Showing posts with label human rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human rights. Show all posts

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Obama worse than Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Dubya on immigration

Washington raid brings deportations, mixed signals

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — First they were arrested and faced deportation under what has proven to be the Obama administration's only workplace raid. Then they were given work permits, and told they could stay in the United States while their employer was being prosecuted.

Now, the more than two dozen undocumented workers arrested during the February raid here at Yamato Engine Specialists Ltd. are again facing deportation.

"Well, what can you do? You can't run, that'd be worse," Gerardo Arreola Gonzalez, one of the 28 workers arrested, said about the raid. "I had to face it. Yes, I felt fear, thinking, 'The dream is over.'"

Gonzalez's unusual journey through the immigration system symbolizes just how much immigration policy has changed under President Barack Obama — and how it's still a work in progress.

The deportations and likely removals are a conclusion to a case that displeased both advocates for illegal immigrants and those who lobby for stricter immigration enforcement.

In this case, the company, the workers, and even the Seattle U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office that conducted the raid came in for some sort of punishment or special scrutiny.

Two days after the raid, ICE officials traded urgent e-mails going over answers to questions sent by an apparently miffed White House, according to e-mails obtained by the Associated Press through a federal records request.

In all, 28 men and women — mostly from Mexico — were arrested that February morning. One man opted to leave the country shortly after the raid. The 27 who remained were given work permits until the case against Yamato ended.

Now, five of the 27 workers have been deported. Seven have been allowed to leave the country voluntarily and 15 await court dates with an immigration judge, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lorie Dankers.

Dankers declined to comment further on the case.

"We're disappointed. We really did think that things would be different under the Obama administration," said Pramila Jayapal, executive director of OneAmerica, a Seattle-based immigration advocacy group. "It's very mixed signals ... we thought we were getting an administration that was supportive."

Immigration advocates were elated when Obama took office, thinking he'd bring immigrant-friendly enforcement policies. The raid shocked them, and they protested loudly.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano then ordered an internal review of the raid. The workers arrested were given work permits, and the company became the focus of the investigation.

But those who favor strict immigration enforcement saw Napolitano's review as a signal for lax enforcement, and a rebuke to the Bush administration's immigration policy.

For William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, Obama's approach to targeting involved employers is no better than the Bush administration's targeting of those here illegally. Both are incomplete policies, he said.

"I am for the actual enforcement against all parties involved in illegal immigration," Gheen said. "Obama is an arbitrary enforcer, just like Bush, on immigration."

The Obama administration's approach became clearer in the months after the raid: a focus on employers. Hundreds of audit forms were sent out to businesses nationwide, notifying employers to certify that their workers have valid Social Security numbers and other forms of identification proving eligibility to work in the U.S. The administration has also sought to maintain workable enforcement agreements between ICE and local police agencies, and has sought to improve conditions for immigrants detained by the government.

The government's audits of employment status have led to significant job losses. In Los Angeles, American Apparel fired 1,500 workers in September. In Minneapolis, another 1,200 janitors were cut in November.

In order to level charges against employers who hire illegal immigrants, federal prosecutors need the testimony of those workers, and that requires the arrest, confinement and questioning of employees to obtain evidence.

"The most convincing part of that proof comes from illegal aliens," Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Reno said after the Yamato case. "It's going to be just as disruptive to the illegal aliens. That's not going to change."

That new reality doesn't sit well with either side of the immigration debate.

"How could you trust their testimony if you bribed them for it? These people will say anything you want them to say," Gheen said.

"They're saying they're not actively going after the worker, but the workers are a casualty when they have lost their jobs," Jayapal said.

Meanwhile, ICE officials were heartened by some of the response they received to the raid, according to the e-mails obtained by the AP.

Seattle-based Special Agent in Charge Leigh Winchell forwarded an e-mail to his staff from Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, a vocal immigration enforcement advocate, who said Napolitano's call for a review was "backwards."

"I cannot control the politics that take place with these types of situations, but I can remind you that you are great servants of this country and this agency," Winchell wrote to his troops.

Days after the raid, Winchell told his office to convey that ICE is going after the employer, not the workers, according to the e-mails.

The case against Yamato concluded in September with a $100,000 fine being leveled. Members of the immigrant family that owns the company issued a public apology. Yamoto's owners fled Uganda four decades ago when dictator Idi Amin's regime drove out the country's entrepreneurial Indian minority.

Messages left with Yamato management for this story were not returned.

With the case wrapped up, notices of court appearances for the workers began to appear. ICE agents had warned the workers of it.

Gonzalez, who is from Mexico, had entered the country in 1998 at the age of 19, first living in Arizona, where he started his family. He came to Washington seeking a better job, becoming a welder at Yamato, making $10 an hour. For now, a local lawyer is helping him but he knows he could face deportation.

"If I have to go to my country, I have to go to my country," Gonzalez said. "...it'll be a challenge for (my family)."

At Yamato, under a basket of employment applications, a poster now warns that Yamato is a company that uses E-verify — the federal program that checks a worker's eligibility to work in the United States.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Story of My Shoe by Muntadhar al-Zaidi

Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi who threw his shoe at George Bush gave this speech on his recent release.

In the name of God, the most gracious and most merciful.

Here I am, free. But my country is still a prisoner of war.

Firstly, I give my thanks and my regards to everyone who stood beside me, whether inside my country, in the Islamic world, in the free world. There has been a lot of talk about the action and about the person who took it, and about the hero and the heroic act, and the symbol and the symbolic act.

But, simply, I answer: What compelled me to confront is the injustice that befell my people, and how the occupation wanted to humiliate my homeland by putting it under its boot.

And how it wanted to crush the skulls of (the homeland’s) sons under its boots, whether sheikhs, women, children or men. And during the past few years, more than a million martyrs fell by the bullets of the occupation and the country is now filled with more than 5 million orphans, a million widows and hundreds of thousands of maimed. And many millions of homeless because of displacement inside and outside the country.

We used to be a nation in which the Arab would share with the Turkman and the Kurd and the Assyrian and the Sabean and the Yazid his daily bread. And the Shiite would pray with the Sunni in one line. And the Muslim would celebrate with the Christian the birthday of Christ, may peace be upon him. And despite the fact that we shared hunger under sanctions for more than 10 years, for more than a decade.

Our patience and our solidarity did not make us forget the oppression. Until we were invaded by the illusion of liberation that some had. (The occupation) divided one brother from another, one neighbor from another, and the son from his uncle. It turned our homes into never-ending funeral tents. And our graveyards spread into parks and roadsides. It is a plague. It is the occupation that is killing us, that is violating the houses of worship and the sanctity of our homes and that is throwing thousands daily into makeshift prisons.

