TruthTalkz

From MATT a New Orleanian--Levee Flaw

2007-08-04T07:21:00.001-07:00

Dear New Orleanians and those who care about our city,

A couple of weeks ago, there was a stir about erosion of the west wall of the 17th Street canal. Here's one of the articles:

Corps to test erosion at 17th Street Canal (Times-Picayune, July 20, 2007)

WWL-TV did a story on the evening of July 25, 2007 in which the Corps said there was nothing to worry about. That was the last report. it is linked here:

http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?s=y&vidId=161685&catId=53

A substory was when did the Corps know about this erosion, and did they inform the local levee board(s) about it? A clear answer didn't really come out of the coverage.

I can provide that answer, and more.

http://www.box.net/shared/tt79p4hsmd

The above link goes to an internal inspection report of the entire 17th Street canal performed by Corps of Engineers employees in May, 2006, over 14 months ago. Among many findings and recommendations for repairs, it documents erosion in the exact spot that was the subject of the press accounts two weeks ago (on the west side of the canal just north of the Veterans Memorial Blvd bridge). It recommends placement of riprap (piles of stone) to staunch the erosion.

But there is far, far more to this report. Through a series of pictures, it documents serious (and admittedly not-so-serious) flaws in the levees and walls along both sides of the canal, from the lake all the way back to Pumping Station #6. Among the serious flaws:

- open pipes penetrating through the walls where they join the levee

- numerous spots of erosion on both sides of the canal along its entire length

- 20 foot long gouges in the levee

- wall segments actually displaced from where they should be (the Corps terms it "jutted") in multiple spots, some by up to 2 inches.

- spots where the levee and the bottom of the concrete walls have separated, leaving a large gap

This report was attached as an appendix to another report (the 17th Street Canal Safe Water Level report) that was issued by the Corps two months ago, or 12 months after it was generated. It was on a CD that came with the 4" thick main report. By the way, you can see the main part of that SWL report linked here.

It is, to say the least, "unclear" if the May, 2006 inspection was passed along to the locals. One has a hard time believing that if it were passed along, that there wouldn't have been immediate action to address these issues. I happen to know that other than emergency repairs along the east bank of the canal near Vets (which were done in response to the Safe Water Level report, not this earlier inspection), none of the issues have been addressed. No rip rap has been placed anywhere except the emergency repair area, near the breach, and near the gates. None has been placed along the Jefferson Parish (west) side.

So the outlines of the story are this:

A) The Corps had a report listing dozens of individual flaws in the condition of the levees and walls along the 17th Street canal for over a year and did not release it

B) Most of those flaws still exist.

C) So naturally, the condition of the canal is suspect.

The questions are:

A) Why did this report languish inside the Corps for a year?

B) Are there similar reports from the same timeframe for the Orleans Avenue, London Avenue, and Industrial canals?

C) What will be/has been done, if anything, to address these problems?

Take a look at the pictures and tell me that you're not disturbed.

Hilary & Obama --focus on Gonzales!

2007-07-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

The day's tiff over the CNN debate question about meeting with Chavez, etc. is getting way to much attention from media--even more than the Lohan story. But what needs to be addressed--right now--is the outright lying of the US Attorney General...the man who is supposed to be the top lawyer for the people of the US. He needs to go. At least Leahy and Schumann are focused on real issues.

Impeachment is where this ought to be headed!

Let's look to DC and let's not wait 18 months for some other administration. Again, if Congress doesn't do something now--about this, about the war, about health insurance--then why should we trust them in elections.

YOU TUBE debate -- Truth AND Consequences

2007-07-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

OK....so who's telling the truth?
AND...what are the consequences of believing anyone on a stage?

Well, the spinmasters are at it. Obama is naive? Clinton is on the attack? HAIR videos? We can't leave Iraq in less than 1 year?

I have been on You tube and watched videos that made it and didn't make it onto the CNN screen. Yes, real people asked real questions--especially those questions from uninsured Americans and parents of our soldiers. How can anyone stand behind a podium and equivocate? I don't care whose plan is better in theory! I want action NOW. I am not satisfied anymore with political rhetoric, I want actual courage in our leaders. The so-called front runners need to wake up!

Specifically, the senators on the stage should get together in DC today and take their wishes to the Congress and put their political careers on the line for the people of this country. I don't believe that the "regular" Democrats are taking the American people seriously. Living wages, healthcare, and our sons and daughters back home--we expect you to work to do this now, not after 2008 elections. We elected you months ago. We are watching.

Contempt in Congress--Miers and Bolton

2007-07-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

People for the American Way (PFAW.org) call to action:

Once again, President Bush is hiding information from Congress and the American people to prevent the truth about his administration's actions from getting out.

Last week, former White House counsel Harriet Miers flat-out skipped a House Judiciary Committee hearing to which she had been ordered to testify about her role in the months-old U.S. Attorney scandal. Chief of Staff Josh Bolton also defied a subpoena by refusing to turn over White House documents that Congress demanded by law. Both are stonewalling Congress on orders from President Bush, who is making outrageously sweeping claims of "executive privilege" to keep the public in the dark about what has been happening in the Bush White House.

Sign the Petition! Demand that Congress hold Miers and Bolton in contempt!

Congress has a responsibility to oversee the executive branch and the president. It's built into the Constitution. But this President and Vice President keep trying to reshape the Constitution and declare themselves above the law. Congress must stand up for itself and protect our constitutional checks and balances!

One of the next steps Congress can take is to vote to hold Miers and Bolton in contempt. President Bush is trying to block Congressional oversight with blanket claims of executive privilege. The president has even ordered the Department of Justice not to enforce charges of Contempt of Congress. But Congress needs to fight this fight and send the president a message that its authority will not be ignored.

Sign the Petition! Demand that Congress hold Miers and Bolton in contempt!

The idea that a president has the power to decide on his own what the law is would be laughable if it weren't really happening. But it is, and it represents a terrifying threat to our system of government and the basic individual rights the Constitution protects. This president is determined to grab ever more power for the executive branch. Look at what's happened so far:

The NSA's warrantless domestic spying

The stripping of habeas corpus and other due process rights

The mistreatment of detainees

The abuse of executive privilege and Presidential Signing Statements

The politicization of the DOJ

All demonstrate this president's belief that his power is nearly limitless.

The Constitution makes it Congress's job to watch over the president for abuses of power. Now Bush is trying to prevent that -- trying to find new ways to put himself above the law. Tell your representatives to reject this outrageous claim of executive privilege and hold Miers and Bolton in contempt.

--Your Allies at People For the American Way

Petition: http://www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=feIJKQMEF&b

=3002055

Katrina & RITA TRIBUNAL -- August 29 NOLA

2007-07-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Momentum is rapidly growing for the International Tribunal on Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. This email is to provide you all with basic updated
information on how to register, support, and donate to the Tribunal
initiative online. The International Tribunal will be held Wednesday, August
29th - Sunday, September 2nd at the Pan American Conference Center located
at 601 Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA.

For registration and hotel and accommodation information, please visit
www.internationaltribunal.org ASAP. We strongly encourage everyone planning
on attending the Tribunal to register immediately.

Survivors looking to register and offer testimony of gross human and civil
rights abuses should register on the website and contact Leon Waters, New
Orleans Tribunal Coordinator, at aahal @ yahoo.com.

Also visit the website frequently for updates and ongoing political
developments and responses. For additional information, please visit
www.peopleshurricane.org .

Summary Outline

Wednesday, August 29th
- 2nd Annual Commemoration March and Rally
- Tribunal Welcoming and Opening Session
- Black August Commemoration Concert

Thursday, August 30th
- 1st day of Testimony

Friday, August 31st
- 2nd day of Testimony

Saturday, September 1st
- Deliberations
- Site Visits
- Trainings and Workshops (including CERD and Know Your Rights)

Sunday, September 2nd
- Deliberations
- Closing Arguments
- Tribunal Closing Session

In Unity and Struggle,
Kali Akuno

PHRF Executive Director
Thursday, July 19, 2007

nynolasupport @ googlegroups.com
nynolasupport-subscribe @ googlegroups.com

David Vitter --TRUTH

2007-07-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

David VITTER --that family values Republican from Louisiana who has enriched the lives of the Madams in DC and New Orleans--is the Republican "Bush" ally who inserted section 9528 into the No Child Left Behind Act. This little known provision requires schools to release student and family info to any armed services recruiter who asks for it. The default is release, and opt out forms are needed if a parent or student does not want info released. Many (if not most) middle and high school students don't even know they are probably already in recruiting databases. (Interesting fact: Catholic and other private schools do not have to release such info since they are not in the NCLB funding segment...wonder where Vitter's kid go to school?)

NCLB Grants School Access to Military Recruiters

A little known provision of the federal "No Child Left Behind" Act requires school districts that receive NCLB assistance to share student information such as names and addresses of students with military recruiters.

Another provision in Section 9528 allows parents and students to request that personal information not be released. Schools must notify parents of their right to request that personal student information not be released, but many do not do so.

At the same time, some school districts do. The current issue of NEA Today reports :

One district that takes the parent opt-out provision seriously is Montclair, New Jersey, which has a "whole school" Section 9528 notification plan, starting with entering freshmen. Parents are told of their right to opt-out through home-school communications and then sent a reminder. After the most recent round of notices, Montclair reports that 92 percent of parents asked the schools not to give their children's contact information to the military.

NCLB requires school districts to provide military recruiters the "same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to postsecondary education institutions or prospective employers." Failure to do so can result in the loss of federal funds.

The Public Education Network (PEN) and National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) have launched an effort to inform high school students and parents about Title IX, Section 9528 of NCLB.

David Vitter

2007-07-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

FLASHBACK!
Before Katrina I had made it a regular routine--follow David Vitter's rise to fame with the Repubs. Tell everyone just how sneaky he was to insert the "tell the recruiters" clause into the re authorization of the NCLB LAW. Our dear LA rep has a history of taking care of number 1. Well he was taking his taxpayers to the DC Madame's house also! We sent him to DC and he found a little comfort in the high priced house of the Madame. So much for all the family values he claims as his mantra.

Well, maybe we'll get lucky and Jefferson also had a standing appt. with the Madame also, and maybe FEMA, and maybe Blanco, and maybe Nagin...hey let's get some scandal going for all the LA and NOLA politicians who keep screwing with the everyday folk. Maybe we can put them all in the tank and clean up the city and state once and for all.

I may live in NY now, but we refugees never leave the city in our hearts. Too bad Vitter didn't feel the same way about his wife, children, and people. He said he has been forgiven, well not by me.

I'm back---back to elections and hope?

2007-06-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go again. I had hoped that this blog wouldn't be necessary. I had hoped the war would be stopped. I had hoped New Orleans and the Gulf Coast would have received help from their own government so the regular folk could rebuild. I had hoped America would become the hope of the masses, the "this land" so powerfully described by Woody Guthrie.

But, nothing much has changed for the better, and a lot has changed for the worse--mostly because no change in this global world means falling behind.

I am watching the debates -- Democrat and Republican. The focus groups have begun, the phone calls asking for money have begun. Most people I know can't watch. They are trying to go to work, pay their bills, and worry about the cat food and their own food, wonder about hurricanes, floods and droughts.

So, I am going to begin this blog again.

Write me if you manage to find this little place amidst all the useless babble out there. Let's find some truth someplace--in my town or in yours.

My cat has survived Katrina and pet food poisoning. She has begun to run outdoors and jump onto the top shelf again--at the age of 12! If she can come back, so can I. So can you. But she doesn't give up her advantage to the dog or to anyone else. We need to stand up, show our claws and take back our lives and our country. I can't watch on the sidelines, and neither can you.

Bill Quigley on New Orleans--Tell the truth to everyone!

2006-08-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

This essay by Bill is appearing on Truthout and on Common Dreams....Tell everyone you know to read it! This country just doesn't understand unless we in the diaspora tell them wherever and whenever we can...

Trying to Make It Home: New Orleans One Year After Katrina
By Bill Quigley
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Tuesday 22 August 2006

Bernice Mosely is 82 and lives alone in New Orleans in a shotgun double. On August 29, 2005, as Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the levees constructed by the US Corps of Engineers failed in five places and New Orleans filled with water.

One year ago, Ms. Mosely was on the second floor of her neighborhood church. Days later, she was helicoptered out. She was so dehydrated she spent eight days in a hospital. Her next door neighbor, 89 years old, stayed behind to care for his dog. He drowned in the eight feet of floodwaters that covered their neighborhood.

Ms. Mosely now lives in her half-gutted house. She has no stove, no refrigerator, and no air-conditioning. The bottom half of her walls have been stripped of sheetrock and are bare wooden slats from the floor halfway up the wall. Her food is stored in a styrofoam cooler. Two small fans push the hot air around.

Two plaster Madonnas are in her tiny well-kept front yard. On a blazing hot summer day, Ms. Mosely used her crutches to gingerly come down off her porch to open the padlock on her fence. She has had hip and knee replacement surgery. Ms. Mosely worked in a New Orleans factory for over thirty years sewing uniforms. When she retired, she was making less than $4 an hour. "Retirement benefits?" she laughs. She lives off Social Security. Her house had never flooded before. Because of her tight budget, Ms. Mosely did not have flood insurance.

Thousands of people like Ms. Mosely are back in their houses on the Gulf Coast. They are living in houses that most people would consider, at best, still under construction, or, at worst, uninhabitable. Like Ms. Mosely, they are trying to make their damaged houses into homes.

New Orleans is still in intensive care. If you have seen recent television footage of New Orleans, you probably have a picture of how bad our housing situation is. What you cannot see is that the rest of our institutions, our water, our electricity, our health care, our jobs, our educational system, our criminal justice systems - are all just as broken as our housing. We remain in serious trouble. Like us, you probably wonder: where has the promised money gone?

Ms. Mosely, who lives in the Upper Ninth Ward, does not feel sorry for herself at all. "Lots of people have it worse," she says. "You should see those people in the Lower Ninth and in St. Bernard and in the East. I am one of the lucky ones."

Housing

Hard as it is to believe, Ms. Mosely is right. Lots of people do have it worse. Hundreds of thousands of people from the Gulf Coast remain displaced. In New Orleans alone, over two hundred thousand people have not been able to make it home.

Homeowners in Louisiana, like Ms. Mosely, have not yet received a single dollar of federal housing rebuilding assistance to rebuild their severely damaged houses back into homes. Over 100,000 homeowners in Louisiana are on a waiting list for billions in federal rebuilding assistance through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. So far, no money has been distributed.

Renters, who comprised most of the people of New Orleans before Katrina, are much worse off than homeowners. New Orleans lost more than 43,000 rental units to the storm. Rents have skyrocketed in the undamaged parts of the area, pricing regular working people out of the market. The official rate of increase in rents is 39%. In lower income neighborhoods, working people and the elderly report rents are up much higher than that. Amy Liu, of the Brookings Institution, said "Even people who are working temporarily for the rebuilding effort are having trouble finding housing."

Renters in Louisiana are not even scheduled to receive assistance through the Louisiana CDBG program. Some developers will receive assistance at some point, and when they do, some apartments will be made available, but that is years away.

In the face of the worst affordable housing shortage since the end of the Civil War, the federal government announced that it refused to allow thousands of families to return to their public housing units and was going to bulldoze 5000 apartments. Before Katrina, over 5000 families lived in public housing - 88 percent women-headed households, nearly all African-American.

These policies result in hundreds of thousands of people still displaced from their homes. Though all ages, incomes and races are displaced, some groups are impacted much more than others. The working poor, renters, moms with kids, African-Americans, the elderly and disabled - all are suffering disproportionately from displacement. Race, poverty, age and physical ability are great indicators of who has and who has not made it home.

The statistics tell some of the story. The City of New Orleans says it is half its pre-Katrina size - around 225,000 people. But the US Post Office estimates that only about 170,000 people have returned to the city and 400,000 people have not returned to the metropolitan area. The local electricity company reports only about 80,000 of its previous 190,000 customers have returned.

Texas also tells part of the story. It is difficult to understand the impact of Katrina without understanding the role of Texas - home to many of our displaced. Houston officials say their city is still home to about 150,000 storm evacuees - 90,000 in FEMA assisted housing. Texas recently surveyed the displaced and reported that over 250,000 displaced people live in the state and 41 percent of these households report income of less than $500 per month. Eighty-one percent are black, 59 percent are still jobless, most have at least one child at home, and many have serious health issues.

Another 100,000 people displaced by Katrina are in Georgia, more than 80,000 in metro Atlanta - most of whom also need long-term housing and mental health services.

In Louisiana, there are 73,000 families in FEMA trailers. Most of these trailers are 240 square feet of living space. More than 1600 families are still waiting for trailers in St. Bernard Parish. FEMA trailers did not arrive in the Lower Ninth Ward until June - while the displaced waited for water and electricity to resume. Aloyd Edinburgh, 75, lives in the Lower Ninth Ward and just moved into a FEMA trailer. His home flooded, as did the homes of all five of his children. "Everybody lost their homes," he told the Times-Picayune, "They just got trailers. All are rebuilding. They all have mortgages. What else are they going to do?"

Until challenged, FEMA barred reporters from talking with people in FEMA trailer parks without prior permission - forcing a reporter out of a trailer in one park and residents back into their trailer in another, in order to stop interviews.

One person displaced into a FEMA village in Baton Rouge has been organizing with her new neighbors. Air conditioners in two trailers for the elderly have been out for over two weeks, yet no one will fix them. The contractor who ran the village has been terminated and another one is coming - no one knows who. She tells me, "My neighbors are dismayed that no one in the city has stepped forward to speak for us. We are 'gone.' Who will speak for us? Does anyone care?"

Trailers are visible signs of the displaced. Tens of thousands of other displaced families are living in apartments across the country month to month under continuous threats of FEMA cutoffs.

Numbers say something. But please remember: behind every number, there is a Ms. Mosely. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people, each with a personal story like Ms. Mosely, are struggling to return, trying to make it home.

Water and Electricity

New Orleans continues to lose more water than it uses. The Times-Picayune discovered that the local water system has to pump over 130 million gallons a day so that 50 million gallons will come out. The rest runs away in thousands of leaks in broken water lines, costing the water system $2,000,000 a day. The lack of water pressure, half that of other cities, creates significant problems in consumption, sanitation, air-conditioning, and fire prevention. In the Lower Ninth Ward, the water has still not been certified as safe to drink - one year later.

Only half the homes in New Orleans have electricity. Power outages are common, as hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs have not been made because Entergy New Orleans is in bankruptcy. Entergy is asking for a 25 percent increase in rates to help it become solvent. Yet Entergy New Orleans' parent company, Entergy Corporation, reported earnings of $282 million last year on revenue of $2.6 billion.

Health and Health Care

Early this month, on August 1, 2006, another Katrina victim was found in her home in New Orleans, buried under debris. The woman was the 28th person found dead since March 2006. A total of 1577 died in Louisiana as a result of Katrina.

A friend of mine, a lawyer with health insurance and a family physician, went for an appointment recently at 11 a.m. The office was so crowded he had to sit out in the hall on the floor to wait his turn for a seat in the waiting room. Three hours later he met his doctor. The doctor thought he might have a gall stone. The doctor tried to set up an ultrasound. None were available. He ordered my friend to the emergency room for an ultrasound. At 4 p.m., my friend went to the hospital emergency room, which was jammed with people: stroke victims, young kids with injuries, people brought in by the police. At 5 a.m. the next morning, my friend finished his ultrasound and went home. If it takes a lawyer with health insurance that long to get medical attention, consider what poor people without health insurance are up against.

Half the hospitals open before Katrina are still closed. The state's biggest public health care provider, Charity Hospital, remains closed and there are no current plans to reopen it anytime soon. Healthcare could actually get worse. Dr. Mark Peters, board chair of the Metropolitan Hospital Council of New Orleans said that within the next two to three months, "all the hospitals" will be looking seriously at cutbacks. Why? Doctors and health care workers have gone, and there is surging demand from the uninsured, who before Katrina went through now non-existent public health care. There is a shortage of nurses. Blue Cross Blue Shield officials reported, "About three-quarters of the physicians who had been practicing in New Orleans are no longer submitting claims."

There is no hospital at all in the city for psychiatric patients. While the metropolitan area had about 450 psychiatric beds before the storm, 80 are now available. The police are the first to encounter those with mental illness. One recent Friday afternoon, police dealt with two mental patients - one was throwing bricks through a bar window, the other was found wandering naked on the interstate.

The elderly are particularly vulnerable. Over 70 percent of the deaths from Katrina were people over 60 years old. No one knows how many seniors have not made it back home. Esther Bass, 69, told the New York Times, after months of searching for a place to come home to New Orleans, "If there are apartments, I can't afford them. And they say there will be senior centers, but they're still being built. They can't even tell you what year they'll be finished." As of late July 2006, most nursing homes in the 12 parish Gulf Coast area of Louisiana are still not fully prepared to evacuate residents in the face of a hurricane.

The health care community has been rocked by the arrest of a doctor and two nurses after the Louisiana Attorney General accused them of intentionally ending the lives of four patients trapped in a now-closed local hospital. The accusations now go before a local grand jury, which is not expected to make a decision on charges for several more months. The case is complicated for several reasons - most important, that the doctor and nurses are regarded as some of the most patient-oriented and caring people of the entire hospital staff. It is undisputed that they worked day and night to save hundreds of patients from the hospital during the days it was without water, electricity or food. Others say that entire hospital and many others were abandoned by the government and that is what the attorney general should be investigating. The gravity of the charges, though, is giving everyone in the community pause. This, like so much else, will go on for years before there is any resolution.

Jobs

Before Katrina, there were over 630,000 workers in the metropolitan New Orleans area - now there are slightly over 400,000. Over 18,000 businesses suffered "catastrophic" damage in Louisiana. Nearly one in four of the displaced workers is still unemployed. Education and health care have lost the most employees. Most cannot return because there is little affordable housing, child care, public transportation and public health care.

Women workers, especially African-American women workers, continue to bear the heaviest burden of harm from the storm. The Institute for Women's Policy Research reports that the percentage of women in the New Orleans workforce has dropped. The number of single mother families in New Orleans has dropped from 51,000 to 17,000. Low-income women remain displaced because of the lack of affordable housing and traditional discrimination against women in the construction industry.

Tens of thousands of migrant workers, roughly half of them undocumented, have come to the Gulf Coast to work in the recovery. Many were recruited. Most workers tell of being promised good wages and working conditions and plenty of work. Some paid money up front for the chance to come to the area to work. Most of these promises were broken. A tour of the area reveals many Latino workers live in houses without electricity; other live out of cars. At various places in the city, whole families are living in tents. Two recently released human rights reports document the problems of these workers. Immigrant workers are doing the dirtiest, most dangerous work, in the worst working conditions. Toxic mold, lead paint, fiberglass, and who knows what other chemicals are part of daily work. Safety equipment is not always provided. Day laborers, a new category of workers in New Orleans, are harassed by the police and periodic immigration raids. Wage theft is widespread as employers often do not pay living wages and sometimes do not pay at all. Some of the powers try to pit local workers against new arrivals - despite the fact that our broken Gulf Coast clearly needs all the workers we can get.

Public transportation to and from low-wage jobs is more difficult. Over 200 more public transit employees have been terminated - cutting employment from over 1300 people pre-Katrina to about 700 now.

Single working parents seeking child care are in trouble. Before Katrina, New Orleans had 266 licensed day care centers. Mississippi State University surveyed the city in July 2006 and found 80 percent of the day care centers and over 75 percent of the 1912 day care spots are gone. Only one-third of the Head Start centers that were open pre-Katrina survived.

Public Education

Before Katrina, 56,000 students were enrolled in over 100 public schools in New Orleans. At the end of the school year there were only 12,500. Right after the storm, the local school board gave many of the best public schools to charter groups. The State took over almost all the rest. By the end of the school year, four schools were operated by the pre-Katrina school board, three by the State, and eighteen were new charter schools.

After thirty-two years of collective bargaining, the union contract with the New Orleans public school teachers elapsed and was not renewed and 7500 employees were terminated.

For this academic year, no one knows for certain how many students will enroll in New Orleans public schools. Official estimates vary between a low of 22,000 and a high of 34,000. There will be five traditional locally-supervised public schools, eighteen schools operated by the State, and thirty-four charter schools. As of July 1, not a single teacher had been hired for fifteen of the state-run schools. As of August 9, 2006, the Times-Picayune reported there are no staff at all identified to educate students with discipline problems or other educational issues that require special attention.

Whatever the enrollment in the new public school system is in the fall, it will not give an accurate indication of how many children have returned. Why? Many students in the public charter schools were in private schools before the hurricane.

Criminal Legal System

Consider also our criminal legal system. Chaka Davis was arrested on misdemeanor charges in October 2005 and jailed at the Greyhound station in New Orleans in October of 2005. Under Louisiana law, he was required to be formally charged within 30 days of arrest or released from custody. Because of a filing error he was lost in the system. He was never charged, never went to court, and never saw a lawyer in over 8 months - even though the maximum penalty for conviction for one of his misdemeanors was only 6 months. His mother found him in an out of town jail and brought his situation to the attention of the public defenders. He was released the next day.

Crime is increasingly a problem. In July, New Orleans lost almost as many people to murder as in July of 2005, with only 40 percent of the population back. There are many young people back in town while their parents have not returned. State and local officials called in the National Guard to patrol lightly populated areas so local police could concentrate on high-crime, low-income neighborhoods. Arrests have soared, but the number of murders remain high. Unfortunately, several of the National Guard have been arrested for criminal behavior as well - two for looting liquor from a home, two others for armed robbery at a traffic stop.

Criminal Court District Judge Arthur Hunter has declared the current criminal justice system shameful and unconstitutional, and promises to start releasing inmates awaiting trial on recognizance bonds on the one-year anniversary of Katrina. The system is nearly paralyzed by a backlog of over 6,000 cases. There are serious evidence problems because of resigned police officers, displaced victims, displaced witnesses, and flooded evidence rooms. The public defender system, which was down to 4 trial attorneys for months, is starting to rebuild.

"After 11 months of waiting, 11 months of meetings, 11 months of idle talk, 11 months without a sensible recovery plan and 11 months tolerating those who have the authority to solve, correct and fix the problem but either refuse, fail or are just inept, then necessary action must be taken to protect the Constitutional rights of people," said Hunter.

In the suburbs across the lake, Sheriff Jack Strain told the media on TV that he was going to protect his jurisdiction from "thugs" and "trash" migrating from closed public housing projects in New Orleans. He went on to promise that every person who wore "dreadlocks or che-wee hairstyles" could expect to be stopped by law enforcement. The NAACP and the ACLU called in the US Justice Department and held a revival-like rally at a small church just down the road from the jail. Though the area is over 80 percent white, the small group promised to continue to challenge injustice no matter how powerful the person committing the injustice. Recently, the same law enforcement people set up a roadblock and were stopping only Latino people to check IDs and insurance. I guess to prove they were not only harassing black people?

Finally, a grand jury has started looking into actions by other suburban police officers who blocked a group of people, mostly black, from escaping the floodwaters of New Orleans by walking across the Mississippi River bridge. The suburban police forced the crowd to flee back across the two mile bridge by firing weapons into the air.

This is the criminal legal system in the New Orleans area in 2006. None dare call it criminal justice.

International Human Rights

The Gulf Coast has gained new respect for international human rights because they provide a more appropriate way to look at what should be happening. The fact that there is an international human right of internally displaced people to return to their homes, and a responsibility on government to help, is heartening, even though yet unfulfilled.

The United Nations has blasted the poor US response to Katrina. The UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva accepted a report from Special Reporter Arjun Sengupta, who visited New Orleans in fall of 2005 and concluded: "The Committee ... remains concerned about information that poor people, and in particular African-Americans, were disadvantaged by the rescue and evacuation plans implemented when Hurricane Katrina hit the United States of America, and continue to be disadvantaged under the reconstruction plans."

Asian tsunami relief workers who visited New Orleans over the summer were shocked at the lack of recovery. Somsook Boonyabancha, director of the Community Organisations Development Institute in Thailand, told Reuters she was shocked at the lack of progress in New Orleans. "I'm surprised to see why the reconstruction work is so slow, because this is supposed to be one of the most rich and efficient countries in the world. It is starting at such a slow speed, incredibly slow speed."

