OMNI COUNTER-RECRUITING NEWSLETTER #1, WE, THE PEOPLE BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE, JUNE 13, 2008, Compiled by Dick Bennett
SENATOR LINCOLN (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371.
Fayetteville office: 251-1380
Senator Mark Pryor: Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202) 228-0908
CONGRESSMAN Boozman: Lowell office: 479-725-0400.
DC address: 1708 Longworth House Office Bldng., Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4301.
"I believe the best chance we have of keeping the current wars from eclipsing the 10-year length of Vietnam would be if groups put much more emphasis on cutting off the flow of human resources, i.e., through counter-recruitment work and school demilitarization work." Rick Jahnkow, Coord., Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities (YANO). Read his essay:
http://www.projectyano.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=1
CONTENTS
Counter-recruiting Network and Rick Jahnkow
Youth Against War and Racism
Song: “Halliburton Boardroom Massacre”
Article on Counter-Recruiting
Films v. Recruiting: Winter Soldier, Redacted, The Valley of Elah, Stop Loss
Guide to Alternatives After High School
Berkeley City Council v. Marine Recruiting (Code Pink)
GI Rights Hotline
NETWORK FOR COUNTER-RECRUITING
Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities (YANO)(1984)(org).
PO Box 230157, Encinitas 92023; 760-634-3604; projyano@aol.com; www.projectyano.org
Offers youths in San Diego County a contrasting view on military enlistment, informs them about non-military alternatives for skills training and college financial aid, and promotes careers in peacemaking and social change. Many pubs., request resource list. Rick Jahnkow, Prog. Coord. (See: War Resisters League.) For a list of counter-recruiting orgs., go to www.nnomy.org and click on Counter Recruitment Orgs in the left menu.
Six key groups, besides Project YANO and NNOMY, would be:
AFSC Youth and Militarism, Philadelphia
http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/default.htm
Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, Philadelphia/Oakland
http://www.objector.org/
Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools, Los Angeles
http://www.militaryfreeschools.org/
Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft, San Diego
http://comdsd.org/
War Resisters League, Youth and Militarism Program, NYC
http://www.warresisters.org/youth/
Youth Activists / Youth Allies Network NYC
http://www.yayanetwork.org/
Rick Jahnkow on long-range counter-recruiting, impeding the flow to the imperial legions: “The problems that have minimized the effectiveness of the peace movement as a whole are many, including U.S. cultural and economic class factors. But to me, the bottom line is that the groups and individuals in the peace movement largely fail to think long-term and miss the bigger picture that would lead to more strategic thinking. I haven't read the Nation article, but long-term strategic thinking means that to prevent the invasion of Iraq, the peace movement should have acted over the preceding two decades to "combat" the resurgence of militarism. It especially would have made a difference to put more resources into preventing the militarization of schools, since the 20- and 30-year-olds who are acting as cannon fodder today were indoctrinated via that militarization. I believe the best chance we have of keeping the current wars from eclipsing the 10-year length of Vietnam would be if groups refocussed and put much more emphasis on cutting off the flow of human resources, i.e., through counter-recruitment work and school demilitarization work. That's something that the media, Congress and the next president would not be able to ignore the way they have ignored antiwar marches and demonstrations.
Rick
P.S. If you haven't already seen it, you might be interested in a piece I wrote on this that was picked up by Znet and a few other publications: http://www.projectyano.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=1
Activists seek to counter military recruiters on L.A. campuses (from Lyell T)
“Group will ask school officials for access to high school facilities. But some say their message is controversial.”
By Seema Mehta Los Angeles Times, June 9 2008
Troubled by military recruiting at Los Angeles high schools, activists are seeking equal access to students on campus to provide what they say is unvarnished information about the armed forces and information about nonmilitary careers.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-recruit9-2008jun09,0,7576883.story
Youth Against War and Racism
16th walkout of 125 students against the Iraq war and military recruitment ... Youth Against War and Racism is a growing national network of youth activists ...
www.yawr.org/ - 15k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Youth Against War and Racism
If we build antiwar groups like Youth Against War and Racism in thousands ... consciously targeting poor and working-class youth for military recruitment. ...
www.yawr.org/nov2/milout-povdraft.htm - 13k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
More results from www.yawr.org »
MySpace.com - YOUTH AGAINST WAR & RACISM - MN - 20 - Male ...
Youth in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area interested in fighting back against the occupation of Iraq and against military recruitment in our schools! ...
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=67164433 - 161k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
For an international mobilization of workers and youth against the ...
Jan 22, 2007 ... In Iraq itself, most people not only want an end to the military ..... people and youth against the entire political establishment and the ...
www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jan2007/war-j22.shtml - 39k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Keep Building Youth Against War and Racism
Youth Against War and Racism began in the fall of 2004 when three high school members of Socialist Alternative started to organize against military ...
www.socialistalternative.org/news/article13.php?id=32 - 19k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
On the Fringe » Blog Archive » Youth Against War and Racism ...
Youth Against War and Racism is a counter-recruitment organization in ... board to place meaningful limits on the access of military recruiters to schools. ...
kvrx.org/onthefringe/?p=34 - 12k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
MANIFESTO AGAINST CONSCRIPTION AND THE MILITARY SYSTEM
(2) Against Conscription and the Military Training of Youth 1930, signed among others by Jane Addams, Paul Birukoff und Valentin Bulgakoff (secretaries of ...
www.peace.ca/manifestoagainstconscription.htm - 5k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
DAVID ROVICS’ “HALLIBURTON BOARDROOM”
(last night Peace Train played during CAT Message Board, instead of KXUA's audio. A couple of my favorites played, “Baghdad Suite”, and David Rovics’ “Halliburton Boardroom Massacre.” Jim Hale )
I joined the army when high school was through I didn’t know what else to do
Thought I’d take care of that traveling jones Then maybe take out some student loans
They sent me away to the land of the dead Where I didn’t know a word that they said
I got shot at a lot, I was nearly toast But its the ones that I killed that hurts the most Most
of the time I didnt know what was going on The rest of the time I knew there was something
going wrong Every reason we were there turned out to be a lie I thought of that each time I
saw another person die I was supposed to stay for a year, they kept me for four By the time
I got back home no one knew me anymore Of the man I once was there didnt seem to be a
trace And when I looked me in the mirror I didnt recognize my face I wasnt home too long
before the time that I fell ill It was like the air was thick as mud and I ached enough to kill I
didnt know Id been fighting in a nuclear war DU was in my blood and I was knocking on
deaths door I cant tell you how it felt to be betrayed at every turn Like the earth was spinning
backwards, like my heart began to burn Like I had to do something while I still had the strength
to stand While I still could run with a machine gun in my hand I thought of Halliburton and the
military brass And the things they get away with all for their ruling class But Im not a pawn and
I cant just let it be And if Im gonna die, Im gonna take some of them fuc*ers with me Ill spare
you the details, I did what I had to do Theres a boardroom blown to hell and soon I will be, too
You can say I lost it, you can say that Im insane But may no one ever say that my death was
in vain I joined the army when high school was through I didnt know what else to do.
