From the open publishing newswire:

Sheriff Lou Blanas 916.874.7146 916.874.5332 fax sheriff@sacsheriff.com Eric Taylor McDavid (x-ref #2972521) Sacramento County Main Jail 651 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814 916.874.6752 916.874.8984 fax

Eric McDavid, who was arrested in Auburn, CA in January as part of the government's recent Green Scare, is very ill and needs to see a doctor. He is passing out, losing weight rapidly and is unable to hold down most of what little vegan food he is given. After 98 days of pretrial incarceration, Eric is still being denied vegan meals by the jail. Now, after this protracted period of malnutrition Eric's health has taken a turn for the worse. A doctor and nutritional nurse within the jail have both suggested that Eric be given vegan protein shakes yet the jail continues to pretend that they are unable to accomodate his health and nutritional needs. Eric has not seen a doctor in over a week and his health has not improved. The cause of Eric's poor health is not known because he is not getting proper medical attention. All that we know at this time is that Eric is ill, suffering from medical neglect and needs food he can eat to help recover.

Please take the time to contact the jail and spread the word about Eric's condition. There is no excuse for this persistent medical neglect.

Call the Sacramento County Main Jail and demand immediate medical attention and vegan food for Eric Taylor McDavid (x-ref #2972521)

www.supporteric.org

From the open publishing newswire: Traditionally Earth Day has been an occassion to celebrate the earth as well as an opportunity to envision a more sustainable and harmonious relationship between human societies and the planet we inhabit. Unfortunately, this year has witnessed a wave of repression people have dubbed the "green scare", meant to undermine and disrupt environmentally conscious movments in the United
States. To many, it seems to be a sad and scary time to care about the Earth, as well as being a sad and scary time to voice opposition to the human rights violations carried out against humans in the name of the perpetual "war on terror" or the occupation of Iraq.

That said, this Earth Day should not be a time for fear or inaction. This Earth Day, do something to celebrate the Earth but also consider doing something for an activist named Daniel McGowan. Daniel is New York City's local target of this state madness known as the Green Scare. After ten years as a loved and dedicated environmental and social justice activist, Daniel has been falsely accused of multiple counts of arson, property destruction, and conspiracy. If convicted, he would face a minimum of life in prison and a maximum of life plus three-hundred and thirty-five years. As you can imagine, the legal bills are tremendous and are more than Daniel's family and friends can comfortably or indefinitely manage.

This Earth Day, please consider making a donation to Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan. And do something that Daniel won't be able to do: spend some time outdoors in the spring air.

 http://www.supportdaniel.org

From the open publishing newswire: Hello to all you beautiful people. On this day of honouring our earth
mother, I ask you to look at your birth. Upon emerging from our mother's womb, we are given a birth mother and a birth father. At the same time we are also given our earth mother and spirit father. Through all the generations of dispute, battlefields, bloodshed and persecution in the name of organized religion, one thing remains irrefutable: we only have one earth mother! We all share her. She is mother to us all.

This is earth day. Everyday is earth day. She is here everyday. She doesn't go away. She gives us all we need continously and unconditionally. Planets are hard to come by. We can't just hop to another one after we've desecrated this one. Even if we could do so, that's no reason to ravage our only home. She deserves our love, honour and respect. We have a responsibility to care for her in a thoughtful, conscious way, the way we care for our birth mother.

I recently completed a 24 day hunger strike marking 2 years of incarceration. It was very intense and the most difficult fast I have ever undergone, even though it was not the longest. I am presently still going through a phase of healing, cleansing and detoxifying. In the absence of food through the course of the last moon cycle, it's become abundantly clear to me that there are two things we all can do to heal and honour our earth mother, ourselves, and every living thing. These two things are extremely simple, tangible and within everyone's ability, yet have profoundly beneficial global effects.

Together we have the power to visualize, take action and manifest a healthy, peaceful world for you, for me, and for every living thing.
Blessed earth day to you, today and everyday.

From the open publishing newswire: Common Ground Collective co-founder Scott Crow has recently come under investigation by the FBI as well as the ATF. At around 8:00 am on Wednesday, April 5th, two FBI agents, one of whom identified himself as Evan Ray, came knocking on his door in Austin, TX, asking many questions including whether Scott was stockpiling firearms. Robert King Wilkerson, former political prisoner, Black Panther and member of the Angola 3 (www.angola3.org) who is a guest at Scott's house, answered the door and informed the two agents that Scott was out of town and refused to answer any of the agent's questions.

Over the years Scott has been a dedicated activist for social justice, being involved with a number of local and national groups and campaigns around issues of political prisoners, racism, prisons, and the environment. Recently he has received national attention for work he did co-founding the human rights organization Common Ground Collective in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina.

The FBI's harassment of those working for change in our world is meant to intimidate and isolate. It is important that we step up and stand in solidarity with our friends and comrades when the state singles them out for harassment. It is also important that we remain uncooperative with all law enforcement investigations of our political activities.

www.infoshop.org

From the open publishing newswire: After more than 10,000 anti-war protestors marched on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago on March 20, 2003, police detained and arrested hundreds of demonstrators and bystanders. A lawsuit brought on behalf of over 800 people who were unlawfully held that night has recently been granted class action status.