I am not a hero, and I admit that. But I have a point of view and I have a stance. It humiliated me to see my country humiliated. And to see my Baghdad burned. And my people being killed. Thousands of tragic pictures remained in my head, and this weighs on me every day and pushes me toward the righteous path, the path of confrontation, the path of rejecting injustice, deceit and duplicity. It deprived me of a good night’s sleep.

Dozens, no, hundreds, of images of massacres that would turn the hair of a newborn white used to bring tears to my eyes and wound me. The scandal of Abu Ghraib. The massacre of Fallujah, Najaf, Haditha, Sadr City, Basra, Diyala, Mosul, Tal Afar, and every inch of our wounded land. In the past years, I traveled through my burning land and saw with my own eyes the pain of the victims, and hear with my own ears the screams of the bereaved and the orphans. And a feeling of shame haunted me like an ugly name because I was powerless.

And as soon as I finished my professional duties in reporting the daily tragedies of the Iraqis, and while I washed away the remains of the debris of the ruined Iraqi houses, or the traces of the blood of victims that stained my clothes, I would clench my teeth and make a pledge to our victims, a pledge of vengeance.

The opportunity came, and I took it.

I took it out of loyalty to every drop of innocent blood that has been shed through the occupation or because of it, every scream of a bereaved mother, every moan of an orphan, the sorrow of a rape victim, the teardrop of an orphan.

I say to those who reproach me: Do you know how many broken homes that shoe that I threw had entered because of the occupation? How many times it had trodden over the blood of innocent victims? And how many times it had entered homes in which free Iraqi women and their sanctity had been violated? Maybe that shoe was the appropriate response when all values were violated.

When I threw the shoe in the face of the criminal, Bush, I wanted to express my rejection of his lies, his occupation of my country, my rejection of his killing my people. My rejection of his plundering the wealth of my country, and destroying its infrastructure. And casting out its sons into a diaspora.

After six years of humiliation, of indignity, of killing and violations of sanctity, and desecration of houses of worship, the killer comes, boasting, bragging about victory and democracy. He came to say goodbye to his victims and wanted flowers in response.

Put simply, that was my flower to the occupier, and to all who are in league with him, whether by spreading lies or taking action, before the occupation or after.

I wanted to defend the honor of my profession and suppressed patriotism on the day the country was violated and its high honor lost. Some say: Why didn’t he ask Bush an embarrassing question at the press conference, to shame him? And now I will answer you, journalists. How can I ask Bush when we were ordered to ask no questions before the press conference began, but only to cover the event. It was prohibited for any person to question Bush.

And in regard to professionalism: The professionalism mourned by some under the auspices of the occupation should not have a voice louder than the voice of patriotism. And if patriotism were to speak out, then professionalism should be allied with it.

I take this opportunity: If I have wronged journalism without intention, because of the professional embarrassment I caused the establishment, I wish to apologize to you for any embarrassment I may have caused those establishments. All that I meant to do was express with a living conscience the feelings of a citizen who sees his homeland desecrated every day.

History mentions many stories where professionalism was also compromised at the hands of American policymakers, whether in the assassination attempt against Fidel Castro by booby-trapping a TV camera that CIA agents posing as journalists from Cuban TV were carrying, or what they did in the Iraqi war by deceiving the general public about what was happening. And there are many other examples that I won’t get into here.

But what I would like to call your attention to is that these suspicious agencies — the American intelligence and its other agencies and those that follow them — will not spare any effort to track me down (because I am) a rebel opposed to their occupation. They will try to kill me or neutralize me, and I call the attention of those who are close to me to the traps that these agencies will set up to capture or kill me in various ways, physically, socially or professionally.

And at the time that the Iraqi prime minister came out on satellite channels to say that he didn’t sleep until he had checked in on my safety, and that I had found a bed and a blanket, even as he spoke I was being tortured with the most horrific methods: electric shocks, getting hit with cables, getting hit with metal rods, and all this in the backyard of the place where the press conference was held. And the conference was still going on and I could hear the voices of the people in it. And maybe they, too, could hear my screams and moans.

In the morning, I was left in the cold of winter, tied up after they soaked me in water at dawn. And I apologize for Mr. Maliki for keeping the truth from the people. I will speak later, giving names of the people who were involved in torturing me, and some of them were high-ranking officials in the government and in the army.

I didn’t do this so my name would enter history or for material gains. All I wanted was to defend my country, and that is a legitimate cause confirmed by international laws and divine rights. I wanted to defend a country, an ancient civilization that has been desecrated, and I am sure that history — especially in America — will state how the American occupation was able to subjugate Iraq and Iraqis, until its submission.

They will boast about the deceit and the means they used in order to gain their objective. It is not strange, not much different from what happened to the Native Americans at the hands of colonialists. Here I say to them (the occupiers) and to all who follow their steps, and all those who support them and spoke up for their cause: Never.

Because we are a people who would rather die than face humiliation.

And, lastly, I say that I am independent. I am not a member of any politicalparty, something that was said during torture — one time that I’m far-right, another that I’m a leftist. I am independent of any political party, and my future efforts will be in civil service to my people and to any who need it, without waging any political wars, as some said that I would.

My efforts will be toward providing care for widows and orphans, and all those whose lives were damaged by the occupation. I pray for mercy upon the souls of the martyrs who fell in wounded Iraq, and for shame upon those who occupied Iraq and everyone who assisted them in their abominable acts. And I pray for peace upon those who are in their graves, and those who are oppressed with the chains of imprisonment. And peace be upon you who are patient and looking to God for release.

And to my beloved country I say: If the night of injustice is prolonged, it will not stop the rising of a sun and it will be the sun of freedom.

One last word. I say to the government: It is a trust that I carry from my fellow detainees. They said, ‘Muntadhar, if you get out, tell of our plight to the omnipotent powers’ — I know that only God is omnipotent and I pray to Him — ‘remind them that there are dozens, hundreds, of victims rotting in prisons because of an informant’s word.’

They have been there for years, they have not been charged or tried.

They’ve only been snatched up from the streets and put into these prisons. And now, in front of you, and in the presence of God, I hope they can hear me or see me. I have now made good on my promise of reminding the government and the officials and the politicians to look into what’s happening inside the prisons. The injustice that’s caused by the delay in the judicial system.

