This weekend was a truly inspirational and powerful gathering made possible only by the collective work of thousands of activists like you.

Photo by Linda Panetta of Optical Realities.

Yesterday morning, we came together at the gates of Ft. Benning to solemnly remember those killed by the graduates of the SOA. Four carried their witness across military lines and were arrested on the base: Nancy Gwin of Syracuse, NY; Ken Hayes of Austin, TX; Fr. Louis Vitale of Oakland, CA; and Michael Walli of Washington, DC.

Michael Walli is refusing to post bail, and will remain in custody at least until the trial in January 2010. Nancy, Ken and Louis have been released and are headed back to their communities to spread the truth about the SOA/WHINSEC. You can join them! Keep your eyes out for further updates with messages about their journeys.

Following the procession, several hundred activists risked arrest, marching into the street beyond the confines of the protest to carry their message of resistance and people power even further. Puppetistas carrying large puppets of the six Jesuit martyrs alongside Cakalak Thunder and other drumming groups led a march together beyond police barricades to lift of the spirit of life so as to better remember the work and ideas of those who we have lost. Resistencia, Presente!

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Procession and Vigil at Stewart Detention Center, Friday 11/20

Dear Radio Friend, The latest Shortwave Report (November 20) is up at the website http://www.outfarpress.com/outfarpress/shortwave.shtml in both broadcast quality (13.3MB) and quickdownload or streaming form (4.9MB) (28:59) (NEW! If you have access to Audioport.org there is a higher quality version posted up there {26.7MB} http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=producer-info&uid=904&nav=&) This week's show features stories from China Radio International, Radio Netherlands, Radio Havana Cuba, and the Voice of Russia. From CHINA- First a roundup of President Obama's four day visit to China- he held a townhall meeting with Chinese students, coauthored a statement of cooperation with China on energy and the environment, and pledged to work on issues with common responsibility. A Chinese solar panel manufacturer is setting up a plant in Arizona. A three day summit was held by the UN in Rome on global food security- a representative from Oxfam rated the summit as a 2 on a scale of 10, saying the world needs massive action on hunger and agriculture now. From NETHERLANDS- Radio Netherlands has eliminated shortwave broadcasts to North America. The decision is based on their surveys that find very few listeners in N America. If you ever listen to RN on shortwave, please let them know- by email to letters@rnw.nl or send them a letter to Radio Netherlands Worldwide, PO Box 222, 1200JG, Hilversum, The Netherlands. More on the Hunger Summit in Rome- many see the FAO, the Food and Agricultural Organization, as a failure that needs to be replaced. British Prime Minister Brown will offer an apology next year to the hundreds of thousands of children that were sent to colonies to be abused and over worked on state run farms.

In Summerville, Georgia, this dog is about to die unless someone finds it in their heart to save him. Bandy was caught in a trap, and then picked up by the dog catchers. He was taken to the Chattooga County animal control shelter. Animals in this shelter are subject to euthanasia after a 5 day holding period. Bandy has been there longer than any other dog. Because the shelter was not full, he was allowed to stay there for months while people walked right past his cage and ignored him. But the shelter is full now, and they are ready to start euthanizing. He MUST be saved by someone with a good heart or they will put him down. He is scared, and needs someone to love him. Bandy was a stray, and like so many dogs, a victim of people who don't think there is anything wrong with letting their dogs have puppies. Too many people think it's all right to BUY a dog at a pet store, while dogs like this die in shelters. And too many people think it's all right to BREED dogs for profit, even though this is the fallout. This dog deserves to live. So many people walk right past the cages of the black dogs, not even seeming to see them at all. "Just another black dog," they imagine. But Bandy is a heroic little dog who really wants to live. Please be the one to save him. Here is his petfinders link: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14492406 (This site is invaluable for people who care about animals, because they do not sell animals. They simply let you search shelters for any animal you would like to adopt.) If you can save Bandy, PLEASE call the Chattooga County Animal Shelter IMMEDIATELY. Their number is 706.857.0679. Tell them you want to save this life.

United Nations Asked For Help In Federal Prosecution Of Chattanooga Police Officers (Nashville, Tenn.) – A complaint sent Nov. 5 to the U.N. Human Rights Council accuses the U.S. Department of Justice of failing to protect the civil rights of African Americans in Chattanooga and Hamilton County by refusing to prosecute law enforcement officers who have used deadly force to kill 61 people, most of whom were black, since 1983. The over five dozen murders of citizens by Chattanooga area police are examples of a long history of “racialized policing” in the United States that will not end without the “external prodding” of the U.S. judicial system from international bodies like the UNHRC, according to the 14-page complaint. It asks the human rights council to urge the DOJ to sue the city of Chattanooga for engaging “in a pattern and practice of police misconduct” against black people, and asks for the long-sought criminal prosecution of two ex-jailers. Chattanooga ranks No. 1 in the United States in incidents of police brutality in cities of less than 200,000 people and No. 7 for fatal encounters with police, according to DOJ and FBI reports. The complaint was filed by Power to the People, a Nashville-based non-profit, human rights organization, and Maxine Cousin, co-founder of Concerned Citizens for Justice, a Chattanooga civil rights group. The legal redress chairman of Power to the People, Lorenzo Ervin, is a former president of Concerned Citizens for Justice and was an activist against racism and police brutality in his hometown of Chattanooga for 18 years. Cousin’s father, Wadie Suttles, a 66-year-old black man, was beaten to death while a prisoner at the Chattanooga City Jail in December, 1983.

