09-27-07 OPPOSITION TO AERIAL SPRAYING OF PHEROMONES A group of about 30 concerned citizens met on Sunday at Morgan’s Ol’ Factory Café in Sand City and formed Stop Overhead Spraying, a citizens’ action coalition in which you are all welcome to participate.  They are planning to ask each city to pass a strong resolution that says NO to aerial spraying of their citizens.  (Monterey has taken the lead in this, but the group wants an even stronger resolution from them.)  Later they may reach out to cities in Santa Cruz and other affected  counties to do the same.  Some are planning to pass out educational leaflets to the public. They recognize that an injunction is the only sure way of stopping the spraying.  Both the Monterey City Council and David Dilworth’s HOPE are exploring that possibility but they need a physician or other health authority to testify to a judge that the spraying presents a danger to human health. Do you knpw anyone who could do that? It is difficult because chemically synthesized pheromones have never been sprayed from airplanes before, never have been tested on humans, cannot be tested on humans because the formulation is classed as a pesticide and it is against the law to test such products on humans.  That means that the spraying over us is the de facto test.  It would seem to be incumbent on the CDFA to monitor the health effects of this spraying so as to confirm their view that it is as safe as water, and they could then present the results of this spraying to other communities who object to this benign way of getting rid of moths. However there is no such organized plan from the state.  The only way that any health effect you may have experienced will be officially noted is if you go to a doctor who documents your condition and, if he agrees that it may be caused by the spray, he is required to report his findings to the County Health Department who, in turn, report to the State. In the meantime, many people are reporting to each other respiratory and other symptoms following the spraying and also some unfortunate effects upon animals.  How many of these events are truly due to the spraying, how many would have occurred without the spraying is impossible to tell without setting up some kind of a controlled scientific study.  Alas, that is not contemplated.  Some concerned citizens are collecting the anecdotal evidence in the hope that it may be persuasive. To report adverse reactions to the spraying to your fellow citizens who are collecting information, contact: ReactionToSpraying@yahoo.com To join your friends and neighbors in the fight against aerial spraying: go to yahoogroups.com and join the group StopOverheadSpraying@yahoogroups.com (S.O.S. is a coalition of concerned citizens working to keep our community a safe and pleasant place to live). Without some unexpectedly strong action to deter the state,, we will be sprayed again in thirty days and then at intervals up to 2010. I understand that the contract with the pesticide/airplane company allows spraying as often as every thirty days until 2010. REPORT ANYTHING UNUSUAL RE: Manner in which spraying is being conducted (flight patterns, etc): vatuminello@yahoo.com For further information and updates: <http://www.1hope.org/> The hotline number where you can ask questions or  register complaints about aerial spraying is 800 – 491-1899 . If you prefer to go directly to John Connell, the chief scientific proponent of the spraying and the representative of CDFA who appeared at the Monterey hearing on August 30, his number is 916-654-0317.  Secretary of CDFA A.G. Kawamura’s number is 916-654-0433.  A narrow range of information on the light brown apple moth and the quarantine is available at the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Web site: cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/LBAM_main.htm.  Try Google or Yahoo to find much more! If you have an opinion about the spraying, you may want to convey that to your elected representatives.  You are most effective when you contact your own elected representatives. – call the Council from your own city, speak to your own Supervisor or Assemblyman. How to reach your government officials   (Suggestion:  Highlight this list, copy it, paste it into another document and print it for future reference!) Last Updated: 09/04/2007 10:05:23 AM PDT Monterey County Board of Supervisors · Web site: www.co.monterey.ca.us · Regular meetings: Board of Supervisors meets Tuesdays at Board of Supervisors Chambers, Monterey County Courthouse, 168 W. Alisal St., First Floor, Salinas, CA 93901 Fernando Armenta District 1, most of Salinas Office: 168 West Alisal St. 2nd floor, Salinas, CA 93901 Phone: 755-5011 E-mail: district1@co.monterey.ca.us Louis R. Calcagno District 