ARTICLE ON COUNTER-RECRUITING
Here's a good article about countering military recruitment:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/chartier/chartier103.html
NEW FILMS INSPIRING REFLECTION ABOUT JOINING UP FOR WAR
If young folks saw the testimonials of returning soldiers like this:
http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier/testimony/rules-engagement-part-2/jon-turner/video)
they might think twice about joining.
The movie "Redacted" would also be good to show to youngsters considering joining up.
(Article and films from Bill O.)
Also see “The Valley of Elah” and “Stop Loss.”
BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL VERSUS MARINE RECRUITING STATION
February 14, 2008
Dear Dick,
Watch veterans and youth speak out in our video, and sign our petition!
In the early hours of yesterday morning, we witnessed a historical moment in the anti-war struggle. The Berkeley City Council withstood thousands of hate-filled emails, threats to cut off state and federal funds, hundreds of irate pro-war activists descending on their town insisting they were anti-troops. They stood firm in their opposition to a Marine Recruiting Station in the heart of their peace-loving city. Yesterday as we gathered to celebrate, the City Council expressed their gratitude of the resolve and tenacity of CODEPINK. Finally people in power modeling for Congress how to choose peace, instead of trembling in fear as the right hurls insults and threats.
Help us spread this campaign and sign our pledge of resistance to military recruiting and war and watch the video of youth and veterans speaking out for peace in Berkeley!
Today, CODEPINKers and friends are holding "kiss-ins" at recruiting centers around the country with the message, "Don't Enlist, Stay and Kiss (”That Way Everyone Makes Out!" Of course, these actions are energized by the recent landmark actions in Berkeley. We are using the creative power of love to combat the destructive power of war. How better to celebrate Valentine's Day?!
Standing strong, with hearts wide open,
Dana, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Liz, Medea, Nancy and Rae
Sign our pledge of resistance to military recruiting and the war!
“IT’S MY LIFE! A GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVES AFTER HIGH SCHOOL”, from the AFSC for young people who aren’t ready to make a decision about their future. Chapters on training and apprenticeships, travel, national service, social activism, “green” careers, paying for college, and more. 89pp. $9.95. www.afsc.org/store; www.afsc.org/itsmylife
GI Rights Hotline website is www.girightshotline.org . The
phone numbers are 877-447-4487, and in Alaska 888-554-2822 or
907-374-2822. It is a network of non-profit, nongovernmental agencies
which provides information to members of the military about
conscientious objection, discharges, grievance and complaint procedures
and other civil rights; and information for people in the Delayed
Enlistment Program.
CONTACT THE PRINCIPAL OF YOUR HIGH SCHOOL. FORM A GROUP OF PARENTS TO EXPOSE RECRUTING PRACTICES. COUNTER-RECRUITING SHOULD BE AN IMPORTANT PART OF OMNI’S COMPREHENSIVE ANTI-WAR STRATEGY.
OMNI NEEDS A COUNTER-RECRUITING COORDINATOR. Contact Gladys Tiffany.
END OF OMNI’S NEWSLETTER #1 ON COUNTER-RECRUITING
6-13-08
Dick Bennett
jbennet@uark.edu
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
House of Representatives sends 35 articles of impeachment to Judiciary Committee
By a bipartisan vote of 251-166, the full House of Representatives sent Dennis Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment to the Judiciary Committee.
That means Chairman John Conyers now has the power to decide whether to hold impeachment hearings - or not.
Incredibly, 24 Republicans voted with 227 Democrats; the 166 no votes came exclusively from Republicans.
So what will Conyers do? After the Downing Street Memo was published on May 1, 2005, Democrats.com worked closely with Conyers to hold the famous basement hearings featuring Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern, and John Bonifaz. In August 2006, Conyers published all of the evidence of Bush's crimes in The Constitution in Crisis. Many of us believed he would begin impeachment proceedings if Democrats won the House, which they did that November.
But in the spring of 2006, Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment "off the table." And when Democrats took control and Conyers was sworn in as Judiciary Chairman, he fell firmly into line behind the Speaker. (Conyers insists Pelosi did not threaten to deny him the Chairmanship.)
Since 2005, Conyers has received millions of impeachment petitions. Hundreds if not thousands of activists have spoken to him personally. But he remains adamantly opposed to hearings, for one simple reason: he fears it will hurt the Democratic candidate for President (now Barack Obama) in November.
http://www.democrats.com/house-sends-impeachment-to-john-conyers
© 2008 Microsoft
That means Chairman John Conyers now has the power to decide whether to hold impeachment hearings - or not.
Incredibly, 24 Republicans voted with 227 Democrats; the 166 no votes came exclusively from Republicans.
So what will Conyers do? After the Downing Street Memo was published on May 1, 2005, Democrats.com worked closely with Conyers to hold the famous basement hearings featuring Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern, and John Bonifaz. In August 2006, Conyers published all of the evidence of Bush's crimes in The Constitution in Crisis. Many of us believed he would begin impeachment proceedings if Democrats won the House, which they did that November.
But in the spring of 2006, Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment "off the table." And when Democrats took control and Conyers was sworn in as Judiciary Chairman, he fell firmly into line behind the Speaker. (Conyers insists Pelosi did not threaten to deny him the Chairmanship.)
Since 2005, Conyers has received millions of impeachment petitions. Hundreds if not thousands of activists have spoken to him personally. But he remains adamantly opposed to hearings, for one simple reason: he fears it will hurt the Democratic candidate for President (now Barack Obama) in November.
http://www.democrats.com/house-sends-impeachment-to-john-conyers
© 2008 Microsoft
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Kucinich, Wexler pushing for impeachment
Last night, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced the first Articles of Impeachment ever to be introduced against President Bush. It includes, in total, thirty-five Articles detailing this Administration's blatant abuse of power. Today, I enthusiastically co-sponsored this vitally important bill.
I am grateful for Dennis' leadership on this issue and for the steadfast support that countless Americans have given to both of our efforts to redeem our government and expose the crimes of Bush and Cheney.