Warnings to the Displaced

Local United Way officials see the lack of housing, health care and jobs and conclude that low-income people should seriously consider not returning to New Orleans anytime soon.

United Way wrote: "Most of these people want to come home, but if they do not have a recovery plan they need to stay where they are. Some of these evacuees think that they can come back and stay with families and in a few weeks have a place of their own. But the reality is that they may end up living with those relatives for years. Sending people back without a realistic plan may have serious consequences: the crowding of families into small apartments/homes/FEMA trailers is causing mental health problems - stress, abuse, violence, and even death - and this problem is going to get worse, not better. Also, when the elderly (and others) are those returning and living in these conditions, their health is impacted and then the lack of medical facilities and hospital beds is a problem. Again the result may be death.... Basically if an evacuee says they have a place to stay - like with relatives - those communities will give them bus fare back or pay for U-hauls. If an evacuee was a renter here and they want to return they should be told to plan on returning in 3-7 years, and in the meantime stay there, get a job, and be much better off."

FEMA officials in Austin are also warning people about returning to New Orleans. They wrote: "Before you return ... New Orleans is a changing place ... you should consider the conditions you may be returning to. Many neighborhood schools will not be open by August. Your children may have to travel some distance to get to school ... Grocery and supermarkets have been slow to return to many neighborhoods. Sometimes there aren't enough residents back in your neighborhood for a store to open and be profitable. You may have to travel a large distance to groceries. Walking to the store might not be an option ... If you or your family members require regular medical attention, or if you are pregnant or nursing, the services you received before the storm may be scattered and in very different and distant locations. Depending on your medical needs, you may have to drive across the river or even as far away as Baton Rouge ... If you or your family members have allergies, remember that there is lots of dust and mold still in the city. While you may have suffered from allergies before the storm, please consider that being in the city will only worsen your allergies. If you have asthma, other respiratory or cardiac conditions, or immune system problems, you would be safer staying out of flooded areas due to the mold, particles and dust in the air. If you must return to the city, wear an approved respirator when working in moldy or dusty areas.... Additionally, police, fire and emergency personnel are stretched to their limits ... If you own a car, gas and service stations are limited in many areas. You may need to purchase a gas can in the event you cannot get gas near your home ... Public transportation (buses) are also limited and do not operate in all areas.... Available and affordable housing is extremely rare. Waiting lists for apartments are as large as 300 on the list, depending on how many bedrooms you need. Living inside your home could be dangerous if mold has set in of if your utilities are not in top work!
ing cond
ition ... Living in New Orleans may be easier said than done until we have fully recovered from the storm."

This is New Orleans, one year after Katrina.

Where Did the Money Go?

Everyone who visits New Orleans asks the same question that locals ask - where is the money? Congress reportedly appropriated over $100 billion to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Over $50 billion was allocated to temporary and long-term housing. Just under $30 billion was for emergency response and Department of Defense spending. Over $18 billion was for State and local response and the rebuilding of infrastructure. $3.6 billion was for health, social services and job training and $3.2 for non-housing cash assistance. $1.9 billion was allocated for education and $1.2 billion for agriculture.

One hour in New Orleans shows the check must still be in the mail.

Not a single dollar in federal housing rehab money has made it into a hand in Louisiana. Though Congress has allocated nearly $10 billion in Community Development Block Grants, the State of Louisiana is still testing the program and has not yet distributed dollar number one.

A lot of media attention has gone to the prosecution of people who wrongfully claimed benefits of $2,000 or more after the storm. Their fraud is despicable. It harms those who are still waiting for assistance from FEMA.

But, let's be clear - these little $2,000 thieves are minnows swimming on the surface. There are many big savage sharks below. Congress and the national media have so far been frustrated in their quest to get real answers to where the millions and billions went. How much was actually spent on FEMA trailers? How much did the big contractors take off the top and then subcontract out the work? Who were the subcontractors for the multi-million dollar debris removal and reconstruction contracts?

As Corpwatch says in their recent report, "Many of the same 'disaster profiteers' and government agencies that mishandled the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq are responsible for the failure of 'reconstruction' of the Gulf Coast region. The Army Corps, Bechtel and Halliburton are using the very same 'contract vehicles' in the Gulf Coast as they did in Afghanistan and Iraq. These are 'indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity,' open-ended 'contingency' contracts that are being abused by the contractors on the Gulf Coast to squeeze out local companies. These are also 'cost-plus' contracts that allow them to collect a profit on everything they spend, which is an incentive to overspend."

We do know billions of dollars in no-bid FEMA contracts went to Bechtel Corporation, the Shaw Group, CH2M Hill, and Fluor immediately after Katrina hit. Riley Bechtel, CEO of Bechtel Corporation, served on President Bush's Export Council during 2003-2004. A lobbyist for the Shaw Group, Joe Allbaugh, is a former FEMA Director and friend of President Bush. The president and group chief executive of the International Group at CH2MHill is Robert Card, appointed by President Bush as under secretary to the US Department of Energy until 2004. Card also worked at CH2M Hill before signing up with President Bush. Fluor, whose work in Iraq was slowing down, is one of the big winners of FEMA work, and its stock is up 65 percent since it started Katrina work.

Senator Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota, has raised many protests and questions over inflated prices. "It is hard to overstate the incompetence involved in all of these contracts - we have repeatedly asked them for information and you get nothing." Republican US Representative Charles Bustany, who represents an area heavily damaged by Hurricane Rita, asked FEMA for reasons why the decision was made to stop funding 100 percent of the cost of debris removal in his district. FEMA refused to tell him. He then filed a Freedom of Information request to get the information, and was again refused. When he asked to appeal their denial, he was told that there were many appeals ahead of his and he would have to wait.

If a US Senator and a local US Republican congressman cannot get answers from FEMA, how much accountability can the people of the Gulf Coast expect? There are many other examples of fraud, waste and patronage.

How did a company that did not own a truck get a contract for debris removal worth hundreds of millions of dollars? The Miami Herald reported that the single biggest receiver of early Katrina federal contracts was Ashbritt Inc. of Pompano Beach, Florida, which received over $579 million in contracts for debris removal in Mississippi from the Army Corps of Engineers. The paper reported that the company does not own a single dump truck! All they do is subcontract out the work. Ashbritt, however, had recently dumped $40,000 into the lobbying firm of Barbour, Griffith & Rogers, which had been run by Mississippi Governor and former national GOP chair Haley Barbour. The owners of Ashbritt also trucked $50,000 over to the Republican National Committee in 2004.

How did a company that filed for bankruptcy the year before and was not licensed to build trailers get a $200 million contract for trailers? Circle B Enterprises of Georgia was awarded $287 million in contracts by FEMA for temporary housing. At the time, that was the seventh highest award of Katrina money in the country. According to the Washington Post, Circle B was not even being licensed to build homes in its own state of Georgia and filed for bankruptcy in 2003. The company does not even have a web site.

FEMA spent $7 million to build a park for 198 trailers in Morgan City, Louisiana - almost 2 hours away from New Orleans. Construction was completed in April. Three months later, only 20 of the trailers were occupied. One displaced New Orleans resident who lives there has to walk three miles to the nearest grocery.

Hurricanes are now a booming billion dollar business. No wonder there is a National Hurricane Conference for private companies to show off their wares - from RVs to portable cell phone towers to port-a-potties. One longtime provider was quoted by the Miami Herald at the conference as saying that there are all kinds of new people in the field: "Some folks here said, 'Man, this is huge business; this is my new business. I'm not in the landscaping business anymore, I'm going to be a hurricane debris contractor.'"
On the local level, we are not any better. One year after Katrina, the City of New Orleans still does not have a comprehensive rebuilding plan. The first plan by advisors to the Mayor was shelved before the election. A city council plan was then started and the state and federal government mandated yet another process that may or may not include some of the recommendations of the prior two processes. One of the early advisors from the Urban Land Institute, John McIlwain, blasted the delays in late July. "It's virtually a city with a city administration and it's worse than ever ... You need a politician, a leader that is willing to make tough decisions and articulate to people why these decisions are made, which means everyone is not going to be happy." Without major changes at City Hall, the city will have miles of neglected neighborhoods for decades. "We're talking Dresden after World War II."

Signs of Hope

Despite the tragedies that continue to plague our Gulf Coast, there is hope. Between the rocks of hardship, green life continues to sprout defiantly.

Fifteen feet of water washed through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School for Science and Technology in the Lower Ninth Ward. When people were finally able to get into the building, the bodies of fish were found on the second floor. Parents and over 90% of the teachers organized a grass-roots effort to put their school back together. Their first attempts to gut and repair the school by locals and volunteers from Common Ground were temporarily stopped by local school officials and the police. Even after the gutting was allowed to resume, the community was told that the school could not reopen due to insufficient water pressure in the neighborhood. But the teachers and parents are pressing ahead anyway in a temporary location until they can get back in their school. Assistant Principal Joseph Recasner told the Times-Picayune: "Rebuilding our school says this is a very special community, tied together by more than location, but by spirituality, by bloodlines, and by a desire to come back."

New Orleans is fortunate to have a working newspaper again. The Times-Picayune won a well-deserved Pulitzer for its Katrina coverage. Its staff continues to provide quality documentation of the Gulf Coast region's efforts to repair and rebuild.

The New Orleans Vietnamese people continue to inspire us. They were among the very first group back and they have joined forces to care for their elders, rebuild their community church, and work together in a most cooperative manner to resurrect their community. Recently they took legal and direct action to successfully stop the placement of a gigantic landfill right next to their community. Their determination and sense of community-building is a good model for us all.

The only Republican running for Congress in New Orleans is blasting President Bush over failed Katrina promises. Joe Lavigne is running radio ads saying, "Sadly, George Bush has forgotten us. He's spending too much time and money on Iraq and not enough living up to his promise to rebuild New Orleans. His priorities are wrong. I'm running for Congress to hold President Bush accountable." Maybe other Republicans will join in.

Tens of thousands of volunteers from every walk of life have joined with the people of the Gulf Coast to help repair and rebuild. Lawyers are giving free help to Katrina victims who need legal help to rebuild their homes. Medical personnel staff free clinics. Thousands of college, high school and even some grade school students have traveled to the area to help families gut their devastated homes. Churches, temples, and mosques from across the world have joined with sisters and brothers in New Orleans to repair and rebuild.

Despite open attempts to divide them, black and brown and white and yellow workers have started to talk to each other. Small groups have started to work together to fight for living wages and safe jobs for all workers. Thousands came together for a rally for respectful treatment for Latino and immigrant workers. Seasoned civil rights activists welcomed the new movement and pledged to work together.

Ultimately, the people of the Gulf Coast are the greatest sign of hope. Despite setbacks that people in the US rarely suffer, people continue to help each other and fight for their right to return home and the right to live in the city they love.

On Sunday morning, a 70-year-old woman told a friend where her children are. "They are all scattered," she sighed. "One is in Connecticut, one in Rhode Island, one in Austin." When he asked about her, she said, "Me? I am in Texas right now. I am back here to visit my 93-year-old mother and go to the second line of Black Men of Labor on Labor Day. But I'm coming back. Yes indeed. I will return. I'm coming back."

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Bill is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. You can reach him at Quigley@loyno.edu For more information see www.justiceforneworleans.org.

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Why I am not writing

2006-08-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

I just cannot write anymore.

I am a year away from Katrina....no full time job, friends still waiting for help in New Orleans, war everywhere, poverty and hunger and homelessness.....

I am in NY....cool weather...no hurricanes...liberals....waiting as Hillary makes her way to the presidency carefully avoiding controversy and commitment.

I am awake, but asleep...numbed by FEMA trailers, death in Lebanon, confusion among progressives who define progress by house parties and candidates they "like".....real commitments voiced in rhetoric and poorly attended discussion groups.

I wait for the winter everyone says is a real Rochester winter---not the one we had last year. I wait for a day when I don't get more bad news from New Orleans...when levees are fixed...when friends who are all over this country find jobs and housing....when no one is tired...when I want to write.

A Woman's Threat Down

2006-06-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

OK
What’s up with Ann Coulter?
I think it’s time for the Threat Down for women .
5. Women who claim they are not like other women.
4. Women who think women who speak up at a meeting are showing off.
3. Women who think they get along better with men.
2. Women who support the anti-progressive Hillary Clinton simply because she is a woman.
1. Women who buy Ann Coulter’s books!

NY State Green Party Candidate Challenges Hillary

2006-05-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

Howie Hawkins campaign focuses on three leading policies:
http://hawkinsforsenate.org/

Out Now - End the War - Bring the Troops Home

National Health Insurance (Medicare for All)

Clean Energy to Stop Global Warming - A Global Public Works Program to Rewire the Planet with Renewable Energy in 10 Years

An independent opposition party like the Greens is the most effective way to advance peace, justice, and a sustainable society. It is not just the peace vote that is open to alternatives. So are the millions without health insurance, the workers who are losing wages and benefits and their very jobs, the environmentalists who see no program to address global warming, and the women and people of color who are losing their recently won rights. All have reason to be dissatisfied with Clinton, who is taking them for granted as she rebrands herself as a moderate for her presidential run.

Clinton has been a consistent war hawk on the Iraq war and, indeed, all the wars initiated by Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. She is more responsible than any other person in America for killing the single-payer national health insurance bill that had about 100 members of Congress as co-sponsors in 1993.

That's why Howie Hawkins asks for your vote in November

Full Text of Letter to Pres. Bush--from Truthout.org

2006-05-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051006A.shtml#1

Pink's "Mr.President"

2006-05-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

PINK has written a poignant song --Dear Mr. President--that everyone should hear. Luckily a video of her singing it is posted at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eDJ3cuXKV4

English ONLY?

2006-05-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

Lately, Americans (the real Americans from the US) have united to demand that English be the national language—the language of the national anthem and the language every citizen must speak to if they are truly patriotic. As a teacher of English for over 30 years, I may have some advice I can offer.

First, most people born in this country are not speakers of Standard English, at least the English in the hundreds of grammar books used in classrooms monitored by No Child Left Behind. Take a trip to New York, Boston, Kentucky, Memphis, Miami, Los Angeles, or New Orleans. I believe that the diverse discourse you are likely to hear is why this president and this Congress have instituted the English testing standards mandated by No Child Left Behind. In fact, the President’s own “nucular” and other ungrammatical gaffs indicate that Texans have a lock on a new, more American English. I suspect we ought to revise the national anthem to begin “Oh, say canya see ..”

As far as the anthem goes, we may want to ask how many people in this country actually know the words of the national anthem. Ever listen to people around you at a baseball or football game? From what I hear, most of us could use a printed copy and a pronunciation expert. The song has just too many words we don’t use anymore, and no one I know says “proudly we hail” on a regular basis.

More to the point, we ought to consider the reality that the national anthem was composed nearly a century after the Constitution was written. If we really want to stick to tradition, shouldn’t we find a song written in language more similar to the Queen’s English spoken by Jefferson, Franklin and Washington? After all, isn’t our patriotic duty to figure out exactly how our Founding Fathers spoke? Let’s get back 200 plus years to a time when automobiles, telephones, and airplanes didn’t pollute our America with new fangled notions of connecting all people and cultures. The Founding Fathers didn’t need to worry about language since the elite status of citizenship didn’t include Native Americans, slaves, or women.

If we still believe a national language is so critical to our country, perhaps we should follow France’s lead. The French have a department of language, complete with language police to protect the purity of the French language and culture. We could use another Department of Something, especially since FEMA is about to be eliminated. As a Katrina refugee, I could use a full time job. I’d be happy to move to the White House and give the President a few lessons, maybe even a multiple choice grammar test or two. After that, we could train language police to monitor Congress, State Houses, City Councils, and School Boards. While we’re at it, let’s require every voter to pass a high school exit exam in the English language as a prerequisite for exercising the right to vote in this democracy that we call the United States of America.

Who cares about in which language the national anthem is sung?

2006-05-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

The whining about a Spanish version of the national anthem is so bizarre I have hesitated to even discuss it. Real men and women ought to be debating the causes of and solutions to unemployment, the continuing lack of concern or help fro New Orleans and The Gulf Coast, the rising gas prices and our refusal to participate in energy conservation and the Kyoto agreement, childhood hunger, illiteracy in this country, the high rate of infant mortality in this country--you name it (and don't even get me started on this immoral Iraq war).

What's UP! Wake up! and Deal with reality.

FEMA Welches New Orleans

2006-05-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

by Jeff Crouere (BayouBuzz.com)

Yesterday’s report that FEMA is closing its long range planning office in New Orleans should not come as a surprise to anyone. FEMA neglected New Orleans before, during and after the storm. As the city continues to struggle post-Katrina, the agency that can provide the most assistance is leaving. FEMA is charged with helping New Orleans prepare a recovery blueprint to rebuild neighborhoods, schools and homes. Incredibly, in the midst of the most massive recovery undertaking in the history of this country, FEMA is abandoning a city that remains flat on its back.

Katrina knocked out most of the businesses, schools, hospitals and infrastructure in New Orleans. Eight months later, less than half of the population has returned, only a few schools and hospitals have opened and many New Orleans landmarks, such as famous restaurants and even the world renowned St. Charles Streetcar line are still not in operation. The floodwaters that sat in many sections of New Orleans for so long did incredible damage.

1,300 people died because the Army Corps of Engineers, a federal government agency, failed to build adequate levees around New Orleans. The levee problem was compounded by the poor response from FEMA. The vital aid that thousands of people needed was so delayed and inadequate that many people died unnecessarily. Walmart and other private groups and businesses were much more effective in getting assistance to people who needed help in New Orleans. Of course FEMA was overwhelmed, but so was everyone else. The fact that FEMA was besieged was no excuse for tardy and ineffective assistance for the stranded people of New Orleans.

Eight months later, the people of New Orleans are still stranded. FEMA provided the city with little help in the immediate aftermath of the storm, so it should be going overboard today to make up for the previous problems. Instead it is leaving its most crucial post and abandoning its most important mission, a decision that is not only unconscionable, it is immoral.

According to Aaron Walker of FEMA, “We can only do so much and then we look to the city to embrace and begin planning and managing. We have reached that point where the city needs to take that step forward. And once they begin planning, we can re-engage with them."

FEMA is demanding that a broke city facing potential bankruptcy, which had to fire 3,000 employees in a cost cutting move, take over the planning process. Today, city government is a shell of its former self, with limited personnel and even more limited resources. Obviously, the Nagin administration should have done more to assist FEMA and work with them in the planning process. The problems with local government are too numerous to outline at this point. Nevertheless, FEMA should not abandon its post and relinquish its duty because of any problems on the local level. The agency needs to complete the assignment however long it takes.

Since Katrina, FEMA has often changed personnel in New Orleans and each time a new planning team came to town, the promises would change.. According to city officials, a former FEMA Director made a verbal commitment to fund the planning process. Unfortunately that Director is now long gone and so is the commitment.

New Orleans, a unique and historic jewel in this homogenized country, should not be forgotten. The fact that FEMA is walking away from the most important mission in the agency’s history is reason enough for Congress to vote to eliminate the agency. At this point, FEMA does not deserve to exist any longer. In its place a new, independent agency should be formed immediately with direct access to the White House and staffed by caring, competent professionals. The City of New Orleans and the country has seen the dysfunctional incompetence and criminal neglect from FEMA for far too long.

Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 8:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and Noon till 2 p.m. weekdays on several Louisiana radio stations. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.

Senate Bill 33 PASSES! LA votes to criminalize abortions.

2006-04-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

After 90 minutes of emotional debate, the Senate voted 30-7 for Senate Bill 33 by Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, allowing abortions only to save the life of the mother. Sen. Joel Chaisson II, D-Destrehan, tried to amend Nevers' bill to conform with a state law passed in 1991 that also allowed abortions for victims of rape and incest, but the proposal was rejected 17-20.

As Nevers' bill heads to the House, it would criminalize abortions in the state if the landmark Roe v. Wade case, which made abortion legal in 1973, is overturned "in whole or in part" or if a federal constitutional amendment passes giving the states the authority to regulate abortions.

Nevers said his bill would not generate lawsuits that nullified the state's 1991 abortion ban because it would not take affect until Roe is reversed or the U.S. Constitution is amended. Anti-abortion proponents feel the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade following the recent appointment of more conservative justices. An abortion case is on the court's current docket.

Nevers' bill would subject a convicted abortionist to a minimum of one and up to 10 years in jail, and a fine between $10,000 and $100,000. The woman who has the procedure would not be subject to criminal penalties.

"They are putting politics over the health and safety of women," Julie Mickleberry, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta said after the vote. "We are taking this day by day and will try to do some education" of lawmakers before the bill is heard in the House.

Nevers told the Senate that the state "has a right and a duty to protect every human being, whether they are four weeks old, nine months old or 100 years old. . . . I would never want to hurt a victim of rape or incest. We must do all that we can to protect human life."

Before the bill cleared the Senate, Gov. Kathleen Blanco told reporters that she will sign "some kind of abortion bill" but that she is "waiting to see" what form it will take. She said she likes the provision in Nevers' bill that would allow the state to have a law on its books that wouldn't take effect until the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Roe decision.

Blanco called that provision "realistic" because it would forestall costly court challenges

Chaisson argued that the state should re-enact the law that was adopted in 1991 under then-Gov. Buddy Roemer, which made abortion a criminal act except to save the mother's life and for pregnancies caused by rape and incest. Federal courts ruled the statute was unconstitutional in 1992.

Chaisson said most people in the state favor exceptions for rape and incest.

Nevers said of the 40,000 abortions in the past three years in Louisiana, only one was from a reported rape, although many may not have been reported as cases of rape or incest.

"It would be presumptuous of me as a man to try to understand what a pregnancy from rape and incest does to a woman," Chaisson said. He said that if his wife or daughter became pregnant from a rape, he would talk with his family and priest about what alternatives existed.

"But the bottom line for me is that it is not his (a priest's) decision, it is not my decision, it is her decision," Chaisson said. "Sen. Nevers' bill makes that decision for her."

Sen. Sherri Cheek, R-Shreveport, urged adoption of the Chaisson amendment, saying that the law should not put rape and incest victims "into a position where they feel trapped" by choices.

Nevers said that a woman who has been traumatized by rape should not have to be subjected to another brutal act like abortion. "I cannot justify that in my mind," he said.

. . . . . . .

Capital bureau chief Robert Travis Scott contributed to this story. Ed Anderson can be reached at eanderson@timespicayune.com or (225) 342-5810.

_________________________

ROLL CALL

How New Orleans area senators voted on an amendment to Senate Bill 33 to add cases of rape and incest as exceptions to a ban on abortion. The amendment was rejected 17-20.

YES: Walter Boasso, R-Chalmette; Chaisson, D-Destrehan; Dupre, D-Montegut; Francis Heitmeier, D-Algiers; Ken Hollis, R-Metairie; Edwin Murray, D-New Orleans; Derrick Shepherd, D-Marrero.

NO: Amedee, D-Gonzales; Diana Bajoie, D-New Orleans; Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans; Art Lentini, R-Kenner; Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa; Quinn, R-Metairie; Tom Schedler, R-Mandeville; Chris Ullo, D-Marrero.

Here is how the New Orleans area delegation voted on the final bill, which was approved 30-7:

FOR: Boasso; Duplessis; Heitmeier; Lentini; Nevers; Julie Quinn, R-Metairie; Schedler; Shepherd; and Ullo.

AGAINST: Bajoie; Hollis; and Murray.

ABSENT: Chaisson.

Louisiana State Senate to BAN Abortions!

2006-04-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

URGENT! SB 33 on the Senate Floor Wednesday, 4/26!

On Wednesday, April 26 (yes, tomorrow!) the State Senate will vote on SB 33, one of the bills that would criminalize abortion in Louisiana. This dangerous piece of legislation is bad for women's health. Private medical decisions should be made by women and their families, NOT by politicians!

Help us fight this terrible bill by taking the following three steps:

1. Join us at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge on Wednesday!
Tell the State Senate to Stand Up for Louisiana Women and OPPOSE SB 33! Planned Parenthood supporters will meet at the Capitol Rotunda at 1:15 p.m. We will give you a quick training on how to talk to legislator, and then we'll lobby state senators. Call Julie Mickelberry at 225-610-4222 to RSVP.

2. Call your State Senator with the following message:

Dear Senator ____________________,
I urge you to stand up for Louisiana women by OPPOSING SB 33. We need housing, clean water and health care. We do not need laws that threaten women's health! Please vote NO on SB 33!

Click here to find your State Senator and their phone number, or visit www.legis.state.ga.us.

New Orleans Elections--Not just about the mayor

2006-04-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

If you were to watch MSNBC or look at almost any coverage of the New Orleans elections, you would think that the entire future of New Orleans depends on 1 of 2 men--Ray Nagin or Mitch Landrieu. That would be creuel enough, but the really sad story is in the details....the council members and sheriff and clerk of court positions have been filled by almost exactlyu the same people who ran New Orleans before Katrina.

You may say, "Well, that is great! New Orleans can go back to what it was!" If you believe New Orleans was all about gumbo, jazz, and Mardi Gras, you never lived in the city. The "city that care forgot" was and seems to be headed back to a racially divided, "care-less" city...complete with most of the politicians that didn't care so much to begin with.

Take for example the Sheriff--Marlin Gusman. Now that's not learning from the past. Don't take my word..read about Gusman's effectiveness during Katrina from "CityBusiness" hardly a radical rag:

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jan 20, 2006 by Richard A. Webster

In the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana Department of Corrections evacuated thousands of inmates from the Orleans Parish Prison and scattered them throughout 37 facilities across Louisiana. Alexandria defense attorney Phyllis Mann and a team of lawyers traveled to each of these prisons in an attempt to account for the whereabouts of the prisoners.The first round of interviews took place in Rapides Parish Prison Sept. 7.The defense attorneys interviewed more than 200 individuals and heard tales that horrified even the most hardened members of the legal team, Mann said.My only reaction was 'Oh my God,' Mann said. After awhile it became apparent that these people weren't evacuated, they were rescued from this horrible abuse that was occurring.Inmate after inmate described in shockingly similar terms what took place in OPP after the levees gave way. According to handwritten testimonials, inmates were Maced, shot with beanbags and beaten with clubs, flashlights and the butts of firearms.Inmates claimed guards abandoned their posts, leaving them locked in their cells as the polluted, feces-ridden water rose to their necks. Prisoners said they went without food and water for three days. Many of them resorted to drinking out of toilets while some even drank the contaminated floodwater. The inmates said they tried to break through the walls to escape the rising water and smoke filling the prison from signal fires set by other inmates in hopes of attracting rescue teams on the outside. Many inmates claimed to have seen bloated bodies floating in the water that surrounded them.Mann said prison officials abandoned the inmates in their greatest hour of need.Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff Marlin Gusman denies the charges and said his office did its best to safely evacuate the inmates under impossible circumstances. But questions continue to haunt the evacuation of Orleans Parish Prison including whether the sheriff's office had an evacuation plan at all.Generators swampedOn the morning Katrina made landfall, Aug. 29, there were more than 6,000 inmates in OPP, including prisoners evacuated from St. Bernard Parish.As the hurricane entered the Gulf of Mexico, Gusman said he initiated the flood contingency plan, which involved making sure the generators were in working order and fueled. Unfortunately, when the levees broke, the water rushed into the jail and swamped all the generators, along with the major mechanical and electrical systems located in the basement.As part of their preparations, Gusman said they made sure the prison had a 96-hour supply of food and water. But according to hundreds of statements compiled by Mann, inmates said they went days without both.As conditions worsened, Gusman contacted the state Department of Corrections and requested assistance evacuating inmates out of New Orleans.Cathy Fontenot, the DOC director of storm recovery, said the evacuation of OPP took three days due to complications created by the flooding. Gusman managed to move 2,000 prisoners to the Interstate 10 overpass, leaving more than 4,000 inside waiting to be rescued.Several officers said it was pretty scary inside, Fontenot said. It was pretty surreal but the adrenaline kicks in and our only mission was to remove the inmates as safely and securely as possible.Flood plan questionedOnce the DOC successfully evacuated the inmates, Eric Balaban, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project, attempted to gain access to Orleans Parish Prison to document physical evidence to support the horrific claims of the inmates. Gusman and the courts rejected the request.He then requested a copy of the prison evacuation plan and was given instead a flood contingency plan (that) contains no description of how OPP buildings will be evacuated in the event of an emergency, Balaban said.At the end of December Gusman provided a fire evacuation plan, which the ACLU is reviewing.Of the inmates' claims, the most serious is that there were dead bodies floating in the prison. Mann said she is not prepared to say she knows with certainty that inmates died and will not know until a full accounting of every inmate is completed. Gusman called the accusations ridiculous.The coroner told me the ACLU is asking him for a list of all of the people who died and said there were none. And they're still fighting that, Gusman said.Corinne Carey, an attorney with Human Rights Watch, asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the events surrounding the evacuation of Orleans Parish Prison.The best is to assume they will investigate and the worst is that it has flown off the radar or they've decided the denials from OPP officials are enough which is what most of the press and legislators have done, Carey said. But every single inmate we've spoken to has the same exact story and those stories were corroborated by corrections officers we've spoken to. Unfortunately, as is the case with so much of criminal justice issues, it is left to litigation and it never provides what many of the inmates want which is an acknowledgment and an apology.'Nothing but inmates'Mann said she understands the public may not be interested in the plight of people disregarded as murderers and rapists and may not believe their stories.No one died, no one escaped and no one was beaten or abused, she said. They're nothing but inmates and they lie and that's what Gusman is counting on people believing.But among the prison population were people arrested for misdemeanors such as public intoxication and traffic violations. One individual incarcerated for trespassing, identified only as inmate No. 6 by the ACLU, described the scene inside Orleans Parish Prison after the levees broke.Yes my unit did fill with water, which came up to my chest level of my 5-foot, 5 1/2-inch frame. On the day of the hurricane there were deputies present but early into the night there were virtually no deputies there. We were in a locked cell, which had been set afire prior to our arrival. There was no ventilation and it was filled with smoke to such a capacity that we were coughing uncontrollably and literally could not breathe. We all had black mucous coming out of our nostrils.On the morning of Hurricane Katrina we had one-half of a bologna sandwich and a small portion of applesauce. No water. After that we had not eaten anything at all until after Wednesday night.The evacuation - hideous to say the least. - So gruesome that we had to walk/wade through standing toxic-contaminated water filled with feces, urine and all kinds of other foreign debris for days on end that the details are actually almost impossible to fathom how one can survive it and not be scarred to the extremes.

