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BATTLE OVER SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVATIZATION
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Feb 6 2005
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Political fight could help opposition
“To this day, Bush adamantly
believes the issue [of Social Security privatization] was a political
plus for him in Florida “ Many people have commended the
president's willingness to tackle the famed “third
rail” of American politics and to try and privatize Social
Security. The above quote indicates that he actually believes the
issue is a winner.The strongly pro-Democrat blog DailyKos.com believes
that: "Social Security is a winner for Dems everywhere." after noting
that Republicans had trouble selling privatization even among seniors in
Montana. The primary practical difficulty is that the
money
that
would come into Social
Security accounts via investing
in the market have to be balanced
against the money it would take to set up such accounts in the first
place. The market
is still not doing that well post-dotcom-crash and the Iraq War
threatens to keep draining money away. The increasing dependence of
the United States on bond
sales from overseas and worldwide disgust over torture at Abu
Ghraib and other sites along with the confirmation of Judge
Alberto Gonzales, who played a role in that, makes the US
position very shaky.
[ Atrios blog– lots of Social Security stories
| Daily Howler looks at media coverage
| Economist's blog
]
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JANUARY 20
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Jan 20 2005
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Philadelphians Surround the Inauguration with Protests, Puppets, Parties, Poems, & Prayers
With two buses to DC filled to the brim and carpools aplenty, you'd think it would be pretty quiet around here on the inauguration of the least popular president since Richard Nixon. But Philadelphia dissenters have also organized a bevy of events and demonstrations in protest of Thursday's inauguration here on the home front.
On Inauguration Day, three events will give voice to mourning, and to opposition to the current president. At 11:45am, a public reading of the Langston Hughes poem 'Let America be America again!' will take place at LOVE Park, sponsored by Philadelphia Area Interfaith Peace Network. At 3:15, two marches will begin to head toward the center of town, one from Temple and one from 30th Street Station. The marches will converge at the "clothespin" at 15th and Market for a 4:30 rally organized by the Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network (PRAWN). Adding a dose of color and creativity will be the puppet-making missionaries of Spiral Q Puppet Theatre, who organized two open-studio workshops in preparation for the protests. [Photos from the Protest]
Several organizations have highlighted the ironic convergence of inauguration week with the birthday and memorial day of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with teach-ins and non-violent civil disobedience -- both last weekend and next.
Finally, two post-inauguration events will take place in the days following. A broad coalition including the Philadelphia NAACP and several local unions has organized a "Post Inaugural Wake-Up Call" at noon on Friday, January 21. On Saturday evening, The Outraged Community Coalition has organized a "Philadelphia Inaugurate This!" Party at the Rotunda in West Philadelphia.
[ Philly Action
| DC Counter-Inaugural Calendar
| IndyMedia Coverage from DC
]
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HUMAN RIGHTS / DERECHOS HUMANOS
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Jan 3 2005
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Inter-American Court of Human Rights Affirms Lori Berenson's / Condena de 20 Años para Lori Berenson
On December 2, 2004 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights upheld
the conviction of Lori Berenson, an American journalist and human-rights
activist whose case has been championed by Amnesty International as well
as the UNHCR's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Lori is currently
serving a 20-year prison sentence in Peru on charges of collaborating with
the Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru. This verdict
reversed the unanimous decision of the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights which, on April 3, 2002, had declared that Lori's civilian trial
had violated her right to due process, that her rights under the American
Convention on Human Rights needed to be completely restored, that she be
compensated for her wrongful suffering, and that Peru bring its
anti-terrorism laws into compliance with the American Convention on Human
Rights. Indeed, the court's decision contradicted its own preliminary
decision as of November 10, which Monroy Galvez (the ad-hoc judge
representing Peru) stated had called for Lori's release. The decision
followed two weeks of intense lobbying by Peruvian officials and does not
bode well for enforcement of international standards of human rights in
the future. Ver el Artículo en Español
[ Committee to Free Lori Berenson
| Comité para la Liberación de Lori Berenson
| Indymedia Perú
]
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NUCLEAR ARMS
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Jan 3 2005
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Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in Danger of Collapse
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the cornerstone agreement in the international effort to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, is on the brink of collapse. Evidence of a new arms race and the spread of nuclear weapons are already apparent, and an increased nuclear threat is a virtual certainty if countries do not recommit to the NPT when it is reviewed early next year.