Thank you. And may God’s peace be upon you

The translation is by McClatchy’s special correspondent, Sahar Issa.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Constitution Party of Minnesota Supports the Hauser Family


We live in a Constitutional Republic founded on personal freedom and
responsibility. The Declaration of Independence focused on rights granted
to individuals by our Creator, and the Constitution that formed our
government outlined specific limitations on how those rights and freedoms
were to be protected. We now have a government that is infringing on
those rights and freedoms at every turn. The latest example is the New
Ulm, MN court ruling against Colleen Hauser and how she and her family
Choose to raise their son and receive medical care. The Constitution Party
of Minnesota supports Colleen Hauser in her defiance of this tyranny.
She is a true hero and patriot, risking incarceration for the right to raise
her family free of government interference.

The issue should not be about the validity of chemotherapy, which has
clinical studies paid for by the pharmaceutical companies to prove the
efficacy of their claims, or whether the natural remedy chosen by the
family is reasonably effective, which has anecdotal support but no
clinical studies to prove or disprove its claims because no one is making
enough money from them to finance those studies. The issue at stake is
government intrusion into the private lives of its citizens, and
infringing on their religious beliefs in violation of the First Amendment
to the Constitution. The court ruling against the family bases its
authority on the assumption that children are property of the state, not
the parents, when in reality it is the parents, not the state, that will
stand before God to be accountable for how they raised their children.

As Thomas Jefferson predicted, the central government has been quietly
encroaching into our lives for generations (under both major parties),
picking off our freedoms one by one, mostly unnoticed by the populace,
and replacing those freedoms with government "benefits" that soften us for
the next level of intrusion. If the New Ulm court ruling stands, this now
includes how we raise our children.

Constitution Party of Minnesota

Monday, January 05, 2009


This is Mordecai Specktor's Political Matters column regarding the RNC08 debacle. You cannot find this online, but was originally published in print by The Circle News.

My personal feelings is that Democrats like Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner and Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman don't give a damn about the First Amendment. Their focus is on power, first and foremost.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

GREEN PARTY CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON GAZA


The Green Party of Minnesota condemns the ongoing bombing of the Palestinian territory of Gaza by the Israeli military. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, and many more are seriously wounded. There can be no justification for this violence.

The situation is compounded by the ongoing humanitarian disaster caused by the
18 month long siege imposed by Israel as an illegal act of collective
punishment. The 1.5 million residents of Gaza were already facing
malnutrition and shortages of medical supplies, water, and electricity.
Hospitals that were already barely functioning are now overwhelmed with the
wounded.

We call upon our representatives and our government to condemn these attacks
and to work for an immediate ceasefire. This must be backed up by a cessation
of all aid to Israel as long as it persists in these crimes against humanity
and against international law. The silence of our leaders has allowed the
siege to continue, and it has encouraged this escalation.

We support our 2008 Presidential candidate, Cynthia McKinney, as she
courageously takes part in a shipment of medical aid that will break through
the siege of Gaza. She is onboard a ship leaving from Cyprus on a mission
organized by Free Gaza, a group that has successfully defied the siege several
times in the last five months.

This crisis is urgent, and it is likely to be ongoing. Israel has threatened
to continue and to escalate its violence until it achieves its goals. Our
response must be immediate and ongoing as well. In that spirit, we endorse
the following actions sponsored by WAMM (Women Against Military Madness):

Protest the Israeli Actions in Gaza and U.S. Unconditional Support of Israel
Tuesday, December 30th, 10am to 5pm or office closing
1) Minneapolis office of Senator Amy Klobuchar: 1200 Washington Avenue South, Suite 250
2) Office of Congressperson Keith Ellison: 2100 Plymouth Ave N, Minneapolis

We also encourage our members and the public to contact their representatives.

Green Party of Minnesota

Dave Bicking, Spokesperson, 612-276-1213
Rhoda Gilman, Spokesperson, 651-224-6383

Friday, August 08, 2008

An open letter to Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner





Dear Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner:

George W. Bush will be within your jurisdiction on September 1 as he speaks to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. As you know, as President of the United States, Bush ordered military action against the Iraqi government on the false premise that Iraq represented a direct threat to the security of the United States. There have been two significant books published recently that detail the culpability of George W. Bush: Elizabeth de la Vega was a federal prosecutor. Her book, U S v Bush, details the case she would make against Bush before a federal grand jury. Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor of the Manson family, has published The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. His book further documents the legal case to be made against George W. Bush.

I would welcome an opportunity to meet with you and discuss this matter, and at that time I would like to present you with copies of both books.

Young men from Ramsey County died in Iraq as a direct consequence of the lies that were told by George W. Bush: Army Spc. Jacob Vanderbosch, 21, of Vadnais Heights was killed October 3, 2005 in Haqlaniyah, Iraq, when a roadside bomb exploded; White Bear Lake resident Pfc. Elden Arcand's fuel supply truck overturned on a road on August 21, 2005 in Mosul--officials say he was thrown from the vehicle, and it rolled onto him; Army Specialist Gregory Rundell of North St. Paul was killed Wednesday March 26, 2008 while manning a guard tower in Iraq. The crime of reckless endangerment of these young men happened in Ramsey County when they were told they had to serve in Iraq.

If a person in legitimate authority told a lie to someone and that person acted on good faith in believing that lie, then the person who told that lie is guilty of reckless endangerment and must be held accountable for the death of that innocent. If the Chief of Police in St. Paul were to tell someone that they could speed at 95 mph on Highway 35, and that person were to die in an automobile accident in Iowa, then the St. Paul Chief of Police would be guilty of reckless endangerment, and that crime would have occurred in St. Paul. In a like manner, Jacob Vanderbosch, Elden Arcand and Gregory Rundell were lied to in the jurisdiction of Ramsey County. The crime of reckless endangerment or Murder in the Third Degree happened in Ramsey County.

Because Bush committed troops of the Minnesota National Guard to tragic danger and fatalities in Iraq for the sole purpose of enriching his family's business, Halliburton, and, thereby, causing the death of Minnesota citizens, he is guilty of committing murder in the third degree: Section 609.195: MURDER IN THE THIRD DEGREE: whoever, without intent to effect the death of any person, causes the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years on each count.

