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.is) 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. Circumvent "Error 451" [archive.is/WOZXx] by using the proxy server at [webproxy.to] or, by using Tor Browser [torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en].
===*===*===
Interview with
Matt Sedilllo, Revolutionary Slam Poetry Champion!
Matt Sedillo is a nationally recognized poet whose revolutionary beat brings the power of poetry to the people! He is the grand slam champion of the Damn Slam Los Angeles 2011, and has a book titled "For what I might do tomorrow"View videos of performances and interviews at [http://is.gd/h2bTsx]
Revolutionary artist is making a stop in Vallejo to throw down some conscious vibes and positive spins on whats up with the world. Watch out! Speak up! And bring a friend!
Nathan's Conscious Cup
419 Georgia St, Ste 40, Vallejo, California 94590
Free Event, support your local venue and buy something!
This is part of a tour in support of the People's Tribune / Tribuno del Pueblo newspaper, check it out online at [peoplestribune.org] & [tribunodelpueblo.org]
Stop by the Conscious Cup for a copy of the newspaper!
Donations gladly accepted at the event for the newspaper.
Locally distributed free courtesy of First Amendment Distributions in Vallejo.
Matt is on tour and, the following day, he will be headlining atthe Parking Lot Poets Show!
The Arlene Francis Center
99 6th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Saturday, February 20th, 7pm
[www.facebook.com/events/161144507589495]
Matt Sedillo's tour is endorsed by The Gathering of the Tribes affinity network, the Northbay Uprising media collective, and the Northbay Movement for a Democratic Society (MDS).
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Also, of interest to the artist's community...
* "A rockstar bucks a coffee shop" [youtube.com/watch?v=UC2DpGaykaI]
* "Neil Young Releases Anti-Starbucks, Anti-GMO Anthem 'A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop' " (2015-06-01, huffingtonpost.com) [archive.is/9LGpP]
* "Neil Young Unveils Starbucks-Mocking Music Video; Rocker takes aim at GMO giant, defends Vermont in first single off 'The Monsanto Years' " (2015-05-31, rollingstone.com) [archive.is/ymlOu]
ACTION CALENDER
A list of gatherings, workshops, and educational events in the greater Bay Area region
[indybay.org/calendar] [occupyoakland.org/calendar]United Voices Against State Sponsored Violence
Saturday, February 20, at 3pm - 8pm
At the African American Community Service Agency [304 N 6th St, San Jose, California 95112]
[facebook.com/events/172939326398816]
flier [archive.is/HWUoc]
Justice 4 Josiah, Justice 4 Phillip Watkins, Silicon Valley Debug, and San Jose R.A.D, call for all those who are survivors of abuse, brutality, and murder by the hands of police and other authorities, to come join us in a celebration of our resilience.
Youth, students, families, and all community members are all invited to come listen to powerful testimonies of the families of people lost to police violence, youth in struggle against the school to prison pipeline, and community members who have suffered injustice and abuse at the hands of those in power.
It is time for us to meet and honor or resilience and critically engage in dialogue and healing to grow our strength to challenge the systems that have harmed us.
Please join us for:
- Panel on resilience with members from San Jose R.A.D, Representatives from Silicon Valley Debug, San Jose State Professor Roxana Marachi, and more
And, testimonies from:
- The family of Antonio Lopez Guzman
- The family of Richard “Harpo” Jacquez
- The family of Diana Showman
- The family of Phillip Watkins
- The family of Rudy Cardenas
- The family of Steve Salinas
And many more!
Open mic for testimonies from those directly impacted by police violence and murder, youth poetry and stories, artist and activists challenging police brutality, and other resilient members are open to share their stories!
Come listen, learn, grow, and realize the power of our community’s resilience and help us connect with each other in a way to build a network to solve the various types of violence facing our communities today. In memory of Antonio Lopez Guzman 2nd Angelversary and Phillip Watkins 1 year Angelversary
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ACTION HEADLINES!
Stories are reviewed and provided by Northbay MDS Committees and Affiliates
BAY AREA SOLIDARITY
Updates on campaigns for Peace, Justice, & Freedom across the greater Bay Area, Norcal, and Socal
* "BayAreaHipHopArtist @EQUIPTO arrested 4 StandingUp! Y'all So-called Ganxsta rappers still monkeying. SMH" (2016-02-09) [archive.is/lKh5h]
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SOLIDARITY WITH THE NEW AFRICAN NATION!Black Power! Revive the Community! Defend the Nation!
The Official Site of The Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary [www.bpp50th.com]
* Self-Defense (2016-02-12, I Am A Revolutionary News, intifadastreet.com) [archive.is/RA9JO]:
Also, see the Tupac memorial by the same artist [archive.is/AXppc].
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* "Meanwhile in Flint Michigan..." (2016-01-24, Black Riders Liberation Party) [archive.is/mQfze]:
The BLACK RIDERS - New Generation Black Panther Party for Self-Defense sponsored a water delivery relief effort to provide the basic needs and desires of the People. This was done in response to the recent toxic water crisis brought about because of the neglect of the racist U.S. Government and their plans to exterminate our people. We must defend, serve, and support our People! Hundreds of bottles of water was provided on Friday January 22,2016... Black Power! All Power to the People! RBG 4 LIFE!Our Black Commune Program (Which is our updated 10 Point Platform and Program of What We Want And What We Believe) clearly states:
Point L - "We Ride for an end to environmental racism and to stop the disruption of the earths ecological balance. We Ride because we believe that Amerikkkan industrial production has and is currently creating terrible environmental side effects locally, nationally and internationally-- especially in areas where Black People live. Industrial production causes pollution of air, land, and water, which in turn lowers the life expectancy of people. If the racist Amerikkkan industrialists sought out technology to further industry then he must seek out technology to protect the environment. If the racist U.S industrialists refuse to do so then his industry should be taken and placed in the Black Community so that we can protect the environment and our own communities."
Much Respect goes to Shamita and Kofi and all the Black Riders who Helped to lead the project with Boots on the Ground... Thanks goes out to all the people who donated water and funds...
From General T.A.C.O. (Taking All Capitalists Out)
AKA Wolverine Shakur...
Be A Panther At War... For the Hearts and the Minds of the People!To join or be a new member of Black Riders... Please inbox or email us at blackriders1996@gmail.com
Photos: [archive.is/45Lru] [archive.is/HxK3w] [archive.is/jZKFy] [archive.is/LIo6i] [archive.is/zWoUj] [archive.is/AY3U0] [archive.is/coowl] [archive.is/B1IVH] [archive.is/5PHnP] [archive.is/iEmAv] [archive.is/vs1Nb]
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* "Popular Resistance: Celebrate Black Power" (2016-02-13) [archive.is/cKOXP]
* "The criminalization of the Black Panther Party and rewriting of history" (2016-02-16, by Robert J. Boyle) [archive.is/5QuKQ]
* "CELEBRATING THE BLACK PANTHERS AT THE SUPER BOWL?" (2016-02-10, blog.victimsofcommunism.org) [archive.is/O1Jwj]
* "Toronto Councillor Urges Feds to Look Into Beyonce's Ties to Black Panthers" (2016-02-10, vladtv.com) [archive.is/vcLhD]
* "Toronto councillor stops short of calling for Beyoncé ban in Canada" (2016-02-09, citynews.ca) [archive.is/A90hr]
* Victor Bradley writes: Until someone can show me a single White child brutally tortured and murdered by the Black Panthers (Emmett Till) a single White woman gang raped by Black Panthers (Harriet Smirl), a single White church firebombed by the Black Panthers (16th Street Baptist Church), a single White man castrated by the Black Panthers (Judge Aaron), a single White preacher whose face was blown off by Black Panthers for registering White people to vote (George Lee), a single White man who was tied to the back of a truck and dragged along the asphalt until his body disintegrated who had BPP carved into his disembodied torso by the Black Panthers (James Byrd). A single White couple blown up in their home for demanding Whites be allowed to vote, by the Black Panthers (Harry and Harriette Moore, I could go on and on and on and on) I'd better not hear any comparison made between the Black Panther party and the Ku Klux Klan.
* (2016-02-16, teleSUR) [archive.is/V4hAo]: As there is renewed interest in The Black Panther Party lately, we are sharing their 10-point program for a new generation to learn about what they stood for.
