Human Rights
In his report on Gaza issued late last year, prominent South African jurist Richard Goldstone accused Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes. His language also showed awareness of the fact that the former is an occupying power with most sophisticated weapon arsenal (as reflecting in the number of Palestinian victims), and the latter is a besieged, occupied faction in a state of self-defense. Although Goldstone must have been aware of the kind of hysteria such a report would generate, he still did not allow ideological or ethnic affiliation to stand between him and his moral convictions.
Despite some initial apprehension – owing to the fact that Goldstone is a self-declared Zionist with links to Israel - many justice and peace advocates were comforted by the man’s past record. He was a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals of the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Despite some initial apprehension – owing to the fact that Goldstone is a self-declared Zionist with links to Israel - many justice and peace advocates were comforted by the man’s past record. He was a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals of the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Two Thai faces appear behind the sharpened bamboo poles and hundreds of car tires which form lengthy menacing barricades, now stinking of urine, rotten food and other debris, along Bangkok's busy downtown streets.
The face of British-born and Oxford-educated Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, hated by the thousands of Red Shirts behind the barricades, is plastered all over their occupied zone.
His eyes are cut out, or reddened along with his mouth to make him appear ghoulish, on handbill-sized posters which place him above photographs of three corpses.
A bullet hole punctures the center of one man's forehead. Another dead man is wrapped in Thailand's red-white-and-blue national flag on a gurney. A third man lays in the street with a chunk of his bloodied head missing.
They were among the 25 people killed, and 900 injured, when Abhisit and the military failed to crush the Red Shirts on April 10.
The other face behind the nine-foot (three-meter) tall barricades is of the authoritarian Thaksin Shinawatra, who won three elections before being toppled in a 2006 military coup.
The face of British-born and Oxford-educated Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, hated by the thousands of Red Shirts behind the barricades, is plastered all over their occupied zone.
His eyes are cut out, or reddened along with his mouth to make him appear ghoulish, on handbill-sized posters which place him above photographs of three corpses.
A bullet hole punctures the center of one man's forehead. Another dead man is wrapped in Thailand's red-white-and-blue national flag on a gurney. A third man lays in the street with a chunk of his bloodied head missing.
They were among the 25 people killed, and 900 injured, when Abhisit and the military failed to crush the Red Shirts on April 10.
The other face behind the nine-foot (three-meter) tall barricades is of the authoritarian Thaksin Shinawatra, who won three elections before being toppled in a 2006 military coup.
UPPORTERS REFUSE TO ACCEPT A “NO” FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ON CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION OF CASE OF DEATH ROW PRISONER, MUMIA ABU-JAMAL;
CITE “CONSPIRACY” TO DENY HIS RIGHTS; REPORT STRONG INTERNATIONAL AND US SUPPORT FOR CONTINUED CAMPAIGN IN THE FACE OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE STONEWALLING
For the second time in five months, supporters of Pennsylvania death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal will march on the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on Monday, April 26.
CITE “CONSPIRACY” TO DENY HIS RIGHTS; REPORT STRONG INTERNATIONAL AND US SUPPORT FOR CONTINUED CAMPAIGN IN THE FACE OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE STONEWALLING
For the second time in five months, supporters of Pennsylvania death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal will march on the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on Monday, April 26.
Editor’s Note: I received this letter from Da'rryl Miguel Durr who is awaiting execution on Ohio’s death row. The state of Ohio plans to murder him on April 20, 2010. There are questions as to Mr. Durr’s actual guilt. This is nothing new in Ohio.
You can listen to Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman weekly on WCRS-FM in Columbus at 4pm EST. 102.1 or 98.3. Or online at:
March 19 show
This week's show features author of “A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Secret Cold War Experiments.”
March 19 show
This week's show features author of “A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Secret Cold War Experiments.”
The specter of Arthur Shapiro continues to haunt Columbus, Ohio. A partner in the prominent Columbus law firm Schwartz, Shapiro, Kelm, and Warren that represented transnational corporations like The Limited, Shapiro took two bullets in the head 25 years ago in a Mob-style slaying.
Columbus' daily monopoly, owned by the conservative Wolfe family, ran a bizarre front page Metro section article entitled: "25-year-old killing still puzzles." The intent of the Dispatch's article is clear by the second paragraph: "Twenty-five years later, the slaying remains unsolved, but investigators point to the same man they suspected from the beginning."
The paper points its finger at the late Berry L. Kessler who died while incarcerated in 2005. The fact that the late sheriff of Franklin County Earl Smith had other more distinguished suspects, as did the state's former inspector general, a former city of Columbus safety director, as well as sources in the FBI and IRS, eludes the self-proclaimed "Ohio's Greatest Home Newspaper."
Columbus' daily monopoly, owned by the conservative Wolfe family, ran a bizarre front page Metro section article entitled: "25-year-old killing still puzzles." The intent of the Dispatch's article is clear by the second paragraph: "Twenty-five years later, the slaying remains unsolved, but investigators point to the same man they suspected from the beginning."
The paper points its finger at the late Berry L. Kessler who died while incarcerated in 2005. The fact that the late sheriff of Franklin County Earl Smith had other more distinguished suspects, as did the state's former inspector general, a former city of Columbus safety director, as well as sources in the FBI and IRS, eludes the self-proclaimed "Ohio's Greatest Home Newspaper."