I will now expand my efforts to secure impeachment hearings in the Judiciary Committee for these new Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush.
Many of the charges against President Bush are well known – and would shock the conscience of everyday Americans if only the national media would be willing to report on these stark facts.
The Articles present a stunning narrative of offenses that have go well beyond previous crimes committed by any US chief executive. In fact no President or Vice President in history has done more to undermine our constitution.
These charges are broad, with 35 separate allegations including the deliberate lies regarding WMDs that led us to war and the approval of illegal wiretapping of American citizens. The Articles also include new allegations of high crimes – including the explicit approval for high Administration officials to violate treaties and US law banning the use of torture.
The Democratic Party gained a majority in the House and Senate due in large part to our promises to end the corruption of the Republican majority and to hold the Administration accountable to the law. This courageous bill is a crucial step towards fulfilling this promise, but – like the Articles against Cheney – they require your support to convince Democrats and open-minded Republicans to support this bold but necessary action.
Time is running out so we must work together to spread the message and apply pressure.
First, please encourage your friends and family members to sign up at WexlerWantsHearings.com – as it will allow us to keep in touch with you and speak to a wider audience. If you haven't yet put in your phone and address, please sign up again, as we will be doing telephone town halls in the near future.
Second, call your representative and urge them to support Impeachment hearings.
Finally, contact newspapers, news stations, and your favorite bloggers and urge them to report on this movement. We need to keep Impeachment a significant news story until the Democratic leadership sees the value in it.
McClellan Agrees to Testify:
I was pleased to inform you yesterday that Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers met my call to have Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan testify under oath. I am thrilled to inform you that McClellan has agreed to testify on June 20th at 10AM. This will be the first step in what we hope will be ongoing and deepening examinations of the stark evidence and charges against both President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
Thank you for your continued passion and advocacy. Your support means so much to me.
Sincerely,
Congressman Robert Wexler
I am grateful for Dennis' leadership on this issue and for the steadfast support that countless Americans have given to both of our efforts to redeem our government and expose the crimes of Bush and Cheney.
I will now expand my efforts to secure impeachment hearings in the Judiciary Committee for these new Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush.
Many of the charges against President Bush are well known – and would shock the conscience of everyday Americans if only the national media would be willing to report on these stark facts.
The Articles present a stunning narrative of offenses that have go well beyond previous crimes committed by any US chief executive. In fact no President or Vice President in history has done more to undermine our constitution.
These charges are broad, with 35 separate allegations including the deliberate lies regarding WMDs that led us to war and the approval of illegal wiretapping of American citizens. The Articles also include new allegations of high crimes – including the explicit approval for high Administration officials to violate treaties and US law banning the use of torture.
The Democratic Party gained a majority in the House and Senate due in large part to our promises to end the corruption of the Republican majority and to hold the Administration accountable to the law. This courageous bill is a crucial step towards fulfilling this promise, but – like the Articles against Cheney – they require your support to convince Democrats and open-minded Republicans to support this bold but necessary action.
Time is running out so we must work together to spread the message and apply pressure.
First, please encourage your friends and family members to sign up at WexlerWantsHearings.com – as it will allow us to keep in touch with you and speak to a wider audience. If you haven't yet put in your phone and address, please sign up again, as we will be doing telephone town halls in the near future.
Second, call your representative and urge them to support Impeachment hearings.
Finally, contact newspapers, news stations, and your favorite bloggers and urge them to report on this movement. We need to keep Impeachment a significant news story until the Democratic leadership sees the value in it.
McClellan Agrees to Testify:
I was pleased to inform you yesterday that Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers met my call to have Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan testify under oath. I am thrilled to inform you that McClellan has agreed to testify on June 20th at 10AM. This will be the first step in what we hope will be ongoing and deepening examinations of the stark evidence and charges against both President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
Thank you for your continued passion and advocacy. Your support means so much to me.
Sincerely,
Congressman Robert Wexler
Monday, June 9, 2008
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OMNI NEWSLETTER ON HUMAN RIGHTS JUNE 8, 2008
From: Omnicenter Communications (omninews@listserv.uark.edu) on behalf of Dick Bennett (jbennet@uark.edu)
Sent: Sun 6/08/08 1:10 PM
Reply-to: Dick Bennett (jbennet@uark.edu)
To: OMNINEWS@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU
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OMNI NEWSLETTER, SPECIAL NUMBER ON the UNITED STATES VERSUS HUMAN RIGHTS, June 8, 2008, Compiled by Dick Bennett
See OMNI’s newsletters on Terror, Torture, and other related subjects.
Building a Culture of Peace Through Justice.
These materials enable us better to be WE, THE PEOPLE, informed citizens demanding a constitutional democracy.
“Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment; and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” G. B. Shaw.
SENATOR LINCOLN (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371.
Fayetteville office: 251-1380
Senator Mark Pryor: Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202) 228-0908
CONGRESSMAN Boozman: Lowell office: 479-725-0400.
DC address: 1708 Longworth House Office Bldng., Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4301.
CONTENTS
I. UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (UDHR)60TH ANNIVERSARY
Human Rights Organizations
II. USA and HUMAN RIGHTS
US Withdraws from UN Human Rights Council
US Exceptionalism
Guantanamo (3)
US and Habeas Corpus
[For remaining contents go to www.omnicenter.org]
Death Penalty: ABA
Death Penalty: NWA, John Threet
Human Rights Week 2008 at UA
Graffiti Prosecutions
I. UN UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHT 60TH ANNIVERSARY
Dear Dick,
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."
"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."
"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude...."
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
These fundamental principles are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the milestone document that for the first time set forth specific rights to which every individual is entitled. Although this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Declaration, its ideals remain far from reality in too many places.
This 60th anniversary year provides an important opportunity to renew America's commitment to the Declaration, and you can help by urging your Representative to cosponsor H. Con. Res. 332, which calls on all countries to reaffirm their commitment to the Declaration's principles of freedom and equality.
UNA-USA member Margaret "Molly" Bruce has a unique perspective on the Declaration, having worked with Eleanor Roosevelt and others in drafting the historic document. "Anniversaries," she observes, "encourage us to review the past, evaluate the present and assess the future in the light of history." While acknowledging the widespread human rights abuses that continue today, Mrs. Bruce nevertheless stresses, "Governments, however, can be pressured, they can change, and they can be swayed by the force of public opinion at home and abroad."
That Means You Can Make a Difference! To ACT NOW, click here.
HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST (orig. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights)
Human Rights First | Home Page
Human Rights First is a human rights advocacy group working on issues related to: refugees, civil liberties after September 11, Darfur, discrimination, ...