2, North County/North Salinas Office: 10681 McDougall St., Castroville, CA 95012 Phone: 755-5022 E-mail: district2@co.monterey.ca.us Simon Salinas District 3, South County/East Salinas Office: 168 West Alisal St. 1st floor, Salinas, CA 93901 2nd office: 552 N. 2nd. St., P.O. Box 946, King City 93930 Phone: 385-8333 or 755-5033, Fax: 385-8327 Email: district3@co.monterey.ca.us Jerry Smith District 4, Southwest Salinas/Seaside/Marina/Del Rey Oaks/Sand City Office: 2616 1st Ave., Marina, CA 93933 Phone: 883-7570 E-mail: district4@co.monterey.ca.us Dave Potter District 5, Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel/Carmel Valley/Pebble Beach/Big Sur/Highway 68 Office: 1200 Aguajito Road, Suite 1, Monterey, CA 93940 Phone: 647-7755 or 755-5055 E-mail: district5@co.monterey.ca.us Carmel City Council · Web site: www.carmelcalifornia.com · Regular meetings: The council meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall on the east side of Monte Verde Street between Ocean and Seventh Avenues. Sue McCloud, mayor Mailing address: PO Box M-1, Carmel, CA 93921 E-mail: smccloud@ci.carmel.ca.us Telephone: 620-2000 FAX: 620-2004 Ken Talmage Mailing address: P.O. Box 1526, Carmel, CA 93921 E-mail: KKTalm@aol.com FAX: 624-2452 Telephone: 624-2462 Paula Hazdovac Mailing address: P.O. Box 3164, Carmel, CA 93921 E-mail: pjhaz@hotmail.com FAX: 620-2004 Telephone: 620-2000 (Office) 625-2480 (Home) Gerard A. Rose Mailing address: P.O. Box 6516, Carmel, CA 93921 E-mail: gfitzrose@aol.com Telephone: 625-1124 (Home) 624-3228 (Office) FAX: 625-0145 Karen Sharp Mailing address: City Hall, P.O. Box CC, Carmel CA, 93921 Telephone: 620-2000 Fax: 620-2004 Del Rey Oaks City Council · Web site: www.delreyoaks.org ·Regular meetings: The council meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 650 Canyon Del Rey. Joseph Russell, mayor Dennis G. Allion Kristin A. Clark Jerry B. Edelen Jeff Cecilio For each council member: Mailing address: City Hall, 650 Canyon Del Rey, Del Rey Oaks, CA 93940 E-mail: dro@redshift.com FAX: 394-6421 Telephone: 394-8511 Marina City Council · Web site: www.ci.marina.ca.us · Regular meetings: The council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 211 Hillcrest Ave. Ila Mettee-McCutchon, mayor Mailing address: 3181C DeForest Road, Marina, CA 93933 E-mail: ilamm4@aol.com FAX: 884-9043 Telephone: 884-9042 Jim Ford Mailing address: PO Box 492, Marina, 93933-0492 E-mail: jeford@sbcglobal.net FAX: 883-9007 Telephone: 883-0901 Ken Gray Mailing address: City Hall 211 Hillcrest Ave., Marina, CA 93933 E-mail: grayosprey@comcast.net FAX: 384-9148 Telephone: 384-5119 Dave McCall Mailing address: 3243 Vista Del Camino, Marina, CA 93933 E-mail: doctordave54@aol.com FAX: 384-3822 Telephone: 384-3822 Gary Wilmot Mailing address: 3197 Vista Del Camino, Marina, CA 93933 E-mail: gjwilmot@us.ibm.com FAX: 384-9148 Monterey City Council · Web site: www.monterey.org · Regular meetings: The council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 4 p.m. at City Hall at Pacific and Madison. Chuck Della Sala, mayor Mailing address: City Hall, Monterey, CA 93940 E-mail: dellasal@ci.monterey.ca.us FAX: 646-3793 Telephone: 646-3760 Nancy Selfridge Mailing address: City Hall, Monterey, CA 93940 E-mail: selfridg@ci.monterey.ca.us FAX: 646-3702 Telephone: 646-3760 Elizabeth "Libby" Downey Mailing address: City Hall, Monterey, CA 93940 E-mail: downey@ci.monterey.ca.us FAX: 649 2515 Telephone: 646-3760 Jeff Haferman, vice mayor Mailing address: City Hall, Monterey, CA 93940 E-mail: Haferman@ci.monterey.ca.us FAX: 372-5469 Telephone: 646-3760 Frank Sollecito Mailing address: City Hall, Monterey, CA 93940 E-mail: sollecit@ci.monterey.ca.us FAX: 646-3702 Telephone: 646-3760 Pacific Grove City Council · Web site: www.ci.pacific-grove.ca.us · Regular meetings: The council meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 300 Forest Ave. 648-3100 Dan Cort, mayor Mailing address: City Hall, 300 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove, CA 93950 E-mail: dan@cortco.com FAX: 657-9361 Telephone: 648-3100 Lisa Bennett Mailing address: City Hall 300 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove, CA 93950 lisaben@redshift.com Daniel Davis E-mail: daniel.davis@earthlink.net Scott Miller Mailing address: Box 474, Pacific Grove, 93950 E-mail: ibmiller@comcast.net FAX: 657-9361 Telephone: 236-2496 Susan Nilmeier E-mail: sjnilmeier@aol.com FAX: 375-9863 Telephone: Work, 375-9582 and 372-6699; cell, 277-1199 Alan Cohen E-mail: a.m.cohen@ci.pg.ca.us Telephone: 648-3100 Vicky Stilwell E-mail: Vicki@woodennickel.com Salinas City Council · Web site: www.ci.salinas.ca.us · Regular meetings: The council meets on the first three Tuesdays of each month at 4 p.m. at City Hall, 200 Lincoln Ave. Dennis