| So I guess |
[07 Mar 2007|04:33am] |
So I guess my name's been in the news, or something. And just in case people started googling my name trying to find my blaggg, I just wanted to post something here so people didn't think this was it.
My real blog is at http://wallynotorious.livejournal.com
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| Too much for words |
[20 Feb 2007|12:41pm] |
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Nirvana - "Lithium" |
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( preface )
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_go_su_co/detainees_lawsuits
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that foreign-born prisoners seized as potential terrorists and held in Guantanamo Bay may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts, a key victory for President Bush's anti-terrorism plan.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that civilian courts no longer have the authority to consider whether the military is illegally holding the prisoners — a decision that will strip court access for hundreds of detainees with cases currently pending.
( Rest of the piece )
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| Amnesty International will declare Ehren Watada "Prisoner of Conscience" |
[04 Feb 2007|02:34am] |
USA: War objector’s freedom of conscience must be respected
Pending the trial on Monday 5 February of Ehren Watada over his refusal to participate in the Iraq war, Amnesty International stated that a guilty verdict would be a violation of internationally recognized rights to conscientious objection.
"If found guilty, Amnesty International would consider Ehren Watada to be a prisoner of conscience and call for his immediate and unconditional release", said Susan Lee, Amnesty International’s Americas Programme Director.
Full story: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510242007
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| 5 Years of Infamy: Close Guantanamo! (by Ret. Col. Ann Wright) |
[23 Dec 2006|01:21pm] |
A new article on Common Dreams by my hero Ann Wright, about the 5th Anniversary of the first innocent folks from the invasion of Afghanistan being sent there:
| | | 5 Years of Infamy: Close Guantanamo! | | by Ret. Col. Ann Wright | | | On January 11, 2007, the first detainees from Afghanistan arrived at the prison in the US Naval Base, Guantanamo, Cuba. In the succeeding five years, Guantanamo has symbolized to the world the Bush administration’s abandonment of international and domestic law and the development of a policy of inhumane treatment and the use of torture in military and CIA operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and in an unknown number of secret prisons.
Over 775 detainees have been held in Guantanamo since January 11, 2002. After five years, no Guantanamo detainee has been convicted of a criminal offense. According to an American Forces Information Service News article dated October 17, 2006, “Bush Says Military Commissions Act Will Bring Justice”, the majority of the detainees held in Guantanamo will not face military commissions. “Only detainees who will be charged with law-of war violations and other grave offenses, about 75 detainees, officials estimated, will be subject to the commissions.”
So what has happened to the other 700 detainees during these five years, those that will not be prosecuted by military commissions?
( The rest of the article )
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| Suzanne Swift |
[11 Dec 2006|02:51pm] |
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John Lennon - "Imagine" |
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The U.S. Army is strong-arming Suzanne Swift into taking a deal. Because of the ongoing physcological stress for Suzanne, and for fear of retaliation, she is planning on taking a modified version of the deal some time this week.
Suzanne will spend 30 days in jail, and will have to stay in the Army through January of 2009. These punishments are for her refusing to re-deploy to Iraq, where she had been sexually assaulted by her commander. No punishments have been brought upon her assailants, and no reputable investigation has been conducted into her allegations.
Despite submitting to punishment for refusing to re-deploy, Suzanne refused to sign a statement which would have disavowed the sexual assault she has received in the service.
The campaign to free Suzanne Swift will continue, though it is clear now that merely asking the military or politicians to do the right thing and bring Suzanne swift justice will not be enough. Only our refusal to tolerate this injustice will bring it to a halt.
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| Soldier's Harassment Claim Leads to Court Martial |
[04 Dec 2006|02:57pm] |
Local Sitting Duck reporter Jennifer Zahn Spieler just wrote a piece about Suzanne Swift, mentioning some of our local efforts. It's a great piece! It really highlights how messed up the situation is, and how much worse it keeps getting.