Like the current Black Lives Matter-movement, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense was founded because of unchecked racist police violence. But it was about more than that, as the founders and their members saw that the racist violence was fundamentally intertwined with the capitalist system. The Black Panther Party thus organized themselves around anti-racist and anti-capitalist (socialist) principles, as they figured they couldn't effectively fight one without fighting the other.
* "Black Panthers Founder Huey Newton Supported Gay Rights Back In 1970" (2015-07-09, newnownext.com) [archive.is/F4xQK]
* "To The Revolutionary Brothers and Sisters About The Women’s Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements" by Black Panther Party co-Founder Huey Newton [archive.is/YqGQj] [begin excerpt]: We must gain security in ourselves and therefore have respect and feelings for all oppressed people. We must not use the racist attitude that the white racists use against our people because they are Black and poor. Many times the poorest white person is the most racist because he is afraid that he might lose something, or discover something that he does not have. So you’re some kind of a threat to him. This kind of psychology is in operation when we view oppressed people and we are angry with them because of their particular kind of behavior, or their particular kind of deviation from the established norm.Remember, we have not established a revolutionary value system; we are only in the process of establishing it. I do not remember our ever constituting any value that said that a revolutionary must say offensive things towards homosexuals, or that a revolutionary should make sure that women do not speak out about their own particular kind of oppression. As a matter of fact, it is just the opposite: we say that we recognize the women’s right to be free. We have not said much about the homosexual at all, but we must relate to the homosexual movement because it is a real thing. And I know through reading, and through my life experience and observations that homosexuals are not given freedom and liberty by anyone in the society. They might be the most oppressed people in the society. [end excerpt]
* Manifesto Number Two (1972, Black Panther Party of Australia - Brisbane Chapter) (.jpg) [archive.is/jZo7H], more info at "The 1967 Referendum – the State comes together?" (by Jon Piccini) [archive.is/n93at]
* "Aborigines 'black power' protest in Peking" photo (1972-11-03):
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* "White police officer who killed black man claims his dismissal is racial discrimination" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/h1uwy]
* " 'We’re all Africans really': Meryl Streep defends all-white film jury, sets Twitter alight" (2016-02-11, rt.com) [archive.is/uAXA4]
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* "UN working group suggests US work on racial reconciliation" (2016-01-29, AP Newswire) [archive.is/Ue8te] [begin excerpt]: The working group suggests monuments, markers and memorials be erected in the United States to facilitate dialogue, and "past injustices and crimes against African-Americans need to be addressed with reparatory justice,"
The group will suggest several U.S. changes to improve human rights for African-Americans, which also include establishing a national human rights commission, ratifying international human rights treaties, asking Congress to study slavery and its aftereffects and considering reparations . [end excerpt]
===*===*===
information collected by the Committee to
DEFEND THOSE WITHOUT HOMES!
* "NYC authorities greenlight conversion of women’s shelter into luxury retail block" (2016-02-17, rt.com) [archive.is/JSzE8]
===*===*===
COMMUNITY FASCISM WATCH
Community Fascism in Vallejo, the "City of God":
In 1964 Vallejo was used as the prototype for LBJ's Urban Renewal Project. 2,400+ buildings were destroyed with the promise of re-construction but the program abandoned Vallejo and the reconstruction never occurred. That caused the dreadful, empty, blightfull feeling that became downtown Vallejo.
Victor Raahague, whose family holds the lease for the property where The Wharf (The Front Room) and the Mare Island Ferry are located, told me the following;
State Senator Luther Gibson, who owned much of the real estate in downtown Vallejo, wanted the property where the MI Ferry was located. The Raahague family had a 99 yr lease for the property, with the federal government, to operate the ferry. Gibson couldn't acquire the property because of this and wanted the Raahague's out. Following failed court battles, he exerted his influence and power to have the city remove lower Georgia St, ending at the Post Office, cutting off access to the waterfront. This was done in hopes of hurting the Raahague's business' and them relinquishing the lease. The workers still needed the ferry to get to and from work, and they and Vallejo continued to support The Wharf Restaurant. It was business as usual for the ferry service and the restaurant, but cutting off Georgia St resulted in inconvenient access to downtown. That seemed to be one of the last nails in the coffin of a thriving Georgia St. (It also resulted in the downtown businesses who were Gibson's tenants, to fail and leave. He shot himself in the foot). That, and the opening of Sunvalley Mall and many other retail businesses in surrounding communities, made shopping extinct in Vallejo. The developers of Sunvalley Mall, initially wanted the mall in Vallejo. The city government said no, so the developers went to Concord. The same happened with the Solano mall in Fairfield. Tremendous amounts of tax revenue chased out of town! Our city leaders have been responsible for the bleak business and shopping situation of Vallejo.
It's wonderful to see a resurgence of life in downtown Vallejo. Hats off to everyone involved. Support our local merchants!
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Documenting human-rights abuse by domestic security agencies
NORTHBAY COPWATCH
[NorthbayCopwatch.blogspot.com] [copblock.org] [wecopwatch.org] [filmingcops.com]* " ‘Staggering corruption’: Feds accuse 49 Georgia prison guards of taking bribes, drug trafficking" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/LRerM]
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* "Pigs Can't Fly! LAPD Denied Funding Amid Community Protest; In a rare move, the Los Angeles Police Department was recently denied funding at a neighborhood council meeting in South Los Angeles amid applause from youth, community members, and activists" (2015-10-07, leftvoice.org) [archive.is/KDEOt]
===*===*===
NORTHBAY COPWATCH: Domestic Security Agencies and private-sector partners
* "Disinformation" (2016-01, whowhatwhy.org),
Part 1 "How Trolls control an Internet forum" [archive.is/MkY52];
Part 2 "Detailed tips for trolls" [archive.is/AJreS];
Part 3 "Cointelpro Up Close and Personal" [archive.is/r6YtY]
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* "Federal court rules 10-week-long warrantless surveillance not a privacy violation" (2016-02-11, rt.com) [archive.is/47Ssr]
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* "More Walter Mitty than James Bond: How climate change expert posed as CIA agent for 10 years" (2013-12-17, rt.com) [archive.is/YlKER]
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* "Samsung warns customers not to discuss personal information in front of smart TVs" (2016-02-09, theweek.com) [archive.is/GYQG5]
* "Samsung updates SmartTV policy, names third party collecting voice commands" (2015-02-10, newsweek.com) [archive.is/oEa6p]
===*===*===
NORTHBAY COPWATCH: Five-Eyes, and other transnational partners
* "GCHQ ‘equipment interference’ legal under human rights law – tribunal" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/pK5SP]
===*===*===
from the Committee to
FREE 'EM ALL!
[PoliticalPrisonersUSA.blogspot.com]
End the Drug War! Stop Jim Crow! Close the Torture Chambers! [solitarywatch.com] [facebook.com/incarceratedworkers] [supportprisonerresistance.noblogs.org] [denverabc.wordpress.com] [prisonlegalnews.org] [prisonbooks.info] [nycabc.wordpress.com] [powmedicaljustice.com] [sacprisonersupport.wordpress.com]. Become a Human Rights Pen Pal! [link].
* "Sleep Expert Reports about 30 minute 'welfare checks' " (2016-02-12, prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com) [http://is.gd/LY5gmm]:
- excerpted from Dr. Jamie Zeitzer’s Oct 2015 Report (.pdf) [http://is.gd/KLgtE1]: ” …While this was instituted as a safety measure, including the prevention of suicides, it has created an even more disrupted sleep environment, one that will actually lead to an increase in suicidal ideation…
An extensive literature that covers the gamut from animal studies to highly controlled studies in humans to epidemiologic studies of many different populations from around the world all come to the same conclusion – there are serious ramifications of sleep loss on both physical and mental health. … A recent series of studies in Veterans has further pointed to the strong connection between suicidality and sleep, so much so that treatment of sleep problems in Veterans is considered part of the first line of treatment in reducing the risk of suicides. The negative health consequences of inadequate sleep has been extensively documented and nowhere in the literature is there a report on as severe a disruption in sleep as is occurring in the Pelican Bay SHU. …
There have been no direct studies of intentionally waking an individual every thirty minutes every night for days, weeks, or months, as doing so would he considered highly unethical in a research environment. …”
- excerpted from Dr. Thomas Roth’s Oct 2015 Report (.pdf) [http://is.gd/6J7Z1Q]: “…This level of sleep has been shown to have profound effects on cognitive performance, memory, mood, immune function, pain sensitivity, metabolism, and other parameters. … Importantly these effects accumulate across time. Thus as these checks are done nightly their negative effects will become greater across time. …
Many of the behavioral and physiological consequences of sleep deprivation have been repeated by simply arousing normal individuals repeatedly during sleep. Similarly many sleep disorders (e.g. sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome) have significant morbidity associated with their repeated arousals from sleep. …. These arousals lead to increases in circulating norepinephrine levels, which are associated with negative cardiovascular effects. This effect has been shown in people with different sleep and medical disorders, and in normal people. ”
- excerpted from Dr. Terry Kuper’s Oct 2015 Report (.pdf) [http://is.gd/Gn8qKD]: “…In other words, the sleep deprivation caused by noise generated during the safety checks may actually make prisoners more at risk of self-harm. …”
- On October 13 and 14, 2015, attorneys Anne Weills and Carol Strickman conducted confidential in-person interviews with 13 Pelican Bay SHU prisoners about the 30 minute checks and completed survey questionnaires for each. Here is their Report on Prison Interviews about Guard One 30 Minute Cell Checks (.pdf) [http://is.gd/TDE706].
