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 is the GLBT movement? 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 GLBT people must not let themselves be lulled into a false sense of security or complacency.

Most gay, lesbian, and bisexual East Texans have not changed much since the murder. It seems 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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Most of us associate the holiday with happy Pilgrims and Indians sitting down to a big feast. And that did happen - once. The real history doesn't have quite the same fuzzy feelings associated with it as the story where the Indians and Pilgrims are all sitting down together at the big feast.

The real "thanksgiving" story began in 1614 when a band of English explorers sailed home to England with a ship full of Patuxet Indians bound for slavery. They left behind smallpox which virtually wiped out those who had escaped. By the time the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts Bay they found only one living Patuxet Indian, a man named Squanto who had survived slavery in England and knew their language. He taught them to grow corn and to fish, and negotiated a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation. At the end of their first year, the Pilgrims held a great feast honoring Squanto and the Wampanoags.

But as word spread in England about the paradise to be found in the new world, religious zealots called Puritans began arriving by the boat load. Finding no fences around the land, they considered it to be in the public domain. Joined by other British settlers, they seized land, capturing strong young Natives for slaves and killing the rest. But the Pequot Nation had not agreed to the peace treaty Squanto had negotiated and they fought back. The Pequot War was one of the bloodiest Indian wars ever fought.

In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.

related link: http://members.tripod.com/~susanbates/nativeamericanjrnl-index.html

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FARMERS BRANCH- Hundreds gathered outside of Farmers Branch City Hall to protest FB Ordinance 2006-099, which was passed Monday, making English the official language of the city as well as making it illegal to rent any sort of property to anyone who is not 'legal' in the United States.

Protesters started gathering around 4:45 PM in anticipation of the City Council meeting. Members of LULAC (League of United American Latin Citizens), stated before the meeting, that if Farmers Branch was to pass such ordinances, it would violate the basic civil rights of people and break federal law. An other member discussed how it would hurt the local economy and business in Farmers Branch.

The overwhelming consensus among protesters, was that decisions like this should be made on the federal level, not the local. They cited how the congressional votes of last week were a signal that people wanted to see immigration be dealt with in congress.

Counter protesters were also present to voice their views. Donna Elliot was among many who said "nothing good comes from illegal activity." When asked about how 'illegal' immigrants contribute to the community she conceded that they do help the economy, but they do not pay taxes.

The issue in Farmers Branch initially came about last August, when council member Tim O'Hare proposed a series of ordinances that would greatly inhibit the progress of 'illegal' immigrants in Farmers Branch. Protests erupted then, and have been boiling up until Tuesday.

Videos: 1 | 2 (Arrest Footage)

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Bush Called the Worst President Ever

It was easy to spot the protesters as one approached Ferris Plaza. They were gathered at the southwest corner of the park, inflating hundreds of red white and blue helium balloons. Organizer Johnny Wolf dropped off a truckload of large signs and banners. As the people eagerly separated and spread them out, a recurring theme became apparent. The signs and banners proclaimed that George W. Bush is the Worst president ever, with the Worst foreign policy, the Worst congress, the Worst environmental and human rights records, and the list continues. There were as many ideas about the Worst thing about the administration as there were people.

There were around 300 at the protest before the event was over. They represented such diverse groups as the Democratic, Green and Libertarian parties, Downwinders at Risk, the Dallas Peace Center, the Crawford Peace House, North Texas for Justice and Peace, Peace Action Denton, the Black Panthers, the Brown Berets, the 9-11 Truth Commission, Camp Casey Dallas, The World Can't Wait and Code Pink. Many pickups carried signs and billboards around downtown. There were also a large number of un affiliated people and children. Downwinders had a float showing Governor Perry and a smokestack, symbolizing his close relationship with power companies and his willingness to let them build polluting coal fired power plants.

At a little before 5:00, the protesters marched to a spot across Sport St. from the main entrance to Reunion. The police barricades were draped with banners, while behind them, protesters held signs and used bullhorns to broadcast the message to the people who were trickling into the arena. Word soon came that Bush would soon land at Love Field. Organizers moved signs and banners closer to Reunion Dr., where they expected the presidential motorcade to pass, but as always, reluctant to face his critics, the president snuck into the arena without the protesters seeing him.

This last protest of the president before he voted drew a a large variety of people with a number of diverse issues with Bush. For just these few hours, these people were united. This coalition of radicals, politicians and families were united by their conviction that the Bush Administration was the Worst ever and their desire to say "We're not going to take it any more! We are the people, and we are here to say that government rules only by our consent!"

Please click on to the newswire for photos.....

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Vigil at the Bush Ranch Checkpoint

The media and the activists, who had come from Waco, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin, faced each other in front of the Crawford Peace House. Addressing the media, Ann Wright told how the Eisenhower Naval Battle Group was in the Persian Gulf, awaiting orders to attack Iran. She told the media that plans are in place to use nuclear weapons, and that such a war could very easily escalate out of anybody's ability to control and become a global conflagration. She told them that the group was going to take this message to the Bush ranch.