---------------------------------------------
Soldier's Harassment Claim Leads to Court Martial
Run Date: 12/03/06
By Jennifer Zahn Spieler
WeNews correspondent
Suzanne Swift, who refused to redeploy to Iraq after she was sexually harassed by her superiors, has refused a plea bargain. Now she faces a court martial in a case that spotlights problems of sexual impropriety and abuse in the military.
FORT LEWIS, Wash. (WOMENSENEWS)--One month after her case was referred to a Special Court Martial, 22-year-old Army Spec. Suzanne Swift was prepared to strike a plea bargain with military authorities.
According to Swift's mother, Sara Rich, in early November the Army offered Swift an honorable discharge in exchange for an additional 19 months of active-duty service.
Rich says her daughter was on the verge of agreeing to the deal in order to avoid a trial, but balked when the Army asked her to sign a statement claiming she was never sexually harassed. The military now has set a tentative date of Jan. 8 for a special type of court martial that, among other things, restricts punishment to 12 months.
Swift is in trouble with the military for refusing a second deployment to Iraq six months ago. The reason, she claims, is that she was sexually harassed by her superiors while in Iraq and she couldn't stand the thought of going through it again. She is charged with being absent without leave and missing movement.
Swift was arrested last June at her mother's home in Eugene, Ore., after being AWOL from her unit for six months. Swift alleges that she experienced ongoing sexual harassment--such as solicitations for sex and constant sexual banter from her superiors--and was coerced into a sexual relationship with her squad leader. A therapist later diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by the experience after she went AWOL.
The Army disagrees with the therapist's diagnosis. Its own evaluation, conducted at Fort Lewis last July, determined that while she showed signs of stress, it wasn't enough to be full-blown stress disorder.
While in Iraq, Swift says she reported the sexual harassment to her team leader and her equal opportunity representative, but she says nothing was done and one of the perpetrators eventually rotated out to a different assignment.
When Swift returned to Fort Lewis after her deployment, she says her new team leader also sexually harassed her. She complained to her equal opportunity representative again, and an investigation was launched which culminated in the team leader's transfer. He eventually left the military with an honorable discharge.
Tammy Reed, a public affairs specialist at Fort Lewis, says there are proper channels for reporting sexual abuse or harassment within the Army and that Swift's case shows these work properly.
"One allegation was substantiated, and that person was reprimanded, transferred to another unit, and has since left the Army," Reed said. "As to the other two allegations . . . we couldn't find any evidence to substantiate them."
Mother Speaks Out
Since her daughter's arrest, Rich has been publicly speaking out and traveling across the country to raise awareness about Swift as well as what she calls the larger problem of sexual abuse within the military.
One group of activists staged a 10-day vigil in September outside the gates of Fort Lewis. Calling themselves the Swift Action Network, they demanded an honorable discharge for Swift and called on the military to take action to curb sexual abuse within its ranks.
Calling their vigil Camp Suzanne, the number of activists fluctuated between a handful and several dozen, depending on the time of day.
Wally Cuddeford, a 28-year-old U.S. Navy veteran and one of the founders of the Swift Action Network, said the idea for Camp Suzanne came during a Veterans for Peace conference in Seattle last summer, where Rich spoke.
In September, Rich traveled to Washington, D.C., to try to meet with some members of Congress. She came away disappointed in her congressman, Rep. Pete DeFazio of Oregon.
"His office gave us a lot of red tape," Rich said. "And he basically laughed at our petition. I walked away feeling rather humiliated by him."
The petition, which has nearly 6,500 online signatures so far, calls for an honorable discharge for Swift.
A spokesperson for Rep. DeFazio's office said the congressman and Rich had "talked about options available, but we haven't heard back from Ms. Rich about any of those options." Because the office did not have a signed release from Swift, the office made no further information available.
