Most problems have been corrected, except that when the directors of the Crawford Peace House accidentally let their corporate charter lapse due to not turning in reports on time to the state of Texas, some individuals critical of the CPH registered the use of the name.

There has been no evidence of mis-handling of funds, the state requirements are being met, and the organization will continue its unbroken string of positive accomplishments.

A few individuals who are not political activists and who seem to have no meaningful understanding of the damage they’ve done, have exploited a temporary technical opening to try to take down one of the most effective anti-war organizations. They wanted attention, for their ideas to be followed, but don't seem to have any positive plans for what to do with it now that they “own” the Crawford Peace House name. Some of them believed that in owning the name, they would own the assets, history, and respect previously earned by the legitimate Crawford Peace House.

Many individuals and activist organizations who have devoted time, effort, volunteers and money to the Crawford Peace House are being affected by the negative exaggeration of turmoil which appeared in the corporate press recently. The Camp Casey Peace Institute, a totally separate entity and also based in Crawford, has also been affected. The two organizations have enjoyed a close relationship, but this is being used against them -- Right-wingers are attempting to damage Cindy Sheehan and the Camp Casey movement by purporting her involvement in an imaginary embezzlement at the Crawford Peace House.

One very immediate problem which could truly affect many organizations is, if similar attacks are mounted nationwide. Would your organization survive detailed scrutiny of compliance to rules of incorporation, such as quarterly board meetings with formal minutes, accurate accounting of t-shirt and button sales (and application of sales tax requirements in disregard to our “contributions” ethic), and arms-length relationships between boards, vendors, management, and volunteers? What if your organization had been responsible for managing an unexpected month-long event with over 20,000 participants -- would your records be available immediately for filing?

The legitimate Crawford Peace House will probably have to change its name, but will continue to function as the information and demonstration point for efforts to bring light, action, and peace to George Bush’s backyard. Meanwhile, there are some things to learn from this unfortunate and avoidable crapfest.

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Over 200 brave inclement weather.

The wind was cold and blustery at Camp Casey III, but a large fire provided an island of warmth to those gathered on Friday night. They were gathered to hear a panel of experts testify on the impeachable offenses committed by the Bush Administration. (Cindy proclaimed that it would be a tragic mistake to impeach Bush without impeaching Cheney.) David Swanson, founder of After Downing Street, spoke of the administration's disregard of American laws. Debra Sweet, founder of The World Can't Wait, spoke about the administration's criminal neglect of the victims of Katrina. Cindy's lawyer spoke on how the administration has dismantled the Fourth Amendment and its guarantee od Due Process. Cindy spoke on war crimes committed by the administration. Ann Wright, retired Army colonel who resigned from the Diplomatic Corps in protest of the invasion of Iraq, spoke on their total disregard of the Geneva Conventions' protection of prisoners of war and enemy combatants. Medea Benjamin , co-founder of Code Pink, led the participants in song.

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On Palm Sunday, between 2,000 and 6,000 people gathered at Dallas City Hall, calling for unity and rights for Mexican-Americans and immigrants. A variety of organizations and issues were represented. Elizabeth Villafranca of Let the Voters Decide was registering voters. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) were there. The ACLU called for people to take a stand. The Guardian Angels were looking for any trouble makers, and the NAACP was saying they work for all peoples of color. The Brown Berets were there, as was the Mexica Movement, espousing the position that the American continents were stolen by the Europeans, calling for the deportation of all white racists to Europe, and opposing the use of the terms "Latino" and "Hispanic". Jobs with Justice and the Wobblies were calling for the rights of the working people. The World Can't Wait was selling the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party. North Texas for Justice and Peace were there opposing the wars and the U.S. Marines were there recruiting.

Speakers included the retiring Catholic bishop of Dallas, who told the crowds "Si se puede", or "Yes we can". A former staffer of the Vicente Fox Administration called the White House while at the microphone to say in Spanish "We are your citizens!" There was music and traditional Aztec dancing.

There were many ice cream vendors, including one who told a reporter for a corporate newspaper that if he were able to get his citizenship, he wouldn't have to sell ice cream.

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NTIMC has been undergoing certain server changes in the past few months. We now have the site up and running once again. Please feel free to utilize the site and publish your media! We apologize for the downtime, and we are working hard on more site updates! Stay tuned!

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The Texas Jail Project (TJP), a new advocacy group formed primarily by jail activists and women former inmates, will caravan from Austin to Dallas, Texas on January 23rd, 2007. All interested parties are urged to assist this effort however they can.

On arriving, they will join with women from the Dallas area in making short statements to the County Commissioners about conditions in the women's unit of the Dallas County Jail, the Lew Sterrett "Justice" Center, followed by a press conference.

Reports of unhealthy, dismal, and deteriorating situations for the women in this jail have become urgent; for this press conference two former inmates will witness their own devastating experiences there in 2006. These women and TJP advocates will speak about the suffering being caused by various forms of unconscionable and criminal neglect, including:
-- a lack of medication and help for women with HIV and AIDS;
-- poor or non-existent medical treatment for women with mental health issues;
-- no representation or services for indigent women; and more.

Dangerous, unjust, and deterioriating conditions at the Dallas County Jail must not be allowed to continue.
Please help and support this group!

related link: http://www.texasjailproject.org

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Some of the children and a pregnant woman being held in an immigration jail in Texas are Palestinian refugees whose families came to the USA with visas, says a Dallas lawyer.