In three cars, 13 activists drove to the Secret Service checkpoint outside the ranch. The agents watched cautiously as they unloaded signs and set up their pickets. The media swung their cameras from the vigilers to the agents. Accompanied by violins from Austin's Instruments of Peace, the picketers sang "Study War No More", "Blowin' in the Wind", "Give Peace a Chance", and other protest standards.

After a short period of socialization and food at the Peace House, the activists split up, each to go where he or she could be most effective. Wright headed to Dallas, from where she was to fly to Washington DC, for Cindy Sheehan's White House sit in. Many headed to Dallas, for Monday's Worst Ever Rally, outside Bush's Reunion Arena rally.

Wright said Sheehan is going to spend Thanksgiving in North Korea, so that nothing official is planned at Camp Casey III, but anybody who wished to is welcome to bring their own food and camp there.

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George W. Bush will be in Dallas at Reunion Arena to show support for Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Citizens are invited to join the many organizations gathering to protest this WORST President EVER.

Meet at Ferris Plaza, corner of Young & Houston streets, downtown Dallas. More details should be added in the Comments section below this article.

The theme of the rally is that the administration of George W. Bush is the Worst this nation has ever experienced.

The organizing groups and people are diverse, with a wide field of ideas and concerns for which W and the Republican Party have been incompetently responsible. Many people who have expressed their intentions to attend have little or no history of political activism, but have been motivated by the broad and deep incompetence and the outright evil actions of the George W. Bush regime.

The rally will gather at Ferris Plaza, just east of Reunion Arena, and move to the western green area on the arena's west side.

So, y'all decorate your vehicles, make some signs and banners, and come take a stand!! Bring your own signs or use some of ours, just come on out !!

If you'd like to help, join the planning yahoogroup at Dallas Rally Yahoo Group

There will be a signmaking gathering at
The Act of Change, Inc.
3200 S. Lancaster Road, #320
Dallas, Texas 75216
phone 214-372-3500
The Act of Change . org
on Saturday, November 4th from 10 am until 4 pm.

related link: http://www.DallasRally.com/

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Most political activists in North Texas are familiar with the IndyMedia movement and with musician David Rovics. David has sent the following personal note regarding the recent killing of New York IMC reporter Bradley Will (with David's permission to reprint):

"brad will was a dear friend, and a true revolutionary. he died the way countless and uncounted numbers of beautiful people have died in recent centuries -- he was shot in the chest by rightwing paramilitaries. he was filming the scene around one of thousands of barricades that have shut down oaxaca city since last june, when the governor there tried to ban public expressions of dissent, thus throwing one more historical spark into one more historical powder keg.

"brad embodied the spirit of indymedia. he was not just covering stories that the "mainstream" press ignores, such as the exciting, violent revolutionary moment which has gripped oaxaca for several months now. brad was not risking his life to get a good shot of a confrontation at a barricade because he might get a photo on the cover of a newspaper, get some (perhaps well-deserved) fame and money -- he was posting his communiques on indymedia, for free.

"sure, brad was filming in order to cover history. but he was there also to make history. brad knew that a camera is a weapon, or hopefully a shield of some sort, and sometimes can serve to de-escalate a situation, to protect people from being violated, beaten, killed. and brad knew that if the independent media didn't document history, nobody else would.

"brad deeply appreciated the power of music and culture. if he didn't have a camera in his hands, he often had a guitar. during some of his many travels around latin america he wrote emails to me about the musicians he met, with whom he shared my songs and recordings. he particularly liked my song "saint patrick battalion," and reportedly shared his rendition of it with lots of people. he would not live to know just how much his life and death would resemble the san patricios, who died fighting for mexico during the first u.s. invasion of that country in the 1840's.

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EDITORS NOTE: NTIMC endorses no political candidates.

An interview with Charles Waterbury, Green Party candidate for Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, focusing on his reasons for running and the development of his legal philosophy.

DALLAS, TX--With three weeks until election day, Charles Waterbury is oddly upbeat for a candidate in his position. Battling a well-ensconced Republican, it seems unlikely that Waterbury will unseat the incumbent Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Forget, for a moment, that Republicans hold every statewide elected office in Texas. Beyond that, Waterbury's write-in status reduces the odds of victory even further. Add to that his representing the Green Party of Texas--"There's a Green Party in Texas?!"--and the scenario becomes a downright anomaly in the Lone Star State.

Why the lack of concern?

"I have nothing to lose," says the father of two, smiling affably as he speaks. "No one expects me to get any votes at all. By all appearances, my opponents aren't even campaigning. So, every vote I earn is a small victory."

Such confidence belies the current condition of third party politics in Texas, one of the most difficult states in the nation to achieve ballot access. But as the conversation continues, it becomes clear that Waterbury, an immigration and personal injury attorney, is exactly the kind of candidate groups like the Green Party need.

related link: http://www.charlesforchief.com

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