Sexual Harassment in Military Not Uncommon
Swift's experience in the military, as she describes it, may not be uncommon. A survey released in August by the Citadel, a public military college in South Carolina, found that almost 20 percent of female cadets reported that they had been sexually assaulted since enrolling at the college.
The same month, the Associated Press released the results of its investigation of sexual misconduct by military recruiters, finding that more than 100 young women were sexually preyed upon by military recruiters in 2005.
And a report from the U.S. Department of Defense indicates that in calendar year 2005 the U.S. Armed Services received 2,374 reports of cases of sexual assault involving members of the Armed Forces. The report notes that not all of these allegations could be substantiated.
These incidents reflect a lack of acceptance on the part of many that women have now more than ever part of their ranks. There are plenty of people who still think women don't belong in the military, said Ret. Col. Ann Wright, an outspoken supporter of Swift who served in the Army for 29 years. "They think sexual harassment will drive women back out, rather than saying that national service is an obligation of everyone, male and female."
Retired Brig. Gen. Pat Foote was recalled to active duty in 1996 to be vice-chairman of a senior review panel of sexual harassment in the Army created after at least a dozen female trainees were sexually harassed and raped at the Aberdeen proving ground, a U.S. Army facility in Maryland.
"It was an eye-opener. We found that not only was sexual harassment a problem, but sexual discrimination was too," Foote said. "This is a historic problem in any organization in which women are not a critical mass."
About 200,000 women are in active duty in the U.S. military, which translates to about 14 percent of the force, according to the Department of Defense.
'Still a Man's World'
Foote is currently president of the Alliance for National Defense, an organization based in Alexandria, Va., that advocates for women in the military. She says in the current Iraq war, more women are serving than have at any time since World War II.
"Despite the fact that women perform magnificently in the military, it is still a man's world. For every woman, you have six men out there. The occasional woman in that environment does not have a fair shot," said Foote.
Jennifer Zahn Spieler is public affairs editor for the Sitting Duck, an independent newspaper in Washington state.
Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org.
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| Columnist Totally Flips Out Over Qur'an Oath |
[01 Dec 2006|09:35pm] |
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Phil Ochs - "I Ain't Marching Anymore" |
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On Election Day, Minnesota resident and Democrat Keith Ellison won the race for a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. By doing so, he became the first Muslim to be elected to U.S. Congress, as well as the first African-American to be elected to Congress from Minnesota.
Ellison has announced that when he takes the Oath of Office on January 4th, he will perform the swearing in ceremony with the Holy Qur'an instead of the Holy Bible, in accordance with his faith. This decision has ignited a firestorm of criticism from many people who have seriously lost their minds.
Conservative radio host and author Dennis Prager has especially flipped his lid. Claiming the act "undermines American civilization," the incurably batty Prager explains:
"Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don’t serve in Congress."
( The rest of the piece )
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| "Sidewalk Ordinance" About Much More Than Sidewalks |
[26 Nov 2006|02:10pm] |
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music |
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Ward Churchill interview |
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(I wrote this piece about the anti-homeless ordinance being proposed for next month's Works In Progress, but I'll post it here a few days urrly)
Recently, Olympia City Council members Jeff Kingsbury and Doug Mah have co-sponsored proposed revisions to the city ordinances to discourage, what they call, "anti-social behavior" encountered downtown. The proposal would, among other things, make it illegal to sit, lie, vend, or solicit within 6 feet of the edge of a building. The proposal would only take effect within the downtown area, and has exemptions for people with disabilities, people waiting in long lines at businesses, and for people experiencing a medical emergency. Mayor Mike Foutch calls the new ordinance a “more certain tool to get groups of people to move along from in front of businesses or residences or other places where they’ve been harassing passersby and other people.”
But this will not just affect the people who are committing the unwanted behavior. For those for whom the downtown area is home, the proposal is akin to an eviction notice. Having to sit at least six feet out from any business downtown puts one out under the elements. The proposal also outlaws begging for money (or as the proposal puts it, “aggressive panhandling”), an income staple for the homeless.