Stan Goff's SEX and WAR--Published on LULU.com

2006-04-23T19:45:00.001-07:00

I met Stan Goff--a very powerful voice against the War in Iraq and the militaristic era that is being fostered in the US in this 21st century (and before). He walked with the "Walking to New Orleans" march (from Mobile to NOLA on the anniversary of the 3rd year in Iraq). You may be interested in his book (that is now published on LULU.com)

The notion that war is intrinsic to man's nature is dealt a powerful setback in Stan Goff's 'Sex and War'. Goff, a former Special Forces sergeant, argues persuasively that rather than being born that way, men are made into killers by governments, corporations, and systems of power. Drawing both on his experiences in the military and on his reading of feminist writers such as Patricia Williams, bell hooks, and Chandra Mohanty, and as the father of a son stationed more than once in Iraq, Goff journeys through wars, ideologies, and cultures, revealing the transformation of men into killers. His story encompasses not just the battlefield and the book, but the Swift Boat Veterans controversy, the eros of George W. Bush, pornography, the Taliban, and gays and lesbians in the military. Goff's remarkable ability to connect his own personal experiences to contemporary feminist criticism makes for a provocative discussion of war and masculinity.

Product Details:

Printed: 206 pages, 8.50" x 11.00", perfect binding, black and white interior ink

ISBN: 978-1-4116-4380-2

Publisher: Stan Goff

Copyright: © 2006 by Stan Goff Standard Copyright License

Language: English

Edition: First Edition

Truthout.org....scoop on Bush and Iran!

2006-04-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

FOCUS | Bush Meets With Think Tank On Iran Military Strike
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042306Z.shtml
Bush traveled Friday night to Stanford University, where he met privately with members of the libertarian Hoover Institution, a think tank that has been aggressively promoting the viability of a preemptive military strike in Iran, to discuss the war.

'New Orleans is our Gettysburg'

2006-04-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

This article was forwarded to me from New Orleans. The authors raise critical issues that should not be ignored.

The Black Commentator
www.blackcommentator.com

April 20, 2006 - Issue 180

Cover Story
'New Orleans is our Gettysburg'
A Generation's Defining Event
by BC Publishers Glen Ford and Peter Gamble

This Saturday's elections in New Orleans represent yet
another element of the vast crime committed against
Black America. With as many as 300,000 residents,
overwhelmingly African American, strewn about the
country in government-engineered exile, the elections
are an insult to the very idea of democracy, and to
the dignity of all Black people.

This farcical exercise in faux democracy will no doubt
be followed by corporate media declarations that New
Orleans is returning to "normalcy" - the same term
that the media bandied about when the city held a
shrunken Mardi Gras, in February.

Behind that bland word, "normalcy," lies a wish list
and narrative that sees white rule as normative in
America - the way things should be - and Black
electoral power as an aberration, a kind of organized
pathology in which people are assumed to be up to no
good. Despite Katrina's vast damage to Louisiana
infrastructure and commerce, there is a current of
elation among white elites and common folk alike, at
the winds and waters that cleansed New Orleans of its
two-thirds Black majority, which was seen as a sore on
the body politic, a den of Otherness and iniquity.

The white American narrative, which begins with
national "democratic" elections after the birth of the
republic in which only a tiny fraction of the
population - white male owners of substantial property
- could vote, bestows mythic significance to the
electoral exercise, no matter how bogus and profoundly
undemocratic. Thus, two ink-dipped elections in
U.S.-occupied Iraq are heralded as benchmarks of
progress, despite the deepening and widening conflict
and misery that afflict the Iraqi people. In New
Orleans, the mystical mantra of elections in which the
majority of the population cannot fully participate,
is equated with a kind of "recovery" from the storm
and flood - when no such thing has occurred.

But the whites of New Orleans are free of the
overwhelming Black presence - free at last! - a
prerequisite for the creation of a "new" and "better"
city. Some speak openly of the new lease on life that
the dispersal of Black residents has afforded the
high-ground whites that have found themselves the new
majority. (See "New Orleans Elections Fever," April
20, 2006 ). When their rule is sanctioned by this
weekend's elections, "normalcy" will be just around
the corner.

"At the same time that they were talking about holding
elections, they were holding evictions," said Rev.
Lennox Yearwood, chairman and CEO of Washington-based
Hip Hop Caucus , who has immersed his organization in
New Orleans political organizing and relief work.
"What needs to happen is the organizing of our people,
wherever they are."

The task is formidable, because the entire national
and state white power structure is determined to be
permanently rid of those exiled by Katrina. The
Louisiana state legislature has rushed to put New
Orleans schools up for sale, to preclude the return of
Black families. The bill states that "the recovery
district may sell any property which the school
district determines will not be used for providing
educational services on or before August 29, 2006."

"Recovery district." What a deformation of the English
language. The white powers-that-be want only to
"recover" New Orleans for themselves, and ensure that
there will be no place for even the most determined
Black exiles to return to. The white search for
"normalcy" is, in reality, an ongoing crime against
humanity. Saturday's election is intended to bestow
respectability to the crime.

However, a bleached New Orleans will never be
legitimate to African Americans, who understand that
they have been collectively raped of their personhood,
not by weather, but by man. Bogus elections provide a
false facade of due process - a fragrance to hide the
stench of raw expulsion of a people - but it does not
fool a single African American anywhere in the nation.

In the words of University of Chicago political
scientist Michael Dawson , Katrina " could very well
shape this generation of young people in the same way
that the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther
King shaped our generation" - the men and women who
developed their political consciousness in the
Sixties.

Rev. Yearwood agrees. "People are becoming much more
political," said the 36-year-old minister. "The common
person in Houston, Atlanta, New Orleans is much more
engrossed in politics, in the spirit of
self-determination. I'm encouraged."

Katrina is becoming a rallying cry for all of Black
America, creating a new generation of activists. "I'm
beginning to see more Fannie Lou Hamers emerging,"
said Rev. Yearwood. "People don't need more
organizations telling them what to do. They are
saying, Just give me the tools and I'll get the job
done."

While the powerful conspire to make a fait accompli of
the New Orleans diaspora, the results of which will be
certified by the most undemocratic election since
passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the
political consciousness of Black America is being
transformed. A horrible lesson has been relearned:
Katrina "suggested to Blacks the utter lack of the
liberal possibility in the United States," says Prof.
Dawson. We must strike out on our own path, with
whatever allies are willing to make common cause with
us. The New Orleans election will never be "closure"
for us.

"New Orleans is our Gettysburg," said Rev. Yearwood.
"If we lose there, we lose all the marbles."

The forces arrayed against a Black return to New
Orleans do not realize that they have set in motion
the entire national Black polity. Just as President
John Kennedy inspired western Europeans when he
declared "Ich bin ein Berliner" ("I am a Berliner")
in 1963, all Black people see their fates entwined
with the New Orleans diaspora - "I am a New
Orleanian."

We understand that the enforced exile of hundreds of
thousands of our brothers and sisters is an assault
and disenfranchisement of us all, and that we cannot
afford to lose in this twilight struggle. Defeat is
not an option. As Rev. Yearwood put it: " You can live
in LA - you lose. You can be in New York - you lose.
If we lose in New Orleans, we lose it all."

BC Publishers Glen Ford and Peter Gamble are writing a
book to be entitled, Barack Obama and the Crisis of
Black Leadership.

Sander Hicks runs for Senate against Hillary Clinton

2006-04-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

A green candidate, and what's more important an activist and outspoken critic of the corporate stranglehold on this state and this country, Sander Hicks brought his tour to Rochester NY today.

From his website <hicksforsenate.com>:

Here's How We Win

Most people in New York are progressive. They want a new politics. They want a few good, basic things out of life: a good job they believe in, a worthwhile education for their kids, healthcare, a clean environment, and honesty from politicians.

This is all too much to ask for from today's phony, careerist "leaders."

It's a great opportunity for some new politics.

I have done different kinds of community-organizing work. I've worked with unions, and churches, and a merchants association. I'm a progressive, a patriot, and a practicing Catholic. There's a "big tent" of people in New York State who I know are with me: we don't like where this country has gone since 9/11. We don't want the USA to be the bully of the globe. We need to lead the world through the strength of our ideas, not the brutality of our weapons.

Yes, the opponent has plenty of money. That doesn't scare us. We've got something more powerful than money: we believe in our cause. We have common interests. We have a mass movement on our side. The party's over for the elitists. It's time for the mass movement to take over. We've been in the streets marching against the war, and now it's time for us to take office.

There are a number of institutions that this campaign can use to reach that mass movement: the churches and temples and mosques are ready to hear this message, because it is prophetic. This is in the tradition of the ancient wisdom, like Isaiah, who spoke truth to power. The unions are eager to hear this message, because this is in the interests of the majority, which has been ignored by the two boss parties. The student groups are active and energetic and revolutionary, just like this message. The environmental groups want to hear that Green Party now has some fresh juice. The patriots and the civil libertarians are livid that a Federal Government is eager to trample on our rights, listen to our phone calls, and detain our citizens.

So, instead of responding to a politics that divides us, let's realize our common interests. Together, we are the mass movement. Abandon the two dinosaur parties. We are the mammals. We are the future. Don't delay the inevitable. Meet the future head-on!

My thoughts about Canada- 1 hour away from me now.

2006-04-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

As the most recent posting describes--the one from Lee Zalowsky--Canadians are working hard to give shelter to Americans who are resisting war in Iraq and maybe in Iran. These young people and their families are OUR problem...and yet Canadians are trying to help them. If you visit the web site, you will find soldiers who have done at least 1 tour of duty in Iraq, who are testifying with all their might about the atrocities and horrors they never volunteered for in this "new US army."

If you need more convincing about the terrible emotional and physical toll this war is taking on the generation of our daughters and sons, visit Truthout.Org or www.ivaw.net (Iraq Vets Against the War).

While my friends and colleagues suffer in New Orleans, our sons and daughters will pay the price of this immoral and destructive war throughout their lives--not to mention the costs to the lives of families in Iraq. We must not be overcome by our own troubles and forget the larger picture--the agenda that prevents survival in this country and in the world--the Bush/Cheney agenda.

Appeal for help for War Resisters in Canada!

2006-04-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

From : http://www.resisters.ca

Thanks very much for your email. We deeply appreciate your support. I remember meeting you at RIT, and I have told the war resisters of your comments about the importance of what they are

Our most immediate need is for funds to appeal the Hinzman/Hughey decision to the Federal Court of Appeal. Anything you can donate or raise among other peace loving folks you may know would be most helpful. We have another refugee hearing coming up on May 4, and we just completed a refugee hearing on March 30. They are coming thick and fast, and, again, require funds to pay for legal work and for travel for heresistorssters.

I hope you will also write to the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and let him know that you, as an American, support the resisters in their struggle to stay and live peacefully in Canada. His email is pm@pm.gc.ca

He can also be reached at:
Office of the Prime\nMinister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2

Fax: 613-941-6900.

Thanks again for your interest and support. We remain optimistic that our Campaign will be successful, but as yet we cannot see the end of the tunnel.

Peace
Lee Zaslofsky
War Resisters Support Campaign

From Bill Quigley--Seven Months After Katrina: Sleeping in a Car in Front of

2006-03-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

> Seven Months After Katrina: Sleeping in Your Car in
> Front of Your Trailer in Front of Your Devastated
> Home, Tales of Lunacy and Hope from New Orleans
>
> By Bill Quigley. Bill Quigley is a law professor at
> Loyola University New Orleans.
>
> In New Orleans, seven months after Katrina, senior
> citizens are living in their cars. WWL-TV introduced
> us to Korean War veteran Paul Morris, 74, and his wife
> Yvonne, 66. They have been sleeping in their 2 door
> sedan since January. They have been waiting that long
> for FEMA contractors to unlock the 240 square foot
> trailer in their yard and connect the power so they
> can sleep inside it in front of their devastated home.
>
>
> This tale of lunacy does not begin to stop there.
>
>
>
> Their 240 square foot trailer may well cost more
> than their house. While FEMA flat out refuses to say
> how much the government is paying for trailers,
> reliable estimates by the New York Times and others
> place the cost at over $60,000 each.
>
>
> How could these tiny FEMA trailers cost so much?
>
> Follow the money.
>
> Circle B Enterprises of Georgia was awarded $287
> million in contracts by FEMA for temporary housing.
> At the time, that was the seventh highest award of
> Katrina money in the country. According to the
> Washington Post, Circle B was not even being licensed
> to build homes in its own state of Georgia and filed
> for bankruptcy in 2003. The company does not even
> have a website.
>
> Here is how it works. The original contractor takes
> their cut and subcontracts out the work of
> constructing the trailer to other companies. Once it
> is built, they subcontract out the transporting the
> trailers to yet other companies which pay drivers,
> gas, insurance and mileage. They then subcontract out
> the hookups of the trailers to other companies and
> keep taking cuts for their services. Usually none of
> the people who make the money are local workers.
>
> With $60,000 many people could adequately repair
> their homes.
>
> Why not just give the $60,000 directly to the
> elderly couple and let them fix up their home? Ask
> Congress. FEMA is not allowed to give grants of that
> much. Money for fixing up homes comes from somewhere
> else and people are still waiting for that to arrive.
>
> While many corporations are making big money off
> of Katrina, Mr. and Mrs. Morris wait in their car.
>
> Craziness continues in the area of the right to vote.
>
> You would think that the nation that put on elections
> with satellite voting boxes for Iraqis and Afghanis
> and Haitians and many others would do the same for
> Katrina evacuees. Wrong. There is no satellite
> voting for the 230,000 citizens of New Orleans who are
> out of state. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the
> Advancement Project, ACORN and the Peoples Hurricane
> Relief Fund have all fought for satellite voting but
> Louisiana and the courts and the U.S. Justice
> Department have said no.
>
> The rule of thumb around here is that the poorer you
> are, the further you have been displaced. African
> Americans are also much more likely to be poor and
> renters – the people who cannot yet come back to a
> city where rents have doubled. They are the ones
> bearing the burdens of no satellite voting.
>
> The people already back are much more affluent
> than the pre-Katrina New Orleans. The city is also
> much whiter. Many of those already back in New
> Orleans are not so sure that all of New Orleans should
> be rebuilt. The consequence of that is not everyone
> will be allowed to return. Planners and politicians
> openly suggest turning poor neighborhoods into green
> spaces. No one yet has said they want to turn their
> own neighborhood into green space – only other
> people’s neighborhoods – usually poor people’s
> neighborhoods. Those who disagree are by and large
> not here.
>
> New Orleans has not been majority white for
> decades, but it is quite possible that a majority of
> those who are able to vote in the upcoming election
> will be white. Thus the decisions about the future of
> New Orleans are poised to be made by those who have
> been able to get back and will exclude many of those
> still evacuated. Guess what type of plans they will
> have for New Orleans?
>
> There are many, many more tales of lunacy all
> over town as all systems have melted down: criminal
> justice, healthcare, public education, churches,
> electricity, water, garbage, our environment – you
> name it, it melted down and is not yet fully back up.
>
>
> But, there are also clear signs of hope.
>
> Across New Orleans neighborhood groups are
> meeting every weekend planning their own comebacks.
> People catch rides back into town and visit ruined
> neighborhoods and greet neighbors and together make
> plans to recover. Because governmental action and
> contractors are so slow, groups are looking to their
> own resources and partnering with churches and
> community groups and universities and businesses to
> fill in the gaps where the politicos have not yet been
> able to respond. The citizens themselves are our
> greatest hope.
>
> We also have allies that give us hope.
>
> We have been amazed and refreshed by the
> thousands of college students who took their spring
> break in New Orleans helping our elderly and uninsured
> families gut houses, clean up streets and advocate for
> justice with Common Ground Relief, the Peoples
> Hurricane Relief Fund, Catholic Charities, ACORN and
> many other church and civic groups. Even law
> students! Over 1000 law students helped provide legal
> aid and are providing the first comprehensive
> documentation of abuses of local and out of town
> workers by businesses.
>
> Over 100 clergy from across the US visited New
> Orleans with the PICO Network, as did hundreds of
> other people of faith with the Jeremiah community.
> The Protestant Women are here now and the Interfaith
> Worker Justice group meets here soon. Together, these
> groups raise the voices of their faith communities and
> call for justice in the rebuilding of our communities.
>
>
> On the national level, we see rising support from
> numerous social justice groups. Several created the
> Katrina Information Network, an internet advocacy
> group that enables people across the country to take
> action with us to influence all levels of government
> in the rebuilding effort. We are inspired by the
> veterans and allies who marched from Florida to New
> Orleans to highlight the diversion of money from our
> cities to war efforts.
>
> Yes, we have lunacy in New Orleans. But there
> are also signs of hope.
>
> Whether lunacy or hope will triumph in New
> Orleans is yet to be determined. But we appreciate
> those of you who are working in solidarity with us to
> try to keep our hope alive

Support OUR VETS--Oppose the WAR!

2006-03-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.vetgulfmarch.org/

I know many of you already know about (and may be marching with) the international protest against the 3rd anniversary of the Iraq war AND the lack of government responsibility to the people of Iraq, the US Troops, and the people of the Gulf Coast. Men and women are marching from Mobile to New Orleans (March 14-19) to bring attention to all the disasters this Bush administration has brought upon families in this country and abroad. Military Families, Mothers and Fathers, Veterans groups, Katrina victims--these are the people trying to turn up the volume in the speak out--even as Bush's generals conduct "the largest air strike since the invasion of Iraq" 3 years ago. National activist groups have joined in support of this march, but we need YOUR help.

The city of New Orleans has mandated fees for permits and the use of Congo Square (the place where slaves were sold in New Orleans, and now where the unempowered victims of the Bush government will gather on Saturday). Previous activist and civil rights actions (before Katrina) were never charged fees and required no permits, so these fees have taken the New Orleans organizers by surprise. Please send whatever money you can to support this cause. I am unemployed still--laid off from my job in New Orleans, but I am giving $25..You can do this also!

Go to the secure online donation site:
https://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/vetsforpeace/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1228&t=nomarch.dwt

From Marty--the New Orleans organizer:

We need extra money. After we began, we were told "...oh, by the way, there's these permits you need" We didn't budget for these.

- $1000 for use of Congo Square

- Mayoralty permit $500.25 (no shit)

- occupational license $250

Tell It Like It Is

2006-02-26T10:27:00.000-08:00

There is a great, legenary song, played often in New Orleans---"Tell It Like It Is"--and this Associated Press Reporter has done exactly that.

To: rebuild_lakeview@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 01:17:32 -0000
Subject: [rebuild_lakeview] ARTICLE: 1/2 Year later, N.O. is far from whole.....
Half a year later, New Orleans is far from whole 03:39 PM CST on Saturday, February 25, 2006 By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI Associated Press NEW ORLEANS — They're throwing Mardi Gras beads again - so many strands, they're landing in tree branches and getting snagged on the trellised balconies of the French Quarter. You'll find them adorning the arms of Spanish statues. Tourists are wearing them, but these days so are contractors and the National Guard. It's hard to walk on Bourbon Street without stepping on them. You're likely to crunch them underfoot, long necklaces of plastic pearls brightening the asphalt. At the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter, Pat O'Brien's is once again serving its syrupy, yet potent Hurricane cocktail. At Tropical Isle, you can get an equally potent Hand Grenade in a tall, plastic go-cup. But walk to the end of Bourbon Street, take a left on Esplanade Avenue, a right on Rampart Street and head east. At first, the debris comes in bits: A small pile of siding. A rusted box spring. One taped- up refrigerator. At first, you find them in neat piles, in the front yard or outside on the curb. There's still a semblance of order. But keep going. It gets worse. You pass an elegant sofa, the kind you might imagine a grand dame reclining in, sipping her mint julep. It is lodged in the middle of an intersection. A few miles farther, the innards of rotting houses spill out on both sides of the road. Six months have passed since Katrina ravaged this city. For a half a year, its people have counted the dead (officially, 1,080 in Louisiana and 231 in Mississippi) and struggled mightily to keep their city among the living. A slimmed-down Mardi Gras is testament to their success; a tour of the devastation that remains is testament to how far they have to go. Hurricane Katrina created an estimated 60.3 million cubic yards of debris in Louisiana, 25 times as much as the ruins of the World Trade Center and enough to fill the Superdome more than 13 times. Of that, only 32 million cubic yards - a bit more than half - has been removed. Meanwhile, there are just under 2,000 people listed as missing. Some are not missing at all - they turned up, but their families never notified authorities. Hundreds of others, though, were very likely washed into the Gulf of Mexico or swept into Lake Pontchartrain or alligator-infested swamps, according to Dr. Louis Cataldie, Louisiana's medical examiner. Still more may be buried in the rubble. At a hurricane morgue near Baton Rouge, 86 bodies remain unidentified. State officials are trying to reach relatives for another 74 who've been identified but have no place to go. Mayor Ray Nagin says a comparison to New York City should be a favorable one. "Let me remind you that after 9/11 in New York, it took them six to eight months to get out of the fog of what happened to them. And to date, there's still a big hole in the ground. So when I look at everything that's going on, I think we're right on schedule," he said. Indeed, in the French Quarter and on St. Charles Avenue, on Magazine Street and in the plantation-style mansions of Uptown, life has moved on, though protective blue tarps that serve as roofs for many are a constant reminder of the work left to be done. In the Quarter, uber chef Paul Prudhomme is blackening his signature redfish again. Bourbon House is shucking oysters, and Antoine's, the 166-year-old dining icon, is dishing up plates of Pompano Pontchartrain with slices of tart lemon. Yet even here, Katrina has left her mark. All three restaurants are short-handed. Antoine's, which lost its $200,000 wine collection in the storm, is shifting its wine list away from French staples, embracing New World wines instead. And look closely at the brass band playing outside Prudhomme's K- Paul's Louisiana Kitchen: The golden sheen on the tuba is gone, lost in the deluge at the musician's house. But in the flood zone, the destruction is not so subtle. Leave the French Quarter on Rampart and head east, toward the devastated Ninth and Lower Ninth wards and East New Orleans. All around are the carcasses of flooded houses. Katrina laid waste to more than 215,000 homes. Many are abandoned, their doors wide open. Only an estimated 189,000 of the city's roughly 500,000 pre-Katrina residents have returned. For now, the city is overwhelmingly whiter and more affluent than it was before. Affordable housing is scarce, and FEMA has only filled 48,158 of the 90,000 trailer requests it's received from displaced families in Louisiana, leaving many to wait out their existence in places like Atlanta, Houston and Little Rock. With only 20 of 128 public schools now open, parents who can't afford to send their children to private schools have no choice but to live elsewhere. Children who have returned must wade through wreckage to get to school. "You never really get used to it," said 18-year-old Mark Buchert, a senior at Brother Martin, an all-boys Catholic high school in the devastated Gentilly neighborhood. The destruction gets worse. Keep driving as Rampart turns into St. Claude Avenue and you'll go six miles before you pass a working traffic light. Broken signals swing from their poles like men hanging from gallows. Others blink red. Elsewhere, they lie on their side in intersections, blinking yellow. Even with a diminished population, traffic at rush-hour is heavy. Many people living elsewhere temporarily return to the city each day to work at their jobs or to work on their homes, so the main arteries in and out of town are clogged. Add to the mix the large trucks used for the cleanup, and a commute from suburban New Orleans to the central business district that took 10 minutes before the storm can take 45 minutes now. At night, the darkness is pervasive. Six months after the storm made landfall Aug. 29, a little over a third of the structures in the city have electricity. Even fewer have hot water or cooking gas. Past the Industrial Canal, even farther east, is the cement slab upon which Carolyn Berryhill's house used to sit. In the field of rubble,all that remains of her neighborhood in the Lower Ninth Ward, the 60-year-old "Miss Carolyn" recognizes the pieces of her house by their signature green color. One piece of her home landed at the base of a nearby pecan tree, the same tree whose branches cradled Berryhill for 12 hours after a gush of water - the result of a broken levee - rushed into her parlor and blew apart her home like a bomb. She somehow floated to the tree and waved madly at rescuers in helicopters until they finally saw her and plucked her to safety. In what used to be Berryhill's backyard, an unchipped porcelain plate is half-filled with a meal of mud. The earth is still spongy, as if it hasn't fully swallowed the storm's waters. In it, a golden doorknob is embedded as if it's about to open a door to the underworld. "A lot of people, they talk about coming back and rebuild," she said. "Rebuild what? What can you rebuild out of this? What can you salvage out of this?" A half block away, she finds what she thinks might be her stove. On a parallel street, 71-year-old Gloria Jordan warns that if you walk much farther, "you'll see things I pray to God you never see again." It's a street where three people drowned in their attics, including a 12-year-old girl. Their bodies were found months later. "I have no appetite. It's hard to eat these days," says Jordan, frail like a leaf. She joins her husband, Clarence, on what used to be their porch, now nothing but a concrete foundation. Jordan's eyes gladden as she remembers how each morning she used to sip her coffee in a rocking chair and look out across her small garden of flowers. She wishes she could remember their names. For now, she and Clarence are living with their daughter in White Castle, 73 miles west of New Orleans. "Baby, I had a beautiful home," said Jordan, who owned her house for 49 years. "It's hard when you lived on your own for so many years and just like you pop your finger, or in the twinkling of an eye, you're homeless." Her property is exactly the way the hurricane left it: Her husband's suits were blown into a neighbor's yard, still on hangers. His truck is on its side. Still waiting for her insurance check, she hasn't even started clearing the debris. Those who are rebuilding are largely the ones who can front the costs of repairs. Contractor Darren Schmolke returned alone to his destroyed home after losing his wife in a car wreck during their evacuation to Florida. National Guard troops had roped off the posh Lakeview neighborhood where he raised his family. Each time they chased him away, he would pretend to leave, walking instead around the block and returning through the back door. He worked nonstop to reassemble his house, a two-story colossus in granite, marble and brick. His neighborhood, where homes had water up to their roofs, is one of many that are now in limbo, waiting for government officials to determine whether residents can rebuild. "After I lost my wife, I couldn't sit around and wait," Schmolke said. "I had to do something to get some control back over my life." Businesses that are rebuilding are running into another problem - a shortage of workers. "Help Wanted" and "Now Hiring" signs are everywhere. They're in the windows of unpretentious delis as well as cultural landmarks like Cafe du Monde, the 144-year-old institution that for generations has served New Orleanians its iconic beignets. Call any New Orleans Domino's and before you can order a pizza, you'll first be asked to listen to a 20-second message recruiting new drivers. "The problem is more basic than `where are the people?' The problem is the people don't have anywhere to live," said Loren Scott, a professor emeritus of economics at Louisiana State University. Corporations are housing workers in barge dorms, cruise ships, warehouses and converted train cars. Those that can afford to do so are buying trailers for their employees, as Paul Prudhomme did for everyone from his chief operating officer to his line cooks. Susan Rudolph, a waitress at Cafe du Monde, slept in her truck when she first returned to the city - her husband in the driver's seat, she in the passenger seat, and all they own packed tightly behind them. Now, she begins her day at dawn inside her FEMA-funded motel room, scouring the classifieds for an affordable apartment. With one- bedrooms going for $1,500 and with landlords asking for first and last month's rent plus a security deposit, getting into an apartment is a $4,500 investment - a tall order for someone waiting tables. After a morning spent looking, she puts on a brave face and her white Cafe du Monde cap and smiles sweetly as she serves the hot-and-sticky beignets to chattering visitors. "New Orleans has always been a tourist area, so we smile like clowns," Rudolph said. "I hope one day there won't be one tear in our eye." A brief status report on some of New Orleans' well-known landmarks and attractions as the city marks six months since Hurricane Katrina's Aug. 29 landfall: _Louisiana Superdome: Closed until September. NFL's Saints plan to return to play the 2006 season in the city after playing home games in San Antonio and Baton Rouge in 2005. - Ernest N. Morial Convention Center: Repairs from hurricane and its use as a refugee center expected to be finished in April. First post- hurricane event _ a large jewelry and gift trade show held in New Orleans for 54 years _ was staged at the center last week. - Audubon Aquarium of the Americas: Remains closed, having lost most of its fish when generators failed. The Gulf and Caribbean exhibits are running again and have been restocked with fish, but the aquarium is still working to replace the rest of its collection, and officials say they hope to reopen this summer. - Jackson Square: One of the first places to get a thorough scrubbing and face-lift after Katrina, just before President Bush came in September to tell the nation New Orleans would be rebuilt. The square is nearly what it was before Katrina: famous Cafe Du Monde is open, musicians ply the sidewalks, tarot card readers and tour guides try to engage a shrunken pool of tourists. - Port of New Orleans: Shipping activity has reached 100 percent of pre-Katrina levels, but only the upriver portion _ about 70 percent of the port's facilities _ is operational. - Charity Hospital: The second-oldest continuously running public hospital in the United States, founded in 1736, sustained $258 million in damage. There are no immediate plans to reopen it. Its skeletal staff is working out of a field hospital in the convention center, which is expected to move to another temporary location in March. - Fair Grounds Race Course: Closed to racing after heavy damage to grandstands and clubhouse, it's unknown when live racing will return. Track generally runs a November-through-March meet. Shorter meet was held this year at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City. Track grounds will be used for this year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in April and May. -New Orleans Museum of Art: Museum had little damage to its building or its works of art, but damage to the overall city from hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused it to shut its doors for six months. The museum is scheduled to reopen March 3. The museum's outdoor sculpture garden, with footpaths meandering among more than 50 sculptures, reopened in December. - Hotel industry: 25,000 of the area's 38,000 pre-Katrina hotel rooms will be available for occupancy by this weekend's Mardi Gras celebration. - Theaters: Repairs are under way at the historic Saenger Theater on Canal Street. The theater flooded, had wind damage and is expected to remain closed through 2006. Recovery at the 85-year-old Orpheum Theater in the Central Business District has been all but stagnant. Owners had no flood insurance and aren't sure how to pay for up to $2.5 million in flood damage. Damage to the city's other major theaters - the Municipal Auditorium and Mahalia Jackson theater - wasn't as severe. Those facilities are expected to be operational within the year. - Restaurants: Before the storm, metropolitan New Orleans had 3,414 restaurants that generated $2.1 billion in annual sales, according to the Louisiana Restaurant Association. They employed 53,500 directly and an additional 23,000 in support industries. Since Katrina, 37 percent of those have reopened, and about 17,000 employees have returned. - Audubon Zoo: Sustained only minor damage during Katrina but lost significant revenue with an ensuing absence of tourists. For now, it's open on weekends only. Zoo officials say they're hoping to return to normal hours sometime in March. - Louis Armstrong International Airport: Number of daily flights has dropped from 166 the week before Katrina to 71. Another 20 flights are expected to begin by April 3. A look at how Katrina affected Louisiana: POPULATION: An estimated 189,000 New Orleans residents have returned, compared with around 500,000 pre-Katrina. DEATHS: 1,080 in Louisiana. MISSING: Nearly 2,000 listed as missing by the Find Family National Call Center. DESTROYED HOUSES: More than 215,000. Total housing units lost, including apartments, is 1,847,181. PROPERTY AND INFRASTRUCTURE LOSSES: $75 to $100 billion. DEBRIS: Katrina created 60.3 million cubic yards; 32.1 million cubic yards had been removed as of February. BUSINESSES: Of 81,000 impacted businesses, 42,000 have fully reopened; 18,700 were destroyed. TAX REVENUE: $549 million lost (including gambling, sales and income taxes.) SCHOOLS: More than 835 schools damaged statewide. Only 20 out of 128 public schools have reopened in New Orleans; 83,821 of 244,608 college students statewide were displaced. Of the displaced college students, only 16,480 have re-enrolled in state. JOBS: More than 220,000 jobs lost. WETLANDS: More than 100 square miles of wetland destroyed by storm surge. HOSPITALS: Katrina closed eight of 16 hospitals in the New Orleans' area, reducing the number of hospital beds from 4,083 to 1,760. ELECTRICITY: A total of 189,000 households and businesses received electricity from Entergy New Orleans pre-Katrina, compared with between 65,000 to 70,000 today. GAS: A total of 145,000 customers in New Orleans received natural gas service from Entergy New Orleans before Katrina. Between 40,000 to 45,000 are using the service today. ESTIMATED DAMAGE TO POWER INFRASTRUCTURE: $275 million in infrastructure repairs in New Orleans.