The lawsuit resulting from the mass detentions and arrests at the anti-war protest in Chicago on March 20, 2003 has recently been granted class status by Judge Virginia Kendall. The significance of this ruling is that a single lawsuit will proceed on behalf of everyone who was detained or arrested that evening on Chicago Avenue, between Michigan Avenue and Mies Van Der Rohe Way. Judge Kendall's decision supports the plaintiffs' assessment that the class includes over 800 people and can be divided into three sub-classes. The three sub-classes include those who were detained on the street for 1 ? to 3 hours, those who were taken into custody and released without charges, and those who were taken into custody and subsequently charged.

An official notice will be sent out to as many class members as possible in the near future. The National Lawyers Guild attorneys working on the case are attempting to compile a comprehensive list of the names and contact information of all people who fit into these three sub-classes. Any class member who previously contacted us, but has since changed their contact information, should provide us with their updated information. Also, it is not too late for people who were detained or arrested that night to contact the legal team, if they have not previously done so.

For more information, please visit www.chicago.indymedia.org or www.nlgchicago.org

From the open publishing newswire: April 8, 2006: Held in conjunction with the First World Action Day Against GMOs being celebrated in 40 countries, the food fair offered a sampling of mostly organic and traditional agricultural alternatives for producers and consumers at different locations around the country. The anti-GMO celebration covered markets in the cities of Mexico, Guadalajara, Texcoco, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Oaxaca, Uruapan, and Xalapa. --- The sponsoring environmental organizations ***revealed an activist label for growers and distributors to use***, so consumer activism can be faciliated, which tells shoppers that their products are free of GMOs. That private initiative was taken in response to the pro-corporate Mexican government's failure to require popularly wanted labels identifying raw materials and commodities with genetically modified content. --- If indeed the fare featured was free of Frankenfoods, it also went one step better. Most of the provender for sale was organically grown, in other words free of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and antibiotics that upset your stomach, as well as the balance of nature. What's more, the organizers boasted, the diversity of vegetation promoted by non-GMO planting contrasts positively with the mono-cropping engendered by transgenics. The advantages are greater biodiversity and natural resistance to disaster. --- One of the promoters' objectives was to boost income for families in poor rural communities who practice agriculture based on traditional knowledge. --- Mexico is the world's largest organic coffee grower and other organic items are fruit, nuts, chocolate, amaranth, sesame seeds, vegetables, blue corn, and vanilla. 85% historically for the export market...domestic shoppers though are getting savvy. The fair strengthened Mexican made items for a local consumption market.

From the open publishing newswire: This is audio from the first of three forums being held at the First Unitarian Church, sponsored by the Portland Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center. It is a forum on the impact of the "War on Terror" on dissent in the United States.

This first forum was organized in response to the recent indictments and arrests of individuals accused of engaging in "domestic terrorism" - specifically arson and conspiracy to commit arson.
Terrorism Creep, REAL PLAYER | Terrorism Creep, MP3 [38 min]

The second of these three forums was held at the First Unitarian Church on April 5, 2006, being a response to the current government and media "Greenscare" campaign. It featured a panel discussion about the federal government's policy of ignoring and failing to prosecute violations of federal environmental laws by corporate polluters and extractive industries, while it aggressively prosecutes politically-motivated acts of property destruction by environmentalists under the "War on Terror" moniker.

Greenscare, RealPlayer | Greenscare, MP3 [90 min]

From the open publishing newswire: 16 people attended the Recruiting Center Vigil this week. It is held every Tuesday at the Armed Forces Recruiting Center at 1317 N. Broadway from 5:30 - 6:30pm. Every week, people from the Whitefeather House compile a list of the U.S. soldiers who died that week as reported by the DoD (see below). This is printed up on a flyer and handed out to people passing by. There is no way to compile a list of the Iraqi dead, and the list of names would not fit on the paper. The number of Iraqi civilians killed numbers around 250,000 now.

Tonight the recruiters were outside quite a bit. One of the people passing out the flyers asked one of the recruiters if he had read the list of the dead. The recruiter replied that they ought to check their facts cause some of the people on last weeks list are alive. The counter-recruiter said that was doubtful since the list came from the DoD. The recruiter pulled out his cell phone and said he knows some of them and said 'want to talk to them?'. The counter recruiter said, yes. The recruiter put his cell phone away and went on to other lies.

From the open publishing newswire: Rob "los Ricos" Thaxton, an anarchist activist, is about to be released after 7 years in Oregon prisons. We need to CELEBRATE his return to our community. THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION FOR ROCK SOLID SUPPORT OF ROB "los Ricos" THAXTON FOR HIS JUNE 29, 2006 RELEASE FROM PRISON. Prisoner support is not just about supporting prisoners during arrests, arraignments and sentencing. Prisoner support MUST also incorporate support for RELEASE. NOW is the time to support Rob.