“Regardless of what's being said, it's going to affect the homeless.” Selena Kilmoyer, volunteer at Bread and Roses downtown, recalled some of the history of the city’s attempts to drive the homeless out of public spaces. “Two years ago, Sylvester Park was a big hub for the homeless, and the State Police, enforcing the wishes of the business owners and others, basically cleared the park of the homeless. Then, they moved to the IT station … and with different techniques, the police drove them out of there too, and onto the sidewalks of 4th Avenue.”
( The rest of the piece )
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| Here's to The Snowman |
[14 Nov 2006|09:00pm] |
Here's wishing Jeff "The Snowman" Monson, anarchist and participant in the Port of Olympia protests this last May, luck in his UFC Heavyweight title fight this Saturday against Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia.
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| Port of Olympia case |
[11 Nov 2006|02:52pm] |
Our trial in the Port of Olympia case has been delayed, again.
I don't have time right now to be writing up a brief on it, so I'll post something from my buddy Phan about it all:
Hi, everyone. I want to give you an update on the case of the Olympia 22 -- the antiwar activists who were arrested at the Port of Olympia, Washington on May 30.
17 of the 22 arrestees had joined their cases to defend themselves from charges of second degree criminal trespass.
At our Oct. 3 pretrial hearing, Judge Susan Dubuisson of Thurston County District Court accepted our right to invoke the "necessity defense" for the trial, which was then set to begin on Nov. 13. The necessity defense allows us to argue that our actions were necessary to prevent greater harm. In this case, the greater harm was sending Stryker vehicles to Iraq, which would subsequently be followed by a massive deployment of soldiers from Fort Lewis to guard permanent military bases in Mosul and continue the illegal and immoral war and occupation of Iraq.
This was a historic precedent, as we were the first defendants in the US to be granted the right to argue necessity in a case involving Iraq War protests.
Last Monday, just one week before our scheduled Nov. 13 trial, Thurston County Deputy Prosecutor Debra Eurich filed a motion to "stay", or postpone, court proceedings so that she could try to get our right to argue necessity revoked in Superior Court. On Nov. 9, Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee granted the stay in order to address Eurich's arguments.
What does this mean for us?
1. Our trial date is now in limbo. It might not even happen until February.
2. We must submit a brief to support our case by Wednesday, Nov. 15. That is, we must show why Judge Dubuisson was right to allow us to argue necessity.
The prosecution has repeatedly attempted to undermine our rights to a fair and speedy trial. Although the prosecutor's office has criticized some of the pro se defendants for not being professional enough, it is ironically the prosecution that has acted unprofessionally by filing papers late or not at all, making contradictory statements before the court, attempting to get one of our lawyers dismissed on
frivolous charges, and obstructing discovery of evidence.
The motion to stay proceedings is just the latest move to derail the Olympia 22. The prosecution waited a month before submitting a writ to review Judge Dubuisson's ruling. Since the writ was submitted so late, the prosecution asked the Superior Court to postpone the trial, which the Court has now granted.
We have less than a week to respond to the prosecution's writ, although she took an entire month. When we asked if she would agree to an extended deadline, she refused.
We had also been making arrangements for expert witnesses to arrive from around the country. Now we have to cancel these arrangements and ask if they can testify at a much later date.
We are disappointed but not defeated. A delay in trial gives us the opportunity to first make our case to the public. We will use the website, www.olympia22.org, to reveal facts relating to the case, counter a lot of misinformation, and provide updates.
We may also be able to get the District Court judge to respond to our motions regarding the Olympia Police Department's destruction of video evidence and the Port of Olympia's selective admission of pro-war demonstrators.
If the Superior Court upholds Judge Dubuisson's ruling, it will strengthen our position. The necessity defense is an important legal right that places more value on justice than on technicality. It allows the jury the opportunity to make the most informed decision.