- In Jan 2016, after over 5 months of guards doing the “checks” every 20-30 minutes (Aug 2, 2015 to early Jan 2016) in Pelican Bay SHU, the checks were reduced to 40 rather than 48 times a day. Attorneys conducted follow-up interviews with prisoners in Pelican Bay SHU. Here is the Follow-up report on sleep issues – final – January 2016 (.pdf) [http://is.gd/16r2uI].
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* "An unjust lockdown on paroles" (2016-02-11, timesunion.com) [http://is.gd/SoDIEa] [begin excerpt]: Calling his 2016 agenda "Built to Lead," Gov. Andrew Cuomo promises New York will set national precedents by confronting the state's prison population.
The state has more than 52,000 people in prisons; nationally, the figure is well over 2 million.
"We are working to end warehousing in prisons and moving towards educating and rehabilitating," Cuomo said in his State of the State address. His policy book says New York's dysfunctional parole board is keeping the prison population unconscionably high: "More than 10,000 people are denied parole annually in New York state, and only one in five have it granted."
The governor lists welcome proposals to fix the problem and parole thousands of men and women who could safely be released — many of whom who have weathered decades of parole denials. But to enact them, he must face a reality he doesn't mention: Behind the board's intransigence, looms the New York City Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and its ongoing efforts to keep thousands of people in New York prisons until they die.
The parole board has been given relatively enlightened guidelines. In 2011, the law was changed to require that parole release be predicated on evidence-based "needs and risk assessments." Such assessments use objective, scientific standards — rather than subjective viewpoints of individual parole commissioners — to guide the board in its key task: predicting whether a parole applicant will, if released, commit crimes. Basing release on such standards reflects New York's mandate to protect public safety as well as to honor the rehabilitative goals of the penal system. Yet thousands of people — long since rehabilitated — remain behind bars. [end excerpt]
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* "Texas lowers childcare standards for private migrant detention centers" (2016-02-13, rt.com) [archive.is/Nn28e]
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* "Pennsylvania Seeks to Remove Lawyer Jim Crow Justice-- The Frame-up of Corey Walker" (by Charles Brover, freecoreywalker.org) [archive.is/KEuBi]
* "State Seeks to Remove Innocent PA Lifer’s Attorney! Free Corey Walker!" (2016-02-11) [www.freecoreywalker.org]:
The PA Office of the Attorney General (OAG) filed legal action to remove Corey Walker’s attorney, Rachel Wolkenstein, in November 2014. On Tuesday, February 9, 2016 the evidentiary hearing to terminate Wolkenstein as Corey Walker’s pro hac vice lawyer continues before Judge Lawrence Clark of the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas in Harrisburg, PA.
Walker, assisted by Wolkenstein, filed three sets of legal papers over five months in 2014 with new evidence of Walker’s innocence and that the prosecution and police deliberately used false evidence to convict him of murder. Two weeks after Wolkenstein was granted pro hac vice status, the OAG moved against her and Walker.
The OAG claims that Wolkenstein’s political views and prior legal representation of Mumia Abu-Jamal and courtroom arrest by the notorious Judge Albert Sabo makes it “intolerable” for her to represent Corey Walker in the courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Over the past fifteen months the OAG has effectively stopped any judicial action on the legal challenges of Corey Walker and his former co-defendant, Lorenzo Johnson against their convictions and sentences to life imprisonment without parole while it proceeds in its attempts to remove Wolkenstein.
This is retaliation against Corey Walker who is innocent and framed. Walker and his attorney won’t stop until they thoroughly expose the police corruption and deliberate presentation of false evidence to convict Corey Walker and win his freedom.
This outrageous attack on Corey Walker’s fundamental right to his lawyer of choice and challenge his conviction must cease. The evidence of his innocence and deliberate prosecutorial frame up was suppressed for almost twenty years. Corey Walker must be freed!
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* "The Forgotten Panthers: In 1971, Omaha Black Panther leaders Edward Poindexter and Mondo we Langa were sentenced to life in prison for a bombing that killed a local police officer. In the 45 years since, they’ve been fighting for a quieter type of liberation — their own" (2016-02-11, buzzfeed.com) [archive.is/lqSY3]
* "Omahans join call for probe of ATF over missing teen in Omaha Two case" (2016-02-10, by Michael Richardson) [archive.is/45xUL]
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articles recommended by the
SAN PABLO BAY ECOLOGICAL PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION
Campaigns, info, and more [SanPabloBayEPA.blogspot.com]. Science [discardstudies.com]
SAN PABLO BAY EPA: Health and the Human Ecology
Monopolists enforce a regime that does not recognize the natural right to health and life. Info [detoxproject.org].
* "We just found out these pesticides are even more dangerous" (2016-02-14, action.ufw.org) [archive.is/lupVf]:
Cesar Chavez’ UFW has been fighting to ban the most dangerous pesticides that put farm workers and consumers at risk. Our broad coalition of partners has been fighting for years to convince the EPA to ban organophosphates. These pesticides have been scientifically-proven to poison farm workers and communities that are near agricultural fields.
The dangers of 7 neurotoxic pesticides have recently become even more alarming. An extensive body of newer scientific evidence has shown that they damage children’s brains and lead to such alarming deficits as reduced IQ, autism, and attention disorders at minimal levels of exposure.
The EPA is currently seeking public comment on these findings. Tell the EPA to ban these 7 neurotoxic pesticides that have been linked to brain damage before the deadline on February 23rd. These pesticides are: chlorpyrifos-methyl, dicrotophos, dimethoate, ethoprop, profenofos, terbufos, and tribufos.
Last November, the EPA finally started the process to ban most uses of one of these dangerous pesticides called chlorpyrifos. That’s good, but more needs to be done. It’s time for the agency to ban organophosphates.
We can’t let these pesticides continue to poison people. The EPA will be accepting comments until February 23. Please urge the agency to ban all uses of these 7 toxic pesticides now.
Sign the petition [http://action.ufw.org/page/s/7op].
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* "Flint Isn’t the Only Place with Racism in the Water" (2016-02-09, talkpoverty.org) [archive.is/yTwmT]
* "Flint: A Tale of Two Cities" (2016-02-11, counterpunch.org) [archive.is/4Nlvb]
* "Flint and East Porterville — Equivalent Public Health Risks; Vastly Different Responses" (2016-02-09, ivn.us) [archive.is/jsXj4] [begin excerpt]: In California, millions of poor rural Californians are forced to drink water contaminated by radioactive radon or arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals. Still more drinking water has unhealthy amounts of nitrate, a contaminant that causes fetal birth defects and that enters aquifers from sewage, animal waste, or fertilizer.
In East Porterville, Orange Cove, and a dozen other California towns near Bakersfield, residents of over 1,500 homes with dry wells survive on water trucks and bottled water deliveries that give residents five gallons of water per day per person, less than 3% of the average daily water allowance for other Americans.
Lest we forget, President Obama, Governor Brown, and California U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer all focused past attention on East Porterville. The president even visited the region, proclaiming his help was on the way. Yet federal funding and California’s budget provide sparse funds to help with water and food relief for those impacted in these third-world conditions — and plans on the books offer real solutions to long-term infrastructure needs and cleanups.
So what we have is a top presidential candidate at the pinnacle of one of the nation’s two political parties, two powerful California senators, and a state government of the same party all failing to address a human catastrophe of major proportions right here in California, even as their party leadership decries the actions of a governor of the opposite political persuasion and call for his removal from office.