Donohue, mayor E-mail: salinasmayor@ci.salinas.us Janet Barnes E-mail: district3@ci.salinas.us Gloria De La Rosa E-mail: district4@ci.salinas.us Steven Villegas E-mail: district5@ci.salinas.us Jyl Lutes E-mail: district6@ci.salinas.us Tony Barrera E-mail: district2@ci.salinas.us Sergio Sanchez E-mail: district1@ci.salinas.us For each council member: Mailing address: City Hall, 200 Lincoln Ave., Salinas CA 93901 FAX: 758-7368 Telephone: 758-7201 Sand City Council · Web site: www.sandcity.org · Regular meetings: The council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1 Sylvan Park David Pendergrass, mayor Mary Ann Carbone Jerry Blackwelder Craig Hubler Michael Morris For each council member: Mailing address: City Hall, 1 Sylvan Park, Sand City CA 93955 FAX: 394-2472 Telephone: 394-3054 Seaside City Council · Web site: www.ci.seaside.ca.us · Regular meetings: The council meets the first and third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 440 Harcourt Ave. Ralph Rubio, mayor E-mail: rrubio@ci.seaside.ca.us FAX: 899-6227 Telephone: 899-6703 Dennis Alexander E-mail: dalexander@ci.seaside.ca.us Steve Bloomer E-mail: sbloomer@ci.seaside.ca.us Don Jordan E-mail: djordan@ci.seaside.ca.us Tom Mancini E-mail: tmancini@ci.seaside.ca.us For each council member: Mailing address: City Hall, 440 Harcourt Ave., Seaside CA 93955 FAX: 899-6227 Telephone: 899-6700 California Legislature State Senate Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-San Luis Obispo 15th District 590 Calle Principal, Monterey, CA 93940 Fax: 831-657-6320 Phone: 831-657-6315 Web site: republican.sen.ca.gov/web/15/ E-mail: senator.maldonado@sen.ca.gov Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced Salinas office: 369 Main St., No. 208 Salinas CA 93901 769-8040 Web site: republican.sen.ca.gov/web/12/ E-mail: senator.denham@sen.ca.gov State Assembly Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz 27th District Monterey office: 99 Pacific St., Ste. 555D, Monterey, CA 93940 649-2832 Web site: democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a27/ E-mail: Assemblymember.Laird@assembly.ca.gov Assemblyman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas 28th District Salinas: 100 W. Alisal St., Suite 134, Salinas, CA 93901 759-8676 Fax: 759-2961 Web site: democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a28/ E-mail: Assemblymember.Caballero@assembly.ca.gov Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger State Capitol Building, Sacramento CA 95814 Phone: (916) 445-2841 FAX: (916) 445-4633 Web site: www.governor.ca.gov E-Mail: www.govmail.ca.com Congress U.S. House Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel 17th District Washington: 1221 Longworth House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515 Phone: (202) 225-2861 Salinas: 100 W. Alisal St., Salinas 93901 Phone: 424-2229 or (800) 340-FARR Web site: www.house.gov/farr/ E-mail: samfarr@mail.house.gov U.S. Senate Sen. Barbara Boxer, D Washington: 112 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3553 San Francisco: 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111 Phone: (415) 403-0100 E-mail: Use e-mail form listed on the website www.boxer.senate.gov Web site: www.boxer.senate.gov Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D Washington: 331 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington D.C., 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3841 San Francisco: One Post St., Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone: (415) 393-0707 E-mail: Use e-mail form listed on the website www.feinstein.senate.gov Web site: www.feinstein.senate.gov President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Phone: (202) 456-1111 Fax: (202) 456-2461 E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov This list of addresses for elected officials has been compiled by The Herald staff with the assistance of city hall employees and the office holders. If additions or corrections are needed, please send them to Clark Coleman at clcoleman@montereyherald.com. posted 09-27-07 U.S. Secret Air War Pulverizes Afghanistan and Iraq > By Conn Hallinan, Foreign Policy in Focus > Posted on September 14, 2007, Printed on September 15, 2007 > http://www.alternet.org/story/62511/ > > http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/62511/ > <excerpt > These assaults are part of what may be the best kept secret of the > Iraq-Afghanistan conflicts: an enormous intensification of US bombardments > in these and other countries in the region, the increasing number of > civilian casualties such a strategy entails, and the growing role of > pilot-less killers in the conflict. > > According to Associated Press, there has been a five-fold increase in the > number of bombs dropped on Iraq