This is about the Olympia 22. But more importantly, this is about voicing our opposition to the war everywhere... whether it's in the streets, at the Port of Olympia, or in the Courthouse. It's also about empowering activists to continue the struggle and to never give up. Just as the Olympia Port protests of May 2006 was not limited to the 22 of us but was rather a collective effort by hundreds of concerned
local residents, we hope that the community will continue take responsibility for the actions of our leaders and express its opposition with positive action.
We could have easily taken the plea bargain, but we're going all the way to show the world that our actions are necessary and that the actions of the warmakers are criminal.
Thank you for your support. We hope to see you in court, and in the streets.
-Phan Nguyen
Oly 22 defendant
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| The Audacity to Talk About Hope |
[26 Oct 2006|02:47pm] |
This is a piece written by Stacy Bannerman, a friend of an MFSO I met at Camp Casey. I like it a lot, because it's somebody from a very liberal group (MFSO, while I support them doing what they think is best, is about the most liberal (non-radical) group I have ever known to exist), blasting Barack Obama for his failures, as a Senator, in regards to the war and to veterans care.
( Article )
For two years, Doug sought help from the VA, and for two years, the VA stonewalled him every step of the way, refusing his claim, denying him treatment for his severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Depressed and recently divorced, Mr. Barber was finally able to get emergency crisis care, consisting of quarterly counseling and medication, but it was far too little, and much, much too late. He shot himself in the head. The final message on his answering machine said, “If you’re looking for Doug, I’m checking out of this world. I’ll see you on the other side.”
( The rest of the article )
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| Oh, how old actions linger |
[17 Oct 2006|02:45pm] |
Update on Carr v. District of Columbia (J20 Arrests for “Parading Without a Permit”)
Greetings!
I am pleased to report that the lawsuit Carr v. District of Columbia, filed on January 19, 2006, has survived DC’s attempt to dismiss our claims under the Fourth Amendment and DC common law (DC has not yet challenged our claim under the First Amendment), and that the judge has certified the case as a class action lawsuit. In doing so, the judge defined the class as “all persons who (a) were arrested for parading without a permit on the evening of January 20, 2005, in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of the District of Columbia in the area approximately bounded by Columbia Road, 18th Street, and Belmont Road; and (b) may have paraded without a permit, but who committed no other act providing probable cause for custodial arrest.” Under this definition, people who were arrested for parading on this date and in this area, and who engaged in no other acts that would give police legitimate cause to arrest them (such as spray painting, breaking windows, and trashing, or inciting someone else to do such things), will be able to benefit from any relief we can obtain for the class representatives (which could include money, expungement of arrest records, or a court order prohibiting future arrests under similar circumstances).
The judge’s order granting class certification also orders the District of Columbia’s lawyers to deliver information regarding the identities and addresses of arrested people to our legal team. After we receive this information, we will send an official notice to these people to give them information about the case.
Our legal team includes Susan Dunham and Daniel Schember from the law firm Gaffney & Schember, P.C., and Art Spitzer and Fritz Mulhauser of the ACLU National Capital Area chapter. The ACLU is sponsoring this lawsuit, which was also brought on behalf of the DC chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.
Additional information about the case can be found on the ACLU Web site (go to www.aclu-nca.org, click on “Legal Action” at the top, then scroll down to “Police Brutality on Inauguration Day 2005”; there is also a link to the court complaint).
Please help our efforts to reach class members by spreading the word that the case has been certified as a class action and that we will be mailing them an official notice soon. The notice will be sent from the Gaffney & Schember law firm with the words “Notice of Class Action Lawsuit” written on the envelope. Feel free to give this information to Web sites that may be of interest to our class members.
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Please let me know of any changes in your contact information. Thanks!
Best wishes,
Susan Dunham
Counsel for Plaintiffs
Gaffney & Schember, P.C.