Where are candidate Clinton’s aides seeking solutions for the disadvantaged Latino communities of California harmed by unhealthy drinking water supplies, by no water supplies at all and by political inaction? Where are the celebrities and activists of Hollywood, their paparazzi and their fans to cry foul? [end excerpt]
* "Flint crisis could have been avoided for ‘just $100 a day’ – water expert in RT interview" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/qFvGs]
* "Emails Indicate Flint Lead Tests Withheld from Public at Snyder's Command; 'If there was any question as to whether the Snyder administration was more concerned about their public image or public health, this should provide a definitive answer' " (2016-02-11, commondreams.org) [archive.is/xjUfL]
* "Flint water crisis: Mayor, governor spar over timeline to replace lead pipes" (2016-02-18, rt.com) [archive.is/IHqQO]
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* "Significant 5.1-magnitude earthquake strikes Oklahoma - USGS" (2016-02-13, rt.com) [archive.is/89sza]. For the sake of private profit, energy extraction enterprises have destabilized the surface integrity of the Earth's crust.
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* "How Money in Politics Is Killing Rooftop Solar in Nevada" (2016-02-10, ecowatch.com) [archive.is/5P0vS]
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* "Cheese fraud: FDA finds traces of wood pulp, substitutes in Parmesan" (2016-02-17, rt.com) [archive.is/2OI8l]
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* "California methane leak highlights outdated facilities, US-wide emission risks – energy chief" (2016-02-18, rt.com) [archive.is/uP6Dr]
===*===*===
articles recommended by the
NO NUKES! campaign
[StopNuclearDeath.blogspot.com] [nuclear-news.net] [nukeresister.org] [nukefree.org]
* "Citizens group sues California agency over nuclear waste burial" (2015-11-03, Reuters Newswire) [archive.is/GFL4S]
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* "80 Groups Urge Canada: Reject Great Lakes Nuke Dump!" (2016-02-10, caccmi.org) [archive.is/pOWC3]:
Outlining the legal grounds for the Canadian federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna to reject Ontario Power Generation’s bid to bury radioactive wastes right beside Lake Huron, 80 public interest groups from Canada and the US have issued a joint letter as pressure mounts on McKenna to make the right call (.pdf) [http://is.gd/A7kRYp]. McKenna is due to issue her decision on or before March 1, 2016.Thanking McKenna for responding positively to the joint letter sent by NuclearWaste Watch in November (.pdf) [http://is.gd/BN5igV] by extending the timeline for issuing a decision statement on Ontario Power Generation’s proposal to bury up to half a million cubic metres of radioactive wastes beside Lake Huron, the February 8th correspondence restates that the Joint Review Panel (JRP) recommendation (.pdf) [http://is.gd/AFNNBp] that Ontario Power Generation’s proposed Deep Geologic Repository for Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Wastes be allowed to move to licensing was in error, and sets out several examples of how Ontario Power Generation failed to meet the requirements of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA 2012), the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Guidelines, and the JRP Agreement, which are the three legal requirements.
Ontario Power Generation’s proposal was to bury 200,000 cubic metres of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes produced during reactor operations deep underground in a series of underground caverns carved out of limestone. Weeks before the federal hearing began in September 2013, OPG publicly acknowledged its intention to double that amount by adding decommissioning wastes – including radioactive reactor components and contaminated building materials and rubble – through a license amendment after approval based on the initial proposal has been issued.
The proposal faces large and growing public opposition. 184 municipalities, representing more than 22 million people, have passed resolutions opposing OPG’sproposed waste repository [http://is.gd/mHwo5B]. On November 5, 2015, a bipartisan group of six U.S. Senators and 26 U.S. Representatives from a number of Great Lakes states wrote to Prime Minister Trudeau urging him to block the deep geological repository.
“Momentum continues to build against this burial scheme,” said Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist with Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S.A.-based organization Beyond Nuclear, a national and international watchdog on the nuclear power industry.
“McKenna made a good call in November, extending the deadline for the decision statement on the Joint Panel Report, which allowed her and her staff more time to get to know this file,” commented Brennain Lloyd, a spokesperson with Northwatch.
“Now comes the bigger test: rejecting Ontario Power Generation’s nuclear waste burial scheme.”
* [stopthegreatlakesnucleardump.com]
* Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination (CACC) [http://caccmi.org]
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ANIMAL RIGHTS: Save the Whales!
* "Free Willy: Porn site launches fundraiser to save whales" (2016-02-13, rt.com) [archive.is/ZsMoz]
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UNITED STATES FASCISM WATCH
[UnitedStatesFascism.blogspot.com] Documenting the process of fascism and for whom it benefits.More news:[exposefacts.org]
* "The Untouchables: How the Obama administration protected Wall Street from prosecutions; A new PBS Frontline report examines a profound failure of justice that should be causing serious social unrest" (2013-01-23, theguardian.com) [archive.is/TziJ2]
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* "The Koch Brothers Are Now Funding The Bundy Land Seizure Agenda" (2016-02-11, thinkprogress.org) [archive.is/LqtoX]
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* "Arizona State House Says All Invocations Must Mention A ‘Higher Power’ " (2016-02-09, thinkprogress.org) [archive.is/BFAyq]
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* " ‘Muslim’ and ‘Islam’ banned, but ‘Al Qaeda’ and ‘KKK’ OK in Nike’s guidelines for custom sneakers" (2016-02-15, rt.com) [archive.is/atb8p]
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* "Banks Tank: Wall Street Is Keeping Too Many Secrets for Its Own Good" (2016-12-02, wallstreetonparade.com) [archive.is/AkSc7]
* meme: SocDem Porky presents the 3rd position!===*===*===
USA FASCISM: Military State
* "From railguns to AK knockoffs – Pentagon’s weapons shopping cart" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/jmSBB]
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* "Three Tips for Regionally Aligned Soldiers" (2016-02-11, warontherocks.com) [archive.is/8HQFG]
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* "New Docs Link Polluted Drinking Water Supply to Massive US Military Base; Reports obtained by Japan Times show repeated accidents at base that released toxic chemicals into waterways" (2016-12-10, commondreams.org) [archive.is/7aRV9]
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USA FASCISM: Two Party Dictatorship
* "Will Oregon Democrats Kill Third Parties in the State?" (2016-02-10, ivn.us) [archive.is/UShVp]
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* "Federal Court Says N.C. Lawmakers Used Racial Gerrymandering to Draw 2 Congressional Districts" (2016-02-08, ivn.us) [archive.is/6Eh7o]
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* "IRS Grants Nonprofit Status to ‘Dark Money’ Group Founded by Karl Rove; Crossroads GPS gets declared a nonprofit five years after applying, meaning that its donor list can remain private" (2016-02-09, propublica.org) [archive.is/7taVa]
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The Islamic Republic of Iran has a managed democracy like that in the USA, except it is more transparent, and therefore, "more democratic"... their election managers even found that USA-style electronic voting was too rigged, and anti-democratic, despite the fact that the USA uses the machines successfully...
* "Iran Cancels Plans to Hold Feb. Elections Electronically: Spokesman" (2016-02-20, tasnimnews.com) [archive.is/JVaxc]
The authoritarian elements among the Republican Party USA attempted diplomatic manipulations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
* "US Republicans Had Urged Iran to Delay Prisoner Swap, Shamkhani Says" (2016-02-11, tasnimnews.com) [archive.is/O4bo8]
* "Report: Iranian Official Says GOPers Tried To Stall Prisoner Swap For 2016 Election" (2016-02-11, talkingpointsmemo.com) [archive.is/SyHr8]: An Iranian official said "Republican rivals of the current US administration" attempted to stall last month's Iranian-U.S. prisoner swap until the eve of the U.S. presidential election, Tasnim News Agency reported.
According to the semi-official Iranian news outlet, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, made the claims during a speech Thursday at a rally in Yazd, Iran.
"In the course of the talks for exchanging prisoners, the Republican rivals of the current US administration who claim to be humanitarians and advocates of human rights sent a message telling us not to release these people [American prisoners] and continue this process [of talks] until the eve of US presidential elections,” Shamkhani said, according to Tasnim.
"We acted upon our independent resolve and moved the process forward,” Shamkhani said.
The prisoner swap Shamkhani referred to included Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and three other U.S. citizens imprisoned in Iran, who were freed in exchange for the release of seven Iranians.
The swap was negotiated alongside the White House's nuclear deal with Iran, and the prisoners were released just before the economic sanctions on Iran were set to lift as part of the nuclear deal.