during the first six months of 2007 over the > same period in 2006. More than 30 tons of those have been cluster weapons, > which take an especially heavy toll on civilians. posted 09-27-07 SHOCK DOCTRINE Frances Payne Adler writes that if we didn’t catch the Canadian investigative reporter Naomi Klein on Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now,” we can catch up on-line or, better yet, read her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism A brief sample: "Economist Milton Friedman understood that just as prisoners are softened up for interrogation by the shock of their capture, massive disasters could serve to soften us up for his radical free-market crusade. He advised politicians that immediately after a crisis, they should push through all the painful policies at once, before people could regain their footing. He called this method “economic shock treatment.” I call it “the shock doctrine.” After researching the economic levers behind-the-scenes for two years, Klein has connected the dots between shock and profit. Go to: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/17/1411235     [posted 08-22-07] ACTION ALERT: Phone or email our Registrar of Voters, Linda Tullet 769 1499   tulletl@co.monterey.ca.us  and Board of Supervisors Chair Dave Potter 647 7755 or district5@co.monterey.ca.us  and tell them "I support Secretary of State Debra Bowen's decision to restore election integrity and ban unsafe voting machines.  I'm counting on you to support the ban and protect our votes.  I believe hand counted paper ballots are needed to make sure every vote counts." It's ok to speak with the receptionist.  Identify yourself as a local voter.  Report how it went to www.democracyforamerica.com/reportcall Send copy of email and for more information, go to myvotematters@yahoo.com  (641 0170) [posted 08-22-07] September 15 – 20, Days of Action, massive fall anti-war mobilization, will be a major showdown in Washington DC at the very moment that the Petraeus Report is released and Congress takes up spending over $100 billion to prolong the war. Launched with a huge March on Washington on Saturday, September 15, led by veterans who have returned from Iraq, there will be seven days of actions to send a shockwave through Washington and the nation with the reverberating demand: End the War Now! Also on September 15, the IMPEACHMENT MOVEMENT comes to Washington.  Check out impeachbush.org. Ramsey Clark, Cindy Sheehan are among the speakers   Why aren't we in the streets protesting? Carpool to DC? U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD:                        3706 Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation:          1 Total                                                                           3707 And so... the Iraq war continues. This death toll does not include the contractors, the Iraqi men, woman, or children. It doesn't include those permanently damaged (on all sides) by torture or other wounds, the psychological damage to children whose parents are off at war while they grow up without them. It doesn't include the destruction to animals, buildings and the world environment. It doesn't mention the cost to our schools, health care system, and other places the money could have better been put to use. Why aren't we taking to the streets in mass to protest this war? I'm looking for a carpool to the protest in Washington DC in September. Anyone going? Janet  moptop@redshift.com   The ANSWER Coalition today filed a major Free Speech lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia challenging anti-postering regulations that have been used to fine the organization. ANSWER has been hit with $10,000 fines in the last week. Stepping up its politically targeted harassment campaign, as we were announcing the lawsuit, the government served fines for posters against the landlord of the building housing ANSWER's office. This is an unprecedented campaign against First Amendment speech and associational rights. The lawsuit was announced at a press conference held today at the offices of constitutional rights attorneys at the Partnership for Civil Justice (PCJ). . The Free Speech lawsuit asserts that:   The challenged regulations create a hierarchy of speech, allowing broad freedom to post on subjects related to elections or crime prevention, but sharply restricting-- and penalizing with massive fines -- those who post on grassroots political issues. The legal challenge arose in response to the issuance of fines against the ANSWER Coalition for $10,000 because that anti-war organization had used posters urging the public to "March to Stop the War" and to attend the national September 15, 2007, march in Washington, called by ANSWER and led by Iraq war veterans.

