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And So the “Change” Begins |
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by Debbie Morgan, pressbox (nospam) bridgestonemediagroup.com |
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Finally, we have change in Washington, D. C. Entering into this year with the words of my father, “Obama is our new president, and we need to give him a chance,” I am trying to do just that. The problem for me, though, is that as much as I would like to believe we are going to get something we can believe in with President Obama, I know Senator Obama’s voting record. So the question on the table is, will we see change we can believe in, or will it be a replay of the Democratic victory of Congress in 2006? That remains to be seen. As we begin the “Obama Era,” are we seeing the changes we were promised? |
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Combatants For Peace Visit Mass. |
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by Michael Borkson, nosanctions (nospam) yahoo.com |
 Israeli Yaniv Rashef, whose home is in range of Gaza missiles, was a foot soldier in the Israeli army-and chose to fight no more. Palestinian Bassam Aramin served seven years in jail for planning an attack against Israeli soldiers--and chose no more violence. Just two years ago, Bassam lost his daughter to an israeli soldier's rubber-coated bullet. They are Combatants For Peace, now over 600 former Israeli soldiers and former Palestinian fighters, working together without revenge for justice and peace in Palestine/Israel.
Former Palestinian and Israeli combatants are speaking in Mass. in March; advocating a peaceful solution to Palestine/Israel war.
Watch video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO3XROjErAc |
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23 Mar 2009
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Filed under: News / War and Militarism |
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Take Action: Community Activists in Chiapas Face Harassment and Intimidation |
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by Brian O'Connell, vinniechops (nospam) hotmail.com |
Human rights and community leaders in Mexico continue to experience threats - including death threats. They ask for help from global activists to protect their lives and their community work.
Current threats follow previous repression, including the unjust prosecution of local organizers of the Civil Resistance against the high cost of energy in the southern state of Campeche. Last December, in response to an emergency action, letters of solidarity with Sara Lopez and Joaquin Aguilar brought authorities in Campeche to the negotiating table.
TAKE ACTION: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5123/t/4123/campaign.jsp?campaign_KE |
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01 Mar 2009
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Filed under: Announcement / Human Rights |
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US Discriminatory Immigration Policy Toward Haitians |
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by Stephen Lendman, lendmanstephen (nospam) sbcglobal.net |
 It's a familiar story for Haitians - last in, first out for the hemisphere's poorest, least wanted, and most abused people here and at home. Most recently it was highlighted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials announcing the resumption of over 30,000 deportations to a nation reeling from poverty, repression, despair, the devastation from last summer's storms, and occupation by UN paramilitary Blue Helmets - since 2004, illegally there for the first time ever to support and enforce a coup d'etat against a democratically elected president, at the behest of Washington. |
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The revolution delayed: 10 years of Hugo Chávez’s rule |
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by El Libertario, Venezuela, ellibertario (nospam) nodo50.org |
 This month (February 2009) marks the tenth anniversary of Hugo Chávez’s coming to power in Venezuela, and ten years of the “Bolivarian revolution”. This process has included waves of state intervention in the economy and fervent rhetoric against US imperialism. But while some on the left see this Chavista movement as the new “socialism for the 21st century”, a more radical critique has argued that it is actually more like an old-fashioned attempt at modernisation by a technocratic élite (including an ex-situationist as second-in-command of the ministry of information and propaganda); that increased bureaucratic power over capital is not inherently progressive; and that the “revolution” in Venezuela allows for very little working-class control or initiative from below.
* A translation of a March 2008 interview conducted by the French anarchist Charles Reeve with two members of the El Libertario group www.nodo50.org/ellibertario in Caracas, the nation’s capital, which offers some stark insights into the reality of the situation. |
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22 Feb 2009
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Filed under: Interview / International : Organizing : Politics : Social Welfare |
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Why is Chuck Turner in Handcuffs? |
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by John Andrews, |
 The Boston media used a grainy photograph released by the FBI to conclude that Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner is guilty of extortion. But the accompanying FBI affidavit, when shorn of speculation and irrelevancies, is a decidedly unconvincing document that fails to provide a legitimate law enforcement justification for the targeting of Turner. Could it be that Chuck Turner’s history as an outspoken critic of the FBI had something to do with his being targeted? |
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19 Feb 2009
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Filed under: News / Human Rights |
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Mass union leaders call on Obama to support Medicare for All |
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by Rand Wilson, rand (nospam) mindspring.com |
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More than forty Massachusetts labor leaders have signed onto a letter to President Obama raising concerns that some policy makers in Washington are backing health care reforms based on the state plan adopted two years ago. The Massachusetts plan features an "individual mandate" requiring all citizens to buy private health insurance. The letter sent today and spearheaded by the Jobs with Justice coalition, states: |
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18 Feb 2009
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Filed under: News / Labor : Politics : Social Welfare |
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