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* "Message to Congress on Curbing Monopolies" (1938-04-29, President Franklin Roosevelt) [archive.is/mUjp] [begin excerpt]: Unhappy events abroad have retaught us two simple truths about the liberty of a democratic people.
The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascism—ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.
The second truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if its business system does not provide employment and produce and distribute goods in such a way as to sustain an acceptable standard of living. [end excerpt]
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* "Bernie or Hillary?" meme [archive.is/0bCdH]
* "Hillary Sanders? Clinton singing Bernie’s tune on banks, campaign finance" (2016-02-11, rt.com) [archive.is/v1ixy]
* "This Is How Hillary Clinton Gets the Coverage She Wants" (2016-02-09, gawker.com) [archive.is/0SGzJ]
* "Kissinger, Albright and Brzezinski: A guide for Millennials" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/jz4F6]
* "Who is Henry Kissinger?" meme (2016-02-12, TeleSur TV) [archive.is/5HElw]: Henry Kissinger should be in jail, instead Hillary Clinton considers him a friend whose counsel she relies on.* "CLASS WAR: The DNC Just Declared War on Bernie Sanders’ Political Revolution" (2016-02-12, usuncut.com) [archive.is/FHk55]
* "DNC Chair: Superdelegates Exist to Protect Party Leaders from Grassroots Competition; Democratic National Committee chair and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said on Thursday that superdelegates 'exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists' " (2016-02-12, truthinmedia.com) [archive.is/4h0uK], video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=64&v=w5llLIKM9Yc]* "Hillary's Superdelegate Coup Just Confirms to Millennials: The System Is Rigged" (2016-02-10, huffingtonpost.com) [archive.is/7s3XS]
* "After NH Trouncing, Clinton's Delegate Haul Exposes Rigged Electoral System; Nearly 200,000 people call on superdelegates to follow the will of the people, not the whims of Democratic Party elites" (2016-02-11, commondreams.org) [archive.is/Bb3OK]
* "With Support Across Voting Blocs, Sanders Makes History in New Hampshire; Clinton carried only two demographic categories: the very old and the very rich" (2016-02-10, commondreams.org) [archive.is/WrwKR]
* "Despite Stomping Hillary in N.H., Sanders Still Comes Out The Loser in Delegates" (2016-02-10, ivn.us) [archive.is/veXv3]
* "Even if Sanders wins the popular vote, Clinton could still get the nomination; The Democratic party decides its nominee in a massively undemocratic way – and is a ticking time bomb for the party and its voter base if Bernie keeps winning" (2016-02-11, theguardian.com) [archive.is/AJeaM]
* "New Hampshire Students Say They Were Illegally Turned Away From The Polls" (2016-02-09, thinkprogress.org) [http://is.gd/0twOlQ]
* "After Sanders' Big Win in New Hampshire, Establishment Figures Want to Scare You with Superdelegates. Here's Why It's Bullshit" (2016-02-10, pastemagazine.com) [archive.is/hQFNo]
* "The DNC Just Screwed Over Bernie Sanders and Spit in Voters’ Faces" (2016-02-10, usuncut.com) [http://is.gd/WMRWxW]
* "F.E.C. Tells Sanders Campaign That Some Donors May Have Given Too Much" (2016-02-11, nytimes.com) [archive.is/elFvq]
* " ‘Not here for the boys’: ‘Blurred Lines’ model receives torrent of online abuse for Sanders support" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/ytGCu]
Mark Queen writes: Interns rarely, if at all, get paid. They do internships for experience, usually through school. My school does internships, and we don't get paid for it. It still counts as school. He doesn't pay them $15, because it's not a job, BUT he pays them $10.10 an hour. For something they shouldn't even be paid for.. It should be.. If you work you get paid. Your time is worth money. If there is a bonus of credits for school that's a bonus. Why are you selling yourself short. Demand pay. If they won't pay cash go on strike. Gather other interns to join you. Put an end to slave labor.
* "In Fact, Argue Experts, Sanders' Medicare-for-All Numbers "Do Add Up" ; "It's indisputable that single-payer systems in other countries cover everyone for virtually everything, and at much lower cost than our health care system," PNHP co-founder says" (2016-02-12, commondreams.org) [archive.is/ytjkO]* (2016-02-12, Saul Acosta):
☆ATTENTION AMERICANS☆
This coming November the HOUSE OF UNREPRESENTATIVES will have 435 of these MOFOS up for elections. It is our duty and it's expected from all of us BERNIE SANDERS SOLDIERS to send a CLEAR MESSAGE to the scumbags from ESTABLISHMENT POLITICS that we are NOT going to accept anymore the political corruption that exists in both parties. Our voter turn out and our involvement in the political process needs to send a clear and "PISSED OFF" message to the corrupt ESTABLISHMENT POLITICS scum.We must all unite and take NO BULLSHIT from anyone,our REVOLUTION needs to approach this coming elections like if it was WAR for us. The scum from ESTABLISHMENT POLITICS are already attempting to see how they can stop our movement and prevent another one from rising again in the future.
BERNIE SANDERS WILL BE OUR ONE AND ONLY CHANCE TO TAKE BACK THIS COUNTRY FROM THE CORRUPT MOFOS OF ESTABLISHMENT POLITICS.
OUR POLITICAL MOVEMENT WILL MOBILIZE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF VOTERS AND WE NEED TO KEEP THIS REVOLUTION "HUNGRY" FOR MORE AND MORE SOLDIERS.
WE ARE A BEAST OF A REVOLUTION AND WE STILL HAVE MORE UPWARD MOMENTUM TO ACHIEVE. FEED THE REVOLUTION.FEED THE BEAST. WE CANNOT LET GO THIS PASSION FOR EVEN ONE MINUTE. ALL OF US OUR ONE AND WE WILL ENSURE THAT NEVER AGAIN THE TWO PARTY CORRUPT POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THIS COUNTRY TAKES CONTROL OF OUR COUNTRY AGAIN.
BEGIN TODAY,BOYCOTT THE CORPORATE CORRUPT MEDIA. THE YOUNG TURKS ARE MY SOURCE OF ACCURATE INFORMATION.
EVERY CAREER POLITICIAN WHO DOESN'T ENDORSE BERNIE SANDERS PUBLICLY IS IN OUR CHOPPING BLOCKS AND WE ALL PLEDGE TO END THESE MOFOS CORRUPT POLITICAL CAREER.
FEED THE BEAST. HE IS HUNGRY. FEED IT.
REVOLUTION. REVOLUTION.
REVOLUTION
* "Here's What Bernie Sanders Actually Did in the Civil Rights Movement" (2016-02-11, motherjones.com) [archive.is/Qx0t9]* "Celebrated Photographer: Yes, That Is Bernie Sanders. Time Magazine Is Lying" (2016-02-12, dailykos.com) [archive.is/rs3Ms]
* "Civil Rights Hero John Lewis Slams Bernie Sanders" (2016-02-11, motherjones.com) [archive.is/3bMN2]
* "John Lewis Shuts Down Bernie Sanders’ Civil Rights Activism in Just a Few Words" (2016-02-12, atlantablackstar.com) [archive.is/mpCH2], being that the real story is that John Lewis knowingly lied, why would the Atlanta Black Star produce such a headline that lends credence to this man's lies?Photo shown here is of the press conference where John Lewis unveiled his revisionist "history", alongside him are the Leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus (yes, including the "White" African-American standing there).
* Photo [archive.is/v6iSD] showing "Civil Rights Hero" John Lewis alongside Bernie Sanders during the celebratory gathering in Selma for the same-titled motion picture.
* "John Lewis said he knew the Clintons in the civil rights era, but he didn’t always make that claim" (2016-02-11, hotair.com) [archive.is/J69xc]:Poor Bernie Sanders. The guy can’t seem to catch a break. First the Congressional Black Caucus mostly endorses Hillary Clinton and then none other than civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis stands up to make a speech saying how he never saw Sanders at any marches supporting black citizens. But he did see the Clintons. From The Hill [archive.is/0tfaQ] [begin excerpt]: “To be very frank, I never saw him, I never met him,” Lewis said during the CBC PAC’s endorsement. I chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for three years, from 1963-1966. I was involved in sit-ins, Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, the March from Selma to Montgomery … but I met Hillary Clinton, I met President Clinton.” As he spoke, someone in the crowd could be heard repeatedly saying “uh oh” and “tell it” as Lewis made his points. [end excerpt]
Well, you don’t get much more of a living authority on the civil rights era than Lewis, so I guess that’s that, eh? Or maybe not. We received a tip about a rather fascinating book which everyone may want to rush out and have a look at. It’s an older volume, but it was written by Janis F. Kearney, who served as the Presidential Diarist to President Bill Clinton from 1995 – 2001. The book is titled Conversations: William Jefferson Clinton : from Hope to Harlem.