As you may know, I appealed to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to bring charges against George W. Bush. He was extremely cordial but he refused. I filed a writ of mandamus with the 4th District Court asking the judge to order County Attorney Mike Freeman to bring charges. The County Attorney responded, and I answered his response. Finally, Judge Gary Larson denied my writ agreeing with the County Attorney's office that they had discretion in the matter of whom to prosecute. I agree that, generally, the County Attorney's office should have discretion on whom to prosecute, however, exception to this absolute authority can be seen in Minnesota Statute 388.12: "Attorney to Assist. The judge of any district court may by order entered in the minutes at any term of court appoint an attorney of such court to act as, or in place of, or to assist the county attorney at such term, either before the court or grand jury. The person so appointed shall take the oath required by law of county attorneys and thereupon may perform all duties at such term of court, but shall receive no compensation where the county attorney is present at such term, except by the county attorney's consent, and to be paid from the county attorney's salary."

I have attached my Appeal, writ of mandamus, their response, my answer and Judge Gary Larson's order to this email.

I would most sincerely appreciate an opportunity to discuss this matter with you at your earliest convenience,

Ed Felien

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Response from Susan Gaertner

August 1, 2008
Dear Mr. Felien:
Thank you for contacting me via email about your desire to have President George W. Bush prosecuted for various crimes.

I respect the passion and sincerity of your deep concerns about the actions of President Bush and the war in Iraq. You argue eloquently and forcefully for your point of view and desired course of action. Although I have not read Mr. Bugliosi's book, I know and admire Ms. De la Vega and have her book at home.
Many people share your conviction that President Bush should be held accountable, and there are various ways in which that might occur. I do not believe, however, that a criminal prosecution by a county attorney and/or an individual appointed by the court to assist the county attorney is the appropriate way to seek to hold a president accountable for the actions you describe-regardless of the merits of the arguments that might be presented. On the legal issues, I also come to the same conclusions stated in the brief filed by Mr. Diamond and the order issued by Judge Larson.

Even though I have not come to the conclusion you might favor, I appreciate the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of the arguments you presented.
Thank you again for contacting me, and best wishes.
Sincerely,
Susan Gaertner
Ramsey County Attorney


Sunday, July 06, 2008

MPs to push for law on female genital mutilation

By Philip Mwakio And Leonard Korir

MPs will push for legislation to outlaw female genital mutilation (FGM).

While right activists backed a 25-year-plan of action to eradicate the vice, the MPs are seeking to wipe it out in five years.

Speaking at the close of a two-day meeting for MPs on capacity building on FGM and gender-related legislation, Turkana Central MP Ekwe Ethuro said the move formed part of their reform agenda.

"It is a very critical problem that cuts across the entire society where it is practised by many communities. As people’s representatives in Parliament, our role is crucial in its elimination," the MP said.

Ethuro said if the Tenth Parliament achieves the feat, it would be a resounding victory for Kenyans.

He said MPs had not only laid strategies that will include passing laws in Parliament to address the problem, but would also take the lead in fighting the practice.

"Members meeting here shall lobby aggressively and seek the enlistment of the rest of the House members during debate for FGM motions," Ethuro said.

The United Nations Population Fund country representative, Dr Kemal Mustafa, said a demographic and health survey conducted showed that for the last 10 years, there has been a decrease in FGM.

In 1998, FGM cases were at 38 per cent but declined to 32 per cent in 2003.

Mustafa said in his address to participants, who included members of the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association, that the Children Act had outlawed FGM on children under 18.

Kasarani MP and Nairobi Metropolitan Development Assistant minister, Ms Elizabeth Ongoro, said the goodwill in the 10th Parliament would help push through debate on FGM.

Meanwhile, FGM is still rife in the Maasai community despite efforts to eradicate it, Prof Sarone ole Sena of the University of Nairobi has said.

He said an estimated 94 per cent of schoolgirls in the community undergo circumcision and subsequently drop out of school.

Sena said girls as young as 12 are either forced by parents or peer pressure to get circumcised.

He said culture and high illiteracy are to blame for the practice.

Speaking in Kilgoris at a forum organised by the Free Fellowship Pentecostal Church of Kenya, Sena urged the community to discard the culture.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Kenya mob burns 15 women to death over witchcraft



NYAKEO, Kenya (AFP) — A rampaging mob in western Kenya burnt 15 women accused of witchcraft to death, a local official and villagers told AFP Wednesday.

"This is unacceptable. People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspected someone," said Mwangi Ngunyi, the head of Nyamaiya district. "We will hunt the suspects down," he added.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Minneapolis citizens calling for Bush arrest at GOP Convention

by Ed Felien, Polly Mann, Kate McDonald

An appeal to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman:

Arrest George W. Bush when he steps off the plane for the Republican Convention in September.

George W. Bush has committed horrible crimes against humanity. His war against a weak and defenseless country; his use of torture and kidnapping, his illegal incarcerations of foreign nationals and the shelling of Fallujah are crimes in violation of international law. As long as he is President he cannot be tried for these crimes in another country, but once he is a private citizen, then, like Kissinger, Pinochet and Donald Rumsfeld, he will be a hunted criminal with little refuge in any foreign country that believes in the rule of law. But those are matters for foreign countries and the international court.

He has violated and undermined the Constitution by illegally spying on citizens, by refusing to enforce laws passed by Congress, by invading a country without a Declaration of a State of War by Congress and by entering into agreements with foreign countries and not submitting those agreements to the United States Senate for their advice and consent. But these are matters for the U. S. Congress to enforce. Unfortunately, Congress is unwilling to hold the President accountable to the Constitution and has refused to begin impeachment proceedings against him.

But what concerns us as Minnesotans is whether George W. Bush's actions have caused serious and grievous harm to the citizens of our state and whether that harm was incidental to the legitimate performance of his official duties as President or whether his actions were motivated by private and personal gain. As the highest elected law enforcement official in Hennepin County, it is Mike Freeman's duty to enforce the laws of this state. If it can be shown that there is probable cause that George W. Bush caused harm to the people of Minnesota and that this harm was caused by his willful pursuit of personal gain, then it is the duty of Mike Freeman to arrest George W. Bush and hold him accountable to Minnesota law.

There are three areas in which the criminal acts of George W. Bush have violated Minnesota law.

First, his pursuit of a war against the government of Iraq was not done in legitimate defense of national interest but rather in pursuit of personal wealth. His administration lied about the threat of weapons of mass destruction, and they lied about a connection between Iraq and international terrorists. They knew Iraq did not pose a threat to the United States. The only reasonable explanation for George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq was that he stood to personally benefit from the war.

To fully understand the Bush family financial interests in war profiteering it is necessary to understand their history.