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Get Ready--March is Anti War Month

2006-02-23T20:19:00.000-08:00

NOW I am in Rochester NY and involved in RAW--Rochester
Here are our events and also some good websites to help you continue this important battle against this illegal and immoral war.

ANTI WAR EVENTS

Saturday, March 18th Rochester protest against the "Costs of Bush's War." March 18 -- March 24: Weeklong Rochester Against the War events and last in series of Reality of War Series (RAW at RIT) Starting Sat March 18th March centering in Rochester City (F. Douglass home).

The Military Families Speak Out MFSO.org and many other Rochester Organizations (Moveon.org, Raging Grannies, CodePink, The Green Party, ISO, campus Antiwar War network chapter, MetroJustice, Peace and Action and other activist individuals and groups are coming together to speak up for the greater Rochester area--to bring the troops home and to end this war.)

March 1st SUNY Brockport 5:30-6:30--CodePink tabling

March 8th International Women's Day March on DC Women Call for Peace (intl petition)
Codepink4peace.org

March 14-March 19th --http://vetgulfmarch.org/

"WALKIN' TO NEW ORLEANS"
Veterans' and Survivors' March for Peace and Justice
Mobile to New Orleans
March 14-19, 2006

March 19, 2006 is the 3rd anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, and hurricane survivors' organizations (Save Ourselves, the People's Hurricane Relief Fund, Common Ground Collective, Bayou Liberty Relief, the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, C3, and others) are organizing a five-day march and caravan along Gulf Coast Highway 90 to demand:

(1) the immediate return of our troops from Iraq, and to call for U.S. tax dollars to be spent on human priorities and

(2) rebuilding of the devastated Gulf Coast, under the democratic direction of the residents of the Gulf Coast, instead of further spending for the illegal occupation of Iraq.

Vets and Katrina surviors will begin in Mobile, Alabama on March 14th and end in New Orleans on March 19th, the war's anniversary.

June 14-16: Peace Has No Borders: Western NY and Canada: Festival and Walk across Peace Bridge to support Resisters http://www.resisters.ca/

Women Say No to War --March 8

2006-02-19T17:15:00.000-08:00

Sat. March 8 --International Women's Day -- Women Say No to War (Codepink) in DC and in events worldwide : Go the the CodePink website (codepink4peace.org) and sign this Declaration:

Women's Call for Peace: An Urgent Appeal

We, the women of the United States, Iraq and women worldwide, have had enough of the senseless war in Iraq and the cruel attacks on civilians around the world. We've buried too many of our loved ones. We've seen too many lives crippled forever by physical and mental wounds. We've watched in horror as our precious resources are poured into war while our families' basic needs of food, shelter, education and healthcare go unmet. We've had enough of living in constant fear of violence and seeing the growing cancer of hatred and intolerance seep into our homes and communities.

This is not the world we want for ourselves or our children. With fire in our bellies and love in our hearts, we women are rising up - across borders - to unite and demand an end to the bloodshed and the destruction.

We have seen how the foreign occupation of Iraq has fueled an armed movement against it, perpetuating an endless cycle of violence. We are convinced that it is time to shift from a military model to a conflict-resolution model that includes the following elements:

- The withdrawal of all foreign troops and foreign fighters from Iraq;
- Negotiations to reincorporate disenfranchised Iraqis into all aspects of Iraqi society;
- The full representation of women in the peacemaking process and a commitment to women's full equality in the post-war Iraq;
- A commitment to discard plans for any foreign bases in Iraq;
- Iraqi control of its oil and other resources;
- The nullification of privatization and deregulation laws imposed under occupation, allowing Iraqis to shape the trajectory of the post-war economy;
- A massive reconstruction effort that prioritizes Iraqi contractors, and draws upon financial resources of the countries responsible for the invasion and occupation of Iraq;
- Consideration of a temporary international peacekeeping force that is truly multilateral and is not composed of any troops from countries that participated in the occupation.

To move this peace process forward, we are creating a massive movement of women - crossing generations, races, ethnicities, religions, borders and political persuasions. Together, we will pressure our governments, the United Nations, the Arab League, Nobel Peace Prize winners, religious leaders and others in the international community to step forward to help negotiate a political settlement. And in this era of divisive fundamentalisms, we call upon world leaders to join us in spreading the fundamental values of love for the human family and for our precious planet.

The Map of New Orleans -- Finally and Too Late

2006-01-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

Truth.
Hard green spaces, yellow no build zones, and overlapping red circles of uncertainty and financial ruin. New Orleans exists in a thin gray sliver along the crescent river--much as it did before the first reconstruction after the Civil war, even before that time when the Houma and Choctaw Indians warned the newcomers of the risk of building too close to the Gulf.

Water pumps, levees, changed river paths, the pseudoscience of an industrial age and the political need to deny catastrophe to be elected and to build into the swamps (not just in New Orleans, but into St. Charles and St. Tammany parishes)--the motion of a society into a past too soon forgotten. The 1927 great flood detailed in The Rising Tide warned us all--in fact Loyola History students found it required reading. Every hurricane season we prayed against the "big one" and thought the Ursulines or Fr. Seton or Marie Laveau would hold our flood walls strong. We are a culture of irrational belief and plastic beads.

But to still believe that homeowners can rebuild, that mortgages will be paid off, that land will be worth anything close to what it used to be, that jobs will come back, that people will be able to live somewhere other than hotel rooms--these are dreams. The dreams are perpetuated by leaders who are afraid to tell the truth and afraid to lead the way forward--without waiting for federal help. New Orleans is no longer civilization--it is uncharted territory and requires the courage of an fearless explorer--a City Founder--not a rebuilder. There is not enough left to rebuild.

Volunteers and activists can help people eat and survive, but short of establishing collectives and microcosmic communities, they are not city builders. I do not mean "real estate developers"--I mean the kind of men or women who found their way to new lands and built cities where no city had been. Stop redrawing the old and break into the new.

For the residents--the owners of land and houses no longer habitable--the Second story dwellers: New Orleans is the largest Love Canal of the Nation. Land value and damages (physical and emotional) must be awarded to these people. They cannot be left to suffer the loss of this catastrophe while millions and billions go to government and private concerns. Give compensation directly to the people and let them decide whether to stay or go themselves--2 million each would be less than the billions spent and planned--and may free these people from the political and emotional slavery they face as each meeting and newspaper report cuts them again. They are battered and weary. Let them go.

I could leave. That is what freedom is about. I could sell and pay off my mortgage. I could move and come here to seek a job. I could have stayed and tried to find a job. CHOICE--that's the precious gift that few people in New Orleans have.

Rochester Greens..My first meeting

2006-01-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to the Monroe County Green Party meeting in Rochester NY. I was welcomed and felt quite at home--almost too "at home." The topic at hand is voting reform--more specifically voting machines to be bought by Monroe County (as "recommended" on a list by NY State Boad of Elections). Again, no standard for all--no guarantee of open source code (each manaufacturer wants to own the code--not the public), no consistent method of documenting the votes by receipts that could be durable and trustworthy, and very little accessibly for challenged citizens. That Federal guidelines (HAVA) may be mandating updating the lever system still used in Western NY state, but what is being offered is little better.

Ironically, I come from a state well know for electoral corruption and malfeasance-- Louisiana. But I had to admit one aspect of NY election law astounded me--the extraordinary extent to which the state law has restricted the poltical party system to a 2 party system--down to election and poll workers and officials (still underfunded and understaffed). If national figures like Hillary Clinton and Pataki and Spitzer want America to look up to their work in NY, they had better take care of business in their own house. This election nightmare is shocking to this daughter of the South--especially since as an Independent and as Green in LA, I have been able to serve as a poll watcher and register to be a election worker. I have never been asked what my party was--nor have I been excluded because I was not in 1 of the 2 major parties! Live and learn. National Reform to ensure fair elections for all citizens in all states and in all communites of these United States is long overdue. NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. (I heard that somewhere...or maybe we should just dip our thumbs or forefingers in green or purple ink?).

Scream

2006-01-07T20:36:00.000-08:00

Here in Rochester, just like in the towns and cities I drove through to get here, people think New Orleans is almost back to normal. They think the bus tour through the "9th ward" is a few blocks long. They don't know about Lakeview, or West End, or Slidell, or the 5000 homes in today's list to be demolished in Orleans alone. They don't know about St. Bernard--they think all this devastation that was in the news is maybe 10 blocks square.

As I detail the width, the breadth, and especially the emotional/cultural/physical depth of the damage still, people look at me and become silent. As I say the street cars aren't running, that debris is still in the streets in New Orleans East, that job layoffs are continuing, that streetlights in many areas still aren't working, that too many "returning" citizens are 2nd story dwellers in gutted out homes---they become angry. Why haven't they been told? Why doesn't everyone know?

I don't know. But I do know that I want the whole world to go to Mardi Gras--to see the real news--not what is prettified for consumption. Take the gruesome bus tours through the 9th ward. Rent a car and drive in the darkness of New Orleans East and St. Bernard. Sit in emergency rooms of the hosptials and clinics that remain open--and try to talk to anyone. Listen to the silence. Miss the sounds of children who are still not back, of poor children still lost in the separating diaspora resulting from Katrina--no not Katrina--from the unimaginable chaos created by government neglect and lack of leadership at all levels.

Then scream to everyone you know--everyone you meet. Speak up. Stand up.

The Start of a Life away from New Orleans

2006-01-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

Part 1
WHY:
I am a survivor of Katrina--I think. My house lost a couple of panes of glass and 24 feet of fascia--nothing really. No FEMA, No Red Cross, No claims. I housed a family from Pratt Drive (the Levee break was there). I gave furniture and clothes and food to people who were in need. Then I was laid off (ok so I could have fought to stay and beat out others who had lost houses and had families to support). But I am not generous. I have sold my house and driven out of town--all the way to New York state. Why?

I could not drive through Treme and the 9th Ward and St. Bernard and Lakeview. I kept seeing the faces of the women and families I knew and worked with--but in my mind's eye--not on the streets on their porches talking and calling out to each other.

I could not go down to the volunteer camps--I don't want to help people come back. I want to help them start over somewhere else. I can...because I am middle class. They can't because they are owned by the city, by the volunteers, by the ghosts of their mothers and grandmothers in this fiercely matriarchal city. The plantation economy that built their houses in the flood plains so they could work for nothing in the custodial and "tourist"service industries wants them back--of course. But why should the 1st reconstruction be followed by another so New Orleans genteel society can have its "better New Orleans" back? Better for whom?

I cannot conceive of Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest or gatherings in the old places among musicians and artists who make their day living cleaning houses or waiting tables? Who will go to the parades? Does anyone care that Big Chief Montana's costumes and the handmade regalia of the Mardi Gras Indians all over Central City soaked in flood waters for weeks, even months--rotting despite pleas from the community and the Indians themselves to let someone go inside the houses and rescue this history. What if the Rex or Comus archives had been threatened? Would Armed guards and City/State/Federal officials prevent the recovery of such history? Never.

I cannot work in the city. Yes, I have been laid off, but not just me. At first only some teachers were gone, then more, then private schools, then colleges, then community colleges, then doctors, then professionals at many levels. Yet the "word" is that education will bring New Orleans back. Where are the teachers? Where are the schools? Where are the children? And should the children be allowed back? Every mother and father must question whether "the city that care forgot" can provide safety, health, food, water, and normalcy for its own children?

I cannot go to buy food, or visit people, or talk on the phone, or read e-mail --even from NY without knowing how disabled the people in the city are. Lives have been put on hold, careers have been halted or changed, futures are questioned. Suicides, crying in the mall over the mortage for a house that is unhabitable, missing friends, who's here and who's gone: these are the everyday topics of casual conversation. I want to worry about silly stuff again--some gossip, Movies to see, Teenagers going to proms without chaperones (not without traffic lights in areas that remain dark and insecure).

Yes, people--brave people--are staying and will bring New Orleans back--hopefully not back--but forward. I am not brave. I am tired and cynical. I wish these people futures filled with hope, love, and all that a New Orleans can give to caring people. I hope the city never goes back to being the city that Care Forgot. It will never be the Big Easy--nothing is easy about New Orleans anymore.

The statements of NOLA citizens--tonight

2005-10-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

Today from 4pm to about 7pm, many New Orleanians gathered to tell their stories and to witness for the poor of this city during a meeting with Dr. Arjun Sengupta, Independent Expert on Extreme Poverty, Office of the U N High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Speakers gave first hand accounts of Superdome and Convention Center experiences, and they presented Dr. Sengupta with pictures, documents, and evidence of the terrible circumstances at both those places--and emphasized that once inside, no one was permitted to leave. The older people, the children, the sick, the needy--little or no help was in these places for the large populations there. Umar Kashmir had over 600 pictures and thousands of people's names from the Convention Center and comments in a large folder, and he himself was still waiting for his mother's remains to be returned from St. Gabriel--remains which were identified and then lost.

Raymond Rock told of his experiences in the Superdome and then later in the community--both places where the only mission of the troops was to evacuate--not to help those left behind survive in their houses. He was very concerned about the children who he witnessed being separated from their mothers--as they (and he) were sent in every direction--first by trucks, then by plane) out of town. Many also commented on the diaspora of the poor from New Orleans--the result being the long term loss of culture, NO Natives, and the people who are most ready to rebuild their own communities. In fact, thousands of the poor are stranded in towns and cities across the country--some with 1 way tickets and funding from FEMA to stay where they landed. While some people may find this a blessing, many have regretted the quick "push" out of town and are now having difficulty getting home.

Ronald Coleman and others from the Central City Partnership were most concerned and vocal about what returning citizens are facing. First, during Katrina, they were held at gunpoint at the border of Gretna (now celebrated by Gretna residents with signs thanking the sheriff for holding back "those people"). Mr. Coleman gave specific evidence of evictions being carried out over non payment of September rent (though apts and the city were without lights/water/and closed to residents). Also, rents --Section 8 rents also--were being unfairly raised as much as 100% and residents were fleeing rather than face such commitments--perhaps what landlords hope--or maybe the city-- since the concept of "prescriptive acquisition" has now been actually mentioned in meetings with the mayor and developers. In this, blighted or unoccupied property that seems unattended can be taken over and resold to people who would maintain or renovate it.....very scary... since people are having trouble finding money to return to New Orleans from all the places they have been "sent" to....and since the jobs they left behind are often gone or being filled by others brought in from outside Louisiana.

Sherise Harrison Nelson and her mother both questioned the fact that St. Bernard, and other areas--including lakeview--were able to go back to retreive what they could from their houses while the 9th ward residents were beeing blocked. Mardi Gras Indian costumes--historical and cultural treasures--and valuable personal belongings (emotional and finanacial) are still buried in mud and debris--as the houses rot away--houses and belongings they feel could have been saved if they had been allowed in to get these.

The scarcity of free medical care, especially emotional support for 20-40 year olds (not just the old or pediatric) was also a topic of concern.

Sr. Jane Remson, Bread for the World, told of the grassroots effort to map hunger in Louisiana, especially in New Orleans. She pointed out that right before the storm nearly 75% of New Orleanians relied on federal help of some sort to help feed themselves and their children--in fact for most of these people's children the main nutritional meal is provided by a free school lunch. It was also pointed out by another attendee that public schools and this program are not serving the poor since the hurricane.

Anyone who has evidence of how extreme poverty (institutionalized and systemized) made Katrina the tragedy that it IS STILL, you can e-mail such evidence in the form of personal testimony (name and e-mail and address required) to the UN representative who is gathering information for Dr. Sengupta:

vhalsteen@ohchr.org

I am ready to talk now...about Katrina and ALL

2005-10-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

OK, I have been back here for about 2 weeks. The city of New Orleans, even "spared" Jefferson Parish is a place almost unrecognizable. I am not talking about mold, crushed homes, water lines, power outages, military helicopters flying overhead disturbing an almost unnatural quiet (since children are a rare sight even today with some schools staring up last week).

We are living in a constant state of group untherapy. Every second sentence begins with a question about a phone number for some assistance--and adjuster, a FEMA redress, a place for a hot meal, does a cell phone work anywhere, have you seen so and so, or the everpresent What will I do --will I stay or go, and where and can I find a job or a place to live. AND THIS IS FROM SUBURBIA! The lower ninth ward hasn't even been let back in!

What's worse is that as you travel through the devastation in Lakeview or other "opened" disaster areas the word is that the city won't be so "poor" and won't have crime anymore...that is...maybe blacks won't come back. Then in the same breath, these people complain about the lack of garbage pickup, the lack of workers in hotels, fast food areas, gas stations, etc...where signs list "workers wanted." Who do the people here think ran the city in the first place?

One of the oddest comments was the shock a woman expressed at the fact that the new garbage collectors were white (obviously brought in from out of town under some contract). And where are these out of towners living? in the hotels and few rental places there are here. So why didn't we bring our own people back? Oh well let Houston and Atlanta keep em I suppose.

If one can manage the out loud racism that is beginning to surface here (since the majority of people in the city are now white) then we could look at the new plans for the city:

1. Mayor Nagin--A Casino district that would take over Poydras to Canal...Viva Las Nueva Orleans (my Spanish /Elvis leaves a lot to be desired..but so does this plan)

2. City Park (totally devastated and needing big bucks to get back) can be a huge trailer park til some people can get insurance checks, jobs, housing, etc.? Good Luck with ever getting the trailers off that land.

3. St. Bernard--Hey we need more refineries --Didn't Bush say that? I am waiting for Houston's OK to land there. Hey the oil sludge is already covering the neighborhoods..no need to worry about a new spill.

4. New Orleans and Louisiana have become GW's own person test grounds for dismissing environmental protection, wage guarantees, and letting loose vouchers on the public school system. The Orleans School System has just now granted 15 schools "charter status." Hey let's rent out those Big Black School Board buildings on the Westbank to poor people since it seems the school board is giving everything else away...Think about the money that FEMA would pay for that property! And we could Fire the Alvarez group--no need to balance budgets anymore if the schools are going to go private anyway, and if the vouchers will let kids go to the Catholic schools (who--don't have to give LEAP tests!).

5. But most of all, let's make New Orleans and Metaire, and Mandeville, and The Parish, and Plaquemines (the home of Leander Perez)--as bright and white as we can...Now is the time to rebuild New Orleans and Make it better than it was.

That's why I'm planning to leave....I don't want it better if this is what better means.

(NOTE: well at least we won't have to worry about getting a better police force. The Fifth district is back to roughing up people--this time caught by the AP tape....but that was a white reporter pushed around wasn't it. Let's see if any of the returning Treme residents get similar treatment.)

paulette

NY Times article on Congressional spending re Katrina

2005-10-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/opinion/03mon1.html?hp
October 3, 2005

Exploiting Katrina

It was almost inevitable that we would see every kind of legislative lunacy after Katrina, proposed in the name of accelerating the cleanup in New Orleans, improving the nation's energy security or achieving other worthy objectives. And so we have: Congress has used Katrina as cover for ideas that could never stand on their own and for a remarkably brazen raid on the public treasury and environmental protections.

Take, for example, Richard Pombo, the chairman of the House Resources Committee, who is proposing to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, allow states to opt out of a longstanding moratorium on offshore drilling, and suspend judicial and administrative reviews of federal decisions to open public lands for oil and gas leasing. This is the same Richard Pombo who proposed last week - joking, he said - to sell off a few lesser-known national parks if money from the Arctic refuge was not forthcoming.

Then there is Joe Barton, the Texas Republican who, ostensibly to increase fuel supplies, rammed a bill through the House energy committee that would ease clean air restrictions on refineries and drive a final nail in the coffin of New Source Review, a useful law the administration has been trying to kill for years. The law requires older industrial facilities to install modern pollution controls, and Mr. Barton's bill would remove not only refineries but hundreds of coal-fired power plants from its reach.

Similar mischief is afoot in the Senate, where James Inhofe, the ferociously anti-regulatory Oklahoma Republican who runs the environment committee, would suspend for up to 18 months any environmental law that in his view stands in the way of post-hurricane reconstruction.

The most egregious example of self-dealing comes from the Louisiana delegation. Not content with the $62.3 billion Congress has already appropriated for emergency relief, the state's representatives have asked for $250 billion more in federal reconstruction funds, equal to more than $50,000 per Louisiana resident.......(the article goes on to specify that the spending is unrestricted--not necessarily environmental..and we also know that Darth Vitter (our own Republican--friend of Delay) has sponsored the bill. while we need help and a lot, we need to monitor what we ask for and what we really get--government control and more enviromental disasters to come are not the answers to New Orleans.)

a great post from NO Indymedia..reposted by Karen O Keefe/now me

2005-09-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

From a psychologist First-hand reaction to Katrina refuges
by Anne Gervasi Monday, Sep. 12, 2005 at 9:23 PM

[reposted by Karen O'Keefe] Anne Gervasi is a licensed psychologist. She donated her time and her talent working with Katrina refuges at first, Reunion Arena and then, the Civic Center. This is her first hand account and reaction to what she had to deal with.