The tome contains this interesting section from a chapter on John Lewis. Here’s how it starts, with a bit of emphasis added: "The first time I heard of Bill Clinton was in the early ’70s. I was living in Georgia, working for the Southern Poverty Law organization, when someone told me about this young, emerging leader in Arkansas who served as attorney general, then later became governor."
Just a moment ago he was talking about his work from 1963-1966 when he had never met Sanders, but had met the Clintons. But he apparently told Bill’s diarist that he’d never heard of him until the early seventies. And mind you… that’s just when he heard of him. When did they actually meet? The chapter continues.
"I think I paid more attention to him at the 1988 Democratic Convention, when he was asked to introduce the presidential candidate and took up far more time than was allotted to him. After he became involved with the Democratic Leadership Council, I would run into him from time to time. But it was one of his aides, Rodney Slater, who actually introduced us in 1991 and asked me if I would support his presidency."
So he had “run into him” from time to time and was finally introduced in 1991. It’s also worth noting that there is still zero mention of Hillary. If he had known her and not her famous husband, it seems like it would have come up in the conversation by now. But back to the question of dates, I’m not a history expert and math isn’t my strong suit, but I think 1991 was considerably after the march on Selma… possibly by almost 30 years. Further, Lewis has always had his finger on the pulse of black leaders who were in tune with the history and progress of civil rights. Perhaps some of them knew Bill and Hillary instead?
"Rodney gets the credit for convincing me that Bill Clinton was “the man,” when he told me all he had done in Arkansas to help change the layout of that state. In the summer of 1991, I hosted a breakfast for him in the Rayburn building. Congressmen Mike Espy and Bill Jefferson were there. The three of us were trying to convince the Democratic Black Caucus to endorse Clinton. Most Northern members didn’t know him and wasn’t very interested. Only a few members of the black Caucus came to the breakfast, but those of us there had a wonderful discussion. Several staff people came from different offices, and they all came back to me later to say how wonderful he was.
"What was so striking about Bill Clinton was that here was a governor and a presidential candidate, and he actually made you feel as if he knew he needed you. He was warm, engaging, and comfortable with the African American audience. We literally began to feel he was one of us. The people there were amazed to see this white Southerner so comfortable around blacks."
We’re talking about two famous individual who Congressman Lewis clearly stated had been involved with the civil rights movement dating back to the sixties. And yet when he was introducing Bill around in 1991 the other members of the Black Caucus were “amazed” that this southern white man was so comfortable around blacks? How amazing could it be if he’d been out there working on civil rights for the past thirty years? And if his wife was such an integral part of that noble effort, wouldn’t she have even merited a mention?
Somebody might want to ask the Congressman about this if they run into him.
* (2016-02-12, Adam Clayton Powell) [archive.is/6Tarw]: This is what's wrong with politics today. I endorsed Hillary Clinton for President a long time ago but Congressman and Civil Rights icon John Lewis had no business implying Bernie Sanders had lied about being there during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s: "I never saw him. I never met him." Well maybe you didn't see EVERYONE who marched, maybe you didn't meet EVERYONE who was there because Bernie Sanders was obviously there 50 years ago. And by the way, I'm a big John Lewis fan and again a Hillary Clinton supporter but what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. And this was definitely wrong on John Lewis part. It's why so many people are turned off by the "establishment", the political machine. Argue on the merits, discuss the issues; don't throw baseless accusations at legitimate candidates to try and win some votes.
* The belief that the following photo shows Bernie Sanders at a famous march with Dr. M. L. King during 1965 at Selma has been debunked (snopes.com) [archive.is/3U3ou], (washingtonpost.com) [archive.is/btcpx].
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* "Reality Check for Democrats: Would Martin Luther King Be Supporting Bernie?" (2016-02-11, commondreams.org) [archive.is/pZSZu]
* "Bernie Sanders Is Smart to Keep His Mouth Shut About Israel; The U.S. presidential candidate has the Democratic progressive vote in his pocket and is wise not to reveal that, on the Middle East, he stands more to the right than his fans would like him to" (2016-02-08, haaretz.com):
Don’t get me wrong. There’s probably nothing I’d rather hear now than Bernie Sanders, the first Jew to be a serious contender for the presidency, discuss his views on U.S. policy toward Israel at a time when the relationship between their leaders is colder than a frosty February New Hampshire evening.
I’d especially love to hear what he thinks of Netanyahu’s latest demonstration of chutzpah - stating that if Israel isn’t satisfied by the new American military aid proposal, he’ll simply put off signing it - and what kind of a deal Bibi should expect from a President Sanders.
Unfortunately, there is no reason to expect that Sanders is going to break his silence when it comes to Israel - and the Middle East as a whole - anytime soon. Not when keeping quiet has worked extremely well for him so far.
Throughout his political career, and certainly over the course of his presidential campaign, Sanders has always been focused like a laser beam on his primary issues - economic injustice as embodied by the robber-baron billionaires and a need for a “revolution,” themes he’s been sounding since he first ran for mayor of Burlington, Vermont.
On the national stage, Sanders has never claimed to be a big foreign policy maven and there’s never really been a political upside among his constituency in stressing his Jewishness (not that he needs to with his Brooklyn accent and “New York values” or personal connection to Israel). There is no significant Jewish or evangelical pro-Israel constituency to appeal to in Vermont, and the rugged New England individualist ethos New Hampshire, the next primary state, embodies a wide streak of isolationism. Those who have scoured his congressional record have found almost no evidence of statements about Israel on the floor of the Senate or the House of Representatives.
If, in the past, Sanders referred to his time volunteering on a kibbutz, it was to elaborate on the formation of his socialist ideas, not to demonstrate any personal attachment to the Jewish state.
The fact that he was loathe to disclose the name of the kibbutz where he volunteered was merely part of a package - the Jewish state has never been something Sanders visibly enjoys discussing. In describing the reaction to Haaretz’s revelation last week of the kibbutz’s name, location and Stalinist history, one commentator noted that “finding the kibbutz he lived in 50 years ago” has brought him “nothing but trouble.”
Newspaper clipping: Bernie Sanders' 1990 interview to Haaretz's Yossi Mellman.
Bernie Sanders In 1988 On "Reprehensible" Israeli Violence Against Palestine -
In this appearance he called “the sight of Israeli soldiers breaking the arms and legs of Arabs” during the first intifada “reprehensible.” He added that “the idea of Israel closing down towns and sealing them off is unacceptable” and said that the United States, which is “pouring billions of dollars into arms and into other types of aid in the Middle East,” should use its clout to “demand that these countries sit down and talk about a reasonable settlement.”
His bottom line: “I believe in two simple principles. Number one, Israel has a right to exist in peace and security. The Palestinians are entitled to a state of their own with full political and economic power. That's the broad view that I hold and I will do everything that I can to make that happen.”
At the time, supporting a Palestinian state was a controversially far-left position to take - Jackson’s position in favor of one put him at odds with the then-establishment candidate Al Gore.
What appears to have been the turning point in the silencing of Sanders when it comes to Israel was the famously tempestuous town meeting in Cabot, Vermont during the 2014 Gaza war.
skip - Bernie Sanders town hall gives US party line when confronted re: #gaza
When laying out his position there, he tried to hit the usual balance of finding fault on both sides. After saying that Israel’s extensive bombing of UN institutions in Gaza was “terribly, terribly wrong” he countered that condemnation by pointing out, “On the other hand – and there is another hand – you have a situation where Hamas is sending missiles into Israel – a fact – and you know where some of those missiles are coming from. They’re coming from populated areas; that’s a fact. Hamas is using money that came into Gaza for construction purposes – and God knows they need roads and all the things that they need – and used some of that money to build these very sophisticated tunnels into Israel for military purposes.”
That’s when all hell broke loose. Sanders famously told anti-Israel hecklers to “shut up” and indicated he might call in police to calm things down. He then tried to pivot the conversation from Hamas to ISIS, sparking even more loud disdain and angry interruptions. “I have been working on it for the last 50 years. I’m sorry, I don’t have the magic answer. This is a very depressing and difficult issue.” he said. “This has gone on for 60 bloody years, year after year… If you’re asking me if I have the magical solution, I don’t, and you know what, I doubt very much that you do.”