Great-grandfather Samuel Prescott Bush was president of Buckeye Steel Castings. He manufactured railroad couplings for railroads owned by the Morgans, Rockefellers and Harrimans. During World War I he was on the War Industries Board and chaired the section on forgings, guns, small arms and ammunition, and he got to work with people from Dupont, Remington, Winchester and Colt. Sam Bush founded and became the first president of the National Association of Manufacturers, an organization whose principal cause was defending industrial capitalism from the threat of unions. He became an indispensable part of the military-industrial complex, and he sent his son Prescott off to Yale where he could associate with the sons of his friends in the Skull and Bones fraternity.

Along with many of his college chums, Prescott joined Brown Brothers Harriman after college and started making serious money. The biggest buck to be made in the 1920's was in re-arming Germany. Harriman & Co. set up Union Banking Corp with Prescott as Manager to trade with Nazi financier Fritz Thyssen. They bought a steamship line to ship Remington arms to Germany through a dummy corporation in Holland.

Harriman & Co. bought Dresser Industries (manufacturers of oil pipeline equipment) in 1929 and Prescott became a Director, and he continued to run Dresser from the Board for the rest of his life. They, along with John Foster Dulles and others, bankrolled Hitler as a shrewd business strategy. Prescott became Managing Director of Union Bank in 1934 at the height of trade with Germany. In 1939 he took direct management of some of the slave labor camps in Poland to aid Nazi armament, according to Dutch intelligence sources.

In October of 1942, the U. S. government seized the assets of Union Bank and three other of Prescott's industries: the steamship line, the Seamless Steel Equipment Corporation (suppliers of steel, wire and explosives to the Nazis) and the Silesian-American Company (the coal mining company he managed along with John Foster Dulles on behalf of the Nazi Economic Minister). This didn't really close them down. Once the war started they simply changed sides and started supplying war material to the Allies.

During the War Bonesmen were active in forming the OSS and its later incarnation, the CIA. Prescott's relationship with Dulles would become very useful during the Eisenhower years, with John Foster as Secretary of State and his brother Allen Dulles as Director of the CIA. Prescott and Dresser Industries were kept well inside the loop. Hans Gisevius, the German intelligence agent who acted as the go-between with Allen Dulles in Switzerland and Admiral Canaris in the German High Command after the war, acted as go-between with Dulles, Dresser Industries and Prescott Bush.
George Herbert Walker Bush, Prescott's son, improved on the CIA connection to the point of becoming its Director in 1976.

After graduating from Yale, George H. W. Bush went to work at his father's firm, Dresser Industries. Eventually, with money from Brown Brothers and Harriman (his dad's parent company) he set up his own company, Zapata. It was really a CIA front. The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 was probably George's operation as much as it was Allen Dulles's. The CIA code name for it was Zapata. The boats left for the Bay of Pigs from an island that was leased to George H. W. Bush, and the boats were named Houston and Barbara.

He ran for Congress in Houston in 1964 by campaigning against the Civil Rights Act. He didn't get elected that year, but he did get elected the next time he tried. When he was Chair of the Republican Party in 1972 he set up ethnic heritage groups within the Party. These groups were havens for ex-Nazis.

While Vice President under Reagan, Bush was Chair of the Special Situations Group responsible for defeating the Sandanistas in Nicaragua. He and Ollie North set up, financed and armed the Contras through an elaborate and highly secretive scheme that saw private planes flying cash to Iran, buying Soviet-made guns, flying guns to the Contras at a private CIA airstrip in Costa Rica, trading guns for marijuana and cocaine, then flying the drugs to a private U. S. airbase in Homestead, Florida, where the drugs were traded for cash.

George Bush was Vice President under Reagan from 1980 to 1988. He was elected President in 1988 and served one term until 1992. Dick Cheney was his Secretary of Defense. When Bush lost, Cheney went from being Secretary of Defense to being CEO of Halliburton, probably the largest supplier of goods and services to the Defense Department. The revolving door connecting the military to the industrial complex seemed to be well greased. A few years later Cheney came back through the door to be Vice President for George Bush the younger.

Why did George W pick Cheney. Well, actually, Cheney picked himself. Bush asked him to make a list of candidates for Vice President. Cheney did, then he sold W on the idea that he was the best man for the job.

What makes Cheney so special, so indispensable?

While Cheney was CEO of Halliburton he built up the company by buying other companies. One of the companies he bought was Dresser Industries. Halliburton spent $8 billion buying Dresser. When they bought it, Halliburton's stock dropped by a third. Wall Street thought it was a bum deal. Why did Cheney pay so much? Was it a sweetheart deal because the owners of Dresser were his former and future bosses?

The popular image of Cheney is that he's the brains behind Bush, that Bush is some kind of simpleton and Cheney is an evil genius. The Dresser deal looks like Cheney is still the loyal employee. He's both the bag man and fall guy for the Bushs. He delivers the cash, and, when the Bushs get in trouble, he's willing to stand up and take the hit for it.
During the 2000 presidential election Cheney admitted Halliburton did business with Libya and Iran, but he denied they had done business with Iraq, "I had a firm policy that we wouldn't do anything in Iraq, even arrangements that were supposedly legal. We've not done any business in Iraq since U. N. sanctions were imposed on Iraq in 1990, and I had a standing policy that I wouldn't do that," he said on ABC-TV's This Week on July 30, 2000. But Dresser was selling equipment through French subsidiaries to Iraq from early in 1997 through 2000. Halliburton didn't buy Dresser until 1998, so, it was the Bush family's company that was trading with the enemy and Cheney just continued the practice. Purchasing the company also covered up the trail.

George W. Bush, in the best traditions of his family, waged war against the people of Iraq so that Halliburton could assign oil leases and control the oil and so that Halliburton would get multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts to supply the military. More than 4000 Americans have lost their lives in Iraq. Of that number 60, as of March 29, 2008, are from Minnesota, which is the justification of this appeal to County Attorney Mike Freeman to arrest George W. Bush.

Because he has committed troops of the Minnesota National Guard to tragic danger and fatalities in Iraq for the sole purpose of enriching his family's business, Halliburton, and, thereby, causing the death of Minnesota citizens, he is guilty of committing murder in the third degree: Section 609.195: MURDER IN THE THIRD DEGREE: whoever, without intent to effect the death of any person, causes the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years on each count.

Through the sale of oil drilling equipment Dresser Company and the Bush family have had long time relationships with the Saudi royal family. The bin Laden family have been the principal contracting firm for the Saudi royal family, so it was natural for Osama bin Laden's family to give George W. Bush $50,000 to get started in the oil exploration business in Texas. Bush returned the favor by grounding all aircraft after 9/11 except the plane that evacuated those members of the bin Laden family staying in the U. S. There was a touching video of Crown Prince Faisal visiting George W. Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. They were holding hands as they walked, evidence of a stronger relationship than the one Bush had with Tony Blair or Berlusconi.