There are so many words that come to mind. As a scholar I am thinking Diaspora, social displacement, systemic disruption, mass trauma, pandemic and unbelievable chaos. As a clinician, I am looking at something that we have never been trained to handle in this country -- a level of victimization and its resultant psycho-social ripples that mandate a whole new field of clinical practice-mass victimology. Katrina kicked the top off of a racist and social termite's nest that has been growing beneath the ground since Reconstruction. These were deeply religious people who have lost God and for that matter, faith and hope.
Hope has been replaced by magical thinking that augurs a second and more terrible level of social disruption and anger not far down the road.
Over and over, I kept hearing a framing of self that puzzled me until I realized that this is how it must have been for blacks after Reconstruction. Over and over, people said, "everyone has been so wonderful, thank you, thank you." When I said, "there is no need to thank us, you are our fellow citizens and we want to help you--American to American," there would be a long pause as if the idea of being the same never struck them before.
They are angry and it is growing. The system failed them. For that matter, there is no system because all the safeguards and preparations that we thought were in place aren't there. I have been begging anyone who would listen over the past two years for a program in mass victimology to prepare for the next tragedy after 9/11. Now it is here and the lack of organization, science, and preparation are going to result in terrible consequences for us as a nation.
Imagine sending people who have been assimilated into the most stable demographic population in America into cities and towns all over the US who are as unprepared as the victims to understand their sense of dislocation and their support needs. The lower Gulf States have a language, a history, a social dynamic, a faith, a societal structure, and a ritual system unlike any other in America. These people have lived in and been acculturated to this system for generations. When the dust settles and the mud dries, we are going to see all over America, a nation that will lose patience with the needs of a foreign refugee population. Abandoned once again, the fury and the trauma that have been momentarily quieted by the outpouring of empathy and support post-crisis, will arise larger and more terrible than we have been equipped as a nation to handle. I hear it now, over and over, in the survivor stories, in the loss of self, and the need to reclaim dignity and power.
Right now, numbness is being replaced by magical thinking. "People want me here--here is better. I think I'll stay here." What is going to happen when reality sets in? The bulk of people who are planning to stay don't understand the system here. Even though we abut borders, we are a vastly different nation. At least we are southerners. What is going to happen to the thousands being sent to Connecticut or Illinois or New Jersey? They are being offered free apartments, furniture etc, by generous and well meaning people who haven't thought the long term consequences through very well. A lot of the apartments are in areas where they won't have transportation or jobs. What is going to happen six months down the road when the magic wears off and the help slowly fades? How about the holidays for a people who thrive on ritual, tradition, and celebration?
The trauma they are experiencing is so profound that we have no cultural term or machinery set up for it. The dead and nameless bodies by the thousands rotting in the water, arriving dead on the buses with them, or dying next to them in the shelters are a huge festering wound that no one dares mention. This is a true Diaspora the likes of which we haven't seen since Reconstruction. The immediate needs that are being addressed ignore the greater traumas yet to be spoken. No governmental system can survive the number of wounded and disillusioned people that we are going to see sprouting up all over America. Something far greater and more organized has to be done.
Then to the helpers and what is happening there. Turf wars have already sprung up. In the name of "I know better than you do," chaos and wasted energy are multiplying. The Red Cross was initially in charge of certifying the credentials of the helping therapists. After Oklahoma City and the pretenders who arrived there, this seemed like a wonderful clearing house. Everyone who wanted to help had to go through a brief orientation and a thorough checking of credentials. Only licensed professionals were allowed. Driver's licenses were checked for criminal records. This seemed to be a common sense excellent approach to the question of rapists, pedophiles, and other thugs being denied access to a vulnerable population. Actually, things ran better than I expected at the beginning. Then in came the physicians who I guess felt that their non-existent coursework in this area qualified them to better run things. Immediate chaos, disorganization, and all sorts of ersatz
"helpers" began running around. They grabbed our current Red Cross badges and then stopped us from going back on the floor to finish seeing our patients without the new badges, which they just happened to be out of. We had an optometrist with prescriptive lenses but no glasses or readers and no idea when he'd ever see any. We had a deaf booth but no deaf helpers. In the midst of all this chaos, thousands and thousands of the walking wounded mixing with the powerless well-intentioned came the whispered word, pandemic. Lots of people are suddenly getting sick, and we have to have precautions. Don't eat or drink or touch the patients.
We only have one bottle of disinfectant in the mental health section, so come back here--the length of the Convention Center--after each patient. "What of the people who are being cycled out of here?" "What are we sending into the population?" If people are sick and contagious, where are the precautions to separate the vulnerable? What of precautions such as masks and gloves to keep the medical professionals and first responders safe? All the here and now is suspended in the hope that maybe tomorrow will take care of itself and the worst won't happen.
Those are the question we asked on the first day. NO ONE IS IN CHARGE!!!
Therefore, there is no consistent answer or approach or forethought. I am no infection guru but as soon as I heard on day one that people with no water were forced to drink water with bloated bodies, feces, and rats in it, the thought of cholera, typhoid, and delayed disease immediately occurred to me. What if the fears of disease are correct? People are fanning out throughout America. Where is the CDC?
In the age of computers, we are doing worse than the pencil squibs and the rolls of paper to log in the displaced after World War II. Literacy and computer access seems to be considered as a given for people who have lost it all. Accessing FEMA is through a website. People are in shelters waiting for FEMA to come "in a few days." "Be patient." The Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana pumped my hand and replied to my desperate queries about how to help people find their parents and babies, "Be patient--give us a few days."
The mot hers who have lost their children, and there are many, and the children who have lost their parents, have had it with the "be patient" response. The shelters are surprisingly silent. It is hard to find the traumatized mothers because they cry silently. One mother asked how patient I would be if my five-month-old was somewhere unknown for over a week. Over and over, others would ask," Do you think my baby has milk and diapers?" "Do you think they are being kind to my baby?" And then, so softly that I would have to ask them to repeat, "Do you think my baby is okay?" My response--the convenient lie. Every time I said, "of course"; I prayed to God that it was true.
I am sure that there is a special ring of hell for the media: The survivor stories end-on-end for the titillation of the public. I heard Soledad O'Brien say something about the still unrecognized need to address the psychological trauma. I sent a response to the CNN tip-line that there were hordes of every manner of mental health professional working 24/7. CNN's response? Dr. Phil and the stories of the survivors" on Larry King. They went to the guy who lost his clinical license for serious professional infractions to tell the stories? I could see the "entertainer" down there gathering tales of the already exploited so that he and Larry could both pimp their ratings. The real unsung mental health heroes, the counselors, psychologists, social workers and psychiatrists dealing with un-medicated psychosis and severe traumatic responses were represented by Dr. "Keep-It-Real"? We don't need tabloid help from the media. Scream about accountability and point fingers for those who can't. Where is the real help from the media? Help us find those babies and parents and missing family. We have a man in one of the shelters who is caring for four kids. They call him uncle. He is actually the c ousin of the fiancï¿1⁄2 of the mother who is probably dead.
The children are silent. They sit and play and weep with open mouths that can't scream. Where is the media to scream for them?
Finally, to hell with this "no blame game." The stories that I know to be true are enough to make me boil. The compassionate foreign doctors who can't find anyone to validate their credentials, the expensive mobile hospital still sitting parked waiting for federal paperwork to move into Louisiana, the five C130s sitting on the Tarmac in San Diego since the night of Katrina, still waiting for orders to move. Where the hell are the beds? We have some old people sleeping on hot plastic pool floats with no sheets. They are still no showers for people who have walked for hours through fetid waters. Their skin is breaking out in rashes. Still no showers. Where the hell are the DeCon showers bought with Homeland Security money that can shower 30 people at a time. The convention centers have no bathing facilities so the filth and skin reactions are getting worse. What of lice? There are no clothes for the really heavy and large. I was reduced to writing the women I knew who went to Weight Watchers to comb their attics for "before" outfits. When I arrived with the sack of my gatherings, I had to engage in a full scale battle and puff myself up to all my red-headed doctor fury to get them distributed to the women still sitting there in their stinking clothes.
The survivors are like the Mayor of New Orleans who apologized to George Bush for his anger. "If we tell the way we feel, maybe help will stop." All the apologists on the air distancing George and his co-vacationers and idiot appointees should be impeached. I liked Nagin when he called it all bullshit. He was right. How about Haley Barbour complaining about the lack of support for his state? Did he so soon fo rget his past life and what he did to set up this government of spin artists? If they had acted like a government the body count would be less. The aid would be better managed. The days of filth, and feces, and death would have been ended sooner. God help all of the poseurs in charge when these folks finally get in touch with their justifiable rage. Did you see the White House's logo for the hurricane? George and some asshole in a ball cap against a background of Katrina waving the flag. They had the energy and time for a nice logo but no time to get the elements of help in gear?
The tragedy is leavened by some moments of farce, the guy who arrived with a case of Gucci shoes in various sizes that he "saved" from his closet. The man wearing twelve expensive watches up his arm. I guess he is a punctual sort. There are the too-poignant-for-words vignettes. I saw a lady sitting on a blanket holding a photo of two children th at she had pulled from the water. She kept crying and looking at it. I thought they were her children. She didn't know whose they were. They were just losses and she mourned them.
Of course there were the criminals, thugs, and mobsters. One of the greatest indictments of the "spin machine" that is going to come from this situation will be the repeated characterizations of the victims as lawless and criminal. Over and over I heard people tell me about how ashamed they were to be portrayed that way. Ninety-nine percent of these people never were characterized as anything but lawful and good citizens. In their most desperate hours to be reduced to taking food and water to survive and then to be lumped with the television thieves and the shooters is too shameful for most of them to bear. I heard from hospital employees that survived on a cup of watered grits so that the patients could make it. And then I heard had they had to hide the ones that didn't in closets to keep up the morale of the others.
The people that survived this tragedy and the people who help them all know one truth. The help and the love and the care that has been extended to them have been on a citizen-to-citizen basis. The churches, doctors, therapists, and ordinary citizens who are giving all they can in time and resources are managing to band-aid at the most elementary level-neighbor to neighbor. The government has failed We are more vulnerable now than before 9/11 because faith in the system is gone. No system can sustain itself as a viable entity when the citizenry are the walking wounded. Victims implode a system from within and expose its decay. This is the beginning of the end unless we can get a drastic change of philosophy and restore the government to a system "by the people for the people." Right now nobody down here believes we have that.

Air America Public Voice MAIL

2005-09-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.airamericaradio.com/katrina/voicemailinfo.html

If your cell phone and landlines don't work, Air America has help for you! You can call a toll free number and set up a free public voice mail--give your normal phone number and provide a message. Anyone looking for you can hear your voice and your message. This is an incredible service for those of use trying to track down our friends. We are scattered like dry leaves (to paraphrase Woody Guthrie) and as we survive, our next priority is finding each other, and hoping to find each other alive and well.

Air America Radio's Public Voicemail------1-866-217-6255

Here's how it works:
Call the toll-free number above, enter your everyday phone number, and then record a message.

Other people who know your everyday phone number (even if it doesn't work anymore) can call Emergency Voicemail, enter the phone number they associate with you, and hear your message.
You can also search for messages left by people whose phone numbers you know.

Air America Radio will leave Public Voicemail in service for as long as this crisis continues.
You can call it whenever you are trying to locate someone, or if you are trying to be found.

Air America Radio brings you Emergency VoiceMail in conjunction with VoodooVox.

Katrina INFO Sources --Truthful

2005-09-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

A READABLE LIST OF REAL PEOPLE (Activists and local residents in French Quarter/Treme/Bywater/Lower Ninth Ward) --Safe and Missing....put together from other lists and from personal knowledge and e-mail--by Steven Godfrey: www.livejournal.com/users/greensteve Please visit it and contribute to it as you can.

Also--Highly recommended is Andrea Garland's site: http://www.getyouracton.com/ -- she has a steady stream of dispatches from her experiences as she and others workextra-diligently on getting necessary relief into devastatedcircumstances. She also has forwarded along some other experiences beyond her immediate ones at her site. This is from an extremely courageous New Orleans citizen, Jordan Flaherty, who was in New Orleans right through the storm, followed byan equally extraordinary account from lifelong New Orleans native MalikRahim.

Jordan Flaherty is a union organizer and an editor of Left Turn Magazine http://www.leftturn.org. He is not planning on moving out of New Orleans.-----------------------------------------------

Below are some small, grassroots and New Orleans-based resources, organizations and institutions that will need your support in the coming months.

Social Justice:www.jjpl.org
www.iftheycanlearn.org
www.nolaps.org
www.thepeoplesinstitute.org
www.criticalresistance.org/index.php?name=crno_home
Cultural Resources:http://www.backstreetculturalmuseum.com/www.ashecac.org/http://198.66.50.128/gallery/http://www.nolahumanrights.org/http://www.freewebs.com/ironrail/http://www.girlgangproductions.com/Current Info and Resources:http://neworleans.craigslist.org/about/help/katrina_cl.html

Katrina

2005-09-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

I have been in my car or in a hotel since 3 am Sunday morning, escaping New Orleans with my 2 dogs, a few house papers, and my laptop. I have been hugged by strangers and family, offered housing, and neighbors have found me miraculaously through text messaging (which still works though cell phones are little good for anything else).

I have met young couples and mothers with young children in the back seats of unreliable cars in tears over lost jobs, lost belongings, all asking for directions to Red Cross Shelters or advice about free meals at local churches--plenty of them all over Texas and Arkansas. These are the people who need hugs..and much more---give to the Red Cross!!

I stopped paying for a hotel in Galveston, and am traveling to stay with my daughter in Rochester NY. Most of these young people are not so lucky. Their fathers, mothers, and siblings are all "refugees" also. Where do you go in the city--a city where families stay close to each other --where people tend to NOT move away. I see families--whole families--aged newborn to the nineties--all in cars at the rest stops, in the lobbies of hotels or at Gas stations.

AND THOSE ARE THE LUCKY ONES! Families I have known are somewhere in the city still--waiting. Where and when will help come for them? Are they OK? It's not about if your house is dry or how much the insurance will cover. Only those of us lucky enough to own houses are able to ask those questions.

For those who want to say the city is being cleansed because of sin...well my god(dess) doesn't ask children and innocent men and women to wait on 100 degree asphalt roads for a bottle of Dasani--or die.

Please feel free to use the comments section here to message each other if you can't find someone or need help.

Electronic Voting--Unconstitutional Suit!

2005-08-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

TN "paperless voting is illegal" lawsuit filed; link on votersunite.org

This is a quick update thread on the status of the Tennessee lawsuit, filed in Memphis yesterday, that declares that paperless electronic voting is unconstitutional in the Orange State.

As most of you remember, we posted our draft of this lawsuit this past Friday on DU. Actually, I made the mistake of starting two separate threads with the draft language, one thread on 2004 ERD and the other on GD-P. But the response was so favorable and the recommendations were so useful that both threads hit the "Greatest" page within an hour of each other and climbed steadily among the most nominated threads for the next 24 hours. This Memphis idea had been worth thinking about and discussing and working together to tighten up. And, boy howdy, how you guys came through -- and your suggestions were incorporated in the final language of the (expanded) complaint in ways that you will recognize and should be proud for.

Such is the power of DU, born from the immediacy of internet-based communication and nurtured by the breadth of interest and expertise represented among us. And strengthened by our commonality of commitment to make things in this country better, faster. The quality of feedback we received, primarily from DU but also from dailyKos, votetrustusa, votersunite, several TN-specific email lists and discussion groups, and to and from a number of voting rights activists in seven other states (so far) -- all of this input made a huge difference.

Now to the update: This complaint was filed yesterday afternoon (8/24/05, Wednesday, around 3:30 pm) in Memphis. Before the end of today (8/25), there will be an icon up at www.votersunite.org which will allow you to link to either an MS Word and/or a pdf file that will allow you to download the final filing language for the case that is being presented.

We can still amend this suit over the next 30 days, so we do encourage feedback (still) on major issues. For those of you who read the first draft only, you will note that David Mills has added two more constitutional issues to his list of eight, so we now have ten separate points relating to TN constitutional law being adjudged.

So stay tuned to www.votersunite.org today to be able to get your "hot off the griddle" 8/24/05 TN filing which declares paperless electronic voting to be unconstitutional. (I'll post a link on this thread when I get one.) In the meantime, please post your comments, suggestions or "go get 'ems" on this thread and let's spread the word throughout DU.

As of yesterday afternoon, a lawsuit has indeed been filed in Memphis to mandate voter-verified paper ballots uniformly in the Orange State. And because of the interest, the intelligence and the depth and breadth of knowledge available to all of us here in real-time in reality-based America -- the DU 2004 ERD, GD-P and "Greatest" forums -- this complaint is a much better crafted and more expansive indictment of the constitutional proscriptions against "faith-based" voting than it was five days ago.

Thanks, guys. We couldn't (and wouldn't) have done as good a job without all ya'll. Please help me keep this thread kicked and help spread the word around our DU world a bit. We are also still looking for other attorneys and citizens to help us raise our issues in more "paperless voting" counties in Tennessee (like Davidson, Knox, Williamson, Rutherford -- the list goes on and on), filing comparable complaints elsewhere in the state. If you are one or you know one, please help us spread the word. PM me with your contact information and I WILL get in touch.)

Thanks again, DUers. You done good,and we will do better, because you're here. We'll keep ya posted. Peace out.

The Bush cartel: Soft on torture. Soft on treason. Soft on the truth.

International pressure is needed on the US --HAITI

2005-07-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Message: 4        
  Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 09:58:26 -0700 (PDT)
  From: bill quigley 
Subject: Jean-Juste in Isolation and New Charges

"My body is in prison, but my soul is free."
   Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste from prison

    Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste is being held in isolation
in the Haitian National Penitentiary.  I tried twice
to visit but was not allowed.  Likewise his Bishop
tried to visit him but was not allowed.
   I was able to deliver his prayer book and some
clothes and send a note in to him.  He sent a note
back that included the following:
   "Avoka Bill, Thanks a lot to everyone for
everything.  I am in isolation section room I-05.  I
am really isolated but not from God.  In spirit I
remain together with you all.  Keep the food program
running.  Justice shall prevail.  God's blessings,
GJJ."
   The newest reported charges against Fr. Gerry are
"public denunciation" and "inciting to violence."  The
second charge is the same one that the unelected
government has had pending against the former prime
minister of Haiti, Yvon Neptune, who has been in
prison for over a year with no trial in sight.  These
charges are as groundless as the prior ones - but are
still not in writing and will probably change again.
   Attorney Mario Joseph will try to visit him face
to face this week.
   Mario and other haitian lawyers say there is no
basis at all in law for the charges against Fr.
jean-Juste. All think the government will hold him in
jail at least until after the scheduled elections in
the fall unless international pressure forces them to
act otherwise. 
   Fr. Jean-Juste has been described by insiders as
"the most dangerous man in Haiti" because of his
uncompromising advoacy for the poor, for human rights,
for the release of all political prisoners and for the
return of the elected president of Haiti,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. 
   People here also thinks the "hand of the US is
behind this prosecution."
   International pressure is needed on the US, the
Haitian Minister of Justice and the UN.
   For their addresses and how Fr. Jean-Juste was
attacked at church and arrested see:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0722-08.htm
    Some are calling for protection of Fr. Jean-Juste
in prison, but that is not the right call.
    The call of people devoted to human rights and
democracy is for the IMMEDIATE RELEASE of Fr.
Jean-Juste.
   Sorry about the delays in getting this information
out - but computer access is difficult and electricity
is not always on.
   Peace.
   Bill Quigley

N.O. ACTIVISTS MEET AUGUST 4TH--to ACT!!

2005-07-22T17:52:00.001-07:00

Do more than March!

Anti-Recruitment Task Force.

DU Medical Testing for Iraq Vets:
How to Initiative.

Join us on Thursday, August 4th at 7p.m.

St. Jude Community Center on Rampart
(across from the St. Jude Church).

C3 sponsored, joined by local activists

For info email: onefreeradical@gmail.com

Haitian Priest Assaulted by Mob at Funeral and

2005-07-22T17:52:00.000-07:00

CALL TO ACTION! 


Dear Friends:
   This is Bill Quigley.  I was with Fr. Gerard
Jean-Juste all day yesterday from church to jail.
Though it seems unbelievable even to me, this is is
what happened and some action ideas about what to do
about it.  Pardon if it is not very well-written, but
the computers are not working well and this is the
best I can do in short time with little sleep.  Please
circulate this to anyone you want.  Please feel free
to reprint and send it anywhere.


Story
Haitian Priest Assaulted by Mob at Funeral and
Arrested for Murder.
   By Bill Quigley, in Port au Prince.  Bill is a law
professor at Loyola University New Orleans and is
co-counsel with Mario Joseph and the Institute for
Justice and Democracy in Haiti. 

    On Thursday July 21, 2005, Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste
went to St. Pierre's Catholic Church to be one of the
priests participating in the funeral of Haitian
journalist Jacques Roche.  Fr. Jean-Juste is a cousin
of the Roche family and members of the Roche family
protected him from a mob earlier in his life.  He went
to express spiritual comfort and reconciliation to the
family.
   The tragic kidnaping and death of Jacques Roche
has been taken up as a cause by those opposed to the
Lavalas party.  Jacques Roche was identified as a
supporter of the people calling themselves the group
of 184, who overthrew by force the democratically
elected goverment of President Aristide, the leader of
the Lavalas party, in February 2004. 
   Oppononents of Aristide say that because the body
of Jacques Roche was found in a poor neighborhood that
he was executed by the Lavalas party who is very
strong in the poorest neighborhoods.  For those of us
in the US, this is much like blaming John Kerry for
inner city deaths because most of the people in the
inner city vote democratic. 
    Fr. Jean-Juste went to the funeral expressly to
pay his respects to the family and express his open
remorse and opposition to any killing of anyone, no
matter their political affiliation.
    Jacques Roche's coffin was in the chapel next to
the sacristy and main area of the chuch.  At 10
o'clock the bishop and about seven priests robed in
white with purple stoles or sashes paraded out of the
sacristy of the church to the chapel next to the main
area of the church to say blessings over the coffin of
Jacques Roche.
   When Fr. Jean-Juste walked out, people started
yelling at him in the chapel.  They called him
"assasin" and "criminal" and yelled out to "arrest and
kill the rat." 
    Fr. Jean-Juste has been publicly accused in the
last several days of "a plot against the security of
the state,"  smuggling money and guns into the
country, and of being behind all the kidnappings. 
All clearly false charges but widely reported by
unfriendly press.
    People knew Fr. Jean-Juste was coming to the
funeral because that was printed on the front page of
a conservative paper the day before.
   As the well-dressed people continued yelling at
Fr. Jean-Juste, the prayer service nearly turned into
a riot.  The other priests turned to leave and a
well-dressed crowd of screaming people surrounded him.
I went out to be by his side.  Some plainclothes
security people and a few priests surrounded us and
helped push us through the increasingly hostile crowd
back into the church sacristy.
    The other priests then persuaded Fr. Jean-Juste
not to continue in the funeral service.  So we stood
aside as the priests and the funeral crowd filed past
us into the main church. 
    Well-dressed men and women continued to scream
and threaten Fr. Gerry as they moved by us into the
church.  Then a crowd of 15 or 20 or more young men,
not dressed at all for the funeral came into the
sacristy and the mood turned uglier and more menacing.
At that point, the security forces melted away. 
   The young men continued the screaming started by
the well-dressed people and then started pushing and
hitting Pere Jean-Juste.  At that point a young woman
came out of the funeral crowd and embraced Fr.
Jean-Juste shielding him with her body from the blows
and the increasingly loud and angry young men.  She
started praying loudly and saying "mon pere, mon
pere." 
   A man in a suit, who identified himself as head of
security for the funeral, rushed back in from the
church area - only a few feet away and in plain view
-and told Fr. Gerry these people were going to kill
him there in the sacristy unless he fled.  Fr.
Jean-Juste knelt to pray and the woman and I knelt
with him in the middle of the growing crowd. 
    At that point people started slapping Fr.
Jean-Juste on the head and face and spitting on him
and the other two of us.  Something then hit Fr.
Jean-Juste in the head.  Someone punched him in the
eye. We stood up and a few UN CIVPOL officers showed
up to help us leave the sacristy of the church.  As we
tried to get to the stairs people continued pushing
and screaming and shouting threats.  They continued to
call out "assasin," "criminal," and "kill the rat."The
crowd now overwhelmed the police.  More people spit on
us and hit Fr. Gerry, even in the face, while others
were grabbing his church vestments trying to drag him
off the church steps.
   The CIVPOL were trying to hold back the crowd but
were still well outnumbered and were not able to halt
the mob.  We moved up the steps into a narrow dark
corridor while the crowd pushed and shoved and spit
and hit.  We then retreated into a smaller corridor
and finally to a dead end that contained two small
concrete toilet stalls.
   The three of us were pushed into the stalls as the
crowd banged on the walls and doors of the stalls and
continued screaming.  The woman held the door closed
and prayed loudly as the people outside roared and the
CIVPOL called for reinforcements.
    After a few minutes, reinforcements arrived and
the hallway was finally cleared of all but us and the
authorities. 
    A man in a suit identifying himself as secretary
for security for Haiti told us that he was going to
have to arrest Fr. Jean-Juste because public clamor
had identified him as the assasin of journalist
Jacques Roche.  The police would bring him to the
police station for his own safety.  Fr. Jean-Juste
told the man that he was in Florida when the
journalist was killed and he wanted to return to St.
Claire's, his parish.  The man left escorting out the
woman who helped us.
   In a few minutes, CIVPOL police, including troops
from Jordan, surrounded Fr. Jean-Juste and I and ran
us out of the church to a police truck.  The truck
with police with machine guns sped away from the
church and took us not to Fr. Gerry's parish but to
the police station in Petitionville.
  For the next seven or eight hours we were kept in a
room while the UN forces and the Haitian forces
negotiated about what to do.  Fr. Gerry read his
prayer book while we waited.  We were told informally
that the UN wanted to escort Fr. Jean-Juste back to
his parish but the Haitian government was insisting
that he be arrested. 
   The attackers were allowed to go free and not
arrested, but they wanted to arrest the victim!
   Fr. Gerry told me "This is all a part of the death
sentence called down upon me on the radio in Miami.
The searches at the airport, the visits to the police
stations, the mandate to appear before a criminal
judge yesterday, and now this.  It is all part of the
effort to silence my voice for democracy."
    At about 6pm, several Haitian officers came into
our room and ordered Fr. Gerry and I and Haitian
attorney Mario Joseph to come with them.
   The officers held out a piece of paper that they
said was an official complaint against Fr. Gerry
accusing him of being the assasin of Jacques Roche.
The complaint was based on "public clamor" at the
funeral identifying him as the murderer.  They refused
to let Fr. Jean-Juste or the lawyers see this paper.
It was their obligation, they said, to investigate
this public clamor identifying him as the murderer.
If Fr. Jean-Juste chose not to talk with them, they
would put him in jail immediately.
   Fr. Jean-Juste agreed to the interrogation and it
went on for over three hours.  He was growing
increasingly sore and tired from the beating he took,
but was not bleeding externally.  When the lawyers
argued with the police, Fr. Gerry read his prayer
book.
   The police already knew that Fr. Jean-Juste was in
Florida at the time of the kidnapping and death of the
journalist, because the police had already interviewed
him several times in the last few days in connection
with the other false allegations against him, but
asked him many questions anyway.  How many cell phones
did he have?  What is his exact relation to Jacques
Roche?  Why did he go to the funeral?  Can he prove he
was in Florida?  Since he was on the news in Florida
can he provide a copy of the newstape showing he was
in Florida?  When Aristide was president was he
provided with armed security?  What happened to the
pistols that his secutity had?  Could he find out and
have any pistols returned to the government?  Why did
he go to the funeral?  Did Lavalas promise Aristide to
execute someone from the group of 184 in retaliation
for them taking power?  When was the last time he was
in the US?  Are the Catholic sisters in Bel-Air with
you when you got to demonstrations there?  and on and
on.
   After over three hours, the interrogation
finished.
  With great solemnity the police told Fr. Jean-Juste
that he was being charged with participating in the
death of Jacques Roche and not returning state
property.  The said the law orders that he will be
brought before a judge within 48 hours for further
decision.
   At exactly 10pm, Fr. Gerry handed me his keys and
church vestments and was locked into the jail cell at
Petionville with many, many others.  He was holding a
pink plastic rosary, his prayer book and a roll of
toilet paper. 
    He flashed a tired smile and told me:  "Now you
see what we are up against in Haiti.  If they treat me
like this, think how they treat the poor people.  Tell
everyone that with the help of God and everyone else I
will keep up the good fight.  Everyone else should
continue to fight for democracy as well.  The truth
will come out.  I am innocent of all charges.  I will
be free soon.  Freedom for Haiti is coming.  The
struggle continues."
   As I left him, a very tired Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste
was being greeted by all the prisoners in the very
crowded jail cell as "mon pere!"