It was a red flag that the progressive base to whom Sanders has broad appeal in his economic message had moved left of him when it came to Israel.
And so, when pushed during press interviews to address Israel, he has dutifully hit his talking points, which are fairly indistinguishable from Clinton’s or Obama’s, and impressively consistent over more than two decades: 1. It’s depressing. 2. We need a two-state solution. 3. I’m not crazy about the leadership on either side. 4. The United States needs to use its clout to push for peace.
And then he moves on as quickly as possible without laying out in detail what he would do as president to change the situation, and how that would be different from moves by any of his rivals.
Sanders and his campaign strategists have clearly made a decision that it is a lose-lose proposition for him to do so. Sanders has no desire to try to compete with Hillary Clinton for the pro-Israel Democratic financial support. There’s no need to attack her since there are plenty of others doing the work for him- from leftist criticism for being too cozy with pro-Israeli supporters like Haim Saban, and from the right for her association with Obama’s policies and the often kooky and disturbing advice of her advisors, as revealed in the recent court-ordered email dumps.
The one time Sanders took the lead on an Israel-related matter was a year ago, when he was the first member of Congress to declare that he would be deliberately absent from Netanyahu's controversial speech to a joint session of Congress laying out his case against the Iran deal. But that was about the Israeli prime minister’s disrespect for the White House, not a policy statement.
Overall, the Sanders camp has decided that silence is golden at a time when he has much of the Democratic progressive wing in his pocket. There is no reason for him, they figure, to risk alienating the crowds of enthusiastic progressive supporters who are “Feeling the Bern” by reminding them of an issue on which it seems he is much closer to the “establishment” than they are - and would probably like him to be.
* "After Sanders' Kibbutz Past Revealed, Right-wing Critics Blast His 'Stalinist Past' ; 'Bernie Sanders wasn’t there because he liked Israel,' Frontpage Magazine accuses after Democratic candidate's stay at Kibbutz Sha'ar Ha'amakim revealed by Haaretz" (2016-02-06, haaretz.com) [archive.is/g6saH]
===*===*===
USA FASCISM: State Media Watch
Documenting propaganda issued by the monopolist media and members of the state security regime that uphold the economic dictatorship, imperialist wars, and the "New Jim Crow" regime [mediamatters.org]
* " 'Rowdy Celebrations': Thousands of Broncos Fans Tear Up Denver After Super Bowl...NOT Called Rioters or Thugs! Why!!" (2016-02-11, thegedsection.com) [archive.is/2zFjr]
* " 'First They Came For The Rich': Michael Savage Predicts Bernie Sanders Will Start Killing Americans" (2016-02-11, rightwingwatch.org) [archive.is/rsABk], retitled "Savage: Sanders Will Use Street Gangs for Communist Killing Spree" (2016-02-13, patheos.com) [archive.is/KhWwx].
* "Alex Jones: Obama Murdered Justice Scalia And Donald Trump Is Next" (rightwingwatch.org) [http://is.gd/z7u0Xm]
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USA FASCISM: Artificial Poverty and Starvation
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* "Welfare Drug Tests In Tennessee Are Coming Up Pretty Close To Empty" (2016-02-09, thinkprogress.org) [archive.is/bM0xg]
===*===*===
WORLD FASCISM WATCH
Documenting the global economic dictatorship
* "Soros: 'Putin aims at EU disintegration, threat from Russia bigger than from jihadi attacks' " (2016-02-11, rt.com) [archive.is/nulf2]
* "The Guardian Hits Rock Bottom: 'Putin Is a Bigger Threat to Europe Than ISIS'The Guardian gives George Soros a platform to spew his predictable bile" (2016-02-14, by Riley Waggaman) [http://is.gd/w6fa2a]
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* " ‘Acts of terror’: HSBC faces lawsuit over laundering of Mexican drug money" (2016-02-11, rt.com) [archive.is/wNluQ]
* " ‘Captured regulators, impunity behind HSBC's decision to keep HQ in London’ – experts" (2016-02-17, rt.com) [archive.is/wqGQE]
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* "RBS gets £1bn in tax breaks for funding Harry Potter" (2016-02-17, rt.com) [archive.is/PN3bQ]
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* "Financiers linked to George Soros donate to Kasich campaign" (2016-02-13, rt.com) [archive.is/c1nxA]
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* "Keiser: Deutsche Bank ‘technically insolvent’, running a ‘ponzi scheme’ " (2016-02-14, rt.com) [archive.is/UwxTE]
===*===*===
WORLD FASCISM WATCH: Weapons for a New World Order
* " 'Super polymer' can change shape with body heat, lift 1000x its own weight" (2016-02-14, rt.com) [archive.is/weBzl]
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* "Lens 10x thinner than human hair could revolutionize smartphones, cameras, eyeglasses" (2016-02-14, rt.com) [archive.is/yjVAJ]
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* "Monsanto Larvicide, Not Zika Virus, True Cause Of Brazil's Microcephaly Outbreak: Doctors" (2016-02-14, techtimes.com) [archive.is/0FoBM]
* "First case of Zika identified in Alabama as it emerges virus has now spread to 20 U.S. states and DC" (2016-02-10, dailymail.co.uk) [archive.is/s0cgW]
* "Zika found in fetus may prove link between virus and severe brain defect – study" (2016-02-11, rt.com) [archive.is/AbWAk]
* "Zika virus linked to miscarriages in two US women – CDC" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/PI9qc]
* "60% increase in week: Over 5,000 pregnant women in Colombia infected with Zika" (2016-02-13, rt.com) [archive.is/CEHWW]
* "Hawaii declares health emergency to fight mosquitoes carrying Zika, dengue fever" (2016-02-13, rt.com) [archive.is/sd5P0]
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WORLD FASCISM WATCH: #OPDeathEaters[WorldFascists.blogspot.com]
* "Mysterious teen ‘suicide clusters’ spark federal investigation in Silicon Valley" (2015-02-18, rt.com) [archive.is/dQNnZ]
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* "16 since 2007: Another shoe containing human foot washes up along Pacific Northwest coast" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/zSYVp]. International waters are a refuge for predators, and those whose wealth allows access to international waters, or to the waterways generally, may themselves be guilty of many acts which belie their psychological perversions.
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* "Kim vs Kim: Kardashian Kimoji challenged by N Korea leader’s emojis" (2016-02-13, rt.com) [archive.is/2ALqE]. The culture of sexual exploitation is glamorized by a capitalist. The following article describes an attempt to bring attention to this capitalist, using the DPRK.
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information collected by the
SOLANO PEACE, JUSTICE, AND FREEDOM COALITION
[SolanoPeaceJustice.blogspot.com], for justice, dignity and human rights, and an end to the USA's endless wars, in harmony with Principle 1 & 6 of International Law [archive.is/tmncz], the 5 protocols of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) [archive.is/LhUTj], and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [archive.is/U1Ota].
* "The U.S. Military Suffers from Affluenza; Showering the Pentagon with Money and Praise" (2016-02-11, by William J. Astore, introduction by tomdispatch.com) [archive.is/dbdMO]
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* "After 'Whipping Up Myth of Russian Threat,' NATO Approves New Fighting Force; NATO 'aggravating tensions' with new deployment of thousands to Russian border" (2016-02-10, commondreams.org) [archive.is/VoRKa]
* "Russia-NATO relations have fallen to new Cold War level – Russian PM" (2016-02-13, rt.com) [archive.is/CXq1i]
* "What Medvedev never said: Reuters misquotes Russian PM on ‘new world war’ " (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/nFLRr]
* "US merely creates impression it perceives Russia as threat – FM spox Zakharova to Anissa Naouai" (2016-02-17, rt.com) [archive.is/aRgpI]
* "6 Reasons Not to Reboot the Cold War; Back to a future we really need to leave behind" (2016-02-09, otherwords.org) [archive.is/gjcOT] [begin excerpt]: The Pentagon budget unveiled this week calls for quadrupling spending on efforts to counter Russia. The money would move more troops, tanks, and artillery into position near the Russia border. This last Obama budget would also fund another installment in a $1 trillion and 30-year plan to “modernize” our nuclear arsenal with new land-based missiles, bombers and submarines.