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About Human Rights Defenders
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Human Rights First | About Us - Internship program
Human Rights First believes that building respect for human rights and the rule of law will help ensure the dignity to which every individual is entitled ...
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Human Rights First - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Founded in 1978, Human Rights First also works on a range of other issues, including asylum seekers in the United States, international refugee policy, ...
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Human Rights Watch - Defending Human Rights Worldwide
Home page for Human Rights Watch, an organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists ...
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Human Rights Watch: Women's Human Rights (Discrimination ...
The Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch fights against the dehumanization and marginalization of women. We promote women's equal rights and human ...
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Human Rights Watch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Human Rights Watch is a United States-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. ...
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National organization advocating individual rights, by litigating, legislating, and educating the public on a broad array of issues affecting individual ...
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American Civil Liberties Union
This is the Web site of the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU ... Learn more about the distinction between these two components of the ACLU. ...
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S National Casework Program has some 600 groups in the US engaged on specific long-term cases. To learn more and join the Freedom Writer’s network, call 404-876-5661, or e-mail: casework@iusa.org
CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUSES in both houses of Congress since at least FEBRUARY 15, 2006 according to http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=251635
CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS BECOMES BICAMERAL
Washington, D.C. – The Congressional Human Rights Caucus, a bipartisan organization in the House of Representatives, is expanding to the U.S. Senate for the first time in its 23-year history. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) will co-chair the Senate Caucus.
The Caucus, currently with 240 House members, was founded in 1983 by Co-Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA) and former Co-Chairman John Edward Porter (R-IL). The Caucus welcomed Congressmen Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) as Co-Chair in 2001 when Porter retired. Porter continues to serve as honorary co-chair.
As a long-time supporter of human rights, I am delighted that the Senate will have a forum devoted to shedding light on human rights abuses around the world. It is my hope that this caucus will influence US foreign policy that will advance human rights throughout the world,†said Senate Co-Chair Harkin.
CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS (CHRC)
Created in 1983, the CHRC is the leading voice in Congress on human rights issues as defined in the UN DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS.
ACTION; Urge Rep. John Boozman to join the Caucus, at 202-225-4301. And write his staff: they follow Boozman’s limited vision, but because they can also influence him we need to educate them. Write Cong. Boozman and his staff regularly. They hear mainly from people who agree with his values.
II. USA and HUMAN RIGHTS
See OMNI’s Newsletters on Torture.
US WITHDRAWS FROM UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Google news has at least 7 news articles about this matter at the following link http://news.google.com/news?rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-us&tab=wn&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1219826754
June 7, 2008 3:40 PM | permalink
The US has pulled out of the United Nations' Human Rights Council, "an international body within the United Nations System. Its stated purpose is to address human rights violations."
The news that the US has completely withdrawn from the Human Rights Council spread like wildfire Friday afternoon (June 6) through the corridors of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. There was general consternation amongst diplomats and NGOS. Reached by phone, the American mission in Geneva neither confirmed nor denied the report. Although unofficial, the news comes at a time of long opposition by the Bush administration to the reforms which created the Human Rights Council in June 2006. Washington announced from the beginning that the US would not be an active member but its observer status would mean that it could intervene during the sessions. To date even this has rarely happened.
Link (from Chris)
HRW slams US over disengagement from UN Rights Council
Hindu, India - Jun 6, 2008
New York (PTI): A prominent international human rights watchdog has slammed the United States for its decision to disengage entirely from the United Nations ...
US EXCEPTIONALISM
US policies can be better understood in the context of the old, deeply
ingrained belief by the people of the US in the unique superiority of the USA. A good source for understanding is American Exceptionalism and Human Rights edited by Michael Ignatieff. This conviction, or hubris, enables our leaders to exempt the nation from international conventions and treaties by reservation, nonratification, or noncompliance; to employ double standards of judging the nation and its friends by more permissive criteria than it does its enemies; and to deny jurisdiction to international laws within its own domestic law. Recently a writer in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (4-14-08) justified the establishment of the U.S. military’s new African Command as necessary to “make [Africa] less vulnerable to extremists.” Obviously the writer did not consider the fact and the global perception of the US as itself extremist, itself the greatest example today of State Terror.
Subscribe to WILLIAM BLUM, Anti-Empire Report,
http://killinghope.org/aer57.htm
GUANTANAMO: January 11, December 5
Take Action, Defend International Law, the International Declaration on Human Rights, Geneva Conventions, the U. S. Bill of Rights
Donate | Calendar | Local Groups | Store
January 9, 2008
Dear Dick,
Last year at this time, the three of us were in Guantanamo, Cuba with former detainee Asif Iqbal and the mother and brother of detainee Omar Deghayes. Omar's mother, Zohar, had not seen her son in five years. When we got to the gates of the U.S. Naval Base to stage our protest, she broke down. "It breaks my heart to think of my son in a cramped narrow cell without sunshine or fresh air, living for so many years in conditions not even fit for animals," she cried.
Omar grew up in Brighton, England, where he studied law. In 2001 he traveled to Malaysia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he married and had a son. When war broke out in Afghanistan, he fled with his family to Pakistan, planning to return to England. But he was arrested, reportedly for a bounty of $5,000, and sent to Guantanamo. Omar says he was beaten repeatedly and kept in solitary confinement for eight months. In March 2004, when he protested a body cavity search, five guards pepper sprayed him so badly, he lost sight in one eye.
After six years of horrendous detention without charges or a trial, Omar was finally released on December 18, 2007. While we join his family in celebrating his release, we know over 300 prisoners still remain in Guantanamo, subjected to the same abuses and utter disregard for due process.
January 11 marks the International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo. CODEPINK is organizing a protest in Miami outside the Southern Command, which runs the prison. For a list of dozens of local protests across the country, click here. If you can't join a protest, please take a moment to call (202-353-1555) or write Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Demand that Guantanamo prison be shut down, and that all detainees either be charged and tried in US federal courts or released.
[Let’s make every day Shut Down Guantanamo Day. Dick]
Upon Omar's release from prison, he wrote the following note to CODEPINK:
"I thank everyone from America who has written and emailed my family for my release. I do not have hatred toward Americans. I know that not all Americans are bad. Even inside the prison, some guards were not bad.
I thank you for your support and ask that you continue to work hard to ensure that due process is provided for all prisoners and to force the closing of the prison in Guantanamo."
If you would like a write a note of apology to Omar or his mother, Zohra, you can send it to info@codepinkalert.org.