Stop Government Attacks Against the Anti-War Movement!
Take Action to Defend Free Speech!

The best way to take action is to call the Director of Department of Public Works, William O. Howland, Jr. at 202-673-6833, and the Mayor of DC, Adrian Fenty, at 202-724-8876. You can also send a letter or fax by clicking a link at answercoalition.org .
 "I am writing to protest the fines levied against the ANSWER Coalition for putting up posters for the September 15th March on Washington. The government does not fine politicians who put up campaign posters, or commercial and business interests that plaster Washington, DC with posters. It is outrageous that the city, in concert with FOXNews, are attempting to suppress the antiwar movement. Stop the harassment. Stop the fines."
In an unprecedented action, the ANSWER Coalition today received citations fining the organization $10,000 for the placement of posters announcing the September 15 March on Washington DC. The fines come after a campaign led by FOX news calling for the DC government to take action against those putting up posters for the September 15 demonstration.

They have 72 hours to remove every poster, or the fines will go into effect. Tens of thousands of dollars in additional fines are expected in the coming days. Bush’s Interior Department is threatening similar actions against ANSWER. The September 15 posters are legal and conform to city regulations. Do not allow the government's intimidation tactics to slow our outreach or silence the antiwar movement.

We can stop this effort to repress the antiwar movement with your help.

This is part of a systematic effort to disrupt the organizing for the September 15 Mass March that is timed to coincide with the report of General Petraeus and the debate in Congress on the Iraq war. Iraq war veterans and their families will lead this dramatic march from the White House to the Congress on September 15. The last thing the government wants is to see the streets of Washington DC fill up with throngs of anti-war protesters right in the middle of the debate. But we will not be stopped. Organizing for this demonstration is taking place in cities and towns throughout the country. Buses and car caravans are coming from 90 cities and towns.
Please send a letter today to Washington DC Mayor (Adrian M. Fenty) and to the Director of DC Department of Public Works (William O. Howland, Jr.) demanding an end to the fines, harassment and repression of the anti-war movement. We have a right to publicize the September 15 March. Fining the anti-war movement tens of thousands of dollars for putting up Free Speech-protected literature makes a mockery out of the First Amendment.

