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Alternative
Links Portal:
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find useful as well.
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Good News: The British have decided to stop using
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WAR IS OVER!
If you Want It
Happy Christmas From John and Yoko
Click Here For John Lennon
and Yoko Ono Video
See how Mumia Abu-Jamal Is
Innocent
http://www.pagesincolor.com/RachelW.html
May
Day 2008 Solidarity Statements And Celebrations
Editor's note: There will be a May Day March and Rally in San
Jose, CA that kicks off at 4PM at King and Story Road on Thursday, May
1, 2008.
April 28, 2008
BREAKING NEWS: Members of the Port Workers Union of Iraq plan to
shutdown the
ports of Umm Qasr and Khor Alzubair for one hour on May Day in
solidarity with the
shutdown of all West Coast ports by members of ILWU in opposition to the
occupation of Iraq.
The second message is a May Day greeting from a broad cross-section of
union leaders
from many different unions and labor federations in Iraq as an
expression of their
appreciation for the solidarity demonstrated by organized labor,
working people and
all peace-loving people of the world in support of their efforts to end
the foreign
occupation of Iraq and the sectarian violence that occupation has
spawned.
[This statement continues to be circulated in Iraq and as additional
signers become
known, their names will be added to the copy posted on the USLAW
website.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May Day Message
From: The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq
To: The International Longshore and Warehouse Union in the
United States
Dear Brothers and Sisters of ILWU in California:
The courageous decision you made to carry out a strike on May Day to
protest against
the war and occupation of Iraq advances our struggle against occupation
to bring a
better future for us and for the rest of the world as well.
We are certain that a better world will only be created by the workers
and what you
are doing is an example and proof of what we say. The labor
movement is the only
element in the society that is able to change the political equations
for the
benefit of mankind. We in Iraq are looking up to you and support
you until the
victory over the US administration's barbarism is achieved.
Over the past five years the sectarian gangs who are the product of the
occupation,
have been trying to transfer their conflicts into our ranks.
Targeting workers,
including their residential and shopping areas, indiscriminately using
all sorts of
explosive devices, mortar shells, and random shooting, were part of a
bigger scheme
that was aiming to tear up the society but they miserably failed to
achieve their
hellish goal. We are struggling today to defeat both the
occupation and sectarian
militias' agenda.
The pro-occupation government has been attempting to intervene into the
workers
affairs by imposing a single government-certified labor union.
Furthermore it has
been promoting privatization and an oil and gas law to use the
occupation against
the interests of the workers.
We the port workers view that our interests are inseparable from the
interests of
workers in Iraq and the world; therefore we are determined to continue
our struggle
to improve the living conditions of the workers and overpower all plots
of the
occupation, its economic and political projects.
Let us hold hands for the victory of our struggle.
Long live the port workers in California!
Long live May Day!
Long live International solidarity!
The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq An Affiliate Union with
General Federation
of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)
28-4-2008 EMPHASIS ADDED
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May Day 2008 Statement
From: The Iraqi Labour Movement
To: The Workers and All Peace Loving People of the World
On this day of international labour solidarity we call on our fellow
trade unionists
and all those worldwide who have stood against war and occupation to
increase
support for our struggle for freedom from occupation - both the
military and
economic.
We call upon the governments, corporations and institutions behind the
ongoing
occupation of Iraq to respond to our demands for real democracy, true
sovereignty
and self-determination free of all foreign interference.
Five years of invasion, war and occupation have brought nothing but
death,
destruction, misery and suffering to our people. In the name of
our "liberation,"
the invaders have destroyed our nation's infrastructure, bombed our
neighbourhoods,
broken into our homes, traumatized our children, assaulted and arrested
many of our
family members and neighbours, permitted the looting of our national
treasures, and
turned nearly twenty percent of our people into refugees.
The invaders helped to foment and then exploit sectarian divisions and
terror
attacks where there had been none. Our union offices have been
raided. Union
property has been seized and destroyed. Our bank accounts have
been frozen. Our
leaders have been beaten, arrested, abducted and assassinated.
Our rights as
workers have been routinely violated.