Let's begin the new year by demanding that our government respect the rule of law. [Let’s continue this protest here in Arkansas. Dick]
With justice for all,
Call (202-353-1555)
or write
Attorney General Michael Mukasey and demand that Guantanamo prison be shut down, and that all detainees either be charged and tried in US federal prisons or released
http://ccrjustice.org/
Guantanamo Detainees' Fates on Trial
Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet
Rights and Liberties: The upcoming Supreme Court case Boumediene v. Bush will decide whether Guantanamo detainees will still have a right to habeas corpus.
Human Rights Crusader Michael Ratner: We'll Keep Going After Bush and Cheney When They Leave Office
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear the next major challenge to Bush's imperial power grab, AlterNet talks with Michael Ratner, who has been at the center of the battle over the administration's human rights assault. Read more » http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/69421/
GUANTANAMO AND HABEAS CORPUS
center
for
constitutional
rights
Dear Dick,
Tomorrow, December 5, the Center for Constitutional Rights will return to the Supreme Court for part III of what The New York Times has called "the most important civil rights case in 50 years." Please go to our website to learn more about the arguments and principles at stake in this Guantánamo case.You can also listen to the arguments in real time tomorrow on C-SPAN radio beginning at 11:15 EST.
In the lead up to this historic argument, CCR has been undertaking a major campaign to highlight the importance of this case. As part of this campaign we produced a television ad featuring actor and activist Danny Glover speaking about Bush administration's destruction of the Constitution. This ad was rejected by Fox News, their explanation being that we could "not document that Bush is in fact 'destroying' the Constitution." It is airing tonight in the DC area on CNN and MSNBC.
Read more and watch the video.
But the serious story behind the ad is CCR's historic case before the Supreme Court, which will in all likelihood determine once and for all whether there is a constitutional right to habeas corpus - that is, a fair hearing before a real court - for everyone detained by the U.S. government at Guantánamo.
Read more about Al Odah v. United States and Boumediene v. Bush here.
This new case goes Beyond Guantánamo - we are directly challenging President Bush's unprecedented power grab, his use of torture in violation of domestic and international law, and his assertion that he can hold anyone indefinitely anywhere in the world on his word alone. The case also challenges the 2006 Republican Congress's attempt to clear his way with its passage of the Military Commissions Act.
In 2004, CCR won the first Guantánamo Supreme Court case - Rasul v. Bush - when the Supreme Court ruled that the men at Guantánamo have the fundamental right to challenge their detention.
Even though you're not in D.C. to see the arguments, you can still take action to make sure that our rights - and our Constitution - are rescued from the hands of the Bush administration, where they have been systematically shredded for the past seven years:
Send President Bush a copy of the Constitution (something he seems to have forgotten about);
Watch the controversial video with Danny Glover that was rejected by Fox News;
Watch other videos of Eve Ensler and Vanessa Redgrave speaking out against Guantánamo and forward them to your friends and family; or
Attend a local event tomorrow, check our calendar of events for actions near you.
We need your help to restore the damage done to our most basic rights: join us today and take action to Rescue the Constitution. Let's move Beyond Guantánamo.
Take
Action
Donate
To unsubscribe from this list reply to this email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line
Center for Constitutional Rights ll 666 Broadway 7th floor NY, NY 10012 ll 212-614-6464 ll www.ccrjustice.org
GUANTANAMO
Heart-wrenching accounts of individual cases of U.S. violations of prisoner rights would fill a warehouse of volumes. The Columbia Journalism Review (July-Aug. 2007) recently told about Sami al-Haj. Read it and weep. “Prisoner 345: What Happened to Al Jazeera’s Sami al-Haj” by Rachel Morris. One day he was arrested and six years later he is still at Guantanamo along with other detainees asking why they have been held there for so long without trial; that is, without any way to fairly determine whether they belong there.
Poems from Guantanamo, ed. Marc Falcoff. Thousands of lines were censored out by US Army, yet these poems remain powerful witnesses to the cruelty of that torture prison.
For the rest of this Newsletter go to OMNI’s website: www.omnicenter.org
Dick Bennett
jbennet@uark.edu
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OMNI NEWSLETTER ON HUMAN RIGHTS JUNE 8, 2008
From: Omnicenter Communications (omninews@listserv.uark.edu) on behalf of Dick Bennett (jbennet@uark.edu)
Sent: Sun 6/08/08 1:10 PM
Reply-to: Dick Bennett (jbennet@uark.edu)
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OMNI NEWSLETTER, SPECIAL NUMBER ON the UNITED STATES VERSUS HUMAN RIGHTS, June 8, 2008, Compiled by Dick Bennett
See OMNI’s newsletters on Terror, Torture, and other related subjects.
Building a Culture of Peace Through Justice.
These materials enable us better to be WE, THE PEOPLE, informed citizens demanding a constitutional democracy.
“Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment; and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” G. B. Shaw.
SENATOR LINCOLN (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371.
Fayetteville office: 251-1380
Senator Mark Pryor: Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202) 228-0908
CONGRESSMAN Boozman: Lowell office: 479-725-0400.
DC address: 1708 Longworth House Office Bldng., Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4301.
CONTENTS
I. UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (UDHR)60TH ANNIVERSARY
Human Rights Organizations
II. USA and HUMAN RIGHTS
US Withdraws from UN Human Rights Council
US Exceptionalism
Guantanamo (3)
US and Habeas Corpus
[For remaining contents go to www.omnicenter.org]
Death Penalty: ABA
Death Penalty: NWA, John Threet
Human Rights Week 2008 at UA
Graffiti Prosecutions
I. UN UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHT 60TH ANNIVERSARY
Dear Dick,
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."
"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."
"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude...."
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
These fundamental principles are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the milestone document that for the first time set forth specific rights to which every individual is entitled. Although this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Declaration, its ideals remain far from reality in too many places.
This 60th anniversary year provides an important opportunity to renew America's commitment to the Declaration, and you can help by urging your Representative to cosponsor H. Con. Res. 332, which calls on all countries to reaffirm their commitment to the Declaration's principles of freedom and equality.
UNA-USA member Margaret "Molly" Bruce has a unique perspective on the Declaration, having worked with Eleanor Roosevelt and others in drafting the historic document. "Anniversaries," she observes, "encourage us to review the past, evaluate the present and assess the future in the light of history." While acknowledging the widespread human rights abuses that continue today, Mrs. Bruce nevertheless stresses, "Governments, however, can be pressured, they can change, and they can be swayed by the force of public opinion at home and abroad."
That Means You Can Make a Difference! To ACT NOW, click here.
HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST (orig. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights)
Human Rights First | Home Page
Human Rights First is a human rights advocacy group working on issues related to: refugees, civil liberties after September 11, Darfur, discrimination, ...
www.humanrightsfirst.org/ - 36k - Cached - Similar pages
About Us
Staff
Law & Security
Contact Us
Board of Directors
About Human Rights Defenders
Contribute
More results from humanrightsfirst.org »
Human Rights First | About Us - Internship program
Human Rights First believes that building respect for human rights and the rule of law will help ensure the dignity to which every individual is entitled ...
www.humanrightsfirst.org/about_us/jobs/interns.htm - 27k - Cached - Similar pages
Human Rights First - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Founded in 1978, Human Rights First also works on a range of other issues, including asylum seekers in the United States, international refugee policy, ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_First - 18k - Cached - Similar pages
Human Rights Watch - Defending Human Rights Worldwide
Home page for Human Rights Watch, an organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists ...
www.hrw.org/ - 35k - Cached - Similar pages
Employment
Africa
Asia
Middle East
About Us
Americas
Contact Us
Publications
Human Rights Watch: Women's Human Rights (Discrimination ...
The Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch fights against the dehumanization and marginalization of women. We promote women's equal rights and human ...
www.hrw.org/women/ - 25k - Cached - Similar pages
Human Rights Watch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Human Rights Watch is a United States-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch - 67k - Cached - Similar pages
American Civil Liberties Union
National organization advocating individual rights, by litigating, legislating, and educating the public on a broad array of issues affecting individual ...
www.aclu.org/ - 29k - Cached - Similar pages
About Us
Contact
News
Donate Online
Action Center
Religion and Belief
Criminal Justice
Immigrants Rights
More results from aclu.org »
American Civil Liberties Union - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) consists of two separate non-profit organizations: the ACLU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization which focuses on ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACLU - 119k - Cached - Similar pages
American Civil Liberties Union
This is the Web site of the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU ... Learn more about the distinction between these two components of the ACLU. ...
www.aclu.com/ - 29k - Cached - Similar pages
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S National Casework Program has some 600 groups in the US engaged on specific long-term cases. To learn more and join the Freedom Writer’s network, call 404-876-5661, or e-mail: casework@iusa.org
CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUSES in both houses of Congress since at least FEBRUARY 15, 2006 according to http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=251635
CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS BECOMES BICAMERAL
Washington, D.C. – The Congressional Human Rights Caucus, a bipartisan organization in the House of Representatives, is expanding to the U.S. Senate for the first time in its 23-year history. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) will co-chair the Senate Caucus.
The Caucus, currently with 240 House members, was founded in 1983 by Co-Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA) and former Co-Chairman John Edward Porter (R-IL). The Caucus welcomed Congressmen Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) as Co-Chair in 2001 when Porter retired. Porter continues to serve as honorary co-chair.
As a long-time supporter of human rights, I am delighted that the Senate will have a forum devoted to shedding light on human rights abuses around the world. It is my hope that this caucus will influence US foreign policy that will advance human rights throughout the world,†said Senate Co-Chair Harkin.
CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS (CHRC)
Created in 1983, the CHRC is the leading voice in Congress on human rights issues as defined in the UN DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS.
ACTION; Urge Rep. John Boozman to join the Caucus, at 202-225-4301. And write his staff: they follow Boozman’s limited vision, but because they can also influence him we need to educate them. Write Cong. Boozman and his staff regularly. They hear mainly from people who agree with his values.
II. USA and HUMAN RIGHTS
See OMNI’s Newsletters on Torture.
US WITHDRAWS FROM UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Google news has at least 7 news articles about this matter at the following link http://news.google.com/news?rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-us&tab=wn&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1219826754
June 7, 2008 3:40 PM | permalink
The US has pulled out of the United Nations' Human Rights Council, "an international body within the United Nations System. Its stated purpose is to address human rights violations."
The news that the US has completely withdrawn from the Human Rights Council spread like wildfire Friday afternoon (June 6) through the corridors of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. There was general consternation amongst diplomats and NGOS. Reached by phone, the American mission in Geneva neither confirmed nor denied the report. Although unofficial, the news comes at a time of long opposition by the Bush administration to the reforms which created the Human Rights Council in June 2006. Washington announced from the beginning that the US would not be an active member but its observer status would mean that it could intervene during the sessions. To date even this has rarely happened.
Link (from Chris)
HRW slams US over disengagement from UN Rights Council
Hindu, India - Jun 6, 2008
New York (PTI): A prominent international human rights watchdog has slammed the United States for its decision to disengage entirely from the United Nations ...
US EXCEPTIONALISM
US policies can be better understood in the context of the old, deeply
ingrained belief by the people of the US in the unique superiority of the USA. A good source for understanding is American Exceptionalism and Human Rights edited by Michael Ignatieff. This conviction, or hubris, enables our leaders to exempt the nation from international conventions and treaties by reservation, nonratification, or noncompliance; to employ double standards of judging the nation and its friends by more permissive criteria than it does its enemies; and to deny jurisdiction to international laws within its own domestic law. Recently a writer in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (4-14-08) justified the establishment of the U.S. military’s new African Command as necessary to “make [Africa] less vulnerable to extremists.” Obviously the writer did not consider the fact and the global perception of the US as itself extremist, itself the greatest example today of State Terror.
Subscribe to WILLIAM BLUM, Anti-Empire Report,
http://killinghope.org/aer57.htm
GUANTANAMO: January 11, December 5
Take Action, Defend International Law, the International Declaration on Human Rights, Geneva Conventions, the U. S. Bill of Rights
Donate | Calendar | Local Groups | Store
January 9, 2008
Dear Dick,
Last year at this time, the three of us were in Guantanamo, Cuba with former detainee Asif Iqbal and the mother and brother of detainee Omar Deghayes. Omar's mother, Zohar, had not seen her son in five years. When we got to the gates of the U.S. Naval Base to stage our protest, she broke down. "It breaks my heart to think of my son in a cramped narrow cell without sunshine or fresh air, living for so many years in conditions not even fit for animals," she cried.
Omar grew up in Brighton, England, where he studied law. In 2001 he traveled to Malaysia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he married and had a son. When war broke out in Afghanistan, he fled with his family to Pakistan, planning to return to England. But he was arrested, reportedly for a bounty of $5,000, and sent to Guantanamo. Omar says he was beaten repeatedly and kept in solitary confinement for eight months. In March 2004, when he protested a body cavity search, five guards pepper sprayed him so badly, he lost sight in one eye.