1666 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 225
Washington, DC 20009
202/328-2244
dclaw@radix.net (Gaffney & Schember, P.C. & Daniel Schember)
dunham_susan@hotmail.com (Susan Dunham)
(Write “J20 Lawsuit” as the subject for e-mail inquiries.)
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| Letter to the Olympian editor, by some guy from Olympia |
[16 Oct 2006|04:36pm] |
http://www.theolympian.com/208/story/45088.html
"Judge Dubuisson is a liberal extremist"
"What has this county gone to? Judge Susan Dubuisson, obviously a liberal extremist, will allow protesters to use a 'necessity' defense as to why they trespassed on port property.
So, let me get this right: They are going to claim it was necessary to trespass, break the law, to prevent a ship from providing our soldiers equipment needed to protect themselves and others from death.
To make it worse, Judge Dubuisson (it hurts to have to call her a judge) allows them to waste thousands of taxpayer dollars to have these other liberal extremists, most likely Evergreen grads, claim they have all the right in the world to violate state law because they disagree with the final result.
Once the homeless find this case, I cannot wait for them to burglarize houses and claim it was necessary to survive - they had to steal food and clothing, and of course beer, all in the name of necessity.
Why is Dubuisson (I cannot call her a judge, too much respect and honor associated with the name) assisting the defense, giving them options, telling them what to do? That is right, liberal extremists work together.
If the war in Iraq is wrong, and you are committing crimes to stop it, Dubuisson is wrong. What can we do to stop her?"
Mike Brooks, Olympia
To Mike Brooks, Olympia:
I've never gone to Evergreen.
Fuck Evergreen.
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| Just heard on Democracy Now |
[13 Oct 2006|09:16am] |
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Iraq war resister Sgt. Ricky Clousing has been sentenced to three months of confinement for going absent without leave. Sgt. Clousing went AWOL after returning from Iraq in April 2005.
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| More on Seattle arrests - Legal help needed |
[08 Oct 2006|03:14pm] |
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Public listserv e-mail from one of the arrested:
Comrades, friends,
I got out of jail around 10:30 last night. A friend posted bail for me. It's a really screwed up situation; luckily, there are a few dozen witnesses and photographic and video evidence showing that I never did anything. Simply, I was targeted with two others for our political beliefs and thrown in jail on trumped-up charges.
We'll be setting up a legal defense fund very shortly. I do need a lawyer though and hopefully can get one by my Monday appearance in court at 2:30pm at King County.
Thanks for the support and solidarity.
Brendan
This account has indeed been set up now. Given the severity of these charges (Between the three arrestees, there are two counts of obstucting a public officer, one of resisting arrest, and one is under investigation for possible assault), it is imperative that they get some financial support. Their legal fund coordinator is Jeff Berryhill. He can be reached at 360-943-5344, at 253-334-8781, or at flag3legaldefense@yahoo.com. Donations can be sent to 910 4th Ave, Olympia, WA 98506.
Thank you all for everything!
P.S. I found out after my last post that, after the incident, when the RCP just kept going on with their event in the midst of this outrage, they actually had a speaker come up to the stage to talk about the danger of police brutality. This speaker, whose name I do not have, condemned police brutality without making even the slightest mention to this incident of police terrorism which had just happened, right in front of everyone, and which the RCP organizers had tried to divert everyone's attention from as it was happening. Fuckin' unreal.
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| World Can't Wait sells out anarchists at Seattle rally |
[06 Oct 2006|04:46pm] |
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music |
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June Carter and Johnny Cash - "Jackson" |
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On Thursday, anti-Bush rallies organized by a group calling itself "The World Can't Wait" were held across the country. The World Can't Wait is a front group for the Revolutionary Communist Party, a Maoist group led by so-called "Chairman" Bob Avakian.
While it is my belief that WCW rallies are held to promote their own organization, and not to do anything to support the causes they claim to support, many people still participate in these rallies hoping to accomplish some good through them. I have worked with such groups in the past, in the hopes of accomplishing good despite ideological differences.