As head of the Bush family, George W. Bush directs their investment in Halliburton. Halliburton directs the movement of oil out of Iraq, 25% of the world's supply. The Saudi family directs the movement of oil out of Saudi Arabia, 40% of the world's supply. It is reasonable to assume that when George W. Bush and Prince Faisal get together they talk about the supply and price of oil. After their last meeting in Saudi Arabia, supplies dropped and the price of oil rose dramatically. According to Minnesota State law that meeting looks suspiciously like a conspiracy to fix prices.

Because, through Halliburton's control of Iraqi oil, he has acted in collusion with Saudi Arabia and OPEC to fix the price and supply of oil to distributors in Hennepin County, he is guilty of price fixing: Section 325.53: PROHIBITED CONTRACTS, COMBINATIONS, AND CONSPIRACIES: Subdivision 1. Price fixing, production control, allocation of markets, collusive bidding, and concerted refusals to deal. Without limiting section 325D.51, the following shall be deemed to restrain trade or commerce unreasonably and are unlawful: (1) A contract, combination or conspiracy between two or more persons in competition: (a) for the purpose or with the effect of affecting, fixing, controlling or maintaining the market price, rate or fee of any commodity or service; (b) affecting, fixing, controlling, maintaining, limiting, or discontinuing the production, manufacture, mining, sale or supply of any commodity, or the sale or supply of any service, for the purpose or with the effect of affecting, fixing, controlling, or maintaining the market price, rate, or fee of the commodity or service.

Finally, George W. Bush should be arrested and prosecuted for his collusion with the opium warlords in Afghanistan to distribute heroin in Hennepin County. The United Nations and all objective reports verify that during the last year of the Taliban reign in Afghanistan, their government had reduced the Afghanistan contribution to the world supply of opium and heroin to zero, and everyone agrees that since the opium warlords have taken back control of the rural areas of Afghanistan opium production in Afghanistan now contributes 90% of the world supply. The U. S. Army and the CIA worked in support of the opium warlords by granting them control over most of the opium growing areas of Afghanistan, getting them a respected place in the central government. The CIA even insured that an opium warlord would be in charge of the Department of the Interior-the government agency responsible for drug enforcement. This is the pattern the OSS (the early version of the CIA) used to overthrow Musolini's government in Sicily. Through contacts with Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, they got the Mafia in Sicily to cooperate with the Allies in the invasion of Sicily. The Mafia in America has always been a ready and willing patriot in any CIA off the shelf adventure. When Ollie North brought cocaine and marijuana in from Colombia, the Mafia was ready to pay cash for it and distribute it. Ollie North knew these contacts when he was working with the Hmong and Meo tribes in Laos during the Vietnam War. As part of the golden triangle these tribes produced large amounts of opium that CIA planes would then transport to Marseille, continuing the colonial tradition begun by French forces in Vietnam.

George H. W. Bush was a part of all this because he was Director of the CIA when the golden triangle was active, and he was Vice President during the Contra War and probably in charge of the operation to fund the Contras through the illegal importation of cocaine and marijuana.

Opium poppies have grown in Afghanistan since ancient times. The British began to control the exporting of the drug early in the nineteenth century. The Opium War in China in the middle of the nineteenth century was a result of the Chinese government trying to forbid the British importation of opium. The British won the war and the Chinese were forced to allow the British to sell opium. Early in the twentieth century Sicilians and Italians found the opium through contacts in Beirut and had it manufactured into heroin in laboratories in Marseilles. The heroin was then smuggled into Europe and the United States.

The traditional route for smugglers was over the mountains from Afghanistan, through Iran, Iraq, Jordan and to Beirut, Lebanon. The lack of cooperation recently of the Iranian government in this smuggling conspiracy has created problems for the smugglers and international problems for Iran. But, thanks to the active cooperation of the CIA and the U S government, opium does make its way through the Middle East, to Sicily and laboratories to be refined into heroin and, finally, to the U S and Hennepin County.

Section 609.228 of the Minnesota penal code, GREAT BODILY HARM CAUSED BY DISTRIBUTION OF DRUGS, says, "Whoever proximately causes great bodily harm by, directly or indirectly, unlawfully selling, giving away, bartering, delivering, exchanging, distributing, or administering a controlled substance classified in schedule I or II may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than $20,000, or both.

Is it possible that George W. Bush, as President of the United States, has immunity from prosecution? Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense 57 (Philadelphia, 1776), "In America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is the law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other." The Supreme Court said in an 1882 decision, United States v. Lee, 106 U.S. 196, 220, 1 S.Ct. 240, 261, 27 L.Ed. 171, that:

No man in this country is so high that he is above the law.
No officer of the law may set that law at defiance with impunity.
All the officers of the government, from the highest to the lowest, are creatures of
the law, and are bound to obey.

It is the only supreme power in our system of government, and every
man who by accepting office participates in its functions is only the more
strongly bound to submit to that supremacy, and to observe the limitations
which it imposes upon the exercise of the authority which it gives.

We respectfully request that the Hennepin County Attorney enforce the laws of the State of Minnesota and arrest George W. Bush when he steps off the plane in Hennepin County in September when he comes here to attend the Republican National Convention.

source: http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_ed_felie_080419_minneapolis_citizens.htm

Saturday, April 19, 2008

America supporting a failed state in Africa

Olympics in Addis Ababa for 2016! Ethiopia in lockstep with China in suppressing all who oppose "their will."

By Ernest Mpinganjira

A political disaster is looming in Ethiopia. The Government cracked down on opposition supporters in a desperate attempt to prevent Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s rivals from entrenching themselves at the grassroots.

One of the parties boycotted village, district and provincial elections. Another party threatened to follow suit in protest about uneven playing field and repression against opposition.

Against the backdrop of blatant human rights abuses, international organisations have raised concerns about the West’s silence over its ally’s excesses.

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report last week accuses Addis Ababa of harassment of the opposition and independent Press. The report also questioned whether the US military aid to Addis Ababa has been used to suppress the opposition and entrench Zenawi into power.

The report noted: "The Ethiopian Government’s repression of registered opposition parties and ordinary voters has largely prevented political competition ahead of local elections that began on April 13.

"These widespread acts of violence, arbitrary detention and intimidation mirror long-term patterns of abuse designed to suppress political dissent in Ethiopia."

