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Videos expose false arrests at 2004 Republican Convention protests in New York

Seven months after the mass arrests of over 1,800 protesters at the Republican Convention in New York City last summer, 91 percent of the nearly 1,700 cases that have been concluded have resulted in acquittals or the dismissal of charges. Four hundred cases were dismissed after video recordings made by volunteer observers and others showed that there was no reason for the arrests, the New York Times reported last week. Some of the videos also exposed false testimony by the police.

In the case of Dennis Kyne, arrested on the steps of the New York Public Library last August, police officer Matthew Wohl testified at trial last December that “we picked him up and we carried him while he squirmed and screamed. I had one of his legs because he was kicking and refusing to walk on his own.”

Global Economic Collapse

The coming global economic collapse will turn America into third world "basket-case" economic status as a nation when it arrives. Even now, its economic infrastructure is being largely gutted and outsourced to other nations such as China.

Down will come the US Dollar, up shall come the European Euro, the new international currency. A shift in geo-political power to democratic/socialist Europe will, in turn, follow. Europe will become the new global superpower and eventual center for world government after the fallout of America's Crash into the dust-bin of history.

In 2005, British Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that the euro will become the world's premiere currency by 2012 at the latest. The US dollar has been plunging in value against the euro for years. The globalists now have America right where they want it, and are eagerly moving in for the kill.

The collapse of the US dollar will reduce America to a level of chaos, poverty and deprivation Americans are woefully unprepared for. It will be a period of tremendous hardship and economic deprivation. The trucks will no longer be

John Bolton & the Battle for Reality

The John Bolton nomination battle is one of those rare moments when a window has opened onto how the U.S. public was rushed into war with Iraq and, in a larger sense, how conservatives seized control over the flow of information that shapes policy.

Bolton may be – as former State Department intelligence chief Carl Ford Jr. said – “a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down kind of guy” who bullies those below him who come up with inconvenient facts. But Bolton’s abusive tendencies are not just a personality flaw; they are part of a broader political strategy.

Since his early days as a protégé of Sen. Jesse Helms, Bolton was part of a new aggressive breed of conservatives, who came of age during the Vietnam War and who thus understand the importance of keeping a lid on public dissent.

In practical terms, that means influencing or controlling what the public perceives as reality, often exaggerating threats to stampede the people in a desired direction. That need to manage information, in turn, requires discrediting individuals who can effectively challenge the factual constraints….

Activists Spur Historic Call to Exit Iraq

This past weekend, at the California State Democratic Party Convention in Los Angeles, the largest gathering of state-party Democrats in the nation, activists with Progressive Democrats of America led by PDA Executive Director Tim Carpenter successfully lobbied 2,000 delegates to pass a resolution calling for the termination of the occupation of Iraq. The resolution included specific language demanding the withdrawal of American troops from that country. "The California Democratic Party," reads the resolution in part, "calls for the termination of the occupation…of American troops in Iraq."

This victory is a powerful statement not only to the national Democratic Party but to the Republican administration and the majority in Congress.

Debating Bolton’s personal views misses the point; it’s his sales skills that matter

I couldn’t help but notice Senators alternating one Republican followed by one Democrat to ask John Bolton scripted questions on the first day of his confirmation hearings on Monday. The hearing seemed like a well orchestrated formality without much fanfare until it was temporarily suspended by a group of pink protestors.

The Republicans praised his multilateral efforts in the past. The Democrats chastised him for admonishing Intelligence Analysts who didn’t return his desired conclusions along with his stated disdain for the United Nations.

This ping-pong drama went on for hours, and in the end most callers into C-SPAN were playing the same game. Public debate thus far has fallen into our usual dual world perspectives. Everything in political America now a day arrives in only two choices. Red or Blue, Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Liberal, and so on and so forth…

Columbus League of Pissed Off Voters Release Endorsement Slate for May 3 Primary

Fresh from their work on the electoral justice hearings and investigation, the Columbus League of Pissed Off Voters took a step back to evaluate their recent work, set new goals, self-educate, and move forward with strategic intention.

Some members met in March with community mentors and advisors to do a Power Analysis exercise; they mapped out local decision-makers, key policy issues, organized and unorganized constituencies. A representative of the group said they were proud and honored to have worked recently with local mentors like Bob Fitrakis, Charles Traylor, US Congressional candidate Mark Brown, and Chip Livisay.

The group also started a local book circle discussion group, whose first selections were No More Prisons; Getting Around Brown: Desegregation, Development, and Columbus Public Schools; and What’s the Matter with Kansas. The local focus of Getting Around Brown primed the group for their current project: Columbus School Board and City Council May 3 primary election endorsements.

Carter Gets It – But Will His Electoral Commission?

The best news coming out of the first hearing of the Carter-Baker Commission is that the co-chairs recognize that Americans are losing faith in their democracy, and that even in the 2004 presidential election – among the most passionate elections in recent history – 40% did not vote and, increasing numbers of voters lack confidence that their votes were counted as cast.   The bad news is that a corporate conflict of interest of one member of the Commission raises doubts that they will recommend the common sense necessity – voter verified paper ballots.

National Day of Prayer is May 5, 2005; BFC Empowers you to Take Action

The National Day of Prayer is set for May 5, 2005. This particular event is controlled by right-wing extremist James Dobson and his wife Shirley. Mr. Dobson is the leader of Focus on the Family, a right-wing organization that among other things, is calling for Supreme Cout Justices to be impeached, is anti-homosexual and anti-choice, and so on. Despite their claims regarding the Bible anf God, neither James or Shirley are ordained ministers, nor do they have any theological education or training.

Here in our state, the "Ohio Restoration Project" is gearing up to begin their assault on our freedom and diversity. We need you to respond and what better way to do that than on the National Day of Prayer!  We need you to do the following:

1. Contact your local, state, and federal elected officials and tell them that you support freedom, diversity, and equality for ALL people and you expect them to do the same.

Capitalist Globalization and Resistance in Guatemala

On Jan. 11 Guatemalan President Oscar Berger spoke to a group of reporters in Guatemala City about ongoing protests against a World Bank mining project in the northern part of the country. He said that his government had to establish law and order.

“We have to protect investors,” said Berger.

Hours later the Guatemalan military and police forces armed in riot gear opened fire on protesters, murdering one man and leaving dozens injured. Berger’s comments about establishing law and order in Guatemala to protect investors and the ensuing violence and state repression that followed that day and in the following months are not isolated incidents indicative of that country’s democratic shortcomings. Rather they illustrates the violent forces employed to secure the expansion of capitalist globalization being forced on people through neoliberal reforms and free trade agreements pushed by transnational corporations, Northern governments, and international lending agencies.

All that glitters isn’t gold

John Bolton vote delay

AUSTIN, Texas -- Good news! If there is a distinct possibility a Bush nominee is a vile-tempered, lying, ineffective bully, the U.S. Senate is willing to hold off on the vote for two weeks.

John Bolton was an amazingly bad choice for ambassador to the United Nations from the beginning. He has a long record of expressing contempt for and distrust of the United Nations. You may or may not consider that a reasonable position, but it is highly inadvisable in a diplomat. In addition, he was a notable failure as under secretary of state for arms control and international security.

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