Such was the case on Thursday, with a contingent of anarchists from the Olympia area. While it is reported that this contingent originally wanted to follow and heckle the RCP march, they later chose against doing that, and instead chose to be a positive presence in their own right, not trying to act as though they were RCP members, but not trying to work against them, either.
The following incident is reproted thusly by a witness on Seattle Indymedia
"The incident with the police was not anticipated, at least not by us. The encounter began a little after noon when two Seattle bike-cops approached a group of around 15 anarchists with a red and black flag and then unexpectedly confiscated the flag, which had been supported on someone's back. While demanding to know why the flag was taken, the assembled anarchists were told that if they wanted it back that the owner would have to go along and have a talk with the police. Many in the group felt this to be an unsatisfactory answer and they followed the police with the flag back to a backup cruiser that had just been summoned. At this point, about a minute from the time of the flag confiscation, upwards of fifty civilians, both anarchist and not, and a few mainstream news-cameras, had circled the police as they retreated. Ten to twenty police had also arrived on the scene. The assembled protesters made demands for a return of the flag with civility until one cop, unprovoked, slammed his bike against the arm of one of the protesters. That person yelled, "Hey, don't touch me asshole!" and the cop abruptly parked his bike and jumped on the man."
So what was WCW's response to this blatant attack on the anarchists, and on all of us that care about the freedom of speech?
Even worse than silent assent. WCW rally organizers fought to keep other activists and journalists back, away from the scene. They prevented people from coming to help the anarchists, or even to watch and document what was going on. They have not issued any statements in solidarity with the arrested, and have not even offered to help the arrested and their associates with any court support, material or otherwise.
While WCW has long since shown its colors as a front group for Bob Avakian's RCP, it has now also clearly shown itself to be a front group for the Seattle Police Department (whether by fact or simply by their actions), and until and unless steps are taken to correct this injustice by the WCW/RCP people who call themselves "leftists" and "anti-war", WCW/RCP should from now on be treated as just such a police front group.
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| Benefit for Watada and Swift |
[06 Oct 2006|10:40am] |
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mood |
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 cowboy |
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June Carter Cash - "Temptation" |
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South Sound Project for Military Resistance and Justice, and Veterans for Peace #109 present...
An Evening In Solidarity
A Benefit to support war resisters Lt. Ehren Watada and Spc. Suzanne Swift
Friday, October 20th, 7-11 pm
Eagles Ballroom 805 4th Ave E. (Downtown Olympia)
$10-$30 sliding scale
Tickets available at Traditions Cafe
Contact sspmrj@yahoo.com or (360)480-2357
Come join us for an evening of music, refreshments, and conversation. With enlightening reports from those within the peace movement, a silent auction, delicious hors d'oeuvers and Olympia's famous Fish Tale Ale, this is a night not to be missed! All proceeds benefit the campaigns for Suzanne Swift and Ehren Watada (both of whom are facing upcoming trials). We are a non-profit charity working to promote and foster friendships and understanding between the South Sound peace movement and those brave soldiers seeking solidarity.
South Sound Project for Military Resistance and Justice is a 501C(3) tax-exempt public charity (through Media Island) and the cost of admission or donation is tax-deductible.
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| Bush-Bashing comic gets booted |
[06 Oct 2006|09:53am] |
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music |
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Reese Witherspoon as June Carter - "Juke Box Blues" |
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http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2006/10/time-warner-behind-the-bushbashing-blackout-at-the-apollo.php
Time Warner Gives Bush-Bashing Comic the Hook
By Jeff Bercovici
Is Time Warner getting into the censorship business? A host of Showtime at the Apollo claims he got the hook for angering top brass at the media megaconglomerate with jokes about President George W. Bush.