The Ba'athist legislation of 1987, which banned trade unions in the
public sector
and public enterprises (80% of all workers), is still in effect,
enforced by Paul
Bremer's post-invasion Occupation Authority and then by all subsequent
Iraqi
administrations. This is an attack on our rights and basic
precepts of a democratic
society, and is a grim reminder of the shadow of dictatorship still
stalking our
country.
Despite the horrific conditions in our country, we continue to organise
and protest
against the occupation, against workplaces abuses, and for better
treatment and
safer conditions.
Despite the sectarian plots around us, we believe in unity and
solidarity and a
common aim of public service, equality, and freedom to organise without
external
intrusions and coercion.
Our legitimacy comes from our members. Our principles of
organisation are based on
transparent and internationally recognised International Labour
Organisation
standards.
We call upon our allies and all the world's peace-loving peoples to
help us to end
the nightmare of occupation and restore our sovereignty and national
independence so
that we can chart our own course to the future.
1) We demand an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from
our country, and
utterly reject the agreement being negotiated with the USA for
long-term bases and
a military presence. The continued occupation fuels the violence
in Iraq rather
than alleviating it. Iraq must be returned to full sovereignty.
2) We demand the passage of a labour law promised by our
Constitution, which
adheres to ILO principles and on which Iraqi trade unionists have been
fully
consulted, to protect the rights of workers to organize, bargain and
strike,
independent of state control and interference.
3) We demand an end to meddling in our sovereign economic
affairs by the
International Monetary Fund, USA and UK. We demand withdrawal of
all economic
conditionalities attached to the IMF's agreements with Iraq, removal of
US and UK
economic "advisers" from the corridors of Iraqi government, and a
recognition by
those bodies that no major economic decisions concerning our services
and
resources can be made while foreign troops occupy the country.
4) We demand that the US government and others immediately cease
lobbying for the
oil law, which would fracture the country and hand control over our oil
to
multinational companies like Exxon, BP and Shell. We demand that
all oil
companies be prevented from entering into any long-term agreement
concerning oil
while Iraq remains occupied. We demand that the Iraqi government
tear up the
current draft of the oil law, and begin to develop a legitimate oil
policy based
on full and genuine consultation with the Iraqi people. Only
after all occupation
forces are gone should a long term plan for the development of our oil
resources
be adopted.
We seek your support and solidarity to help us end the military and
economic
occupation of our country. We ask for your solidarity for our
right to organise and
strike in defence of our interests as workers and of our public
services and
resources. Our public services are the legacy of generations
before us and the
inheritance of all future generations and must not be privatised.
We thank you for standing by us. We too stand with you in your
own struggles for
real democracy which we know you also struggle for, and against
privatisation,
exploitation and daily disempowerment in your workplaces and lives.
We commend those of you who have organised strikes and demonstrations
to end the
occupation in solidarity with us and we hope these actions will
continue.
We look forward to the day when we have a world based on co-operation
and
solidarity. We look forward to a world free from war,
sectarianism, competition and
exploitation.