HRW Africa Director, Mr Georgette Gagnon, expressed dismay that while the ills persisted, the US has not raised concern over curtailment of democracy and independent media.

HRW said the repression was a preamble to national elections slated for November.

"It is too late to salvage these [grassroots] elections, which will simply be a rubber stamp on the EPRDF’s (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, Ethiopia ruling party) near-monopoly on power at the local level. Still, officials must at least allow the voters to decide how and whether to cast their ballots without intimidation," Gagnon said.

Ethiopia’s election chaos comes hot on the heels of the debacle in Kenya that resulted in 1,200 deaths and more than 350,000 people displaced. In 2005, Ethiopian forces killed 200 opposition supporters and detained dozens of others for protesting Zenawi’s poll win.

The US’s silence about Zenawi’s political mischief has elicited international concerns. The Economist magazine questioned the silence, which could encourage some African governments to ignore the rule of law and suppress democracy.

The magazine provided a glimpse of what thinking in Washington could be: The close military ties between the two countries that involve the civil strife in Somalia.

The US, it said, fears that Somalia may have already become an incubator of international terrorism, hence its reluctance to criticise Zenawi, lest he welcomes the terrorists in reaction to criticism.

"That is why America backed Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia at the end of 2006. Its own air raids on supposed terrorist targets in Somalia have relied on Ethiopian intelligence, though nearly all appear to have missed.

"American officials praise the Ethiopian troops who are still in Mogadishu, Somalia’s battered capital, as peacekeepers; most Somalis see them as occupier," writes the magazine.

Civil strife

Kenya’s political chaos after the disputed December 27 polls seem to have shielded Addis Ababa from international criticism on gross abuse of human rights.

Until last December’s disputed presidential poll in Kenya, Nairobi was the presumptive anchor of US interests in the larger East African region. Recent political turmoil have weakened this position, hence the Bush administration’s partiality to the savagery in Ethiopia.

"...The Pentagon wants to make Ethiopia a bulwark in a region where Somalia is a dangerously failed state, Sudan and Eritrea are pariahs and Kenya has troubles of its own," The Economist noted.

Some of the reasons the magazine gives for Ethiopia’s persistence in abrogation of human rights, which are largely true, are appalling.

"The African Union is based there. Its ancient Christian history stirs American evangelicals. Its poverty and population of 80 million, (Africa’s third-largest) attract development-minded foreigners," The Economist says.

But as the international community busied itself with the developments in Zimbabwe, where presidential poll results are yet to be released, Addis Ababa was clamping down on opposition during grassroots elections.

Said HRW report: "The nationwide local elections…are crucially important. It is local officials who are responsible for much of the day-to-day repression that characterises governance in Ethiopia. Many local officials in Oromia have made a routine practice of justifying their abuses by accusing law-abiding government critics of belonging to the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front."

The report said that as a result of the intimidation, candidates allied to the EPRDF are elected unopposed in the vast majority of constituencies across Ethiopia.

This was after opposition coalition, the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), withdrew its candidates for fear of persecution.

"UEDF officials complained that intimidation and procedural irregularities limited registration to only 6,000 of the 20,000 candidates they attempted to put forward for various seats," the HRW report says.

Just as was the case in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria in 2006, Ethiopia’s National Elections Board (NEB) came under stinging criticism for bending the rules in favour of the governing party.

Against this pattern of abuse, HRW London Director, Mr Tom Porteous, took issue with the West for backing a brutal regime.

"If Western governments were more consistent and less selective in their reaction to human rights abuses around the world, they might be less inclined to turn a blind eye to Ethiopia’s failure to abide by international norms …" Porteous observed last week.

source: http://www.eastandard.net/columnists/?id=1143985093&cid=190


Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Green and Democrat: What's the Difference?


The Green Party & Green candidates compared to Democratic leadership &
Democratic candidates on important issues

Green Presidential Candidates: Jesse Johnson, Cynthia McKinney, Kent
Mesplay, Kat Swift Democratic

Presidential Candidates: Hillary Clinton,
Barack Obama


The Iraq War

Green Party & Green candidates
-- opposed the invasion and occupation from the beginning
-- favor immediate withdrawal of all US troops and contracted personnel
from Iraq
-- call for Congress to cut off funding for the war
-- seek to hold the Bush Administration responsible for deceiving the
public with false claims that Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs, posed a
threat to the US and to Iraq's own neighbors, had conspired with al Qaeda,
and played a role in the 9/11 attacks
-- oppose 'benchmarks' that would allow US and UK corporations to take
control over most Iraqi oil resources

Democratic leadership, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
-- supported the Iraq War from the beginning and believed Bush
Administration lies; voted with Republicans to surrender Congress's war
power to the White House (Obama was not in Congress yet and initially
opposed the war, but softened his opposition after election to the US
Senate)
-- continued to give President Bush funding for the occupation after
gaining control of Congress: both Clinton and Obama voted for funding
bills
-- offer delayed and vague timetables for troop withdrawal, and would
leave some troops in Iraq
-- support 'benchmarks' giving US and UK corporations control over Iraqi
oil, which would require continued US troop presence in Iraq to protect
corporate interests

Foreign Policy

Green Party & Green candidates
-- strongly oppose President Bush's threat to attack Iran
-- support an end to the US occupation of Afghanistan, opposed invasion
-- support cutoff of military aid to Israel, demand US pressure on Israel
to end the brutal occupation of Palestine and suppression of Palestinian
and Israeli Arab human rights, in accord with international law and UN
directives
-- seek an end to the US embargo of Cuba
-- favor nonviolent solutions to international conflict

Democratic leadership, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
-- have signed on to President Bush's threat to attack Iran (both Clinton
and Obama have said that an attack on Iran is not off the table)
-- support continued US occupation and war on Afghanistan
-- do not criticize Israel, dismiss international law and UN directives on
Israeli apartheid and occupation of Palestinian lands
-- favor continued embargo of Cuba
-- have supported most Bush foreign policy agenda: invasion and threats of
invasion; broken international treaties; contemptuous treatment of US
allies

Global Warming, Energy, & the Environment

Green Party & Green candidates
-- call for far-reaching short-term and long-term cuts in greenhouse gas
emissions
-- favor major conservation programs to cut US energy consumption
-- seek widespread economic reorganization and millions of new jobs in
conservation and conversion to safe, clean energy sources
-- oppose nuclear energy, which creates huge amounts of toxic waste and
multiple security risks
-- oppose widespread conversion to bio-fuels that require agricultural land
needed for food production
-- seek restrictions and oversight on genetically modified organisms,
especially food

