Global
The powers that be are busy creating a false dilemma for the public: support the right of the Egyptian people to determine their own fate or protect your safety and the current standard of living, as it were.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The people of Egypt have had enough of a failed dictatorship masquerading as a democracy. As events unfold, we're seeing a cautionary message entering the corporate media coverage of this event. Having never exposed the dire conditions that prompted the massive protests and demands for change, we're now told that this could negatively impact oil supplies, the stock market, and anti-terror efforts. No foundation for the claims was provided but they're repeated regularly on CNN, the NBC's, Fox, and the print media.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The people of Egypt have had enough of a failed dictatorship masquerading as a democracy. As events unfold, we're seeing a cautionary message entering the corporate media coverage of this event. Having never exposed the dire conditions that prompted the massive protests and demands for change, we're now told that this could negatively impact oil supplies, the stock market, and anti-terror efforts. No foundation for the claims was provided but they're repeated regularly on CNN, the NBC's, Fox, and the print media.
“THERE IS ONE THING STRONGER THAN ALL THE ARMIES IN THE WORLD: AND THAT IS AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME.”
Events unfolding in Tunisia and Egypt hold much hope for the people of that region and indeed the entire world. What do those events show us?
· The demonstrations are succeeding because in the main people are relying on the power of nonviolence. People are demonstrating nonviolently and young troops are refusing to violently stop them.
· Two weeks ago, few people thought the events in Tunisia and Egypt could ever happen, but they are happening.
In northern Africa, the words of Victor Hugo have come to life. “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world: and that is an idea whose time has come.”
There is absolutely no reason Victor Hugo’s words can’t come to life in our own country.
· A clear majority of U.S. troops and U.S. residents oppose the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but few believe we can bring the killing to a swift conclusion.
Events unfolding in Tunisia and Egypt hold much hope for the people of that region and indeed the entire world. What do those events show us?
· The demonstrations are succeeding because in the main people are relying on the power of nonviolence. People are demonstrating nonviolently and young troops are refusing to violently stop them.
· Two weeks ago, few people thought the events in Tunisia and Egypt could ever happen, but they are happening.
In northern Africa, the words of Victor Hugo have come to life. “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world: and that is an idea whose time has come.”
There is absolutely no reason Victor Hugo’s words can’t come to life in our own country.
· A clear majority of U.S. troops and U.S. residents oppose the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but few believe we can bring the killing to a swift conclusion.
Columbus City Schools received millions of dollars from the federally funded
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Supplemental Educational Services (SES) program
to enable poor children to receive free tutoring their parents otherwise
could not afford. The Free Press requested public records regarding this
program and received documents from the district’s legal counsel Loren
Braverman August 27, 2010. The Free Press also obtained a video of Columbus
City School Board Member Hanifah Kambon’s suggesting that school officials
may be committing criminal acts
The State of Ohio Auditor, Dave Yost, is currently auditing Columbus City Schools. The recently elected Yost promised in his campaign “to root out corruption and waste." The Free Press has forwarded documents to Yost's office in hopes that he will look closely at the use of the NCLB SES federal funds by the school district.
Letter to Auditor Yost (PDF)
The school district's SES Director Joyce Hackett previously accused SES vendors of getting together and raising their prices to $70, $80, $90 an hour to tutor students.*
The State of Ohio Auditor, Dave Yost, is currently auditing Columbus City Schools. The recently elected Yost promised in his campaign “to root out corruption and waste." The Free Press has forwarded documents to Yost's office in hopes that he will look closely at the use of the NCLB SES federal funds by the school district.
Letter to Auditor Yost (PDF)
The school district's SES Director Joyce Hackett previously accused SES vendors of getting together and raising their prices to $70, $80, $90 an hour to tutor students.*
Tues., Feb. 1 There will be a national call in day to the White House in support of Bradley Manning. Please let everyone you know about this. The number for the White House is 202-456-1111. Please call and demand that Pfc Manning be treated fairly and not punished with harsh conditions.
Julian Assange has called Bradley Manning “the world's pre-eminent prisoner of conscience.”
Manning is the Army private accused of leaking the documents that WikiLeaks has been publishing with other media outlets. He is now being held in the Marine Brig in Quantico in very abusive conditions. I am writing you to urge you to take action in his defense.
Manning has not been convicted of anything. He has not even gone to trial, yet he is being held in solitary confinement. He has not even been allowed a real pillow or blanket. He is allowed to exercise for one hour a day, but he is in shackles and goes to another small room where he does figure 8’s. He is not allowed to exercise in his 6 by 12 foot cell. He is awakened at 5 every morning and not allowed to sleep during the day.
Julian Assange has called Bradley Manning “the world's pre-eminent prisoner of conscience.”
Manning is the Army private accused of leaking the documents that WikiLeaks has been publishing with other media outlets. He is now being held in the Marine Brig in Quantico in very abusive conditions. I am writing you to urge you to take action in his defense.
Manning has not been convicted of anything. He has not even gone to trial, yet he is being held in solitary confinement. He has not even been allowed a real pillow or blanket. He is allowed to exercise for one hour a day, but he is in shackles and goes to another small room where he does figure 8’s. He is not allowed to exercise in his 6 by 12 foot cell. He is awakened at 5 every morning and not allowed to sleep during the day.
"The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well. True coexistence is a must." - Whole Foods Market, Jan. 21, 2011
In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America's organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it's time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for "coexistence" with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.
In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America's organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it's time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for "coexistence" with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.
