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A Letter of Apology to the People of Iraq |
by Larry E. Park
Email: TheDreamer (nospam) OceansRest.com |
13 Dec 2004
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 A letter of apology to the Iraqi people from a Vietnam Army medic who cared for some of the most severely injured men, women, children and babies from both sides of that conflict in 1970 and 71. My arms have held the dead of war, and I understand the catastrophic toll in the present and the impact it will have on future generations. This is my personal sobering apology, and it may or may not reflect some of the feelings of the other 49 percent of Americans who voted for an anti-war candidate. |
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Unfounded Assumptions, Elections, and Propaganda |
by Gary Sudborough
Email: IconoclastGS (nospam) aol.com |
11 Dec 2004
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 The US corporate media are very clever at how they manipulate public opinion. They continually use unfounded assumptions and then come to completely fallacious and asinine conclusions about world events. As an analogy, if one were to put garbage into a computer to analyze, one would then get garbage out. There exists a parade of so-called analysts, terrorism experts and military brass who constantly appear on US corporate television and reason from unfounded assumptions and naturally come to nonsensical conclusions. When reality blatantly contradicts their conclusions, as for instance, predictions about the success of operations in Iraq, they often reappear to spout even more nonsense in an attempt to redeem themselves. Notice that the corporate lackeys of the rich and powerful seldom have any guests who might challenge the veracity of their unfounded assumptions, or if they do, they have several opponents available with great lung power to shout them down. US corporate media spokespeople then have the unmitigated arrogance to claim that they are fair and balanced. There is a radio station in Los Angeles which has the audacity to say that it gives perspective, analysis, and answers on its world news segment. Considering that this segment lasts all of three minutes before being interrupted by a commercial, I really don't think they could analyze or answer anything of consequence. If it served the interests of power and privilege, their answer to 2 plus 2 could conceivably be five. |
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Altered State: Survival in a Fundamentalist Christian Community |
by Beth Maples-Bays
Email: beth_maples_bays (nospam) knology.net |
06 Dec 2004
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 I am a lesbian. I have spent a lot of time with the lesbians in my community. They are overwhelmingly Republican and fundamentalist Christian. We live in the Southeastern United States in the eastern part of the state of Tennessee. The city in which we live has approximately 670,000 residents. The overwhelming majority of area residents are Christian, and many, many of them are of the fundamentalist variety. |
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News :: Globalization |
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Corporate Land-grab in Oaxaca, Mexico |
by kev
Email: kev (at) riseup.net |
05 Dec 2004
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 Fourteen companies, one of which is Mexican, have begun signing contracts with ejidatarios and small land owners of the Isthmus of Tehautepec, Oaxaca, Mexico in order to "reserve" the land for the construction of energy producing windmills. Ejidos are indigenous communal land-holdings. One of the EZLN's principal conditions for a peace accord with the Mexican Government is the recognition of the ejidos.
The Governor of Oaxaca and enemy of the indigenous, Jose Murat, has for some years been pursuing his Air-electric Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehautepec, which envisions the production 2,000 MW of air-electricity by the year 2010 and requires the use of 100 thousand hectares in the region. The isthmus also falls conveniently into the geographical envelope of President (former Coca-Cola executive and member of the PAN, party of the Ultra-right) Vicente Fox'.
In exchange for signatures the indigenous Zapatecas of the region have received abstract promises of new jobs and ambiguous social benefits from the state government and corporations. The companies currently holding contracts for construction in the region are Endesa, Amesa, Psi (Iberdrola), Energia del Istmo -associated with Elecricite de France-, Fuerza Eolica (General Electric), Cader-EHN, Preneal and Eoliatec. |
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News :: Protest Activity |
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National Coal Company Hires Nashville Law Firm to Harass Katuah Earth First! |
by Tennessee IMC
Email: editors (nospam) tnimc.org |
03 Dec 2004
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 National Coal Company is continuing its Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) against five local environmental activists. On October 15th, National Coal's lawyer failed to present sufficient evidence to obtain a Temporary Restraining Order against the activists. National Coal has hired the Nashville law firm of Gullett, Sanford, Robinson & Martin to continue their SLAPP suit against environmental activists associated with Katuah Earth First! There is a Substitution Hearing Monday, December 6th at the City/County Building, 400 Main St. in downtown Knoxville. Environmental activists will gather in front of the building at 9:00am gagged and bound symbolizing National Coal's attempts to keep activists from expressing their first amendment rights. Press is welcome to attend. |
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Preserving Tenncare: True Homeland Security |
by James W. Polk
Email: communityjim (nospam) yahoo |
03 Dec 2004
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 I have a hard time believing what I am hearing. Is our Democratic Governor, charged with protecting the health and safety- indeed, the homeland security- of Tennesseans instead angrily threatening to take away the very shield which protects hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans from the devastations of chronic disease, bankruptcy and homelessness? |
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News :: Civil & Human Rights : International Relations : Protest Activity |
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Anti-War Activists Disrupt Victor Ashe Lecture at Polish University |
by Anna Thompson
Email: annathompson32 (nospam) yahoo.com |
02 Dec 2004
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 Activists disrupted a public presentation given by former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe to confront him about US military action and repression of human rights in Iraq. Victor Ashe, who is now the US ambassador to Poland, was George Bush's roomate at Yale and, like Bush, a cheerleader. He has close personal ties to the current Bush administration having visited him many times at his ranch in Crawford, TX. Bush has often refrred to the "special relationship" Poland and the US have in fighting the war in Iraq. |
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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Gender and Sexuality |
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Southern Activists Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide |
by Chris Lugo
Email: christopher_lugo (nospam) yahoo.com |
29 Nov 2004
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 In an apparent murder-suicide, virginia activist Niklan Jones-Lezama murdered activist Sue Daniels, set fire to the cabin Daniels was residing in, and then slit his wrists on the evening before he was scheduled to attend to the annual SOA protests in Fort Benning, Georgia.
Both Nik and Sue were active around varous social justice issues, such as opposing war in the Middle East, oppression in Central America, and violent mountaintop removal in Appalachia. The two had spent several months in federal prison last year due to their participation in the annual School of the Americas protests in Georgia. |
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