After six years of horrendous detention without charges or a trial, Omar was finally released on December 18, 2007. While we join his family in celebrating his release, we know over 300 prisoners still remain in Guantanamo, subjected to the same abuses and utter disregard for due process.
January 11 marks the International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo. CODEPINK is organizing a protest in Miami outside the Southern Command, which runs the prison. For a list of dozens of local protests across the country, click here. If you can't join a protest, please take a moment to call (202-353-1555) or write Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Demand that Guantanamo prison be shut down, and that all detainees either be charged and tried in US federal courts or released.
[Let’s make every day Shut Down Guantanamo Day. Dick]
Upon Omar's release from prison, he wrote the following note to CODEPINK:
"I thank everyone from America who has written and emailed my family for my release. I do not have hatred toward Americans. I know that not all Americans are bad. Even inside the prison, some guards were not bad.
I thank you for your support and ask that you continue to work hard to ensure that due process is provided for all prisoners and to force the closing of the prison in Guantanamo."
If you would like a write a note of apology to Omar or his mother, Zohra, you can send it to info@codepinkalert.org.
Let's begin the new year by demanding that our government respect the rule of law. [Let’s continue this protest here in Arkansas. Dick]
With justice for all,
Call (202-353-1555)
or write
Attorney General Michael Mukasey and demand that Guantanamo prison be shut down, and that all detainees either be charged and tried in US federal prisons or released
http://ccrjustice.org/
Guantanamo Detainees' Fates on Trial
Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet
Rights and Liberties: The upcoming Supreme Court case Boumediene v. Bush will decide whether Guantanamo detainees will still have a right to habeas corpus.
Human Rights Crusader Michael Ratner: We'll Keep Going After Bush and Cheney When They Leave Office
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear the next major challenge to Bush's imperial power grab, AlterNet talks with Michael Ratner, who has been at the center of the battle over the administration's human rights assault. Read more » http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/69421/
GUANTANAMO AND HABEAS CORPUS
center
for
constitutional
rights
Dear Dick,
Tomorrow, December 5, the Center for Constitutional Rights will return to the Supreme Court for part III of what The New York Times has called "the most important civil rights case in 50 years." Please go to our website to learn more about the arguments and principles at stake in this Guantánamo case.You can also listen to the arguments in real time tomorrow on C-SPAN radio beginning at 11:15 EST.
In the lead up to this historic argument, CCR has been undertaking a major campaign to highlight the importance of this case. As part of this campaign we produced a television ad featuring actor and activist Danny Glover speaking about Bush administration's destruction of the Constitution. This ad was rejected by Fox News, their explanation being that we could "not document that Bush is in fact 'destroying' the Constitution." It is airing tonight in the DC area on CNN and MSNBC.
Read more and watch the video.
But the serious story behind the ad is CCR's historic case before the Supreme Court, which will in all likelihood determine once and for all whether there is a constitutional right to habeas corpus - that is, a fair hearing before a real court - for everyone detained by the U.S. government at Guantánamo.
Read more about Al Odah v. United States and Boumediene v. Bush here.
This new case goes Beyond Guantánamo - we are directly challenging President Bush's unprecedented power grab, his use of torture in violation of domestic and international law, and his assertion that he can hold anyone indefinitely anywhere in the world on his word alone. The case also challenges the 2006 Republican Congress's attempt to clear his way with its passage of the Military Commissions Act.
In 2004, CCR won the first Guantánamo Supreme Court case - Rasul v. Bush - when the Supreme Court ruled that the men at Guantánamo have the fundamental right to challenge their detention.
Even though you're not in D.C. to see the arguments, you can still take action to make sure that our rights - and our Constitution - are rescued from the hands of the Bush administration, where they have been systematically shredded for the past seven years:
Send President Bush a copy of the Constitution (something he seems to have forgotten about);
Watch the controversial video with Danny Glover that was rejected by Fox News;
Watch other videos of Eve Ensler and Vanessa Redgrave speaking out against Guantánamo and forward them to your friends and family; or
Attend a local event tomorrow, check our calendar of events for actions near you.
We need your help to restore the damage done to our most basic rights: join us today and take action to Rescue the Constitution. Let's move Beyond Guantánamo.
Take
Action
Donate
To unsubscribe from this list reply to this email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line
Center for Constitutional Rights ll 666 Broadway 7th floor NY, NY 10012 ll 212-614-6464 ll www.ccrjustice.org
GUANTANAMO
Heart-wrenching accounts of individual cases of U.S. violations of prisoner rights would fill a warehouse of volumes. The Columbia Journalism Review (July-Aug. 2007) recently told about Sami al-Haj. Read it and weep. “Prisoner 345: What Happened to Al Jazeera’s Sami al-Haj” by Rachel Morris. One day he was arrested and six years later he is still at Guantanamo along with other detainees asking why they have been held there for so long without trial; that is, without any way to fairly determine whether they belong there.
Poems from Guantanamo, ed. Marc Falcoff. Thousands of lines were censored out by US Army, yet these poems remain powerful witnesses to the cruelty of that torture prison.
For the rest of this Newsletter go to OMNI’s website: www.omnicenter.org
Dick Bennett
jbennet@uark.edu
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Global warming called a war-generating machine
Global Warming is a war generating machine. Fight it to avoid more conflict.
Cutting back would hae been gentle if started iin 1990. Sarting cutting back this late, now, if to be successful - it's going to be really drastic. But even so, not as bad as the comnig Runaway Global Warming.
Harry Holloway
------------------------------------------------
Came from
aubrey@gci.org.uk
via GCN@igc.topica.com
------------------------------------------------------------
Various C&C News World Environment Day
[1] “The Age of Stupid”
Simply the best film on climate change ever made. The 'Age of Stupid'
was previewed to a selcted audience in London yesterday.
This full-length climate docu-drama is certainly informative. It is also
authentically hilarious yet gut-wrenching around the folly of our double
standards on the global impacts of poverty and climate change - now and
into the future.
The film's grim prognosis is seen ‘retrospectively’ by the actor Peter
Postlethwaite. He reviews the descent into the hell-on-earth of runaway
climate change from a specially created ‘future-archive for a failed
civilizations’ in the Artic Ocean.
Picking up the words of a Katrina survivor he asks ‘how could we have
been so stupid?’
The film recognises that the only serious proposal between now and that
prognosis-come-true is C&C.
As serious critical journalism, this film ranks with Naomi Klein, Robert
Fiske and a host of eminent others. But for relevance it outranks them
all as it understand the reality in the recent words about climate
change of James Hansen: - “The stakes, for all life on the planet,
surpass those of any previous crisis. The greatest danger is continued
ignorance and denial, which could make tragic consequences unavoidable.”