Endorsed by:
Hassan Juma'a Awad, President, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions
(IFOU)
Faleh Abood Umara, Deputy, Central Council, Iraqi Federation of
Oil Unions (IFOU)
Falah Alwan, President, Federation of Workers Councils and
Unions in Iraq (FWCUI)
Subhi Albadri, President, General Federation of Workers Councils
and Unions in
Iraq (GFWCUI)
Nathim Rathi, President, Iraqi Port Workers Trade Union
Samir Almuawi, President, Engineering Professionals Trade Union
Ghzi Mushatat, President, Mechanic and Print Shop Trade Union
Waleed Alamiri, President, Electricity Trade Union
Ilham Talabani, President, Banking Services Trade Union
Abdullah Ubaid, President, Railway Trade Union Ammar Ali,
President,
Transportation Trade Union
Abdalzahra Abdilhassan, President, Service Employees Trade Union
Sundus Sabeeh, President, Barber Shop Workers Trade Union
Kareem Lefta Sindan, President, Lumber and Construction Trade
Union, General
Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW)
Sabah Almusawi, President, Wasit Independent Trade Union
Shakir Hameed, President, Lumber And Construction Trade Union
(GFWCUI)
Awad Ahmed, President, Teachers Federation of Salahideen Alaa
Ghazi Mushatat, President, Agricultural And Food Substance
Industries Adnan
Rathi Shakir, President, Water Resources Trade Union
Nahrawan Yas, President, Woman Affairs Bureau
Sabah Alyasiri, President (GFWCUI) Babil
Ali Tahi, President (GFWCUI)
Najaf Ali Abbas, President (GFWCUI) Basra
Muhi Abdalhussien, President (GFWCUI), Wasit
Ali Hashim Abdilhussien, President (GFWCUI) Kerbala
Ali Hussien, President (GFWCUI) Anbar
Mustafa Ameen, President, Arab Workers Bureau (GFWCUI)
Thameer Mzeail, Health Services, Union Committee
Khadija Saeed Abdullah, Teachers Federation, Member
Asmahan, Khudair, Woman Affairs, Textile Trade Unions Adil
Aljabiri, Oil Workers Trade Union Executive Bureau Member
Muhi Abdalhussien, Nadia Flaih, Service Employees Trade Unions
Rawneq Mohammed, Member, Media and Print Shop Trade Union
Abdlakareem Abdalsada, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Saeed Nima, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Sabri Abdalkareem, Member, (GFWCUI) Babil
Amjad Aljawhary, Representative of GFWCUI in North America
|
|
Why The Trump Institute Is Not All That It
Is Trumped Up To Be
by
John
Thielking
4-13-08
I
went
to the free seminar at the Windham Hotel in downtown San Jose on
Sunday, April 13, 2008 to hear what the great capitalist had to say
about making money. Donald Trump may be able to pull off some great
real estate deals for himself and get connected to bankers who will let
him swing some deals in real estate. But for the rest of us
"Chumps On The Street" this talk about making money in Real Estate is
all pie in the sky. I saw through all the hype when the presenter
(Bill?) started talking about how Donald Trump would teach us how to
rescue people from forecolsure. For the record: In California, in
order to be completely legal when you are even just prospecting for
potential deals to close in the foreclosure market, you MUST have all
of the following: 1) A real estate license; 2) A surety bond in an
amount equal to 3 times the value of the property that is in
foreclosure. Any schmuck selling get rich quick in real estate
seminars who is not also advising you to have a real estate agent in
hand to handle all of your real estate transactions, and in some cases
ALL OF YOUR PROSPECTING, is sending you down the primrose path that
will land you in jail, or in court being sued, or both. If Donald
Trump can't tell you the right, legal way to buy and sell real estate
to make the quick and easy bucks, no one can. So my advice is to
save your $3000 and stay away from all of these schmucks.
On the other hand, if you want to make a worthwhile investment, how
about this: Pay me $50K-$100K/obo to cover my business and living
expenses while I research and write my "Peace Movies" book. In
return, I will give you 40% of the lifetime profits from the
book. I plan to offer the book in a frequently updated e-book
format and may also have a subscription web site for movies in theaters
and new releases to video. I have a small survey that I conducted
among SJSU students and peace activists that shows there is a big
demand for the book and the subscription web site. (The non-violent
movie market is at least a 5x bigger market than horror movie
market for example.) So much for "non-disclosure" as advocated by
DT. Contact John Thielking at 408-914-2751 or
pagesincolor@riseup.net for more information. |
Protest for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Saturday April 19, 2008
from
12PM-2PM
Cesar Chavez Park (Market
and
San Carlos)
San Jose, CA
For
you early birds, a special
outreach about Mumia to Physicians will take place at 6:30AM, Saturday
April, 19,
2008 at the Parkside Hall, one block West of Cesar Chavez
Park, next to the Tech Museum.
The Parkside Hall
event has
been moved to 3:30PM. Thanks.
For more information on
the
latest travesty in Mumia's case see Dissident
Voice. |
Mumia Abu-Jamal NEWS FLASH
3-27-08
PROTEST!! Abu-Jamal
Appeal Denied!!