 

[posted July 24, 2007]

Call Congress Today for Impeachment

Lots of messages on this subject from recipients of the Peace Calendar!
We've reached the impeachment moment for Vice President Dick Cheney. The cosponsor list for H. Res. 333 is up to 14 and Sam Farr is among them.. Chairman John Conyers says that if we get 3 more he'll begin the impeachment proceedings.

And many Congress Members must be recognizing that there is no other path available. Cheney and Bush have repeatedly refused to comply with subpoenas, ordered former staffers not to comply, and announced that the Justice Department will not enforce contempt citations from Congress. When a special prosecutor attempted to hold this administration accountable, Cheney's chief of staff obstructed justice, and Cheney persuaded Bush to commute his sentence. There is no course left for Congress but Impeachment.

Phone Chairman Conyers at 202-225-5126 and ask him to start the impeachment of Dick Cheney; and phone your own Congress Member at 202-224-3121 and ask him to immediately call Conyers' office to express their support for impeachment.
Also email your Representatives:

One local peace person writes: I just read the local Dems newsletter about Sam Farr taking 50 people up to a fundraiser that Nancy Pelosi put on. It made me so mad I immediately emailed her, and it gave me the idea of bombarding her with emails saying "Put Impeachment back on the table where it belongs!" Do it every day!.   http://www.speaker.gov/contact/

Another writes: Sam's on board. More Dems are getting on board. It's not just about "wasting time" on Bush and Cheney anymore, it's about keeping the Constitution and the balance of powers intact.....if you haven't seen this amazing interview Bill Moyers did on the subject, check it out.
http://www.documentedlife.com/log/?p=296

Yet another says: Sam Farr is one of the 14 who has signed on to this bill. You might want to email or call to thank him. Nancy Pelosi needs a wake up call. Once she sees how much support there is, maybe she'll do something about this!
http://www.farr.house.gov/
Call Congress Today for Impeachment

 

[posted July 24, 2007]

Tell Maya Cinemas Thank You !!
We are encouraging everyone to write or email the Maya Salinas Theater 14 to tell the management “Thank You!!” for running Michael Moore’s film “SiCKO,” and for allowing advocates of Health Care for All to set up an information table in the lobby, where volunteers gathered signatures on petitions to the California Governor.

Contact info:
Maya Salinas Theater 14

153 Main Street, Salinas CA 93901  salinas@mayacinemas.com

We are grateful for the way the management of Maya Salinas Theater 14 cooperated with Dr. Pedro Moreno and Virginia Gilmore, and all the tabling volunteers they recruited.

Remember, the next time you want to go out to see a film
GO  TO  THE  MAYA  CINEMAS  IN  OLDTOWN  SALINAS!!  

 

[posted July 24, 2007]

NEWS FROM PASTORS FOR PEACE FRIENDSHIPMENT CARAVAN

Safe and Sound in Havana!
As of Friday, July 20th, this Associated Press report had been picked up by:
International Herald Tribune, the Chicago Tribune and the Houston Chronicle
American group delivers aid to Cuba with little objection from US authorities
The Associated Press, Thursday, July 19, 2007
HAVANA: A U.S. humanitarian group delivered about 80 metric tons (90 tons) of aid to Cuba on Thursday, defying Washington's 45-year-old trade embargo.

Some 140 Pastors for Peace volunteers drove across the Texas border to Mexico, and then flew to Havana with computers and medical supplies, including X-ray machines, walkers and surgical gowns.