An extraordinarily effective piece of work. If five-stars is tops this
gets them all.
The general release date has not yet been revealed.
http://www.crudemovie.net/category/film
All this goes straight to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Climate
Change. The news from there is that the UK Climate Bill is back for
'debate' in the UK Parliament next week. Still without any coherent
methodology behind its numbers for emissions control, it is said the
Government want its 'Royal Assent' before summer recess [Mid July].
This UK 'uni-lateralism' is at odds with the debate beginning again in
the US Senate where, the Liebermann 'Climate Act' notwithstanding, the
demand for globality [this equals at least India and China on the
accounts] hasn't gone away and the 'pragmatic' C&C answer to this
stand-off has been upheld on both sides of that divide.
We are now beyond climate denial. So the severe and worsening problem
for us is 'picking emissions control numbers out-of-a-hat' . . . that
don't add up now to a coherently safe and stable ppmv outcome. With
Hansen calling for 350 ppmv [!] all out best local efforts will be
wasted in the large global failure that attends this absence.
As the film upholds, there is a way to address this - its called C&C.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[2] Fair Shares Fair Choice: -
http://www.fairsharesfairchoice.com/
A brilliant local campaign in the UK South West specifically based on
C&C: -
http://www.fairsharesfairchoice.com/the_science.asp
. . . . has reached the support figure of 1,000 MPs and Councillors etc.
Here is the press release from Sustainability South West: -
http://www.gci.org.uk/press/Fair_Shares_Press_Release.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[3] Nice new website for the indefatigable C&C champion Mayer Hillman: -
http://www.mayerhillman.com/Articles/tabid/101/EntryID/51/Default.aspx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[4] A very funny and very clever critique of Foot-printing/C&C at ‘Cheat
Neutral’: -
http://www.maxgladwell.com/2008/05/what-is-your-cheating-footprint/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[5] Some more C&C input to Government from: -
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file30864.pdf [Plaid Cymru]
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file30744.pdf [Brecon Beacons]
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file31378.pdf [Welsh Greens]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[6] Derek Wall of the UK Green Party – “C&C is Progress”!
http://another-green-world.blogspot.com/2008/06/permanent-revolution.html
Cutting back would hae been gentle if started iin 1990. Sarting cutting back this late, now, if to be successful - it's going to be really drastic. But even so, not as bad as the comnig Runaway Global Warming.
Harry Holloway
------------------------------------------------
Came from
aubrey@gci.org.uk
via GCN@igc.topica.com
------------------------------------------------------------
Various C&C News World Environment Day
[1] “The Age of Stupid”
Simply the best film on climate change ever made. The 'Age of Stupid'
was previewed to a selcted audience in London yesterday.
This full-length climate docu-drama is certainly informative. It is also
authentically hilarious yet gut-wrenching around the folly of our double
standards on the global impacts of poverty and climate change - now and
into the future.
The film's grim prognosis is seen ‘retrospectively’ by the actor Peter
Postlethwaite. He reviews the descent into the hell-on-earth of runaway
climate change from a specially created ‘future-archive for a failed
civilizations’ in the Artic Ocean.
Picking up the words of a Katrina survivor he asks ‘how could we have
been so stupid?’
The film recognises that the only serious proposal between now and that
prognosis-come-true is C&C.
As serious critical journalism, this film ranks with Naomi Klein, Robert
Fiske and a host of eminent others. But for relevance it outranks them
all as it understand the reality in the recent words about climate
change of James Hansen: - “The stakes, for all life on the planet,
surpass those of any previous crisis. The greatest danger is continued
ignorance and denial, which could make tragic consequences unavoidable.”
An extraordinarily effective piece of work. If five-stars is tops this
gets them all.
The general release date has not yet been revealed.
http://www.crudemovie.net/category/film
All this goes straight to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Climate
Change. The news from there is that the UK Climate Bill is back for
'debate' in the UK Parliament next week. Still without any coherent
methodology behind its numbers for emissions control, it is said the
Government want its 'Royal Assent' before summer recess [Mid July].
This UK 'uni-lateralism' is at odds with the debate beginning again in
the US Senate where, the Liebermann 'Climate Act' notwithstanding, the
demand for globality [this equals at least India and China on the
accounts] hasn't gone away and the 'pragmatic' C&C answer to this
stand-off has been upheld on both sides of that divide.
We are now beyond climate denial. So the severe and worsening problem
for us is 'picking emissions control numbers out-of-a-hat' . . . that
don't add up now to a coherently safe and stable ppmv outcome. With
Hansen calling for 350 ppmv [!] all out best local efforts will be
wasted in the large global failure that attends this absence.
As the film upholds, there is a way to address this - its called C&C.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[2] Fair Shares Fair Choice: -
http://www.fairsharesfairchoice.com/
A brilliant local campaign in the UK South West specifically based on
C&C: -
http://www.fairsharesfairchoice.com/the_science.asp
. . . . has reached the support figure of 1,000 MPs and Councillors etc.
Here is the press release from Sustainability South West: -
http://www.gci.org.uk/press/Fair_Shares_Press_Release.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[3] Nice new website for the indefatigable C&C champion Mayer Hillman: -
http://www.mayerhillman.com/Articles/tabid/101/EntryID/51/Default.aspx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[4] A very funny and very clever critique of Foot-printing/C&C at ‘Cheat
Neutral’: -
http://www.maxgladwell.com/2008/05/what-is-your-cheating-footprint/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[5] Some more C&C input to Government from: -
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file30864.pdf [Plaid Cymru]
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file30744.pdf [Brecon Beacons]
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file31378.pdf [Welsh Greens]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[6] Derek Wall of the UK Green Party – “C&C is Progress”!
http://another-green-world.blogspot.com/2008/06/permanent-revolution.html
Senator Pryor scheduled to speak at 6 p.m. Friday in Rogers during Bean Supper.
Senator Mark Pryor is scheduled to be the featured guest at the Benton County Democratic Party bean supper at 6 p.m. Friday June 6, 2008, at Samaritan Communtiy Center at 1211 West Hudson in Rogers. (heading north from fay, exit 86 then head east (right) for 2.7 miles. The center is on the left a little past a traffic light.) Pryor has a plane ticket to return to Washington, D.C., should he be needed for a critical vote. If he doesn't come Friday night, his aide, Randy Massinelli, will speak. He knows what is going on and can field questions. Please attend and share your thought. Tickets are 10 bucks.
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