     Action: Write or fax UN Special Representative
Juan Gabriel Valdés, urging him to release MINUSTAH's
prison report immediately, and to resist pressure from
the Haitian police to minimize the number of
casualties.    Mr. Valdés speaks English, French and Spanish. 
His fax number is(dial 011 first from the US for
an international line)509 244 3512.
__________

Mr Juan Gabriel Valdés
Special Representative of the Secretary-General
United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti
387, avenue John Brown
Port-au-Prince, Haïti



Contact Information:

U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, James B. Foley
United States Embassy
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Telephones: 011-509-223-4711, or 222-0200 or 0354
Fax: 011-509-223-1641 or 9038 
Email to Dana Banks, Human Rights Officer:
BanksD@state.gov
___________
Canadian Ambassador to Haiti, Claude Boucher
Embassy of Canada
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Telephone: 011-509- 249-9000
Fax: 011-509-249-9920
Email: prnce@international.gc.ca
________________________________________________

Ambassador of France in Haiti,  M. Yves GAUDEUL
Embassy of France
51 place des Héros de l'Indépendance - BP 312
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Telephone: 011-509-222-0952
Fax : 011-509-223 5675


Haiti Authorities:
Fax. No. 011-509-245-0474
Me. Henri Dorléans
Ministre de la Justice et de la Sécurité Publique
Ministère de la Justice
19 Avenue Charles Sumner
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

DSM3 Event in Covington, LA

2005-07-19T14:14:00.001-07:00

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION!

Downing Street Minutes 3rd Anniversary Event:

The Smoking Gun that Proves Bush Lied About Iraq

Mourn the Losses, Learn the Truth, and Investigate the Lies

Mark the 3-Year Anniversary of the Downing Street Meeting
Sponsored by the
Louisiana Activist Network
Saturday, July 23, 2005 at 6:00 PM

St. John's Coffee House
535 East Boston Street
Covington, LA 70433

Be part of a national day of action
Saturday, July 23, 2005,
as the Louisiana Activist Network stands in solidarity with
AfterDowningStreet.org

Congressman Tancredo Advocates Preemptive Nuclear Strike on Mecca

2005-07-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

ADC Action Alert:
Congressman Tancredo Advocates Preemptive Nuclear Strike on Mecca
http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=7849551&type=CU

July 18, 2005, Washington, DC - In a radio interview last Thursday, July 14, Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) advocated the United States preemptively strike Mecca with nuclear weapons.

The Colorado Congressman made his comments on the Pat Campbell Radio Show (AM 540, WFLA, online at: http://www.540wfla.com/patcampbell.html) in response to Campbell's statement that terrorists are seeking the means to attack the United States with a dirty bomb. Tancredo suggested that a preemptive attack on Mecca would be enough of a threat to make terrorists think twice about attacking the United States again. Listen to his comments here:
http://www.540wfla.com/timages/page/media/Tancredo_comments_071405.mp3

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is alarmed at Congressman Tancredo's comments advocating an attack on Mecca. It is irresponsible for a member of the United States Congress to advocate destroying the holy site of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims with a nuclear weapon. For good reason members of Congress and the Administration have expressed deep concern at the negative effects of hateful rhetoric directed against the United States in some elements of the Arab and Muslim worlds. But we must also be keenly aware of the damaging and irrational rhetoric against Arabs and Islam expressed by members of Congress, the Administration, and the media.

Statements by members of Congress, just like the legislation they pass, are closely followed around the world. Tancredo's remarks will be widely distributed by media outlets throughout the world and will be seen as representative of the views of the United States government. At a time when the United States is asking religious tolerance of others shouldn’t others expect the same from the United States?

This incident is all the more inexplicable as just last week, on July 14, Congressman Tancredo expressed extreme disapproval at a Chinese government official for his remarks regarding the use of nuclear weapons. Tancredo said "For a senior government official to exhibit such tremendous stupidity by making such a brazen threat is hardly characteristic of a modern nation." For more information, see: http://tancredo.house.gov/pressers/0714TancredoSlamsSeniorChineseOfficialForNukeThreat2.htm

In a letter faxed to Congressman Tancredo today, former congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar, ADC President said, "While we must do all that we can to find terrorists and end their means to strike again, advocating for a nuclear attack against a holy place revered by the world's 1.2 billion followers of Islam is completely unacceptable and contrary to American values and tradition of freedom and tolerance of religion." Oakar said, "These remarks have no place in the United States Congress."

ADC demands Congressman Tancredo provide an immediate and public explanation for his remarks. We urge ADC members, supporters, and friends to contact the congressman and request a clarification and apology. Additionally, ADC asks members of Congress and the Bush Administration to denounce Congressman’s Tancredo’s comments and to clarify that dropping a nuclear bomb on Mecca is not part of the United States policy to win the war on terrorism.

Congressman Tancredo can be reached at:

Washington Office

1130 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515-0606
Phone 202.225.7882
FAX: 202-226-4623
Website: http://tancredo.house.gov/

District Office
6099 South Quebec St., Suite 200
Centennial, Colorado 80111-4547
Phone: 720-283-9772

From Bernie in Nashville--More Reason to Rid the US of ROVE

2005-07-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

This excellent article chronicles the payments from the RNC to Sproul's company. As you may remember, this is the firm that registered people to vote in eight states -- and then threw away the Democratic registrations. The Oregon Attorney General is now investigating Sproul for criminal prosecution.

And Karl Rove twists slowly, slowly in the wind ....

http://baltimorechronicle.com/070505Miller-Irmus.shtml

"Pink Ribbon Lein"--benefitting the Susan G. Komen Foundation

2005-07-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,
I am posting the work of this woman who has done wonderful art work, especially of flowers, and whose work I saw in New York in May. I am buying 3 of the Lilac matted Pink Ribbon photos, but she also has note cards and other flower art. Please visit her site and help her help others. By the way..her prices are fantastic--and her work is phenomenal!
paulette

http://www.geocities.com/garden_gate_studio/PinkRibbon.html

I met my husband over 17 years ago at my friend Sarah Jones' wedding to Don Lein. Steve was the best man, and I was one of the bridesmaids. Sarah had planned on setting us up. We like to joke that we got together despite her efforts.

In the Spring of 2005, Sarah began her battle with breast cancer. So far, she's had the lumps removed, received the great news that the lymph nodes were clean, and begun her chemotherapy. This summer, she will have radiation treatments, and then she will be on Tamoxifen for 5 years. (She jokes that she's being pumped full of weed killer, and soon she'll start to glow.) Her prognosis, by the way, is excellent.

In honor of Sarah and everyone who has ever been touched by breast cancer, I have started my "Pink Ribbon Lein" of artworks. Each image features a small bouquet of flowers with a pink ribbon. A portion of the purchase price of these items will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

"Pink Ribbon Lein"
benefitting the Susan G. Komen Foundation
and in honor of Sarah Lein.
Artwork by Flavia Huber
Garden_Gate_Studio@Yahoo.com

Independence Day for Whom?

2005-07-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

Happy July 4th?

Yes, today The United States of America, the first modern democracy, celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence--the document that stated the reasons for separation from the colonialism imposed by a country an ocean away.

Yet, in this country, the very sons and daughters of this new democracy imposed their "freedom" on the indigenous nations of this continent even as the Constitution establishing the USA was being signed. As a "free" nation, we grew strong by exploiting others--Africans, children, women, immigrants, and even peoples who lived in nations on other continents. We became the imposers of colonialism--though we had based out identity on the rejection of such political and economic exploitation. In the name of freedom and equality we are passing bills, declaring wars, and creating programs in every corner of this country and the world.........

How does a child of abuse become an abuser?

Perhaps this question is what we need to ask. We can no longer claim what we do to others throughout the world and in our own neighborhoods is "promote" freedom. To make such a claim is to deny our psychological tendency to repeat the sins of our fathers. Freedom from outside rule means exactly that--it does not mean determining the precise government that needs to be decided upon by controlled elections or "parties." Economic freedom means "no taxation without representation"--even in this country--where government money is collected from the working poor who do not have equal access to decent education, basic health care, employment, or affordable housing.

Perhaps the most frightening aspect of modern "Free" US America is the paranoia that urges us all to be American--the same--disguised under the label of "Freedom-loving Christian Patriots." William Penn and Benjamin Franklin would never have recognized this type of American, and I suspect the majority of US citizens know this in their hearts, but are afraid to say this aloud to a news reporter.

I love Freedom. I don't want to live in another country at another time. I want this country and this time to remember what we said we were hoping to accomplish. Maybe some day we can get to that country.

Women and Public Housing: Hope or HOPE 6 ?

2005-07-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

Women and HOPE VI Plans for New Orleans Public Housing:
A Woman’s Concerns

Paulette Swartzfager
July 2, 2005

Why would any mother want to live in Public Housing? If HOPE VI programs help women move our of public housing to better homes or even to their own homes, why would any woman oppose HOPE VI funding? Many women in the land of opportunity can tell you.

First, let me acknowledge that I agree with HUD that public housing is not the way any American should have to seek shelter. I appreciate the efforts that help people move on and move up. Nevertheless, for many women public housing is the last resort before homelessness. The facts show that women, especially single heads of household, are far more like to be in need of affordable housing. The following comments are based on a study of US Census Statistics:

Women were about 40% more likely to be poor than men in 2003, with a poverty rate of 12.4% compared to 8.9% for men. Almost one of every eight women was poor, compared to about one of every eleven men. The gender gap was even larger among the aged, with aged women over 70% more likely to be poor than aged men. ….

Extreme Poverty
Almost 60% of adults who were extremely poor -- income less than half the poverty standard – in 2003 were women. Women were 34% more likely to be extremely poor than men, with an extreme poverty rate of 5.1% compared to 3.8% for men. About one of every twenty women was extremely poor, compared to about one of every twenty-six men.

from “READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Women’s Poverty in the United States, 2003” (www.legalmomentum.org/womeninpoverty.pdf)

Of course, we are not even discussing men or non-family households who will soon include veterans from the Iraq conflict (a population that historically has trouble readjusting to the community they leave). Interestingly, the HANO/HUD plans in Orleans have not included veterans or their families as “checked” in the box of “preferred” for applicants to public housing. Many of the Veterans or their widows will be women with children—and as we all know, Louisiana contributes more than its fair share of young men and women to war.

As working women, even white women whose skin privilege makes it so much easier for us to get employment and support from neighbors, we are only one divorce or one medical disaster away from poverty. Fortunately, I never had to face the possibility of homelessness, but I know women without such privilege who have lived in cars or moved to Section 8 housing, or even to the “projects.”

To be sure, HANO and HUD and all of us want all public housing to be temporary. We want Poverty to be temporary. We want everyone to be able to move out and to move up in life and in opportunity. While we work for justice, let us respect human dignity. For those whose income may allow them to make this move, the offer of moving costs, help in relocating and preparing for home ownership is a miracle that cannot be underestimated! For those who cannot, the indignity of insult and forced exclusion is a crime.

I heard people say that no one comes to the HANO meetings, that the residents don’t care, that notices are up everywhere. Did anyone forget that these people live demanding lives, are often illiterate, and ought to be visited in their on apartments—or in the community centers that have never been built for them?

To assume that people who live in public housing are lazy or criminal is not only logically flawed, it is morally deceitful. To find the truth, walk through the halls and visit at least one of the many mothers who hold their children inside to protect them from drug dealers who drive to Iberville to do business. Those dealers have money and don’t need to live there. While poverty does make people vulnerable to illegal means of earning money, not everyone can be so easily dismissed by such a stereotype. We need to provide witness protection for residents, and we should help mothers find help for their children in trouble (rehab like suburban kids get on first offenses). These families are not so different from families in surburbia, just families without enough options.

Many in New Orleans (and at the HANO hearings 6/30/2005) have noted the severe shortage of public housing and lack of affordable housing in Section 8 rental units. With wait lists of over 10,000 people and current units available decreasing daily, this seems to be a most unfortunate time to be considering mixed income housing. In fact, the income levels in Louisiana, especially in New Orleans, show a significant gap between those who can live with shelter and those who live from day to day, shelter to shelter (as documented by those from Hope House and Pax Christi at the Hope VI hearing this past Thursday).

More Specific Comments about Iberville and Specific Policies:

As Legal Aid representatives argued in the hearings on Thursday, minor and non-violent offenses (like trespassing or public drunkenness—usually offenses white teens aren’t even arrested for) should not be counted in the HUD/HANO First Strike Out eviction program. Certainly, convicted violent offenders who are a danger to the community should not receive preference for housing that needs to be safe for residents in good standing.

And by all means, put the fire escape ladders back up on Iberville before a tragedy no one wants becomes the headlines on local news. Renovation, as HOPE VI claims, is not necessarily about new stoves or plastered walls; we need to maintain what we have. Every time we build new “projects” we claim these new one will do the “job,” but we need a clear plan for maintenance—a realistic one that includes the residents and pays them for upkeep (like the recycling idea that one of the speakers at the HANO hearing proposed and was willing to volunteer his time to set up for the teens in Public Housing).

Let us as women stand with those who want to help people move who can move, but let us also stand with the residents whose only choice is to stay. To add higher priced rental units, or “mixed” income real estate simply is not helping the working poor in this city who cannot afford to move to these units. And there are far more people needing shelter than the predicted number of units in this plan allow. The plan must be rewritten to meet the needs of the people who really live in this city.

On a more personal note, I found it unfair that HANO and HUD representatives, as well as passionate Resident Council Representatives, based their arguments for our city of New Orleans based on the argument that such programs are Federal and are happening all over the country. My mother told me that I don’t have to jump off a bridge just because everyone else is going to.

Avoiding Activist Burnout: Self-care is radical!

2005-06-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

YES I said Burnout! Let's be real. To be effective, to be active, we need to be whole. Aside from meetings and marches, many of us want to work one-to-one, write, read, think, and create the world we want --complete with a home-cooked meal or a green garden. Most of us do not enjoy the privilege of being able to pursue activism 24/7, and have to work at some job for survive for the hours we can give to what we believe. The toll that disappointment, stress, harassment, and fear takes on us is often unacknowledged by the very people who stand beside us in the marches--the very people who care so much for others, but not necessarily for themselves and their own. I find this especially true (dare I say?) of men who can be "activist" because a woman is taking care of the life needs of family and home and possibly rent while the man is off making speeches? This article by ROGUE addresses a particular need to be mentally healthy in spite of the insanity of the world that surrounds us. But, read more than this as you read the whole article. Read for how we fail ourselves and each other if we can only care for strangers half a world away. Self awareness, Self-purification, self-realization ---then clarity of vision and purity of motive. Why are we marching and fighting War? Poverty? Corporate Globalization? Do we want to be acknowledged as Saviors or Great Leaders? Or do we lead together as we follow together ALL? I'd like to see FEW book signings and a lot more Slingshots and Fifth Estates!

Read this most important article from "Rogue" at http://slingshot.tao.ca/displaybi.php?0086016

I have seen burn-out in my friends as well. Most friends who have dealt with this agree with my assertion that there is not enough active support in the communities and projects we work with to be able to deal with the incredible amount of pressure we are under. Often, it seems that to complain about workload or to seek support is seen as “weakness.” Dealing with mental health, whether it is being crazy or simply striving to support someone who is having a hard time, has been largely neglected by the one very communities that needs to address it most. Having a radical perspective on society and institutions in this country can be a very tiring and frustrating position! Between the wars abroad; those here at home against people of color, women, trans folk, queers, poor people, disabled people, etc; and the capitalist system this country runs on being the antithesis of mutual aid, outrage can be overwhelming. Without systems of support in place, it is easy to become lost in despair, not to mention floored by the sheer amount of work it takes to make any kind of change. This is a reality that all radical activists have to deal with, so why shouldn’t we be trying to support and help each other deal with the world we live in?

It is especially in the interest of the activist community to deal with these problems. Every time an activist burns out and drops out of whatever work they are doing, we lose a valuable person who cares about things and is willing to work towards change. Within apathetic, mainstream American culture, people involved in the various movements fighting for real change are a minority, and can be taken for granted. Not only are we losing incredible people with a lot to offer by not supporting them, we are also failing them as a community. If our goal is to make the world a better place and forge new societies and communities based on mutual aid and sustainability, what does it mean when we can’t even take care of each other and keep things running? It is incredibly important that we set up systems of support to combat activist burn-out. We need to respect and affirm the need to take breaks, or retire altogether. Self-care is radical! Be sure that not everything that you do is activist-focused. It is okay to take some time for yourself! In order to maintain energy you must have it to begin with; recharge in some way that suits you, whether it be sleeping in till noon, spending a weekend camping, calling in to a meeting and going to a movie instead- take some time off! We should all be working towards a community in which it is possible for people to do this. If one person is in charge of an entire project, how can they ever take time for themselves? Or, for that matter, live their lives? Work forty hours a week? Raise their children? If our project would fall apart if one or two people took time off, then we need to look at the model. That isn’t very sustainable.

Naomi Klein --Africa's Wealth FOR Africa!

2005-06-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050627&s=klein (for the entire article!!)

(an excerpt) -- A Noose, Not a Bracelet
By Naomi Klein

[from the June 27, 2005 issue]

Gordon Brown has a new idea about how to "make poverty history" in time for the G-8 summit in Scotland. With Washington so far refusing to double its aid to Africa by 2015, the British Chancellor is appealing to the "richer oil-producing states" of the Middle East to fill the funding gap. "Oil wealth urged to save Africa," reads the headline in London's Observer.

Here is a better idea: Instead of Saudi Arabia's oil wealth being used to "save Africa," how about if Africa's oil wealth was used to save Africa--along with its gas, diamond, gold, platinum, chromium, ferroalloy and coal wealth?

With all this noblesse oblige focused on saving Africa from its misery, it seems like a good time to remember someone else who tried to make poverty history: Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was killed ten years ago this November by the Nigerian government, along with eight other Ogoni activists, sentenced to death by hanging. Their crime was daring to insist that Nigeria was not poor at all but rich, and that it was political decisions made in the interests of Western multinational corporations that kept its people in desperate poverty. Saro-Wiwa gave his life to the idea that the vast oil wealth of the Niger Delta must leave behind more than polluted rivers, charred farmland, rancid air and crumbling schools. He asked not for charity, pity or "relief" but for justice.

*US media censor uranium weapons stories

2005-05-30T08:11:00.000-07:00


Depleted uranium turns to poison gas*


By Bob Nichols

May 27, 2005--A dedication in 2120 might say: Dedicated to the memory of
the Iraqi people. Many people believe Iraq was the birthplace of
civilization some 5,000 years ago. Iraq was destroyed and radioactively
contaminated in an early 21st Century Oil War by a fascist world power,
now extinguished.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Media/052705Nichols/052705nichols.html

*_____________________________________________________ *

from Bernie Ellis in TN--Get to Nashville TUESDAY!

2005-05-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

To everyone,

Here's hoping all of you have a beautiful and restful weekend ahead. Because next Tuesday, May 17, we hope that you and many of your friends and family will show up, stand up and be counted for free, fair and verifiable elections in Tennessee. Here are the final details on our presentation before the House State and Local Government committee.

Instead of being scheduled before the committee convened, we have been put first on their formal committee agenda, which means our presentation to the full Committee should run from noon to 12:15 pm. (It can be extended if members have questions.) We are very fortunate to receive this time and this time assignment, as we will be followed on the agenda by a discussion of one of the ethics bills (on lobbyist disclosure), so the Tennessee media should be in the room en masse. We need to do everything we can do to pack the hearing room to the rafters.

If you have been looking for SOMETHING to do here in Tennessee NOW to repair and protect our election system, attending this legislative hearing is just the thing. And to maximize our potential impact, I would still like to ask as many people as possible to arrive early (around 11:30 am) to meet and greet legislators in the hallway outside Hearing Room 16. At the bottom of this memo are the grouped email lists for key House and Senate committees, as well as the rest of the legislature. There is also a sample invitation for the legislators to meet with us to discuss election reform next Tuesday. Please "cut and paste" these lists into an email and write the legislators yourself a quick note and an invitation to meet with us in the hallway starting at 11:30 am and to stay around to hear our presentation to the House State and Local Government committee at noon.

This week, we have had excellent meetings with the TN Secretary of State (three Gathering members, together with three legislators) and another excellent meeting with the Tennessee Disability Coalition, which will send representatives to the hearing. We still are in a good position to influence the future of voting here in Tennessee, if we act now and in a big way. We need to reach out to every person and organization we know here in Tennessee today and over the weekend to ask them to join us, for this one hour -- high noon next Tuesday -- to demonstrate to our legislature that we stand united for free, fair and verifiable elections. We need to keep building the momentum for reform, and a big attendance at this hearing will do just that.

Spread the word. Mobilize every Orange State patriot you know to show up, stand up and be counted May 17 at high noon.
Hearing Room 16, Legislative Plaza, across from the TN Perforning Arts Center. (Park at the Sheraton -- it's easiest.)

Bernie Ellis, Organizer
Gathering To Save Our Democracy
---------------
Sample letter of invitation to the legislators:

The House State and Local Government Committee will open next Tuesday, May 17, at noon with a fifteen minute presentation in Hearing Room 16 by citizens who are concerned about protecting the vote in Tennessee. This presentation will lay out suggestions for how Tennessee should be proceeding to improve the accountability and integrity of the voting process, and to make prudent but necessary improvements in how our votes are cast here in our state to protect our franchise.

I am writing to invite you to join us at that House State and Local Government committee hearing. A number of us are planning to arrive at 11:30 am and to meet in the hallway outside Hearing Room 16. If you can join us early, we would like to discuss with you the steps we need to take NOW to protect the vote in Tennessee. We look forward to seeing you then.
-----------------------------

Cut-and-paste email lists of TN legislators: I would list the email addresses as "blind copies" so the legislators aren't aware we are sending these invitations en masse. Besides, you should send a personal invitation to your own legislator, and let them know who you are. Let's get these invitations out today and over the weekend. We'll see you all on Tuesday, May 17. Bernie
House Elections sub-committee of the House State and Local Government committee:

Cut-and-paste Email list: rep.eddie.yokley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.john.litz@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.lois.deberry@legislature.house.state.tn.us, rep.tom.dubois@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.joey.hensley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.ulysses.jones@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.edith.langster@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.jodd.matheny@legislature.state.tn.us
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House State and Local Government Committee

Cut-and-paste email list: rep.eddie.yokley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.john.litz@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.lois.deberry@legislature.house.state.tn.us, rep.tom.dubois@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.joey.hensley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.ulysses.jones@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.edith.langster@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.jodd.matheny@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.harry.brooks@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.dewayne.bunch@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.curtis.johnson@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.larry.miller@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.gary.moore@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.jason.mumpower@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.mary.pruitt@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.randy.rinks@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.park.strader@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.harry.tindell@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.curry.todd@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.ben.west@legislature.state.tn.us

--------------------------
Senate State and Local Government Committee:

Cut-and-Paste Email List:sen.stephen.cohen@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.doug.jackson@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.bill.ketron@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.tim.burchett@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.david.fowler@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.thelma.harper@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.joe.haynes@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.jeff.miller@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.ron.ramsey@legislature.state.tn.us
---------------
Cut-and-Paste Email list: rep.craig.fitzhugh@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.harry.tindell@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.johnny.shaw@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.joe.armstrong@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.stratton.bone@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.rob.briley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.tommie.brown@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.kent.coleman@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.charles.curtiss@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.eugene.davidson@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.tre.hargett@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.jere.hargrove@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.michael.harrison@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.beth.harwell@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.john.hood@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.mark.maddox@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.steve.mcdaniel@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.mike.mcdonald@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.bob.mckee@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.kim.mcmillan@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.larry.miller@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.chris.newton@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.doug.overbey@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.phillip.pinion@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.randy.rinks@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.dennis.roach@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.charles.sargent@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.janis.sontany@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.nathan.vaughn@legislature.state.tn.us
-----------------------
Senate Finance Committee

Cut-and-Paste Email List: sen.douglas.henry@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.randy.mcnally@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.ward.crutchfield@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.tim.burchett@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.john.ford@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.joe.haynes@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.roy.herron@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.jim.kyle@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.jeff.miller@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.ron.ramsey@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.mike.williams@legislature.state.tn.us

Cut-and-paste list for the rest of the House: rep.william.baird@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.willie.borchert@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.kathryn.bowers@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.henri.brooks@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.frank.buck@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.stacey.campfield@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.glen.casada@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.chris.clem@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.curt.cobb@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.jerome.cochran@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.barbara.cooper@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.chris.crider@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.david.davis@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.bill.dunn@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.joanne.favors@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.dennis.ferguson@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.joe.fowlkes@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.george.fraley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.steve.godsey@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.dolores.gresham@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.jim.hackworth@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.bill.harmon@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.david.hawk@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.matthew.hill@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.phillip.johnson@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.russell.johnson@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.sherry.jones@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.brian.kelsey@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.mike.kernell@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.debra.maggart@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.beverly.marrero@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.joe.mccord@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.gerald.mccormick@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.richard.montgomery@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.jimmy.naifeh@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.frank.niceley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.gary.odom@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.wc.pleasant@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.donna.rowland@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.jack.sharp@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.david.shepard@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.paul.stanley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.eric.swafford@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.john.tidwell@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.joe.towns@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.larry.turner@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.mike.turner@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.bo.watson@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.john.windle@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.les.winningham@legislature.state.tn.us

Cut-and-paste list for the rest of the Senate: sen.mae.beavers@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.diane.black@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.jim.bryson@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.charlotte.burks@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.sidney.chism@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.jerry.cooper@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.rusty.crowe@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.raymond.finney@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.jamie.hagood@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.tommy.kilby@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.rosalind.kurita@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.don.mcleary@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.mark.norris@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.curtis.person@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.steve.southerland@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.jim.tracy@legislature.state.tn.us, sen.john.wilder@legislature.state.tn.us

Links to 30 ACTION ITEMS fo 5/10 week and beyond.

2005-05-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

Even if you can't find any of these actions urgent (oh really?), there is a great list of media contacts below. Thank you New Orleans for Truth List and "PG".

posting from
http://neworleansfortruth.batcave.net/

1. Don't Let Frist Eliminate the Filibuster! ( 2 actions)
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/780690458 As it stands, Republicans have a narrow Senate majority that's not big enough to get their extremist judges approved. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's (R-TN) solution to this "problem" is called the "nuclear option". What it is is a badly conceived scheme to change Senate rules and silence Democrats by eliminating the filibuster.