With the 2005 NPT Review Conference upcoming this spring, NGO's are gearing up to highlight the dangers that a nuclear arms race poses. Abolition Now! is coordinating a massive rally and march for May 1, 2005, the day before the Conference begins. Supporting organizations include Mayors for Peace and United for Peace and Justice.
[ Full Story
| Accidental Nuclear Launch
| International Black Market
]
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JUDITH & MONICA, GEORGE & SADDAM
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Dec 24 2004
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Kerik's scandal, Hussein's trial
It's kind of interesting to see Judith Regan in the news at the same time
Saddam Hussein's henchmen begin to go on trial for various crimes
against humanity.
Judith Regan
was one
of those self-righteous, moralistic people who
were screaming for the head of Bill Clinton because he was a married
man having a consensual, sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky,
a younger
single woman. Judith Regan was a single woman having a
consensual sexual affair with an older man, Bernard
Kerik (Rudy
Giuliani recommended Kerik for Homeland Security, to replace Tom
Ridge). Clinton besmirched the Oval Office by conducting his
affair there, Regan and Kerik besmirched the 9/11 victims by carrying
out their affair in an apartment the City of New York was paying
for to
coordinate rescue and cleanup efforts. So you had a woman of
questionable morals loudly hollering about another woman of
questionable morals.
Did the Bush Administration ever really come clean
about Abu
Ghraib? No, they didn't. John Ashcroft refused
to tell the
Congressional Inquiry anything that they didn't already know and
refused to provide originals of even the documents that the Inquiry
already had copies of. Donald Rumsfeld verbally took
responsibility but didn't resign and failed to tell the Inquiry
anything they hadn't already found out about through other
channels. President Bush never took responsibility but now
it
appears that some military interrogators posing as
FBI agents tortured
suspects and that they referred
to "an Executive Order" several times,
which strongly suggests a direct presidential hand in the
decision-making that led to the atrocities of Abu Ghraib. Of
course, recommending Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General after
Gonzales composed
at least one of the memos that justified torture puts
Bush into very close proximity to the whole mess.
Did Ms Regan have the moral right to complain about Ms Lewinsky?
By the same token, does the Bush Administration have the moral right to
put Saddam
Hussein on trial?
[ US groups working to influence Iraq's January 30th vote
| The real significance of Mosul bombing
| Accountability and the awarding of medals
]
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THE ARROGANCE OF RUMSFELD
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Dec 18 2004
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Why Rumsfeld's remarks were offensive
People are still discussing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's remarks
on 8
December 2004. Army Spc. Thomas Wilson asked why he and his
fellow National Guardsmen had to "...dig through local
landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to
uparmor our vehicles?" After the other 2300 National Guardsmen
cheered, Rumsfeld hesitating and asked the soldier to
repeat the question. His reply then was “As you know, you go to
war with the Army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish
to have at a later time."
This would have been a satisfactory answer had the US been forced to go
to war before it was ready to do so. In March 2002, Bush came to three Senators
& Condoleezza Rice and said "F--- Saddam. We're
taking him out.", thereby indicating that a decision on the Iraq War
had
long since been made. The New
York
Times pointed out that serious, in-depth
planning for the invasion and occupation of Iraq began in April
2002. The project was reportedly of uneven quality, but
successfully
predicted many of the problems that would later befall the
occupation.
And it's not like it took
so
long for things inside
Iraq
to start going
sour.Has the situation in Iraq improved in the meantime? Apparently
not. A Phildelphia soldier is accused of arranging
for a relative to shoot him so that he wouldn't have to return to Iraq. Retired Col. David Hackworth had recieved numerous
emails
about poorly and under-equpped units by August 2003, only three months
after Bush's infamous aircraft
carrier landing. It's been a long, long time since the Department of Defense needed to reexamine their strategy.
[ Soldiers For The Truth features special report on armoring of Humvees
| Comment on Medal of Freedom winners
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]
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LESBIAN PASTOR DEFROCKED
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Dec 10 2004
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Local Minister's Trial Reveals a Divided Church
In a vote of only 7 to 6, a jury of United Methodist clergy stripped a Philadelphia pastor of her credentials because she is a lesbian living in a committed relationship with another woman.