Federal Courts Dismiss Workers' Case by Paul Wolf, World War 4 Report On August 11, 2009, the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta affirmed the dismissal of a case against the Coca-Cola Company and its Colombian subsidiaries, brought by a Colombian labor union and several of the union's leaders. The plaintiffs alleged that Coca Cola and its local bottlers collaborated with the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), a right-wing terror organization, to torture and murder the unionists, in violation of international law. The lawsuit was brought suit under the Alien Tort Claims (ATS) and Torture Victim Protection (TVPA) Acts. The case is noteworthy, not only because Coke has been the target of boycotts and protests in relation to its labor practices, but also because the decision itself helps clarify a particularly muddy and controversial area of law. In recent years, liberal activists have sought to hold US corporations liable in US courts for their actions overseas, which either constitute war crimes, or some other conduct universally prohibited under international law. While the outcome may be disappointing, once the details are understood, it is hardly surprising, and should not be seen as a setback for advocates of corporate responsibility. The Coke case was really a stretch. The plaintiffs did not allege that Coca-Cola USA was directly responsible for any of the murders. Instead, liability was premised on a complex chain of relationships. In the words of the Court: Plaintiffs attempt to connect the Coca-Cola Defendants to the local facilities’ management through a series of agency and alter ego relationships. For example, in the [Isidro Segundo] Gil case, the plaintiffs' layered theory of agency and alter ego liability is as follows: the bottling facility, Bebidas [y Alimentos, in Carepa, Antioquia], is responsible for the acts of its employees, including conspiring with local paramilitaries to rid the facility of unions.

Few Americans dispute the fact we live in a country which savors freedoms and liberties. Often taken for granted, we have so many choices. We can conversate with who we choose and when. We communicate online with whomever we wish barring few exceptions. We can send mail to almost anyone. We can hear from any and all political parties during presidential elections - given they're Democrat or Republican.

If they're not the chances of us hearing from them are well... unlikely. What could any party not Democrat or Republican have to offer or say anyway? Democrats and Republicans must cover the gamut of what Americans hope to hear or surely there would be alternate voices. Two parties would never be the beginning and end to American political opinion if they did not represent a desire on the part of the American public to be boxed and limited.

Surely there must be some wise omnipotent body of scholars who understand this, and, though we think of ourselves as more of a melting pot, have decided two was enough - no more, no less, no way. Kind of like when the big three decided they knew what was best for us. That worked well.

And after all who are we to question it? It's only our hard earned dollars which fund all military, infrastructure and any other publicly funded endeavors our governments at all levels seek to undertake including public campaign financing. All on our behalf of course.

But maybe not. When we were getting the strange feeling we'd been duped by the G.W. Bush administration with regards to the case for invading Iraq perhaps another voice would have helped. After the economy had come unglued over the past few years perhaps the input of another view or maybe two to help us balance our decisions could have helped to bring clarity to the debate. Perhaps a voice other than Republican or Democrat does not have to be radical, out there or necessarily nutty.

11ish - 1pm Rally at City Hall -
>> We will lay all the markers on the lawn of city hall, there will be a few
>> speaker's, we'll raise hell. . . .ect. ect. Cascade will be serving lunch.

Thursday Oct 29th at 4pm in atlanta ! Cigna Health Care

 

Join us to protest Cigna's horror stories: denied claims, increased premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, dropped coverage- it's enough to make you scream! Cash prize for best costume and sign! Costumes are not necessary to participate and children are welcome. We will also draw attention to Sen. Isakson's support for the insurance industry. We need him to say no to the insurance companies and yes to a strong public option! Bring your cell phones so we can call Sen. Isakson and ask him to stop putting health insurance company interests before people.

We will meet on the street in front of Cigna. We encourage attendees to bring signs, wear costumes, and bring cell phones. However, these things are not necessary to participate.

 

(quotes in this report are paraphrased from notes taken during the forum)

On Monday, October 5th, community groups including the Virginia Highland Church, BLOCS (Building Locally to Organize for Community Safety), ATAC (Atlantans Together Against Crime), as well as representatives from the Atlanta Police Department held a forum to discuss the police department's recent raid on the Atlanta Eagle, a prominent gay nightclub.

Expectations of a genuinely open and forthcoming discussion were lowered at the very beginning when police refused to discuss the incident at all, preferring instead to have a dialogue around more general issues of policy and tolerance in the police department.

Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality set the tone of the discussion early by placing the Atlanta Eagle raid in the context of 70 years of police harassment and targetting of GLBT social venues. He pointed out that police vice units have been used throughout the past century as a way to persecute GLBT gatherings. "We want to feel like equal citizens, not targets in our own communities."

Forum attendees were especially interested in the role of the Red Dog Unit, a special police unit which is trained as a SWAT team and uses especially aggressive tactics. Police representatives said the Red Dogs were formed in the 1990s as a response to increased gang activity, and are currently used mostly to deal with so-called "open air drug markets". Despite repeated criticism of the decision to send a SWAT force to the Eagle, police representatives were unapologetic, saying that the Red Dogs are specially trained for this type of operation and are very well disciplined. One attendee asked "Who is policing the Red Dogs?"