2. Call Senator Harry Reid's office and urge him to defend us from this right-wing assault on our Minority rights and on our Judges! He is under tremendous pressure and we don't want him to cave in ! Then call your own Senators. If Dems, tell them you expect them to stand strong. If Repubs, tell them you do not approve of the strong-armed tactics their party is using! http://www.senate.gov/ Sen Reid: 202-224-3542 / Fax: 202-224-7327

3. Write letters to national media denouncing this power grab. See email addresses at end. Just remove the blanks around the @. To send to several at a time, place the addresses in the BCC field (sometimes found after clicking the cc field) of your email program. The bcc field hides the addresses of your distribution list, and you can just place your own address in the TO: field.

niteline @ abc.com , NETAUDR @ abc.com , wnn @ abcnews.com letters @ msnbc.com , cnn @ cnn.com , Colmes @ foxnews.com , Jack.Cafferty @ turner.com , jconason @ observer.com , LarryKingLive @ turner.com , Lateedition @ cnn.com , letters @ charleskrauthammer.com , PeterJennings @ abcnews.com , sidney_blumenthal @ yahoo.com , Ted.Koppel @ abc.com

2020 @ abc.com, thisweek @ abc.com, nightline @ abcnews.com, 48hours @ cbsnews.com, 60m @ cbsnews.com, 60w @ cbsnews.com, bpc @ cbsnews.com, evening @ cbsnews.com, earlyshow @ cbs.com, efm @ cbsnews.com, ftn @ cbsnews.com, mkx @ cbsnews.com, pma @ cbsnews.com, rbc @ cbsnews.com, sundays @ cbsnews.com,

grain @ cbsnews.com, aaron.brown @ turner.com, InsideScoop @ cbsnews.com, am @ cnn.com, 360 @ cnn.com, andrea.koppel @ turner.com, bill.schneider @ turner.com, bruce.morton @ turner.com, candy.crowley @ turner.com, carol.lin @ turner.com, crossfire @ cnn.com, daryn.kagan @ turner.com, david.ensor @ turner.com, daybreak @ cnn.com, kurtzh @ washpost.com, inthemoney @ cnn.com, crossfire @ cnn.com,

jeanne.meserve @ turner.com, jeff.greenfield @ cnn.com, jim.walton @ turner.com, deirdre.walsh @ turner.com, kelly.wallace @ turner.com,
kyra.phillips @ turner.com, livefrom @ cnn.com, livetoday @ cnn.com, lou.dobbs @ turner.com, loudobbs @ cnn.com, miles.obrien @ turner.com, moneyline @ cnn.com, newsnight @ cnn.com, Paula.Zahn2 @ cnn.com, paula.zahn @ turner.com, tom.hannon @ cnn.com, wam @ cnn.com, wolf @ cnn.com, dennis.sullivan @ msnbc.com,

hardball @ msnbc.com, countdown @ msnbc.com, abramsreport @ msnbc.com, dshuster @ msnbc.com, norville @ msnbc.com, imus @ msnbc.com, joe @ msnbc.com, jtrippi @ msnbc.com, Lesterholt @ msnbc.com, msnbcinvestigates @ msnbc.com, feedback @ msnbc.com,

rreagan @ msnbc.com, viewerservices @ msnbc.com, dateline @ nbc.com, mtp @ nbc.com, nightly @ nbc.com, today @ nbc.com, feedback @ ap.org, jloven @ ap.org, lmargasak @ ap.org, msilverman @ ap.org, npickler @ ap.org, rfournier @ ap.org, sjohnson @ ap.org, pr @ ap.org, thunt @ ap.org, traum @ ap.org, Editors @ newsweek.com, howardfineman @ aol.com, Letters @ newsweek.com, patricia.wilson.reuters.com @ reuters.net,

todd.eastham @ reuters.com, arshad.mohammed @ reuters.com, editor @ reuters.com, randall.mikkelsen @ reuters.com, steve.holland @ reuters.com, john.whitesides @ reuters.com, investigations_desk @ upi.com, politics_desk @ upi.com, letters @ time.com, greg.hitt @ wsj.com, jeanne.cummings @ wsj.com, dkeil @ bloomberg.net, wroberts @ bloomberg.net, ghall @ bloomberg.net, hprzybyla @ bloomberg.net, alan @ alan.com, ontherecord @ foxnews.com, MPossley @ tribune.com

Here are 2 more ways to fight the right-wing judicial power grab:

4. Sign the PFAW petition:https://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp?c=feIJKQMEF&b=297997&sid=63224440&kntaw3935=ABA6325ED7EE40CC9980B67C7BE55A02

and donate if you can, to run their ads: https://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp?c=feIJKQMEF&b=483125&sid=63224440

5. Urge your Senators to defend the filibuster: http://truemajority.kintera.org/filibuster

6. Oppose Bolton nomination to represent us in UN!

This thug and liar is dangerous to our security as he has lied and coerced subordinates to distort intelligence! Email, FAX, call Senator Voinovich of Ohio to not be pressured and to defend and protect us from this dangerous nomination! Email to his helpers and make it clear "Vote NO on Bolton!" (remove the blanks around the @) on these:

Aric_Newhouse @ voinovich.senate.gov,
Marcie_Ridgway @ voinovich.senate.gov,
Dana_smullen @ voinovich.senate.gov,
Scott_Milburn @ voinovich.senate.gov,
Phil_Park @ voinovich.senate.gov
PHONE: (202)224-3353, or(513)684-3265, or (216)522-7095
FAX: (202) 228-1382

You can directly call each of the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Bolton nomination at:

Majority Phone (R)Sen Lugar: (202) 224-4651

Minority Phone (D) Sen Biden: (202) 224-3953

If you can't contact them all, urge Democratic Senators Russ Feingold (Wis) and Bill Nelson (Fla.) to stand their ground and vote NO for the good of the American people. And ask Republican Senators Lincoln Chafee (R.I) and Chuck Hagel (Neb) not to rubber-stamp this nomination for the safety and security of the American people. FAX, call, and mail them your message. Contact forms for the other committee senators: http://foreign.senate.gov/about.html

7. Add-on issue- sign the petition to stop the wanton destruction of our old-growth forests for Kleenex: http://usactions.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=42

8. Prevent drilling of our national treasure- the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge http://usactions.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=41

9. Say NO to oil! http://action.ourfuture.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=25828

>From NARAL: 10. Tell pharmacies: Dispense our meds, not your morality! ( http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/792375278?z00m=23087&z00m=23087)

11. Mad cow madness? Urge Congress to maintain the ban on Canadian beef ( http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/951031226?z00m=23089 )

12. Demand the restoration of a REAL Ethics Committee: http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=457525&action=1984&template=x.ascx

Follow the link to the list of Delay's transgressions and the gutting of the Ethics Committee: http://www.swingstateproject.com/2005/03/tx22_tom_delay.html

13. Co-sponsor DCCC efforts to clean House: http://www.houseofscandal.org/signup.html

and chastise Pat Robertson's rabid remarks about our judges: http://action.dscc.org/campaign/robertson

14. Demand that Tom Delay resign: http://ga3.org/campaign/withoutdelay/

15. Here's another letter you can sign: http://www.moveonpac.org/delay/

16. The House has improved the House ethics rules after public outcry, but the Ethics Committee is still riddled with Tom Delay cronies and supporters. Read about them here: http://www.commonblog.com/story/2005/5/5/95833/13109

All 5 Republican members of the Ethics committee have either contributed to Delay's defense or have taken money from Delay. All 5 should remove themselves from this committee. 2 have recused themselves. The remaining three: Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA), Judy Biggert (R-IL), and Melissa Hart (R-PA) have received donations from Tom DeLay's political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority. Hastings and Biggert both received more than $1,000 in donations in 1998, and ARMPAC gave Hart a whopping $15,000 for the 2000 and 2002 elections.Only 2 of the 5 have removed themselves from the committee.

Sign the petition to appoint an outside counsel to investigate Tom Delay at: http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=620305&action=2327&template=x.ascx

17. Still have a job ? Can you donate $10 ? Keep the heat on Delay
http://www.commoncause.org/KeeptheHeatonDeLay

18. Sign the petition to protect Social Security ( http://www.moveonpac.org/socialsecurity/ ) and tell them to remove the cap! Why should salaries above $90,000 not be taxed?

19. Play the Privatization arcade! ( http://www.americanprogress.org/atf/cf/{E9245FE4-9A2B-43C7-A521-5D6FF2E06E03}/SSGAME_FLASH.HTM )

Play our Privatization Arcade

20. Dairy worker fired for speaking out on discrimination. Speak up for justice: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/dairyfiring/7s7wkx4v7bijti

21. Protect the environment from invasive species. Send a letter here: http://www.ucsaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=25883

22. Watch the MoveOn Elephant Rampage ad: http://www.moveonpac.org/rampage-QT.html and contribute to air the ad: https://www.moveonpac.org/donate/gavel.html

23. Click this link again and again to sign the various petitions to Downsize DC and reclaim our democracy: http://www.downsizedc.org/index.shtml

24. Tell your Senators you don't want polluter-friendly activist judges like William Myers. These other 3 may come to a vote this week: William Pryor, Terrence Boyle, Brett Kavanaugh. They are threats to civil rights, freedom of religion, and judicial integrity. They are all politically active and subject to Bush's influence and will vote for the benefit of corporations instead of for citizens. Priscilla Owen, William Pryor, and Janice Rogers Brown are anti-choice and will move to restrict women's rights. Please urge your Senators to oppose these nominees at: http://action.lcv.org/campaign/myers02 and: https://secure2.convio.net/lccr/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=243&autologin=true&AddInterest=1128

25. Support students to Fillibuster Frist! Pass this on to college Democrats in your area: http://www.newleaderscouncil.org/advocacy/filibuster_frist.html

26. No on CAFTA! Like NAFTA, CAFTA will undermine American jobs and ship them to workers in other countries who are paid peanuts for back-breaking labor. CAFTA will undermine workers' rights everywhere and give windfall profits to the corporations who ship our jobs to other countries: Say NO to CAFTA! http://www.usalone.com/cafta.htm

CAFTA and other PDA action alerts:
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7348276

Bring the troops home: http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7071606

27. Co-sponsor John Kerry's Kids First Initiative for healthcare: http://www.johnkerry.com/features/kidsfirst.html

28. Ask car manufactures to cooperate with Californians, not oppose us - Click here and sign our petition urging they drop their lawsuit against the Clean Car Bill. ( http://www.care2.com/go/z/23626 )

29. Yet another Bush assault has been heaped on us. One that will outlast him! Read about it here and then contact your Senators ( www.senate.gov ) and DEMAND that they strike all language regarding the "Sunset Commission" from the budget.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/7265052?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single7&rnd=1114114700265&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1059

30. Stop New Nuclear Weapons! http://www.fcnl.org/nuclear

HELP Tennessee and US Election Reform

2005-05-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I wrote all of you to ask you to suppoprt our effort to protect the vote here in Tennessee. I am writing to update you on yesterday's meetings with our legislators and to ask you to please write (and re-write) our Tennessee legislature to support steps to protect our vote.

Yesterday's meetings with legislators went even better than we anticipated. Representative Susan Lynn agreed to amend her bill to require all new voting systems purchased in Tennessee after July, 2005 have a voter-verified paper ballot, that all voting systems have a VVPB by July, 2008 AND that after 2008, all non-manual vote counting systems used in Tennessee would be verified by a mandatory random manual recount of between 5-10% of the votes cast. At the end of the day, Rep. Mike Kernell, a Memphis Democrat, offered to co-sponsor Rep. Lynn's bill. That bipartisan support may be just what is needed to move this bill this session.

That, plus your letters and phone calls. Please take the time to contact all state legislators listed below. You can "cut and paste" the entire email list for each committee and send all committee members one email. (I would recommend that you "bcc" the addresses so the legislators don't know you're sending your email to multiple legislators at the same time.)

In order to expand the value of this email campaign, please write House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh to ask that he allow Rep. Lynn's bill to be heard this session. Speaker Naifeh must approve allowing Rep. Lynn's bill to move forward at this late date. His email address is rep.jimmy.naifeh@legislature.state.tn.us . Also, I have added two more "cut and paste" email lists below, and that is for all other House and Senate members who are not on any of the committees already listed. With that list, you can communicate with the entire legislature in only a few minutes.

Please help us build on our momentum from yesterday. Take a few minutes to write the legislature and then forward this request to as many election reform-minded Tennesseans as you know. We just may be able to protect our vote here in Tennessee, if we all work together for free, fair and verifiable elections NOW. Thanks for your help. Bernie
------------------------
To everyone concerned with the integrity of our elections in Tennessee:

On Tuesday afternoon, May 3, a group of concerned citizens will visit all Tennessee state legislators at Legislative Plaza to ask them to do several things NOW to protect our vote here in Tennessee. The cover letter that we will be handing them, along with other materials, is at the bottom of this email.

In a nutshell, we are asking our state legislators (and our county election commissions at the same time) to spend no more money (regardless of whether it is local, state or federal money) on non-verifiable voting systems in Tennessee. At the same time, we are asking the legislature to support current efforts to guarantee voter-verified paper ballots and mandatory random manual recounts be part of the voting process statewide in our state before 2006. (Please read the cover letter below now to familiarize yourself with these steps to protect our vote in Tennessee.)

By copy of this email, we are asking every individual and organization who is concerned with maintaining the integrity of our election process to take time NOW to let our state legislature and your county election commission know how you feel. Please take the time to write key legislators and tell them that you want no more money spent on "vapor ballot" voting systems in Tennessee AND that you want voter-verified paper ballots and mandatory random manual recounts to be part of every county's election process no later than 2006. We are asking you to do three things to show the legislature how many of us there are who are concerned about the integrity of our elections here in Tennessee:

1) Send emails and/or call key legislators NOW to let them know you support the few steps that we believe are necessary to protect the vote here in Tennessee. (Again, review our cover letter below before writing.)

To make this task easier, we have listed the key legislative committees below, in the order of their importance. You can get the phone numbers and other information on committee members by clicking on their names. In addition, we have also created a "cut and paste" list of email addresses for each committee, so you can "cut and paste" this email list to quickly address your own message to that committee about protecting the vote in Tennessee. This will make it possible for you to write the entire committee (or multiple committees) at the same time. (You could also "cut and paste" the cover letter below, or tell them your concerns in your own words.) Here are the key committees, in their order of importance:

House Elections sub-committee of the House State and Local Government committee:

Eddie Yokley, Chair John Litz, Vice-Chair
	Members:
Mary Langston, Committee Secretary Lawrence Hall, Research Analyst	Lois Deberry, Tom Dubois, Joey Hensley, Ulysses Jones, Edith Langster, Judd Matheny

Cut-and-paste Email list: rep.eddie.yokley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.john.litz@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.lois.deberry@legislature.house.state.tn.us, rep.tom.dubois@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.joey.hensley@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.ulysses.jones@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.edith.langster@legislature.state.tn.us, rep.jodd.matheny@legislature.state.tn.us
--------------------------
House State and Local Government Committee

Ulysses Jones, Jr., Chair

Edith Taylor Langster, Vice-Chair

Eddie Yokley, Secretary

Members:

Cut-and-Paste Email List:

sen.stephen.cohen@legislature.state.tn.us

sen.doug.jackson@legislature.state.tn.us

sen.bill.ketron@legislature.state.tn.us

sen.tim.burchett@legislature.state.tn.us

sen.david.fowler@legislature.state.tn.us

sen.thelma.harper@legislature.state.tn.us

sen.joe.haynes@legislature.state.tn.us

sen.jeff.miller@legislature.state.tn.us

sen.ron.ramsey@legislature.state.tn.us

House Finance Committee
Craig Fitzhugh, Chair
Harry Tindell, Vice-Chair

Johnny Shaw, Secretary

Two Steps To Protect the Election Process in Tennessee NOW
Gathering To Save Our Democracy
(tracevu@bellsouth.net)
May 1, 2005

In the next month, members of the Tennessee legislature and our 95 county election commissions will be making important decisions about the future of our election process and voting systems that we will soon use in our state. These decisions need to insure the future integrity of our election process, and the continued value of our individual votes. We are asking you to insure that two necessary changes take place that will protect our vote in Tennessee.

Background

In recent years, Tennessee, like many other states, has taken steps to improve and modernize the voting process. Unfortunately, this upgrading of the Tennessee voting systems has led, in some instances, to adoption of electronic "touch screen" voting machines and other methods that record votes electronically. However, these machines produce no paper ballots or other visible records of the voter's choices that the voter can review and verify to know their votes were counted properly. In addition, without paper ballots, nothing is available to be recounted in the event of an election problem or challenge. In 2004, more than half of all votes cast in Tennessee were recorded on these non-verifiable "paperless" machines. These same machines also have produced many headaches for election officials around the country. They have malfunctioned, miscounted votes and otherwise have failed to record votes accurately. (See the attached materials: "Election 2004: A Partial List of Incidents Reported in the News", "No Review for Key Component of Voting System" and "Facts About Electronic Voting" for a short review of voting machine-related problems. If you want to receive a more comprehensive document which covers the issues we are concerned about in more detail, we would be happy to provide you a copy of "Myth Breakers: Facts About Electronic Elections.")

Here in Tennessee, we wouldn't deposit our money in a bank that does not keep good records of our transactions and that could not be audited. Why then have we entrusted our election process and our votes to such a non-verifiable and unaccountable system of paperless voting machines? Today, too many Tennesseans cast their votes on "vapor ballots", not on paper ballots. For the sake of our democracy and to regain the trust of the voters, this has to change. That's why we are proposing two steps that need to be taken immediately to protect our votes in Tennessee. We're asking you to act now to support these two improvements in our election process. They must be in place before the 2006 election.

Two Steps We Need To Take NOW To Protect Our Vote

1) Voter-Verified Paper Ballots: By 2006, every voter in Tennessee should be able to use or review a paper ballot that shows their choices. Those voter-verified paper ballots should be the "ballots of record" and should be stored for recounts or other election audit purposes. Using voter-verified paper ballots, and maintaining them as the "ballots of record", we will increase the confidence of Tennesseans that their votes were cast as they were intended. All voting systems judged acceptable for use in the 2006 election must use or produce these voter-verified paper ballots.

2) Mandatory Random Manual Recounts: This step means hand-counting a portion of the paper ballots in counties that use electronic voting or vote counting systems to insure that our votes are counted correctly by these systems. This step will involve introducing a "quality control" check of the accuracy of the reported vote counts whenever and wherever electronic methods are used to cast or count the votes. These small-scale manual recounts (involving 5-10% of the votes cast in a county) will help safeguard the election process from electronic machines which could incorrectly count the votes, either through innocent computer problems, mistakes in the software or intentional fraud.

In the legislature, decisions are now being made about how counties may use federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds to upgrade Tennessee voting systems. The legislature must decide not to spend any more federal HAVA funds on non-verifiable voting systems. In addition, Representative Susan Lynn has introduced HB 0312 (with its companion bill SB0491), a bill that may provide a framework for accomplishing the two steps we support. We urge you to review these bills, to consider amending them as needed and to support their passage. Taking just these two steps will go a long way to protect and expand voting here in Tennessee. Regardless of your political affiliation, let's work together for these necessary reforms to our Tennessee voting process. Thank you for your consideration and for your support for these two steps to protect the integrity of our election process, and our democratic foundations, here in Tennessee.
----------

O.K., folks. Thanks in advance for taking the time to contact our legislature. Let's be the small group of determined people who make all the difference. It's our turn -- we are the ones we have been waiting for. Bernie

NUKE the Nuclear Option! Say NO to the NEOCons.

2005-04-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

Republicans have a plan to use the "nuclear option" -- a parliamentary trick to eliminate the filibuster -- to control (i.e. "eliminate") the right to extend debate on controversial judicial nominations. In the name of judicial reform, the extreme conservative segment of this country sees this as a restoration of"their way" democracy.

If speech can be controlled, they reason, then opponents will have less chance to block "Bush" court nominees.
Democracy is not any one group's property--not Liberal, not Conservative.

I oppose the restriction against extended debate no matter whose political views are threatened! Let's not allow this Nuclear "option" to devastate democracy.

A wise person knows to be careful what he/she wishes for--since that wish may come true with unintended consequences. We are the People, and we must not be persuaded to resort to limiting our right to speak through our Congressional leaders. We must let our Congressmen and Congresswomen understand that hearings are not political games.

Let us not forget that freedom relies on our right to speak up--whether or not that speech is long or short, friendly or controversial. No political party has the moral right to take that away.

STOP NAFTA in Indianapolis this SUMMER

2005-04-20T16:43:00.000-07:00

The global transfer of commodities between the sectors involved in the NAFTA agreements requires neo-liberal infrastructure development projects.

These federally mandated “roads” are environmentally and socially devastating projects that are focused on two areas in North America: the Plan Puebla Panama in Latin America and its companion project, I-69. The I-69 highway is in the initial stages of construction in the Midwestern U.S. (already a completed 6 lane trucking route from Canada to Indianapolis where the good workers have stopped its construction – a highway that is supposed to continue to Mexico).

This highway built specifically for corporate truckers and the bypassing of family farm/business products is critical to the success of NAFTA. Consequently, the highway (and other infrastructure projects) were authorized at the same time as Congressional approval of NAFTA.

For 15 years, farmer-led resistance In Indiana has delayed the construction of Interstate 69, the NAFTA superhighway. Now, with the looming passage of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D.C. and the Indiana Department of Transportation are preparing to finally restart construction.

For this purpose, activists are discussing the possibilities of taking action to stop I-69 (the "NAFTA Superhighway") as a practical way to undermine and impede the overarching plans for globalization formatted by governments, corporations, and international institutions.

The Roadblock tour (that recently visited New Orleans) represents an attempt to create a dialogue about new strategies to combat ecocide and the domination of the global economy. We are also trying to raise awareness about I-69 (the proposed NAFTA superhighway) and efforts in Indiana and throughout the Midwest to stop it, and thus deal a blow to both NAFTA and the FTAA.

The People are calling for a summer of community organizing, civil disobedience, and direct action to finally stop this bid to pave over tens of thousands of acres of forests and farms, displace hundreds of families, and destroy communities throughout the Midwest, all to serve the interests of multinational corporations.

In New Orleans and in states along the corridor from Canada to Brownsville TX, we are hoping to show solidarity with the farmers and concerned citizens of Indiana who have courageously STOPPED the I-69 so far.

Let’s not let the road restart. This line has to be held, or we’ll be fighting it in Shreveport, and along down the LA TX line.

People who can travel to Indianapolis to work this summer (living space and basic needs will be provided) are encouraged to contact the activists listed on their website.

Some of us will travel to Indianapolis on May 21 for direct action, and we hope to have sister events at the corporate offices where self interested corporations are pushing the I-69 project forward in spite of a 90% disapproval survey of the Indiana people—people who have already lost tens of thousands of jobs to NAFTA business relocations.

More info:
http://www.roadless-summer.org/
http://www.geocities.com/theroadblocktour/

Background on I-69 and the Route--RE NAFTA post

2005-04-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

From the web site of the roadblock tour:

I-69 and the Midwest

Within Indiana, I-69 is a proposed new terrain highway providing a direct connection between Indianapolis and Evansville. While several roads already connect these two cities, proponents of I-69 claim that the new highway would cut down travel time by a staggering 25 minutes (realistically closer to 10). Apparently these 10-25 minutes are what is holding southwestern Indiana's economy back: the corporations and government agencies pushing the I-69 agenda argue that if the highway is built, southwestern Indiana’s economy will experience immense and rapid growth. In reality, these 10 minutes mean nothing to the local people but billions of dollars to corporations.

I-69, in its current "preferred" route, would be intensely destructive to all of Indiana. In terms of economics, I-69 is slated to cost the state two billion dollars, two billion dollars that the state does not have. From a social perspective, it will bring about the forced relocation of hundreds of families and the seizure of thousands of acres of old family farms. Equally devastating in its environmental impact, it will cut down around 1150 acres of forest and destroy more than 300 acres of rich wetlands. But this is only within Indiana. I-69, with its stated purpose being to "connect the three North American trading partners of Canada, the United States and Mexico by means of an Interstate highway located in the states of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas," is the proposed realization of a NAFTA super-highway. This NAFTA highway, in conjunction with the proposed Plan Puebla Panama, would bring about economic, social, and environmental wreckage.

I-69, Plan Puebla Panama, and Capitalist Globalization

In the years since it has been instated, NAFTA has brought about job losses in the U.S. and increased exploitation of persons and resources in Mexico, as well as a loosening of environmental policies throughout the free trade area. I-69 would only serve to augment NAFTA's capacity for destruction by providing a straight shot for job migration and movement of capital.

While Mexico's low wages and labor standards grant it preferred status as a center of production within the free trade area, the inclusion of the rest of Central and South America in the free trade zone through the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) would threaten this position. Workers in countries with even lower wages and labor standards would be made all the more available for corporate exploitation. To counter this threat, Mexico has thrown its support behind the Plan Puebla Panama, a highway connecting the Mexican state of Puebla directly to Panama, making Mexico additionally attractive to corporate investors. The combination of I-69 and Plan Puebla Panama would create a direct highway system from the Canadian border through the entirety of Mesoamerica.

Plan Puebla Panama is hailed as a way to foster economic growth in rural Mesoamerica, not only as a transportation project but as a "development" project. The facts prove otherwise: Of the $20 billion projected cost, 90% is specifically directed towards transportation infrastructure. The governments and corporations pushing Plan Puebla Panama are not concerned with sustainable economic development, but with the creation of a system of roads to replace the increasingly obsolete Panama Canal and allow the quick transportation of commodities produced in the sweatshops of Mesoamerica to consumers in the Global North. Whatever "development" does come with Plan Puebla Panama will address not human needs, but the whims of the global capitalist economy: hydroelectric dams being built on indigenous lands in southern Mexico and Guatemala will not power indigenous communities, but rather additional maquiladora sectors; the biological reserve promoted as the "greener side" of Plan Puebla Panama is not being designed to counteract the environmental devastation that Mesoamerica will experience as it is forced to industrialize, but is rather being underwritten by the Grupo Pulsar, a multinational biotech firm that hopes to pirate the genetic diversity of the region; Plan Puebla Panama is not promising open borders with its highways, allowing people the same freedoms accorded to capital, but rather the militarization of borders, allowing Mexico to protect the privileged status it gained with NAFTA, even as the free trade area is expanded by the passage of the FTAA.

Aid Worker's Words, Just a Week Before She Was Killed

2005-04-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Downloaded from Common Dreams.Org.
Published on Tuesday, April 19, 2005 by USA Today

Aid Worker's Words, Just a Week Before She Was Killed

by Marla Ruzicka

The writer, a 28-year-old humanitarian aid worker from California, was killed Saturday in Baghdad when a suicide bomber aiming for a convoy of contractors pulled alongside her vehicle and detonated his explosives. Her driver also died. She filed this piece from Baghdad a week before her death. The facts cited in it have been reported elsewhere as a matter of public record. However, estimates of the number of civilian deaths in Iraq vary widely. Media reports put the number between 17,000 and 20,000 people.

In my two years in Iraq, the one question I am asked the most is: "How many Iraqi civilians have been killed by American forces?" The American public has a right to know how many Iraqis have lost their lives since the start of the war and as hostilities continue.

In a news conference at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in March 2002, Gen. Tommy Franks said, "We don't do body counts." His words outraged the Arab world and damaged the U.S. claim that its forces go to great lengths to minimize civilian casualties.

During the Iraq war, as U.S. troops pushed toward Baghdad, counting civilian casualties was not a priority for the military. However, since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared major combat operations over and the U.S. military moved into a phase referred to as "stability operations," most units began to keep track of Iraqi civilians killed at checkpoints or during foot patrols by U.S. soldiers.

Here in Baghdad, a brigadier general commander explained to me that it is standard operating procedure for U.S. troops to file a spot report when they shoot a non-combatant. It is in the military's interest to release these statistics.

Recently, I obtained statistics on civilian casualties from a high-ranking U.S. military official. The numbers were for Baghdad only, for a short period, during a relatively quiet time. Other hot spots, such as the Ramadi and Mosul areas, could prove worse. The statistics showed that 29 civilians were killed by small-arms fire during firefights between U.S. troops and insurgents between Feb. 28 and April 5 — four times the number of Iraqi police killed in the same period. It is not clear whether the bullets that killed these civilians were fired by U.S. troops or insurgents.

A good place to search for Iraqi civilian death counts is the Iraqi Assistance Center in Baghdad and the General Information Centers set up by the U.S. military across Iraq. Iraqis who have been harmed by Americans have the right to file claims for compensation at these locations, and some claims have been paid. But others have been denied, even when the U.S. forces were in the wrong.

The Marines have also been paying compensation in Fallujah and Najaf. These data serve as a good barometer of the civilian costs of battle in both cities.

These statistics demonstrate that the U.S. military can and does track civilian casualties. Troops on the ground keep these records because they recognize they have a responsibility to review each action taken and that it is in their interest to minimize mistakes, especially since winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis is a key component of their strategy. The military should also want to release this information for the purposes of comparison with reports such as the Lancet study published late last year. It suggested that since the U.S.-led invasion there had been 100,000 deaths in Iraq.

A further step should be taken. In my dealings with U.S. military officials here, they have shown regret and remorse for the deaths and injuries of civilians. Systematically recording and publicly releasing civilian casualty numbers would assist in helping the victims who survive to piece their lives back together.

A number is important not only to quantify the cost of war, but as a reminder of those whose dreams will never be realized in a free and democratic Iraq.

Marla Ruzicka was founder of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict. In 2003, she organized surveyors across Iraq to document civilian casualties. Before that, she managed a similar project in Afghanistan that helped to secure assistance from the U.S. government for civilian victims.

Marla Ruzicka --A Hero for Peace!