The group, making its 18th annual pilgrimage to Cuba, said it was held up at two U.S. border crossings while returning from Canada with donations, but completed the journey with "99.5 percent" of the aid it hoped to bring, said the Rev. Luis Barrios, pastor of San Romero de Las Americas, a non-denominational church in New York City.

Barrios said U.S. authorities seized 12 computers, but did not take the monitors for those machines.

"We've arrived at the conclusion that that was symbolic," Barrios said. "The United States, although it doesn't recognize it publicly, in terms of the blockade, has morally lost."

Barrios said U.S. officials were friendly, and even made a point of confiscating the oldest computers while allowing new laptops through. "They had to take something from us to say they had taken something," he said.

State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said she had no comment.

Dressed in blue and white T-shirts emblazoned with "U.S.-Cuba Caravan," the New York-based group also included volunteers from Mexico, Canada, Great Britain and Germany.The embargo prohibits U.S. tourists from visiting Cuba and chokes off nearly all trade between both countries. Those who flaunt American travel restrictions can face thousands of dollars (euros) in fines and even jail time.

Pastors for Peace is a project of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), which has been working for social justice since 1967.  Photographs of the caravan are available at www.pastorsforpeace.org

[posted July 24, 2007]

Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement

Prof. Michel Chossudovsky , Globalresearch.ca [excerpt]
July 20, 2007

A presidential Executive Order issued on July 17th, repeals with the stroke of a pen the right to dissent and oppose the Iraq war.

In substance, the Executive Order entitled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq" provides the President with the authority to confiscate the assets of "certain persons" who oppose the US led war in Iraq:

"I have issued an Executive Order blocking property of persons determined to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq or undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people."

The Executive Order criminalizes the antiwar movement. It is intended to "blocking property" of US citizens and nationals. It targets those "Certain Persons" in America who oppose the Bush Administration's "peace and stability" program in Iraq, characterized, in plain English, by an illegal occupation and the continued killing of innocent civilians.

The Executive Order also targets those "Certain Persons" who are "undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction", or who, again in plain English, are opposed to the confiscation and privatization of  Iraq's oil resources, on behalf of the Anglo-American oil giants.

The order is also intended for anybody who opposes Bush's program of "political reform in Iraq", in other words, who questions the legitimacy of an Iraqi "government" installed by the occupation forces.

Moreover, those persons or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), who provide bona fide humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians, and who are not approved by the US Military or its lackeys in the US sponsored Iraqi puppet government are also liable to have their financial assets confiscated.

The executive order violates the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution. It repeals one of the fundamental tenets of US democracy, which is the right to free expression and dissent. The order has not been the object of discussion in the US Congress. So far, it has not been addressed by the US antiwar movement, in terms of a formal statement.

…In May 2007, Bush issued a major presidential National Security Directive (National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51/HSPD 20), which would suspend constitutional government and instate broad dictatorial powers under martial law in the case of a "Catastrophic Emergency" (Second 9/11 terrorist attack….On July 11, 2007 the CIA published its National Intelligence Estimate which pointed to an imminent Al Qaeda attack on America, a second 9/11 which would according to NSPD 51 immediately be followed by the suspension of constitutional government.

NSPD 51 grants unprecedented powers to the Presidency and the Department of Homeland Security, overriding the foundations of Constitutional government. It allows the sitting president to declare a "national emergency" without Congressional approval The adoption of NSPD 51 would lead to the de facto closing down of the Legislature and the militarization of justice and law enforcement.
 
The executive order to confiscate the assets of antiwar/peace activists is broadly consistent with NSPD 51. It could be triggered even in the absence of a "Catastrophic emergency" as envisaged under NSPD 51. It goes one step further in "criminalizing" all forms of opposition and dissent. to the US led war and "Homeland Security" agenda.

[posted July 24, 2007]

"President Bush breathed new life into the CIA's terror interrogation program Friday in an executive order that would allow harsh questioning of suspects, limited in public only by a vaguely worded ban on cruel and inhuman treatment," reports Katherine Shrader of the Associated Press.

