De Mayo Riot 1997" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DijtD3-Dslc]
Start at 3:30. These youngsters be burning and looting, this is Eastside raza here, who done been getting the jackboots on their necks FOR YEARS, on Cinco de Mayo, San Jose PD's annual Beat-An-F--k-Wit-A-Mexican-Day
ACTION CALENDER
A list of gatherings, workshops, and educational events in the greater Bay Area region