2005-04-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Read more about this remarkable 28 year old young woman who lost her life trying to help others in Iraq. This is only 1 of the many stirring eulogies to Marla Ruzicka from all over the world. If only our government "leaders" had 10% of her heart and her courage!

paulette s.

----------------------------

Counting On Marla

By Tai Moses, AlterNet. Posted April 18, 2005.

LA Respected Environmental Advocate Forced Out of Job

2005-04-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

 Below  is a press release from the Antioch New England Graduate
School  concerning  harassment  of  the  school's  faculty  and
students  during their Environmental Justice tour in Louisiana.
The tour was led by Attorney General's Office Community Liaison
Officer  Willie  Fontenot.  As  a  result of his defense of the
participants'   academic  freedom  and  of  their  basic  civil
liberties  he  was forced out of his 27-year long position with
the  Attorney  General's Office.  

Willie Fontenot will speak at the  conclusion  of  Loyola University New Orleans's
 Gaia Fest, which will be held on Earth Day,  April 22 from 3:00 to 6:00 PM.


For immediate release
April 7, 2005

For more information, please contact:
Eleanor Falcon, Director of Public Affairs
603.357.3122 ext 213
efalcon@antiochne.edu

Antioch  New  England Study Trip Sparks Political Harassment In
Louisiana Respected Environmental Advocate Forced Out of Job By
Attorney General

Keene,  NH  -  From  March  14  to  25,  two instructors and 13
master's  students  from  Antioch New England Graduate School's
Environmental Studies Program in Keene, NH visited Louisiana as
part  of  a field studies course entitled Environmental Justice
in the Mississippi Delta.
During  their  visit,  the Antioch New England class met with a
diverse  array  of  stakeholders,  including elected officials,
petrochemical  industry  executives, union leaders, scientists,
EPA officials, environmental activists, and members of polluted
communities  along  the  stretch  of the Mississippi River that
many  state  officials  call  "the Chemical Corridor" and local
people often call "Cancer Alley." The Antioch New England study
group  also  met  some people they did not expect to, including
off-duty police and sheriff's department officers and corporate
security  officials who detained them on two separate occasions
because  they  took photos of industrial facilities from public
roadways and sidewalks.
On  March 16, Mr. Willie Fontenot was accompanying the group in
his  official  capacity  as  Community  Liaison Officer for the
Louisiana  Attorney  General's  Office.  They  were touring the
neighborhood surrounding the major ExxonMobil chemical facility
in  the  area.  Mr.Fontenot  took the group to the neighborhood
because  ExxonMobil  has engaged in a program to buy out nearby
homeowners  who had long complained of toxic emissions from the
plant.  During a stop on a side street off Scenic Highway, some
students  got  out  of the group's vehicle and took photos of a
remaining  home  and  the  ExxonMobil  facility.  Students  are
required  to complete a visual presentation about the trip as a
course  assignment  and  took  photos  throughout their stay in
Louisiana.
Course  instructor  Steve  Chase,  the  Director  of  Antioch's
Environmental  Advocacy and Organizing Program, said members of
the  group  had  been  detained  the  day before by a corporate
security  guard  near  the  Shell  chemical  plant in Norco who
claimed   that   photographing   industrial  facilities  was  a
violation  of  federal  law  and  had  threatened Chase and the
students  with  images of FBI agents knocking on their doors in
the  middle of the night. Mr. Fontenot explained, however, that
while  the  police  had  every right to stop and ask people who
they  were,  standing  on  public  property  and  photographing
facilities   was   perfectly   legal.   "I've  researched  this
extensively  over  the  years  because  I  often  give tours to
academics  and  journalists as part of my job with the Attorney
General's Office," said Mr. Fontenot.
Within  two  minutes  of the stop near the ExxonMobiil plant, a
pair  of  off-duty  officers from the Baton Rouge sheriff's and
police  departments,  wearing  their  official  public  service
uniforms, but in the employ of ExxonMobil, quickly detained the
group.  Fulltime  ExxonMobil security officials soon joined the
detention   team.   "We   were   less   than  impressed,"  said
co-instructor  Abigail Abrash Walton, "when one of the officers
falsely  stated  that three of the students had gone on company
property and then falsely claimed that we were refusing to turn
over  our  IDs." When asked by the course instructor about what
actions  he would be taking in filing a report about the group,
the  off-duty  sheriff's  department officer refused to answer,
and instead responded aggressively that he was going to call in
"homeland  security" people who would detain the group into the
night.
The  group  was  released  after  more  than an hour, but later
learned  that  the  sheriff's  department had filed a complaint
with  the  Attorney  General  against Mr. Fontenot, the group's
local  guide  for  the day. Both The New Orleans Times-Picayune
and  The  Baton  Rouge  Advocate reported that Mr. Fontenot was
forced  to  retire  at 10 am on Tuesday, April 5, or risk being
fired over the incident. Said Mr. Fontenot, "I was advised that
taking retirement was a better way to go."
"I  am  very  disappointed,"  said  Chase,  "that our detention
served  as  the  catalyst for the Attorney General to force Mr.
Fontenot  out of the public service job he's held for 27 years.
Given what we experienced, I suspect that this whole matter has
just  been  used as an excuse to remove one of the state's most
respected  citizen  participation  advocates  from the Attorney
General's Office." Chase added, "I am particularly stunned that
Mr.  Fontenot  lost  his  job  when  even  the U.S. Coast Guard
investigator  who  phoned  me  when  we  arrived  back  in  New
Hampshire  assured me that there is absolutely no local, state,
or federal law against photographing industrial facilities from
public sidewalks."
Co-instructor  Abigail  Abrash  Walton  noted,  "This  incident
showed  our students a vivid example of how law enforcement and
corporations  can  sometimes overstep their legitimate security
duties in the guise of 'homeland security.' This experience was
also a firsthand glimpse of the type of over-the-top repression
that  community  members  and  their  supporters  told  us they
experience   on  the  frontlines  of  trying  to  defend  their
communities' health and homes in Louisiana."
As  a response to Mr. Fontenot being forced out of his job, the
Environmental  Advocacy  and  Organizing Program at Antioch New
England  Graduate School is working with Marylee Orr, Executive
Director  of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN),
to  create  a fund to help Mr. Fontenot make up his lost salary
and  continue  to  work  for environmental justice in Louisiana
through   a   nonprofit   organization   of   his  choice.  The
Environmental  Advocacy and Organizing Program, LEAN, and other
Louisiana  citizen groups and members of the academic community
are   considering  further  actions  aimed  at  addressing  the
political harassment of academics, concerned community members,
and advocates in Louisiana.
# # #

A handful of good reasons to join us at the "Nash-ional" Election Reform Conference, April 8-10

2005-04-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	A handful of good reasons to join us at the "Nash-ional" Election Reform Conference, April 8-10
Date:	Sat, 02 Apr 2005 10:42:50 -0600
From:	Bernie Ellis
To:	undisclosed-recipients:;

A HANDFUL OF REASONS TO COME TO NASHVILLE APRIL 8-10, OR TO
PAY ATTENTION TO THE NATIONAL ELECTION REFORM CONFERENCE
(WHEREVER YOU ARE)
( www.freepress.org/conf.php )

1. The National Election Reform Conference will provide an opportunity for anyone who is seriously concerned about election reform and election justice to meet others of like mind and similar commitment from throughout the country, in the springtime in the South. Right now, we have people coming to the conference from almost half the states, and more are registering every day. This will be a unique opportunity to co-mingle researchers, legislators, election reform/justice advocates and grassroots voting rights organizations to learn together and begin to decide – together – where we must go to repair and restore the franchise. And it is happening now.

2. There are many facets to the 2004 election fraud "story" which persist, and the quality and volume of evidence for a tampered-with election process continues to grow, both nationally and in many individual states. The National Election Reform Conference will provide an opportunity to receive an in-depth briefing of the experiences of at least a dozen states that will provide considerable evidence to demonstrate the immediate need to repair and reform our election process. At the same time, the conference will allow all of us to be updated together about the important developments in these and other states that are moving us toward real election reform and election justice. We all need to get on the same page, and Nashville on April 8-10 is that "page".

3. We remain convinced that the American media has a principally-untapped reservoir of newsworthy stories available to them on the 2004 election and the need for election reform. We have followed the excellent coverage on the 2004 election that has appeared scattered and sporadic throughout local media around the country, but we remain convinced that the "story of the century" remains largely untouched by the mainstream media. We believe that the National Election Reform Conference will be the best place for all media who are attuned to the 2004 election fraud story to "refresh" this story by being updated with the rest of us on many aspects of this story. At the same time, we view the conference as a place where the total coverage of this story, and its penetration into other media outlets and forms, can also expand. We have a number of media representatives who are aware of the conference and several documentary film-makers coming to film the event. We hope that, in the next week, we can interest many more journalists to join us for this newsworthy event.

4. At the present time, we see an election reform and election justice movement filled with highly energetic, committed and focused people. We also see a plethora of newly formed organizations and communication arenas devoted to election reform that have joined the fewer number of organizations for which voting rights have been a long-standing concern. The National Election Reform Conference will allow us a forum to share our priorities, our strategies and our histories; particularly in the discussion groups that are scheduled before and after the conference plenary sessions. Before we can ever succeed in achieving true election reform and election justice in our country, we must be able to hear (and not just talk or type at) each other. We must be willing to learn that there are many paths available for us to take our country back, and that we can work together to achieve that patriotic goal. Gathering together in Nashville, we can get those movement-building blocks laid.

5. Once again ... springtime in the South. Though I know that forecasts a week ahead of time are like exit polls these days – subject to major modification – our weather people are calling for sunny skies and temps in the low 70s on Friday, April 8. What better time and place than the early spring of 2005 in the South to begin planting the seeds for a regrowth of our nation's democratic foundations. We are happy to offer Nashville as the place where that rebirth can begin. Why Tennessee? Because our state has a proud history as a pivotal place in the expansion of the franchise in this country. And because we were the first place to step forward and offer to host this national Gathering. We are honored and humbled by the widespread support that the idea of a national conference has received over the past few months. Without the persistent and persuasive early encouragement that we received from throughout the country for the conference idea, and the willingness of a small number of local individuals and organizations to support us directly in accomplishing this Gathering, it would not have been possible. But after all, Tennessee is the Volunteer State, so we come by this role naturally.

Come to Nashville, April 8-10 for the National Election Reform Conference. For more information, to pre-register and/or to donate to the conference, go to www.freepress.org/conf.php . We're the ones we've been waiting for.

Columbia U and WMD Report--postings from Nabil

2005-04-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Universities are not the sanctuary for Free Speech or Academic Freedom that many believe they should be.  Students who protest the War are being disciplined, and then there is Columbia:

1) Here's the link to the Columbia University report
concerning alleged "anti-semitism" on campus:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/05/03/ad_hoc_grievance_committee_report.html



2) NYT article concerning the Columbia report:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/31/education/31columbia.html?ex=1112936400&en=1e797fe806367574&ei=5070



3) AP Article on same:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4904675,00.html

Columbia Finds No Anti-Semitic Remarks

Thursday March 31, 2005 6:01 PM


By VERENA DOBNIK

Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - A special committee found no evidence
that professors at Columbia University made
anti-Semitic statements to intimidate Jewish students
in classes, according to a university report released
Thursday.

But the five-member panel did identify one instance in
which a professor ``exceeded commonly accepted
bounds'' of behavior when he angrily implied a student
should leave his classroom after she defended Israel's
conduct toward Palestinians.


4) www.countingthecost.org


5) The Final Report of The Commission on the
Intelligence Capabilities of the United States
Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, 30 March 2005

[otherwise known as the presidential committee to
absolve the presidency of all responsibility for
misrepresenting the threat posed by GOI weapons
capabilities in 2002-2003.  Amazingly, one of their
conclusions is that the intelligence services over
relied on (unreliable) secret information at the
expense of (reliable) open source information.  Put
another way, all those months that those of us who
cared to check KNEW that GOI was no threat to the US
militarily had more reliable source information than
those hacks who claimed to have special knowledge that
they weren't at liberty to share.  Those same hacks --
instead of facing war crimes trials at the Hague --
have instead since been promoted to Secretary of
State, World Bank Chief, National Director of
Intelligence, US Ambassador to the United Nations,
Attorney-General, and Director of Homeland Security.
Well, some of us haven't forgotten your crimes...]:

http://www.wmd.gov/report/index.html

Here is the original (unclassified version) National
Intelligence Estimate, issued October 2002.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB129/nie_first%20release.pdf

Note Opening Paragraph:

"Iraq has continued its weapons of mass destructions
(WMD) programs in defiance of UN resolutions and
restrictions.  Baghdad has chemical and biological
weapons as well as missiles with ranges in excess of
UN restrictions; if left unchecked, it will probably
have a nuclear weapon within the decade." 

You get the gist. THIS is why the US public agreed to
the hostile invasion of a neutral country halfway
around the world.  It is this report which the new
report has declared is "dead wrong".

PRIVACY ALERT!! WHOIS searches and Domain names

2005-03-30T16:11:00.000-08:00

Reprinted from http://thedangerofnoprivacy.com

Your Privacy at Stake: Decision Made to Disallow
Private Registrations for .US Domain Names

The National Telecommunications and Information
Administration ("NTIA") (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/),
the telecommunications and Internet arm of the Department
of Commerce, has disallowed private registrations for .US domain names.

This unfortunate decision was made by the NTIA, without a
hearing or an opportunity for a response by those affected
-- in fact; there was no due process of any kind. It's ironic that
the NTIA has taken away our first amendment rights to privacy
for the one domain name (.US) that is specifically intended for
Americans. These bureaucrats stripped away the privacy that
you're entitled to as an American; on the only domain name
that says that you are an American.

Even while the NTIA has ruthlessly criticized ICANN in the
past for lack of transparency, the NTIA itself has been evasive
and untruthful about the entire process, and has yet to provide
a satisfactory explanation for the move.

After giving only two weeks' notice, the NTIA has stated that
they would not consider any arguments and that its decision
is final, leaving thousands of .US domain owners confused and exposed.

This is NOT how our government is supposed to operate.
Immediate repercussions for .US domain owners include:
LOSS OF protection from stalkers and harassers.

LOSS OF protection against solicitation and unwelcome
visitors for home-based Web businesses.

LOSS OF protection for loved ones associated with a
family Web site or domain name.

LOSS OF protection against SPAM and phishing
(an email falsely claiming to be a legitimate enterprise
in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private
information that will be used for identity theft).

LOSS OF protection against attempts to steal identities
and/or money.

LOSS OF protection against general solicitations
via phone and/or fax.

LOSS OF the right to operate a Web site anonymously.

LOSS OF the ability to speak anonymously
(a First Amendment right confirmed by the Supreme Court).
If this decision is allowed to stand, it could lead to an attempt to take away
privacy on other domain names and other areas that are important to you.
If you care at all about your right to privacy, this is where you need to take
a stand -- even if you don't own a private domain registration.

What you can do about it

Simply sign the petition at
http://www.thedangerofnoprivacy.com/signpetition.php?
PHPSESSID=25ae4298b8c06f33c1e77e6a385b3c03
and send an email to your elected representatives in
Washington, D.C. to express your outrage and
request their help in reversing the NTIA's inappropriate decision.
Your rights are at stake. Take action.

Petition to reverse the decision of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration ("NTIA")
which revokes private registrations for .US domain names.

TO: United States Department of Commerce
National Telecommunications and Information Administration

We, the undersigned, urge the NTIA to reconsider its
decision to eliminate private registration services in the .US domain. We are concerned about the right of .US domain name registrants to protect their identities from access in the public Whois database. We strongly urge the NTIA to reverse its position and continue to allow private registrations to protect the rights of legitimate domain name registrants.

Sincerely,

Posting from US Dem site..."Bet your Life"

2005-03-27T16:11:00.000-08:00

Message: 3 Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 07:58:04 -0800 (PST)
From: thomas love
Subject: Bet Your Life

Bet Your Life
Friends, I have got to tell you about the most amazing insurance plan ever from Old Republican NeoCom Life: Introducing Never Say Die Insurance.* Available now in Florida on a test basis this remarkable product will keep you from decomposing for years after your brain is dead. Simply consult one of our special peddlers today or call toll free 1-666-play-GOD. Until now you may have wondered about your future, but fear no more; we have eliminated death here at ORNCL.* Just imagine no more death except for undesirables. Imagine the freedom of being kept alive for almost forever by feeding tubes, wires, and respirators. Imagine eliminating death for all good people and the Good News is once we hook you up, you are virtually isolated form all the world problems. Think of the freedom from negative thoughts, or uncomfortable news!
Friends, think of the possibilities of warehouses after warehouses being constructed right here in you hometown; and rows after rows of totally brain dead people all hooked up with out anyone ever dying. Plan your next vacation with a respirator in mind and save money on costly repair bills for cars, homes, hotels, and boats. Never worry about the dreaded overweight problem again. So call today again for The Never Say Die Insurance Plan from Old Republican NeoCom Life at 1-666-play-GOD. Or spend a special E-Mail to Bill Frist, Tom Delay, or Jeb Bush of your brain dead loved one and we will be Right out to hook every thing up.

* Licensed only in the State of the Imagination and subject to certain penalties for non compliance. No minorities need apply and valid only with massive campaign contributions. Good only if invoked by special legislation during investigations by Grand Juries. Valid only if you are a Bush Family friend or have the Right Life Style, thoughts, opinions, and are available for video taping. If murderous criminal or undesirable may be subject to execution first; then life support available on proof you are brain dead. If questionable circumstances arise, send a video to Bill Frist for picture analysis. Be sure to bring cash for the premium, preferably in large mail sacks of small bills and ideally be pre-measured for orifice incision.

Counting the Iraqi Dead--Fair.org article

2005-03-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

FAIR-L
                   Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
              Media analysis, critiques and activism


ACTION ALERT:
Counting the Iraqi Dead

March 21, 2005

On the weekend of the two-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of
Iraq, media outlets took stock of the war's death toll. But the national
newscasts undercounted the most dramatic loss of life: the deaths of Iraqi
civilians.   (read more)  
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2472

Now for the BBC side of the Wolfowitz vs. Neocon Story

2005-03-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

SECRET U.S. PLANS FOR IRAQ'S OIL

BBC Newsnight

Thursday, March 17, 2005

By Greg Palast

Reporting for BBC Newsnight (London)

Why was Paul Wolfowitz pushed out of the Pentagon onto the World Bank? The answer lies in a 323-page document, secret until now, indicating that the allies of Big Oil in the Bush Administration have defeated neo-conservatives and their chief Wolfowitz. BBC Television Newsnight tells the true story of the fall of the neo-cons. An investigation conducted by BBC with Harper's magazine will also reveal that the US State Department made detailed plans for war in Iraq -- and for Iraq's oil -- within weeks of Bush's first inauguration in 2001.

go to the link: http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=417&row=0

Hearsay, but credible source.

2005-03-18T16:11:00.001-08:00

I have it from an activist working with returning soldiers from Fallujah that US soldiers were ordered to block the exit of males 13 years old and up .."so they would have someone to fight" during the siege of Falujah. If you have direct evidence, let's get this out. So much for the Americans letting the non-combatants out of the city. Our own soldiers are having a hard time living with this, and who can blame them?

Furthermore, the same sources say that testing of recently returned solders from Iraq verify high levels of Uranium --as well as some birth defects among the children being born to this first group. It is common knowledge now that we have bombarded Iraq (especially Baghdad and the the cities) with so much in the way of depleted uranium armament that we expect a serious "toxic" clean up problem for decades in that country. Of course, if our solders are there, they have been exposed also. Demand public, INDEPENDENT testing for all returning solders and support staff---so we don't have to wait 20-30 years for them to be helped (as in the Agent Orange scandal during Vietnam). If your son/daughter or husband/wife returns home, get private testing immediately to document so you can make a case to the government later.

AND let's get out of IRAQ before we ruin that country any more, and before we ruin the lives of our young men and women. Let's pay reparations and let them rebuild.

Higher Ed under Pressure from Right--These Nation articles tell the story well.

2005-03-18T16:11:00.000-08:00



The suppression of "anti-American" dissent, a disconcerting feature of political life since the Bush Administration took power, has been most sharply felt on college campuses.

As The Nation's lead editorial explains,  the main battleground, as Scott Sherman reports in a related magazine feature, is Columbia University, where, in a campaign of vilification, a Boston-based outfit known as the David Project has accused three professors of Middle Eastern origin of intimidating Jewish students.

"Not since the McCarthy era," the editorial adds, "have American campuses felt such a cold breeze--make that an idiot wind. And the new campus McCarthyism is made of much the same ingredients: thuggish intimidation, the circulation of specious rumors and, as Russell Jacoby observes in the same issue of the magazine, that least venerable of American traditions, anti-intellectualism."

The Captive Mind by Nation Editors
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050404&s=editors

The New PC by Russell Jacoby
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050404&s=jacoby

The Mideast Comes to Columbia by Scott Sherman
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050404&s=sherman

Women DO Science. Summers Does NOT!

2005-03-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

Of course, extremists on either side of the gender isms could, and have, taken up arms for or against Pres. Summers' remarks in rather traditional stereotypical and slanted arguments. In fact, Pres. Summers has withdrawn his comments and apologized for the impact that they may have had (though he does seem to be recently bolstered by others eager to jump back on the old ways of "guys" are good in math stories and anecdotes).

So, I am wondering why so many pundits and would-be scientists have thought this issue is still more critical that say DEAD and DYING in Sudan, Iraq, or Louisiana. Perhaps talking about a president of an IVY (who seems to know how to jump into hot water repeatedly) is a device to earn some notoriety of their own in non-Harvard university environments.

For the women at Harvard who have legitimate grievances that are being minimalized by the debate regarding Summers' words at a conference, I give my condolences and support (since their complaints involve far more than a few comments made by the representative of their educational insitution at a conference. Tenure, promotion, job recruitment, and salary issues are key to the questions of why women may not choose to come to any such "prestige" university or to stay long enough for tenure.)

Nevertheless, I will summarize the reasoned refutation of scientists (male and female) from major research universities to Dr. Summers' claim that the scarcity of women scientists at Harvard (or other pre-eminent research university) may be explained by innate abilities (yes, those little eugenic traits that may be assigned to any individual based on gender, race, religion, or amount of hair on one�s head). Also, I will rant a bit with my own version of why the "differences" that women possess do not necessarily cause their lack of success in academic science.

1. It is common knowledge that geneticists admit at least SOME role of environment in the development of the individual organism�be the organism the flat worm or a human being. Even if some developed features are innate, tendencies as complex as professional and career choice/success cannot logically or scientifically be limited to a single (or group of) biological genetic features. DUH! Ask a 5 th grader.

2. To base one�s data on the number of women, or blacks, or blondes in a Physics department of Ivy League Schools (or community colleges in Texas) is to make an unwarranted and unproven assumption that all people who are capable of becoming professors of Physics actually wish to become professors of Physics and at those specific locations under the very specific institutional rules of promotion, salary, and tenure.

My own daughter and many other women in science have found themselves recruited like football stars to high salaried R&D divisions of private industry, where they quickly rise through the ranks and are given equipment and the environment that most universities (even the "Carnegie" Research category schools like Harvard) cannot afford the space or the money to build and maintain (not to mention federal restrictions on research that are growing under the more religious right regime).

3. Women or Men who take care of children (traditionally many academic men have been the caregivers at home) have, and still do, perform their fair share of research, teaching, and committee work. Most of us who have been parents (some of us single parents) have been around academia more than a few decades and know this to be the norm, not the exception.

Most importantly, numerous scientific studies have shown that the number of hours one puts into a career do not necessarily (or even frequently) correlate to the promotion or honors academic receive (or to the salaries).

NOT ACCEPTABLE EXCUSES--especially from men:
I have heard one male professor on my campus say to his students that for women to succeed in science is like strapping a 50 lb backpack on a mountain climber (I guess the pack is children, or is it simply Hysteria?). He thought he was being nice to the women by saying WHY THEY CANNOT EVER MAKE IT. Ironically, he's a free market economist who relies on the protection of tenure and job security --instead of free market competition and actual productivity of trying to run a business or work in the actual world.

I don't agree with some balding middle age male who tries to offer some "it's ok girls" rationaliztion like this genetic back pack. (By the way, this is a malicious use of a false analogy.) If indeed we have 50 lb backpacks, the packs have been designed and filled with weights by the primarily male system entrenched in the "Old Buddy Tenure til you die system." AND even with these backpacks, we still climb mountains--not necessarily those mountians worn down by the old trails of the creators of the Western Culture "American" at the modern pseudo-corporate university. Look to the private sector -- Computer Science, Communication Technology R&D, Science Foundations, Private Medical Research (especially in pharmaceuticals and chemical engineering) for the more realistic portrait of women in the 21st century. We are just getting started, not stopping. We don't need excuses for why we can't. We need more people -- male and female -- saying, "Yes, you can."

paulette
------------------
"Letter from President Summers on women and science--Jan 10, 2005)
http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/womensci.html

WISELI Response to Lawrence Summers' Remarks on Women in Science, as well as a long list of "linked" responses.
http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/news/Summers.htm#Responses

Not so funny Political Comedy Awards

2005-03-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

Tom Engelhart has written an excellently grim piece awarding political comedy awards to a number of not so funny publications and events.

As he says, "Because our devolving world is too grim not to laugh at." Read it all at:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2005/02/comedy_awards.html

EXCERPTS:

Best chuckle among torturers, or the You-First-on-the-Waterboarding-Alphonse; no-you-Gaston Award of 2005

Best humorous explanation of 2005 (in the Best Comic Use of Language category -- domestic) [I have to list the answer to this becasue it is so rare!]

In response to a question from a woman in an audience in Tampa, Florida on February 4, our President offered the following explanation of his social security plan:

"Q: How is the new plan going to fix [the] problem? "THE PRESIDENT: Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised.
"Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled .... There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.

"Okay, better? I'll keep working on it.(Laughter.)"

Best humorous flashcards of 2005 (in the Best Comic Use of Language category -- foreign) [Nomination and text contributed by panelist and Tomdispatch regular Nick Turse] [Of course, the cards are patently biased and offer most spcific advice for lying flat on the ground or "hands up".]

"If you can remember back to America's last great occupation debacle -- no, not Afghanistan, Haiti, or Somalia, I mean Vietnam -- you might recall U.S. military commander William Westmoreland's "9 rules" pocket card. It was basically a flash card reminding soldiers not to mistreat noncombatants. This time around, the U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence Activity has gone one better, or more correctly 16 times better with a 16-panel folding card offering all sorts of helpful hints to the corpsman entering sunny Iraq about native clothes, customs, ethnic groups, and history. ...."

Funniest Election of 2005 (domestic)

Funniest Figures (Federal Budget) for 2005, or the Smoke-and-Mirrors Award

Speak Up! Stand Up! At Least Look Around!

2005-03-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

Today I found myself listening to a debate over the minimum wage--not how we should raise it to a living wage, but how it should be eliminated because it CAUSES poverty.

Afterall, the poor capitalists must take all the risks (buying technology, leasing warehouses, setting up bank accounts)..and the workers are not productive enough (RE: productivity of goods and services --rather than human worth) to warrant pay that they do not earn for their employers.

Sounds like the bushels of cotton per day argument to me, but I'm the granddaughter of a poor man who had to pick whatever the landowners told him to (until he was lucky enough to become an overseer..then even luckier enough to become a night watchman at a New Orleans bank--yep in the Big City of Dreams).

One of the defenders of the capitalist system in good ole America went so far as to say that no one in this country suffers from "abject" poverty--and everyone has a color TV and a room (generally 2 of his/her own)--of course "studies show this"--somewhere in some fantasy capitalist journal fed by tenure grubbing "productive" professors (who I guess call this papering of libraries "productivity" that earns them capitalist salaries).

If you have any doubt about poverty in America (as if you never see homeless or poor people because your SUV goes too fast past the street corners) read this report.
paulette

-------------------------------------
Communities in Crisis: A New Student Study
http://www.alternet.org/story/21277

"A new study, conducted by students around the nation, shows that more and more people in the U.S. are hungry, homeless and getting turned away from shelters lacking the funds to help."