Comic Paul Mooney (most recently of Chappelle's Show) was midway through a taping of the famed Harlem theater's weekly variety show when the plug was abruptly pulled. Mooney claims the show's producer, Suzanne de Passe, told him material in his monologue had offended unnamed officials from Time Warner, whose chairman, Richard Parsons, heads the Apollo Theater Foundation's board of directors and is among the country's most prominent black Republicans. De Passe was traveling and unreachable for comment, but a Time Warner spokeswoman called the story "ridiculous." "It's absolutely untrue" that the company had anything to do with the incident, she says, noting that Parsons was out of the country at the time.
Mooney, however, seems certain who shut him down. "They wanted me out of there, the Republicans, the Time Warner people," he says. "They said I was Bush bashing, and it was hatred. I felt like I was in Iran or Cuba or somewhere."
After everything that's been said about Bush at this point, how did Mooney manage to provoke such a harsh response? "I talked about his little drunk daughters, Gin and Juice," he says, referring to Jenna and Barbara Bush. "I talked about his mother, who looks like the man on the oatmeal box." Mooney also did a bit on how the letters in Bush's name can be manipulated to produce the number 666, proving Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's recent claim that Bush is the devil.
"The audience went crazy for that," he says.
But whether the jokes were funny or in good taste is irrelevant, he adds. "My point is ever since 9/11, we lost all our rights. They're practicing on the minorities, but when they get good at it they're going to do it to the white folks."
Funnily enough, Mooney was filling in for Whoopi Goldberg, who had hosted the show's previous eight episodes. Goldberg faced her own Bush-bash-backlash in 2004, when she made a sexual double entendre on the president's name during a Kerry-Edwards fundraiser, prompting Slim-Fast to fire her as its spokeswoman. Mooney says he called Goldberg after the taping was scrubbed, "and she said, 'Welcome to the club.'"
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I've decided Paul Mooney (who I recognized as being from Bamboozled) fucking kicks ass. I especially enjoyed this quote of his:
"They're practicing on the minorities, but when they get good at it they're going to do it to the white folks."
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| Gif of the Day |
[05 Oct 2006|04:28pm] |
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Otis Redding - "A Change Is Gonna Come" |
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This makes me laugh relentlessly, and sends shivers down my spine all at the same time.
I'd love to speak with someone who does not believe that FOX News is an unapologetic propaganda ministry for the Republican Party, and hear what they think about things like this.
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| From today's Daily Olympian |
[04 Oct 2006|02:28pm] |
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Photo by Toni L. Bailey
Port protesters win right to prove acts were justifiable
By Christian Hill of the Olympian
OLYMPIA - Seventeen people who will stand trial next month for allegedly trespassing on secured Port of Olympia property during a raucous May 30 protest got an early victory Tuesday.
Thurston County District Court Judge Susan Dubuisson ruled that she'll allow them to use a "necessity" defense in attempting to justify their actions in trying to stop a military shipment from leaving the Port of Olympia.
But they won't be allowed to use the defense as a tool to put the ongoing war before a jury, Dubuisson stressed during the three-hour court hearing on a flurry of pretrial motions filed by defendants.
"This trial is not about whether or not the war in Iraq is illegal," she said.
The decision surprised Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Debra Eurich. Her review of both state and federal case law found that courts haven't allowed use of a necessity defense because it was determined to not be applicable to the case, she said later.
"This is a rarity that this court woul d allow that defense," she said.
( The rest of today's article )
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Up until "At issue", the article is fantastic and represents the facts surprisingly well. I'm shocked and really glad that it made it into a corporate paper like that.
Of course, after "At issue," it just screws it all up. "Truckloads of trash?" I guess they're referring to a big art display some of our friends set up while the May 30th arrestees were in jail (hence not connected to us, specifically), which the port decided was trash and took the initiative to dispose of while our numbers were low the next morning. But the way they say it, it sounds as if we just left garbage piled up everywhere we went.
Bastards. I totally didn't see that section in the paper version this morning.
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