The now ex-Reverend Beth Stroud has served as a pastor at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown (FUMCOG) since 1999. Knowing that it might result in the loss of her ordained status, she came out to her congregation in an April 2003 sermon, and introduced her partner of 4 years, Chris Paige, during worship for the first time. Several months later, she was charged by the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church of violating the sacred trust of her ordination compact by engaging in practices that are "incompatible with Christian teaching."
The narrow vote to remove Stroud's credentials is notable because it was cast by a jury who had already been screened carefully for willingness to uphold the denomination's policy on exclusion based on sexual orientation.
FUMCOG has supported Beth's decision to come out, and plans to rehire her as a lay minister immediately. The congregation is a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network, a coalition of Methodist churches that have pro-actively declared themselves to be welcoming spaces to queer people.
[FULL STORY]
[ Beth's Website
| Coverage by national UMC
| Coverage by Local UMC
]
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WAR ON THE POOR
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Dec 3 2004
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Homeless Families Occupy Army Recruiters Office
 In the early afternoon of November 30, 2004, homeless families from across
Philadelphia took over two federal government offices. KWRU Reports:
"Members of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union attempted to meet with
the Office of Housing and Urban Developement in Philadelphia. Soon after
the families entered the building the elevators were turned off and we
were denied our right to speak with government officials. The growing
protest then moved to the Army Recruiting Office at Broad and Arch, where
the families then took over the Army Recruiting Office. The families are
demanding to meet with Alphonso Jackson, the current Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development." Protesters demand that Jackson "fly to
Philadelphia to witness firsthand the impact the recent budget cuts made
by the Bush Administration have had on the families in this city."
[ Full Story
| Kensington Welfare Rights Union
| Dec. 6: Bushville goes to Washington
]
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ANTI-CONSUMERISM
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Dec 3 2004
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Mall Arrests Four for Selling 'Nothing'
IMC Journalist Anna White reports: "On "Black Friday" (Nov 26), aka
"Buy Nothing Day", Christiana Mall arrested three women wearing Santa hats
for promoting buying "NOTHING". A fourth women who was videotaping for a
local public access television channel was also arrested. ...In Delaware, home of tax-free shopping,
credit card capitol of the world, and the state of incorporation for well
over half of Fortune 500 companies (thanks to the state's pro-business
laws), the holiday shopping season is taken very seriously. On
Thanksgiving day, the newspaper comes stuffed with several inches thick
worth of advertisements for holiday sales and early store opening times
the next day...7:30 am, 6:30 am, even 5:30 am... For the past five or so
years, we have marked Buy Nothing Day with a trip to our local shopping
mecca, Christiana Mall And thus, the product NOTHING was born..."
[ Full Story
| Buy Nothing Day
| US Anti-Heroes celebrate Buy Nothing Day in Philadelphia
]
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MASS TRANSIT
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Nov 30 2004
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SEPTA Faces $62 Million Deficit
SEPTA is facing a $62 million deficit that if not plugged, will cause a massive cutback in weekend and evening services and fare increases. SEPTA has already issued layoff notices to hundreds of employees in the event of cutbacks.
When Ed Rendell proposed increases on tires and driver's records, the state's GOP senators wouldn't support it. This has led to the stalling of proposals for dedicated funding or emergency funding in the state legislature whose session closed 10 days early.
About 600,000 riders use SEPTA on weekends and evenings to get to evening and weekend jobs among other things. Such a cutback will have a drastic effect on the city. Activists are encouraging residents to write to their legislators about the importance of getting dedicated funding.
On December 2, SEPTA's plan to raise the fare was vetoed.
Email Ed Rendell and urge him to come up with emergency funding while the legislators work for dedicated funding.
[ Philadelphia Transit Campaign
| The coalition put together by SEPTA
| SEPTA's proposed cutbacks
]
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DEATH PENALTY
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Nov 27 2004
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PA Set to Kill George Banks; Execution Stayed!
For the first time in more than five years, the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania is set to execute
a prisoner, George Banks, a man with severe
mental illness who has been on death row for nearly two decades. On December 2, barring unforeseen intervention by the
courts or Governor
Rendell, Banks will be the fourth person to be killed by the state
since Pennsylvania reinstated the death penalty in 1978.
Banks has not waived his appeals and would be the first
person executed against his will in Pennsylvania since 1962.