Democratic leadership, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
-- favor modest long-term cuts in greenhouse gas emissions
-- don't talk about conservation and cuts in consumption
-- support nuclear energy and biofuel production (Obama receives major
campaign contributions from nuclear and ethanol industries and supports
their goals)
-- support or are silent on genetically modified organisms and food

Impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney

Green Party & Green candidates
-- endorse impeachment of Bush and Cheney for high crimes and
misdemeanors: deception and manipulation of intelligence to justify the
invasion of Iraq; cover-ups of information about impending 9/11 attacks;
use of torture; denial of habeas corpus and due process; warrantless
surveillance of US citizens; hundreds of 'signing statements' to exempt
the President from executing over 1,000 federal laws; censoring and
tampering with scientific research to conceal the seriousness of global
warming; responsibility for the deaths of as many as one million Iraqi
civilians and over 4,000 US servicemembers

Democratic leadership, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
-- oppose and block motions for impeachment, despite Bush Administration's
numerous crimes and abuses of power

Health Care Reform


Green Party & Green candidates

-- support Single-Payer National Health Care (Medicare For All), which
would provide all Americans with quality health care regardless of ability
to pay, employment, age, or prior medical condition: Single-Payer will
remove corporate HMOs and insurance firms from control over health care,
give Americans choice of health care provider, provide no-cost or low-cost
prescriptions based on need, and ease the burden on physicians and other
health care providers

Democratic leadership, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
-- oppose Single-Payer
-- favor health care reform plans that leave profit-making HMOs and
insurance firms in control over health care
-- take hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate HMOs, insurance
firms, and pharmaceutical manufacturers

War on Drugs & the Justice System

Green Party & Green candidates
-- oppose the War on Drugs, calling it a war on African American, Latino,
poor, and young people
-- favor decriminalization (especially for marijuana), medical treatment
for drug abuse instead of prosecution
-- oppose privatization of prisons, which require increasing numbers of
inmates for corporate profits: the US has the highest incarceration rate
in the world
-- call for abolition of the death penalty

Democratic leadership, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
-- support the War on Drugs
-- either support or are silent on privatization of prisons
-- support the death penalty

Labor & Economic Justice

Green Party & Green candidates
-- oppose 'free trade' agreements and unelected international trade
authorities (NAFTA, FTAA, WTO, GATT, etc.) that give corporate power and
profit priority over labor rights and environmental protections
-- call for repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act (restricting union organizing),
support democratic workplaces
-- favor a strong safety net for middle- and low-income working people,
support for small businesses and local economies
-- support human rights protection for undocumented immigrants: Greens
call the flood of new immigrants a result of economic policies and
agreements (e.g., NAFTA) that impoverish people and drive them across
borders

Democratic leadership, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
-- have supported and voted for 'free trade' agreements and unelected
international trade authorities
-- are silent on Taft-Hartley, don't deliver for working people despite
Election Year endorsements from unions
-- support economic policies that favor the wealthy, major corporations,
and Wall Street, with limited aid for poor and middle-income Americans
(Clinton and Obama support the 1996 Welfare Reform Act signed by Bill
Clinton, which severely hurt millions of Americans, especially women,
during the recent economic downturn)
-- favor policies that scapegoat immigrants for economic problems

Democracy and Fair Elections

Green Party & Green candidates
-- take no money from corporate contributors
-- led effort to expose Republican obstruction of Ohio voters and
manipulation of votes in 2004: Green presidential nominee David Cobb (with
Libertarian nominee Michael Badnarik) initiated the Ohio recount campaign
and raised money for legal fees
-- seek public financing of elections, free time on public airwaves for
all candidates, repeal of ballot access laws restricting third party and
independent candidates
-- support instant runoff voting, proportional representation, and other
reforms to ensure democracy in US elections
-- support statehood for the District of Columbia, with self-government
and full representation in Congress equal to other states

Democratic leadership, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
-- take hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate contributors
-- had minimal response to election irregularities in Ohio, minimal
reaction to the Conyers Commission's evidence that the 2004 election may
have been stolen: only one Democratic Senator (Barbara Boxer) stood up to
support African American Congress-members' protest at Senate's confirmation
of Bush reelection in January 2005
-- are silent on many needed election reforms: Democrats and Republicans
together worked to pass laws limiting third party and independent
participation in elections
-- favor a single voting seat in the US House for DC (statehood for DC was
removed from the Democratic Party platform in 2004)

Human Rights & Social Justice

Green Party & Green candidates

-- oppose the USA Patriot Act and favor repeal
-- support full and equal recognition for same-sex marriage
-- support reparations for the descendants of African American slaves in
the US

Democratic leadership, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
-- support the USA Patriot Act: Clinton voted for passage; Clinton and
Obama voted for reauthorization
-- favor limited and unequal recognition for same-sex marriage
-- oppose or have no position on reparations for the descendents of slaves

Produced by: Scott McLarty a member of the Lavender Greens of Minnesota.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

How You Can Support the People of Burma

Buddhist Peace Fellowship Action Alert/News

Action Alert:
How You Can Support the People of Burma


The news from Burma is not good, with reports of the Myanmar military troops occupying monasteries, arresting monks, and cutting off all communications to the outside, including Internet. The number of people killed varies from source to source, with the official Myanmar government report at 10, but it's probably many more.

It continues to be critical for both the Myanmar and Chinese government to know that the whole world is watching this situation. Many vigils are being organized, including some generating from the BPF community.

As the situation in Burma grows more urgent, your support and involvement can make a big difference to the people of Burma (Myanmar).

What you can do:

1) Join or organize a vigil in your town or city. We have posted a
calendar of vigils on the BPF website
. There are currently events scheduled in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, and Milan (Italy). We are updating the list regularly, so please keep checking it. Check with your local BPF chapter to see if they are planning a vigil.

2) Sign a petition showing your support.
* Our friends at the Buddhist Channel have initiated a global petition to garner support for the Holy Sangha. Please go to the petition online here
and follow the instructions given. This page also includes address information for the Myanmar (Burmese) Embassy in a number of countries.

* Sign the US Campaign for Burma's petition


3) Light a candle and place it in your window every night this week, along with a sign in support of the nonviolent protest. Click here to visit our website where you can download a sign that reads "The World is Watching -- Free Burma!"


Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Green Party urges dropping all Jena Six charges, probe racism in justice system


search: lwcj, spol


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