On January 25th, twelve anti-war and international solidarity activists will be expected to appear before a grand jury in Chicago. They and eleven others from Chicago and the Twin Cities area in Minnesota in the past months were subpoenaed. Several of the activists had their homes raided. Documents, cell phones, storage disks, computers, and children's artwork were seized from their home. The subpoenas indicated the FBI was looking for evidence that the activists had provided "material support for terrorism." And, recently, it was discovered that the FBI had an informant, who went by the name of "Karen Sullivan," infiltrated an anti-war group in the Twin Cities.
I have personally interviewed many of the activists being targeted and have found no evidence that either should be facing any FBI investigation. A "witch-hunt" began on September 24th and, since then, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has been working to get activists to testify before a grand jury in Chicago. So far, all the activists have refused to participate in this "fishing expedition."
I have personally interviewed many of the activists being targeted and have found no evidence that either should be facing any FBI investigation. A "witch-hunt" began on September 24th and, since then, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has been working to get activists to testify before a grand jury in Chicago. So far, all the activists have refused to participate in this "fishing expedition."
“The loose network among relatives offers the grim solace of knowing that others too have suffered the same curse.”
Every terrible rift is the occasion for peace and the place for the peacemaker. And often peace is nothing more, at first, than connecting, pulling the injured or ostracized back into the social circle and beginning the process of healing.
Peace is not a state of “perpetual pre-hostility,” as it has been described by military strategists — that is to say, perpetual armed readiness and checkpoints and unending displays of superior force, eventually and inevitably lapsing into horrific violence. That may be the state of the world, but it’s not peace, nor is it sustainable. It’s the downward cycle in which we are caught — and in which we fully and enthusiastically participate, with bloated national defense budgets and uncounted trillions spent globally to stay armed, terrified and isolated.
Yet as my friend David Nekimken pointed out, while the policies of what Dr. Martin Luther King called “spiritual death” may be all around us, if we look we can also see “spiritual life” glowing from within the dark.
Every terrible rift is the occasion for peace and the place for the peacemaker. And often peace is nothing more, at first, than connecting, pulling the injured or ostracized back into the social circle and beginning the process of healing.
Peace is not a state of “perpetual pre-hostility,” as it has been described by military strategists — that is to say, perpetual armed readiness and checkpoints and unending displays of superior force, eventually and inevitably lapsing into horrific violence. That may be the state of the world, but it’s not peace, nor is it sustainable. It’s the downward cycle in which we are caught — and in which we fully and enthusiastically participate, with bloated national defense budgets and uncounted trillions spent globally to stay armed, terrified and isolated.
Yet as my friend David Nekimken pointed out, while the policies of what Dr. Martin Luther King called “spiritual death” may be all around us, if we look we can also see “spiritual life” glowing from within the dark.
Dear Mr. Fitrakis
Shame on you for using the name “The Free Press” to spew your ignorance and hatred. I am torn between whether you are simply uninformed or trying to be deceitful with your own hidden agenda. I hope it is not the later, because you will have become no better than the “Un-Free Press” you purport to be against.
How you can deface someone you know so little about is beyond comprehension. Your mother must be oh so proud. Regurgitating a few lines from Albert McCoy, who has never set foot in Long Tieng and proclaiming that it is nothing short of biblical does not make you sound anymore intelligent. McCoy’s book is chocked full of speculations.
Tony Poe, who you so admired was an alcoholic. He served with my father, Commanded of the Northern Region, at Phu Vian in 1960. He belittled the people and took chances with their lives. He was transferred out of Long Tieng because he was a buffoon.
Shame on you for using the name “The Free Press” to spew your ignorance and hatred. I am torn between whether you are simply uninformed or trying to be deceitful with your own hidden agenda. I hope it is not the later, because you will have become no better than the “Un-Free Press” you purport to be against.
How you can deface someone you know so little about is beyond comprehension. Your mother must be oh so proud. Regurgitating a few lines from Albert McCoy, who has never set foot in Long Tieng and proclaiming that it is nothing short of biblical does not make you sound anymore intelligent. McCoy’s book is chocked full of speculations.
Tony Poe, who you so admired was an alcoholic. He served with my father, Commanded of the Northern Region, at Phu Vian in 1960. He belittled the people and took chances with their lives. He was transferred out of Long Tieng because he was a buffoon.
Bradley Manning, alleged U.S. Army whistleblower, is in two ways -- one likely, the other certain -- being punished for the crimes of others.
On Monday a crowd that I was part of staged a protest at Quantico, where Manning has been imprisoned for several months with no trial. At the last minute, the military denied us permission to hold a rally on the base, so we held it in the street blocking the entrance to the base. This visibly enraged at least one of the guards who attempted unsuccessfully to arrest a couple of us.
On Tuesday, for no stated reason whatsoever, Manning's jailers put him on suicide watch. This meant that he was isolated for 24 hours a day instead of 23, the glasses he needs to see were taken away, and other harsh conditions imposed. Two days later, for no stated reason whatsoever, Manning was taken off suicide watch again. It appears likely that he was punished in response to our protest. As a result, we're all going to crawl under our beds and hide, promising never to use the First Amendment again in our lives.
On Monday a crowd that I was part of staged a protest at Quantico, where Manning has been imprisoned for several months with no trial. At the last minute, the military denied us permission to hold a rally on the base, so we held it in the street blocking the entrance to the base. This visibly enraged at least one of the guards who attempted unsuccessfully to arrest a couple of us.
On Tuesday, for no stated reason whatsoever, Manning's jailers put him on suicide watch. This meant that he was isolated for 24 hours a day instead of 23, the glasses he needs to see were taken away, and other harsh conditions imposed. Two days later, for no stated reason whatsoever, Manning was taken off suicide watch again. It appears likely that he was punished in response to our protest. As a result, we're all going to crawl under our beds and hide, promising never to use the First Amendment again in our lives.