If Congress supports the White House’s request, this budget would have our country spending more, adjusting for inflation, than we did during most of the Cold War. The Republican-controlled Congress wants to add even more. [end excerpt]
* "Whither the New World Order?" (2016-02-10, by Ali Wayne) [archive.is/6R8RN], written by an affiliate of the USA State Department in support of unrestricted war against "rogue states" (like Russia).
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* " ‘Uphold international law’? Nope, it’s been cut from UK ministers’ rulebook" (2016-02-11, rt.com) [archive.is/ExbrG]
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* " ‘Hawks let loose’: Drone warfare ‘lowers killing threshold,’ study claims" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/C0XXu]
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* "Preserve Do-No-Harm for Military Psychologists: Coalition Responds to Department of Defense Letter to the APA" (2016-02-08, counterpunch.org) [archive.is/u8jI0]
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* "Rumors Persist That The CIA Helps Export Opium From Afghanistan; Unconfirmed rumors persist that the CIA is helping export opium, or at least prefers to “manage” Afghanistan's opium trade rather than fight it. Who profits?" (2015-09-19, mintpressnews.com) [archive.is/ubS2b]
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* "Robin Hood neuroscientist behind Sci-Hub research-pirate site talks to RT" (2016-02-14, rt.com) [archive.is/JXrY5]
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* "Total Bern? Sanders lays smackdown on Kissinger and Clinton, moderator gasps" (2016-02-12, rt.com) [archive.is/IdzVf], attached videos [https://youtu.be/WXB4xXhDVMQ] [https://youtu.be/fCjQbTEuoDU]: Given his pacifist background, Democratic senator Bernie Sanders’ ability to be commander-in-chief is still under scrutiny. But a conflict the 74 year old has no qualms about discussing is the Vietnam War - drawing a gasp of “Oh God” from a Democratic debate moderator Thursday.
Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff were making history by being the first female duo to handle a presidential debate.
One of the hosts couldn’t help but sigh once the ill-fated Vietnam war campaign, fought to contain communism, was broached. No amount of coughing into her microphone could disguise it.
During the debate - where many viewers found it hard to differentiate the candidates’ policies - former anti-war activist Sanders rolled out the V-word.
Discussing foreign policy on PBS News Hour, Sanders zeroed in on rival Clinton’s apparent pride at getting a great big pat on the back by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
More than 40 years after the doomed military campaign ended, uttering the words ‘Vietnam War’ can still provoke a winch from some Americans.
Which is probably why, when Sanders brought up the conflict and Kissinger’s role in destabilising the region, the moderator was caught off guard.
Kissinger is a Nobel Peace Prize winner; an amazing feat given he backed the secret bombing of Cambodia and effectively paved the way for a murderous dictator to take over.
Speaking about Kissinger’s apparent support for Hillary Clinton, Sanders let rip: “I find it rather amazing, as I happen to believe that Henry Kissinger was one of the most destructive Secretaries of State in the modern history of this country.”
“I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend. I will not take advice from Henry Kissinger,” the Vermont senator added.
“Kissinger’s actions in Cambodia when the United States bombed that country… created the instability for Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to come in, who then butchered some 3 million innocent people - one of the worst genocides in the history of the world. Count me in as somebody who will not be listening to Henry Kissinger.” Ouch.
Clinton attempted to fire back, saying she listened to “a wide variety of voices” when assessing foreign policy.
She also launched a defence of her predecessors, saying Kissinger’s relationship with Chinese leaders is “incredibly useful”.
The internet has not quite settled on who won the debate, though.
But the advice for Clinton is to get some ice for those third-degree burns.
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* "US, NATO ‘very nervous’ about Corbyn’s disarmament plans – reports" (2016-02-14, rt.com) [archive.is/zd6NN]
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* "Defense Wins Championships (War profiteering bleeds budgets and People)" (2016-02-17, by Raymond Nat Turner) [archive.is/tXUqc], more from the poet at [upsurgejazz.com/upsurgehome.html]:
I.
Enough ale the color of
Leaded water in Flint to
Flood the Lower Ninth Ward
Enough Bud brewed to drown
Governments in bathtubs
Enough melted cheese to sink
Manhattan multiple times
Enough pizzas to feed every
Occupy, springing up 2011, for a week
Enough chips to stretch from
Earth to Uranus and back again
Enough heartburn to backlog
Every emergency room still open
Enough gas to forget about fracking;
and power an armada of nuclear subs
Enough bullshit to flow Brooklyn Bridge
to Golden Gate Bridge and back again,
Pausing “Send In The Clowns—“
$election 2016—2/4 Dance where a dime’s
Difference resides in war dancers,
Bailout engineers, extraordinary renderers,
Enhanced interrogators, collateral damagers,
Drone devotees—Guantanamo groupies!
thickness of a Trump card separates
Warheads of a Cruz missile from those of a
Golda-plated Iron Lady plundering Haiti—
Grieving families still feel the Bern of Boeing’s
Products and learn Northrup-Grummond’s another
Name for death…
Grandiose spectacle of declining empire, the
Warfare state, causes chickens to tremble in terror
This time of the year
thinking of their wings, breasts, other body parts
stuffing the Colonel’s buckets; chickens shudder
at being stuffed in pepperoni holes of cops, klan,
militia and poor black, brown, and white
Working-class men in Couch Potato Pose
for four hours…
A week deep into African-
American History Month—shortest
Month of the year, and another
Newton leads Panthers on Ohlone Land,
Golden State, world stage, this Sunday—
Not the 9.0 earthquake, 1960s…
He entertains endless babbling about
Arms, “arm-strength—“armed self-defense
Stuffed behind class war’s line of scrimmage
like a failed fourth and one run; he addresses
chatter of “moving the chains—“Removing the
Chains is out of bounds, like a receiver failing to tap
dance before the white line…
Pigskin pursuits like opponents clipping, chopping
Black Lives down on streets, are out of bounds—so is
Tackling land, bread, housing and other 10-Points
Panthers played Sudden Death overtime for…
II.
ALERT:
Before Broncos or Panthers wake up,
Before buses caravan from hotels—before
Coin toss—heads 1% wins, tails 99% loses:
Playing field ain’t level, dice are loaded—
Game’s rigged, fix is in:
Fat Cats, too big to fail, stuffed Single Payer, strip-
Sacked schools, jobs, pensions, 4o1Ks, blocked
Housing, threw drinking water, air we breathe for
Losses; bailed-out bull-rushing banksters on quick-
Counts—ran endless, no huddle wars… And 64 people
Own more wealth than all eyes viewing Super Bowl L!
Voting is like talking12th Man, Terrible Towel, Cheese-
head claptrap, rant, rodomontade—until Colts become
Broncos; Jaguars, Panthers; Raiders, Patriots— or some
Slave Phone app is invented for saving the planet,
Saving the working-class masses—February 31st…
We claim we want another world—say it’s
Possible, we can hear it on a clear day, and
can’t wait, and other incredibly beautiful things…
Yet, classmates succumb to cancer and we talk
“transitions,” “home-goings,” avoiding the
hermeneutics of suspicion, not outliving our
parents—our children not outliving us…
We claim, “all lives matter” knowing some
Have never mattered—and never will…
We say, “Save the children,” watching fifty-four
Schools closed, twenty-three prisons built—
celebrating life, slicing 60% of the pie for death
We say, “organic,” instead of calling out war-
Poisoned Frankenfood; we say, “mainstream media,”
knowing it’s minority, multibillionaire, big-lie
Head-fixing…
We say, “becoming a police state,” like $4.99
Becomes $5.00— because bald-headed buffoons and
lil’ fellas with funny mustaches are MIA—though 25%
of all humans caged are under stars and stripes; some
are gunned down daily!
We speak truth to power. Yet, power creeps like
Weeds into our lexicon:
“boots on the ground” isn’t a Barney’s blowout
sidewalk sale; “enhanced interrogation” ain’t discourse
on Douglass intersecting Du Bois, in Robeson’s
Cultural Work, or King’s ‘67 Riverside Church speech;
“signature strikes” aren’t ILWU refusals to
Unload South African and Israeli apartheid cargo
“high value targets” ain’t good department store deals
Game planning from the Peoples’ Playbook—
Marching holes in soles, walking out, sitting-in,
Striking, boycotting—meeting more than four corners;
Nurturing the new—paying attention to children in
Chitown, babies in Baltimore, front-liners in Flint and
Ferguson—remembering Occupy, drawing lessons—
putting forehead to history, theory getting us to the
Red Zone—struggle for socialism’s our Super Bowl!
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