_________________________________________________________________________
[posted 08-22-08]
RACIAL INJUSTICE
On July 31st, more than 300 people came from around the country to stand with the families of the Jena 6.

It was quite a scene for Jena. We rallied in front of the courthouse and marched through the city, but perhaps the most intense moment was when a group of six supporters, led by a Jena 6 family member, walked through a line of sheriff's deputies into the District Attorney's office, to deliver stacks of petitions representing the demands of more than 43,000 of you that District Attorney Reed Walters drop the charges against the five students still waiting to be tried.

It was a tense and powerful moment. Black folks don't confront power like this in Jena, and certainly not with hundreds of people of every color supporting them. From the looks on the faces of the sheriff's deputies and other officials in the court house, it was clear they got the message—it is no longer business as usual in Jena and their racist attack on these young men will not be allowed to stand.

We also know we're making an impact on Governor Blanco. She finally started responding to the more than 60,000 emails ColorOfChange members have sent. Her condescending and insulting response—claiming she's powerless to intervene and failing even to condemn the egregious injustice that's taking place—was clearly an attempt to back away from the issue completely. We're not going to let that happen.

You can help build momentum and keep the heat on Governor Blanco, by spreading the word and asking your friends and family to get involved. You can find a brief letter to send them here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/thanks.html
FROM James & Jan colorofchange.org

[posted 07-24-08]
Dear friend,
I just learned about a case of segregation-era oppression happening
today in Jena, Louisiana. I signed onto ColorOfChange.org's campaign
for justice in Jena, and wanted to invite you to do the same.

Last fall in Jena, the day after two Black high school students sat
beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the
tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more
Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney
then came to the school accompanied by the town's police and demanded
that the students end their protest, telling them, "I can be your best
friend or your worst enemy... I can take away your lives with a stroke
of my pen."

A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA
did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard
fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted
murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

It's a story that reads like one from the Jim Crow era, when judges,
lawyers and all-white juries used the justice system to keep blacks in
"their place." But it's happening today. The families of these young
men are fighting back, but the story has gotten minimal press.
Together, we can make sure their story is told and that the Governor
of Louisiana intervenes and provides justice for the Jena 6. It starts
now. Please join me:
http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2078-193887

The noose-hanging incident and the DA's visit to the school set the
stage for everything that followed. Racial tension escalated over the
next couple of months, and on November 30, the main academic building of
Jena High School was burned down in an unsolved fire. Later the same
weekend, a black student was beaten up by white students at a party.
The next day, black students at a convenience store were threatened by a
young white man with a shotgun. They wrestled the gun from him and ran
away. While no charges were filed against the white man, the students
were later arrested for the theft of the gun.

That Monday at school, a white student, who had been a vocal supporter
of the students who hung the nooses, taunted the black student who was
beaten up at the off-campus party and allegedly called several black
students "nigger." After lunch, he was knocked down, punched and
kicked by black students. He was taken to the hospital, but was
released and was well enough to go to a social event that evening.

Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17),
Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an
unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged
with second-degree attempted murder. The first trial ended last
month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in prison since December, was
convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated
battery (both felonies) by an all-white jury in a trial where his
public defender called no witnesses. During his trial, Mychal's
parents were ordered not to speak to the media and the court
prohibited protests from taking place near the courtroom or where the
judge could see them.

Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st, and could go to jail
for 22 years. Theo Shaw's trial is next. He will finally make bail
this week.

The Jena Six are lucky to have parents and loved ones who are fighting
tooth and nail to free them. They have been threatened but they are
standing strong. We know that if the families have to go it alone,
their sons will be a long time coming home. But if we act now, we can
make a difference.

Join me in demanding that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco get
involved to make sure that justice is served for Mychal Bell, and that
DA Reed Walters drop the charges against the 5 boys who have not yet
gone to trial.

Thanks.

 _______________________________________________________________________________

 [posted July 17, 2007]