To understand Martin Scorsese's well-crafted psychological thriller Shutter Island, viewers should do an internet search on the following three terms: MK-Ultra, Manchurian candidates, and Operation Paperclip. For the extended value-added search, throw in the combination of "CIA" and "LSD."
Shutter Island is being released at a very propitious time. Just look at Saturday's (Feb. 21) front page of the New York Times. Above the fold we have two related stories, the first, under the inaccurate headline "A new report, a new verdict, in terror fight." A more accurate title would read "U.S. government and Obama administration reaffirm Bush administration commitment to torture."
The post-World War II U.S. administrations and its rising security-industrial complex covertly embraced torture and secret dosing of unsuspecting people with psychedelic drugs to control their behavior and create assets and assassins during the Red Scare. Now, overt torture done in the name of "fighting terror" has been embraced by the administration of Mr. "Hope and Change."
Shutter Island is being released at a very propitious time. Just look at Saturday's (Feb. 21) front page of the New York Times. Above the fold we have two related stories, the first, under the inaccurate headline "A new report, a new verdict, in terror fight." A more accurate title would read "U.S. government and Obama administration reaffirm Bush administration commitment to torture."
The post-World War II U.S. administrations and its rising security-industrial complex covertly embraced torture and secret dosing of unsuspecting people with psychedelic drugs to control their behavior and create assets and assassins during the Red Scare. Now, overt torture done in the name of "fighting terror" has been embraced by the administration of Mr. "Hope and Change."
Who is Dr. Larry James? A man who in his biography claims responsibility for "Fixing Hell." Whose hell did he fix? Or did he look the other way while the Devil’s work was done?
Between 2003 and 2007, Army Colonel Larry James served as Chief Psychologist of the Joint Intelligence Group and a senior member of the Behavioral Science Consultation Team (BSCT). James’ job was advising on interrogation and "behavior management" for the men and kids at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. In 2004, he functioned as the director of the Behavioral Science Unit at the Abu Ghraib prison.
That’s right. His past includes both the notorious Gitmo and Abu Ghriab, the infamous torture site in Iraq.
Having retired from the U.S. Army, James is currently the Dean of the Professional Psychology Department at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. James is licensed to practice psychology in Louisiana, Ohio, and Guam. Human rights advocates argue that Wright State is absolutely wrong in appointing James as Dean because of his questionable past.
Between 2003 and 2007, Army Colonel Larry James served as Chief Psychologist of the Joint Intelligence Group and a senior member of the Behavioral Science Consultation Team (BSCT). James’ job was advising on interrogation and "behavior management" for the men and kids at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. In 2004, he functioned as the director of the Behavioral Science Unit at the Abu Ghraib prison.
That’s right. His past includes both the notorious Gitmo and Abu Ghriab, the infamous torture site in Iraq.
Having retired from the U.S. Army, James is currently the Dean of the Professional Psychology Department at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. James is licensed to practice psychology in Louisiana, Ohio, and Guam. Human rights advocates argue that Wright State is absolutely wrong in appointing James as Dean because of his questionable past.
The struggle and victory to re-open Antioch College as an independent institution separate from Antioch University is a major victory for peace and progressive forces in the United States. On Friday, September 4, Antioch University officials signed a 750-page closing document after 14 months of negotiations to turn Antioch College assets over to the Antioch College Continuation Corp. (read: the alumni).
A group of Greene County citizens recently dropped a complaint filed with the Ohio Attorney General’s office to strip the University of its tax exempt status. The complaint alleged that the University had neglected and wasted the assets of the former College, including severe damage to the historical main building at the Yellow Springs campus.
The Attorney General’s office acknowledged that the withdrawal of the complaint helped pave the way for the final settlement.
A group of Greene County citizens recently dropped a complaint filed with the Ohio Attorney General’s office to strip the University of its tax exempt status. The complaint alleged that the University had neglected and wasted the assets of the former College, including severe damage to the historical main building at the Yellow Springs campus.
The Attorney General’s office acknowledged that the withdrawal of the complaint helped pave the way for the final settlement.
By Tuesday, August 18, the four sitting members of the Federal Parole Commission must decide whether they will let Leonard Peltier rejoin his family.
Leonard has been in prison for a staggering 33 years, six more than Nelson Mandela. When he was locked up, Three Mile Island was three years away, and Ronald Reagan had barely begun to run for President.
Leonard has great-grandchildren he has never held.
His most recent hearing was June 28. According to his lawyer, Eric Seitz, it went very well. The Parole Commission had 21 days from then to issue its decision.
Now we are down to the final week.
All those familiar with the case agree that a positive political climate can make a difference in the decision. Calls to politicians (202-224-3121) could make all the difference, as could overnight letters to the Parole Commission (http://www.usdoj.gov/uspc/).
Below are two draft letters the attorney has termed "a little melodramatic but otherwise ok." Your own versions are more than welcome.
Leonard has been in prison for a staggering 33 years, six more than Nelson Mandela. When he was locked up, Three Mile Island was three years away, and Ronald Reagan had barely begun to run for President.
Leonard has great-grandchildren he has never held.
His most recent hearing was June 28. According to his lawyer, Eric Seitz, it went very well. The Parole Commission had 21 days from then to issue its decision.
Now we are down to the final week.
All those familiar with the case agree that a positive political climate can make a difference in the decision. Calls to politicians (202-224-3121) could make all the difference, as could overnight letters to the Parole Commission (http://www.usdoj.gov/uspc/).
Below are two draft letters the attorney has termed "a little melodramatic but otherwise ok." Your own versions are more than welcome.