Immigration attorney John Wheat Gibson represents two families that include a pregnant woman and children ages 2, 3, 5, 12, 14, and 17. The families have been incarcerated since their midnight arrests in early November by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

"The children, imprisoned with their mothers, have never been accused of any wrongdoing. Neither have their mothers," says Gibson. "All are Palestinian refugees who entered the U.S. legally, but have been denied asylum."

The fathers were separated from their families, the two-year-old was placed into foster care, and the remaining women and children were sent to the privatized Hutto jail in Taylor, Texas. The education of the school-aged children has been interrupted.

In an affidavit supplied by Gibson, one of the fathers, Adel Said Suleiman, says that he was identified as a refugee by the United Nations before coming to the USA in 1995. He claims that his immigration status has been mishandled by others, but that he has never been accused of any crimes or wrongdoings.

Suleiman's wife, Asma Quddoura, is in the Hutto jail with their son, Ayman, a 17-year-old senior at Arlington's James Bowie High School. Attorney Gibson, who now represents Suleiman, says his client was not provided with due notice of a deportation order.

Suleiman, a diabetic, sits in a chilly cell at the Garvin County Jail, Oklahoma, where the stink from an overflowing toilet "is horrible."

"There is another diabetic, here, too," says the Suleiman affidavit. "The guards bring us evening medication late, after supper, although it should be taken with food. The food served here is dangerous to diabetics, because it is sweet. I asked them to leave the sugar out of my oatmeal, but they refused. I take medication in the morning and because I cannot take it with food my blood sugar is very low."

The second father, Salaheddin Ibrahim, was also separated from his family, including his pregnant wife, Hanan Ahmad. Four of the Ibrahim children--Hamzeh, 14; Rodaina, 12; Maryam, 5; and Faten, 3--are incarcerated with their mother. A two-year-old daughter was placed in foster care. Ibrahim was sent to another Texas jail in Haskell.

At one point, says Gibson, Amad's children "became hysterical when guards wrapped her in wrist and leg chains to take her to the hospital."

related link: http://texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke/

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Groups Demand Guantánamo Shut Down,
Cry Out Five Years of Imprisonment and Torture Must End

Thursday, January 11, 2007, thousands of people will act together to demand an end to torture and indefinite, illegal and immoral detention of men and boys at Guantanamo. In concerted actions from Australia and Amsterdam to Amherst and Boise and Wichita, and in more than 40 other cities around the world, citizens heed the call for an International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantánamo.

In Dallas, people from Bill of Rights Committee, Peace and Justice Network, Camp Casey Dallas, Women in Black, Dallas Peace Center, Amnesty International, and responsible citizens throughout the North Texas Region will gather on the sidewalk across the street from the Earle Cabell Federal Building, (1100 Commerce St.) 12 noon to 2 p.m., to call on the U. S. government to bring back the rule of law, to end torture and shut down Guantánamo.

related link: http://www.dallaspeacecenter.org

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Diane Nelson is a 46 year old woman confined to a wheel chair living with terminal cancer. Diane is a prisoner at the Carswell Federal Women's prison here in Fort Worth, serving a sentence for a first time non- violent offense.

Both the Federal Judge who sentenced her and the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted her case requested her immediate release more than a month ago. Diane is hoping she will be able to spend what most likely will be her last Christmas with family and loved ones. Thus far, the Warden of the prison, Warden Van Buren, has refused to release her.

But, there are some actions you can take...

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All stories have beginnings – and a story of Common Ground Relief begins with the theme we all are part of, but may not want to think about – life and death. However, before this became visible, while the waters still flowed, I was first faced with survival. Not only my own, but that of people I knew and loved – and of the thousands I have never met – who lived in the Gulf Coast region in the fall of 2005.

Authors note: This story is an excerpt to a larger manuscript on Common Ground Relief that I am in the slow process of working on that will include stories and analysis from many organizers on the ground in New Orleans .
It also leads to another piece I co-authored with two other Common Ground organizers, Sue Hildebrandt and Lisa Fithian, that picks up the CG beginnings where this story ends.
It will be released in the forthcoming book:
“What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation”
by South End Press in February of 2006.

related link: http://commongroundrelief.org

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Thirteen years ago, on November 30, 1993, three thugs met Nicholus Ray West at a Tyler Texas park, kidnapped him, robbed him, stripped him, beat him, and drove him 20 miles away to a desolate road.

They shot him nine times and left him to die, which he did. The gang admitted they killed him because he was gay. The police apprehended the gang and their leader, Donald Aldrich, received a death sentence.

This outrageous event was a source of conversation all over Texas for months. East Texan gay and lesbian activists, in conjunction with the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance, held a memorial and "Stop the Hate Rally" in Tyler on December 11, 1993 getting national media coverage.

It's now 13 years later and where are we? Wonderfully, there is now a campus Gay-Straight Alliance at the University of Texas at Tyler, the school has a written policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and gay, lesbian, and bisexual people are far more wiling to be open about their sexuality than before.

But we must not let ourselves be lulled into a false sense of security or complacency.

Most gay, lesbian, and bisexual East Texans have not changed much since the murder. People are still too scared to get involved, and many, many more have internalized much of the ideology of the East Texan political and social climate. (These people outwardly dismiss most of the homophobic rants of conservatives, but internally they begin to believe themselves sinful or deviant.)

In June 1994, the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance rode through East Texas on what they called their "Freedom Ride." Not only did no East Texan gay, lesbian, or bisexual people show up at any of the cities where the DGLA stopped, but the DGLA activists faced severe opposition from religious fanatics in Gilmer Texas – alone.

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