Rob Los Ricos website

From the open publishing newswire: In the early morning of Sun. April 16th Adrian Haley, a concerned citizen, climbed 60' up a tree outside Rep. Brian Baird's Vancouver, WA office. He plans to perch in the tree until Sat April 22nd and descend during an Earth Day celebration planned in Fort Vancouver. Mr. Haley is protesting Rep. Baird's decision to cosponsor the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act - HR4200, and his continual disregard for the growing majority of science showing post-fire logging hinders forest regeneration.

The action ended a lot sooner than planned but in the next 2 days there will be more. Please help us show Baird how we feel about his Salvage bill.At first the lower level cops showed up around 10:30 and were really cool and thought things would be chill until Mon. when the big wigs would make decisions about arrests etc. Then a little later the Chief of Police showed up and changed the whole situation. He started playing hard ball and said, "NO MATTER WHAT, HE IS COMMING OUT OF THAT TREE TODAY!". We played a little hard ball with him and soon the folks who had control over the property showed up. They were furious and wanted Adrian out of the tree even sooner than the officer.
related: Adrian Haley and associates negotiate for Baird public debate

Got Roadless? Show Dates April 17 - Eugene, University of Oregon April 18 - Portland, Clinton Street Theatre April 19 - Eugene, Lane Community College April 21 - Medford, Medford Public Library

The Final chapter of the saga of the Biscuit Burn is still unwritten. Ecologists prove logging it is unhealthy, firefighters warn it's dangerous, economists assure it's wasteful. Dozens of arrests have stymied the threat to a fraction of their promise. Still, Bush and Big Timber come back for more - this time Kalmiopsis Roadless Areas auctioned off under the guise of salvage!

The Oxygen Collective has been at the forefront of both public education and popular protest of Biscuit logging. We will be offering a free multi-media presentation reviewing the Biscuit saga up to now and highlighting how the latest logging proposals will create detrimental national precedents.

related: Forest Service to destroy Oregon's foremost hatchery | Once Upon A Forest

From the open publishing newswire: Approximately 50 people showed up throughout Saturday at Schumacher Furs for our weekly protest. For 5 hours we stood together in the rain, wind, and bone-chilling cold. Our shoes were wet, our fingers were freezing, but we never lost sight of the fact that the animals used and abused for their fur, those spending their lives in tiny barren cages, those caught in traps for days in freezing weather without food or water and unable to return to their babies, those being beaten and skinned alive for their fur... have it far worse than we ever could.

In truth, despite the weather, we didn't have it bad at all. In the company of other passionate and compassionate people (and their dogs), we chanted, danced to live bagpipe music, held signs, passed out literature, did street theater, drank tea, and ate vegan treats (cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, bagels with vegan toppings, and doughnuts donated by Voodoo Doughnuts).

related: Schumacher claims 2 million in lost sales | all schumachers articles | all articles by 'little dove'

From the open publishing newswire: 17 students, protesting unfair wage policies for University employees, have been arrested at the Univesity of Virginia after a peaceful sit-in ouutside the office of University President John Casteen. The sit-in was the culmination of 8 YEARS of peaceful attempts to raise the wages of university employees, many of whom unable to support their families on the University's wages. The University's response has been appalling, including the denial of food to the students. President Casteen must be held responsible. He must must immediately order the release the students and begin negotiations and a process to allow for fair, living wages for all Univeristy employees. The supression of dissent and abuse of power continues to spread: Unreported in the media, 17 students at the University of Virginia have been arrested following a peaceful sit-in protest regarding fair, living wages. The protests were the culmination of 8 YEARS of attempts by students and university employees to raise the wages for university employees...many of whom have been struggling in full time jobs that have paid far less than can support their families. The University's response has been appalling: the students have been denied food and visits while detained. PORTLAND SPEAK UP! Thank you.

From the open publishing newswire: Today over 1000 young people from throughout the Portland Metro area gathered in the South Park Blocks to say "No Human Being is Illegal." I arrived at the rally organized by PCASC just a few minutes before the noon start time. There was a light rain and it appeared they were attempting to put up a tent for the sound equipment and doing a sound check. There were more than 300 people gathered when I showed up, with people pouring in from all around.

I walked around the gathering place for awhile taking pictures and taking in a scene that was unfamiliar to me: people excited about street protest. One speaker spoke to the crowd "we are not criminals, we are not illegals. this struggle is not just for latinos, it is for everbody." There were many chants and screams, roars from the demonstrators when the speakers finished sentences, it was inspiring. By 12:30, I would estimate that there were around 600 people listening to the speakers, the speaker around then, a young woman said "This is about Human Rights. This is a youth movement happening across the country, this is the civil rights movement of OUR generation," and many people cheered for that statement.

related: Brief Report Back From Today's Immigrant Rights March | Student Walk Out and March for Immigrant Rights Today | nohr4437.org | April 9th and 10th Days of Action | US IMC Migrant Rights Page | iMigrate | all articles by bht