The jury did not consider Banks' mental
illness as a mitigating factor, due to jury instructions that the Third Circuit ruled unconstitutional on on
October 31, 2001, and on January 14,
2003. The Third-Circuit ruling in Banks' case prompted PA
courts to overturn
several other
death sentences, including that of Mumia
Abu Jamal. Yet on June
24, 2004, the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that this constitutional standard was set in 1988, eight months after Banks exhausted his state appeals, and therefore could not be applied retroactively to Banks. Prompted by this Supreme
Court decision, on
June 29, 2004, the Third Circuit lifted its stay of Mumia Abu-Jamal's execution.
A massive letter-writing campaign to Governor Rendell and to the Board
of Pardons is under way,
demanding that he immediately rescind the death warrant for George
Banks. (See Governor Rendell's response.) On Dec. 2, activists will demonstrate throughout Pennsylvania against the scheduled 7 p.m. execution.
Breaking News: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has just issued a stay of George Banks' execution, pending a hearing of his mental competency. READ MORE...
[ Full Story
| PA Abolitionists
| Mumia Abu-Jamal's legal updates
]
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MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
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Nov 26 2004
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Activists & media-makers work to shed light on the politics behind the personality
Local activists have declared November 21-28 political prisoner awareness week. Though commonly associated with third-world countries, political prisoners currently being held in the US number in the scores, according to the Prison Activist Network. The week started on Sunday with a film about one of the nation's most famous prisoners, who many believe is a political prisoner--Philadelphia native Mumia Abu-Jamal. "The Framing of an Execution," narrated by Danny Glover, focuses on the media's role in what it argues was a thorough frame-up. Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, has been on death row since 1982 for the murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner, for which he pleads innocence. Abu-Jamal's case was catapulted into the international spotlight in 1995 when human rights activists intervened and forced the case back into litigation only ten days before his scheduled execution.
Supporters believe that Abu-Jamal, who was under FBI surveillance for over a decade before the murder, was the target of racial and political discrimination for his involvement with the Black Panther Party (BPP) and his vocal support of the radical community
MOVE. Though it is now well established that the FBI engaged in routine setup and sabotage of BPP members, skepticism that this influenced the verdict in Abu-Jamal's case runs high, even among those who oppose his death sentence.
Last spring, Abu-Jamal released his first-ever memoir on his Panther years. We Want Freedom evolved from a masters thesis Abu-Jamal completed while imprisoned, and offers a historical overview of the Party interspersed with personal reflection. The book's publisher, South End Press, has released a series of excerpts from the book for limited web publication. These writings, accompanied by a series of historical commentary by historian Todd Steven Burroughs, offer a frank and personal portrait of the background of this controversial case. Click here to read these limited-edition posts.
[ Political Prisoner Awarness Week Events
| Review of We Want Freedom
| Z Magazine's archive of Mumia Abu-Jamal material
]
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COLIN POWELL'S CONTRIBUTIONS
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Nov 26 2004
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Colin Powell's performance over the last four years
In examing the career of Secretary of State Colin Powell, one event
that stands out in the last four years is his speech to the UN on 5
February 2003. There
is little doubt that it had a serious
impact on American popular opinion and an electrifying
effect on politicians concerning the then-proposed war with Iraq.
The Washington Post claimed
that "We were not able to marshal enough evidence to say that he was
wrong" in a 12 August 2004 mea culpa
explaining why the Post did not challenge Administration claims before
the war. Norman Solomon of FAIR
however, was able to point out the very next day that while Powell
claimed Iraq was a grave threat to surrounding nations, the only nation
of the Middle East to have made any such claim was Israel. The
Post also claimed that it carefully examined the question of whether
Iraq had chemical or biological weapons, but it completely ignored the
UN report in August
2000 that for Iraq to have able to have produced such weapons was
somewhere
within the remote bounds of possibility, but was extremely unlikely.
For Powell to claim that Iraq had any usable weapons, he needed
to demonstrate just how it might have obtained any. Generally,
major American news organizations did not request such
evidence. People have claimed Powell worked behind
the scenes to limit
damage from the Iraq War but clearly, the Bush Administration did not
appreciate his efforts.
[ New warning from Powell on Iran's nuclear program
| Member - Council on Hemispheric Affairs unimpressed with Powell
| Powell appears to have supported ditching Taiwan
]
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Welcome to the Independent
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