Fri 3/28 - SF
Sat 4/19 - SF and National
Sat 4/26 - Philadelphia
Please call the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition Hotline in NYC
(212)330-8029, or Pam Africa (215) 476-8812 or Suzanne
Ross (917) 584-2135 for East Coast protest information. See below for
SF.
Press Release:
The Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
P.O. Box 10328
Oakland, CA 94610
510-268-9429 or 510-387-7714
jmackler@lmi.net
March 27, 2008
PRESS CONFERENCE/Media Release/EMERGENCY PROTEST!
For Immediate Release
For further information call: Jeff Mackler, Director
510-268-9429 or 510-387-7714
PRESS CONFERENCE/PROTEST SCHEDULED FOR:
FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 5 PM
FEDERAL COURT HOUSE
7TH AND MISSION STREETS
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
In Oakland, march Friday, March 28. Meet at 4:30 PM at 14th &
Broadway
From: Kiilu Nyasha <kiilu2 {AT} sbcglobal.net>
The U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT REJECTS ALL APPEALS FOR
INNOCENT
DEATH ROW INMATE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA ORDERED TO HOLD NEW SENTENCING HEARING WITHIN 180
DAYS. IN SUCH A HEARING JURY'S DECISION WILL
BE LIMITED TO A FINDING OF LIFE IMPRISONMENT OR EXECUTION BY LETHAL
INJECTION
JURY PROHIBITED FROM FINDING OF INNOCENCE
LOCAL PROTESTS SET FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 28 (Federal Court House, 7th and
Mission, SF, 5 PM) FOLLOWED BY NATIONAL PROTEST
APRIL 19 (SAN FRANCISCO) AND APRIL 26 (PHILADELPHIA).
"THE DECISION OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT IS A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE," SAID JEFF
MACKLER, DIRECTOR OF THE MOBILIZATION TO FREE
MUMIA ABU-JAMAL. "DESPITE MASSIVE EVIDENCE OF INNOCENCE THE COURT
REJECTED OUR DEMAND FOR A NEW TRIAL WHERE THE TRUTH
COULD BE HEARD FOR THE FIRST TIME."
In a shocking decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
rejected all Mr. Abu-Jamal's demands for a new
trial. In 1982 Mr. Abu-Jamal was falsely convicted of the murder of
Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in a trial where 11
of 14 Black jurors were systematically excluded and where critical
evidence proving the defendant's innocence was
excluded.
On death row for 26 years, Mr. Abu-Jamal, an award winning journalist
and the author of nine books, has led a campaign
for a new trial and freedom that has won the support of groups ranging
from Amnesty International and the European
Parliament to the San Francisco, Detroit, and Berkeley city councils.
Massive new evidence proving Abu-Jamal's innocence has been
systematically excluded from court consideration.
Abu-Jamal's attorneys will appeal today's decision to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
|
Why The Low Application Rate Of LBAM Spray
Is Not Reassuring
by John Thielking
3-26-08
These are my EIR
scoping comments concerning the CDFA program to eradicate the Light
Brown Apple Moth, as submitted to Jim Rains of the CDFA on March
20, 2008 by e-mail. A simillar document was
submitted to the USDA for the Environmental Assessment fo the LBAM
eradication program. This document is not a CASS consensus
document. It is entirely my own work, except for the references
of course, and except for some help/critcism I received from my good
friend and Chemistry Professor Dr Roger Terrill ( San Jose State
University).
3-20-08
Jim Rains, Staff
Environmental
Scientist
CA Department of Food and
Agriculture
Plant Health and Pest
Prevention
Services
1220 N Street, Room A-316
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Jim Rains:
I am writing to you to
present
my comments concerning the Environmental Impact of the program to
eradicate the LBAM in California.
It has now been documented by a researcher at UCSC who traveled
recently to New Zealand that LBAM will likely be controlled by
natural predators if toxic pesticides that interfere with natural
predators are not used in an attempt to control LBAM.
http://www.lbamspray.com/00_Documents/2008/HarderNZReportFINAL.pdf
The LBAM “emergency” is
therefore mostly an emergency that exists on paper and affects trade,
more than it is an emergency
concerning possible crop damage caused by LBAM. Please stop
funding eradication of LBAM that uses the questionable methods
of ground and aerial spraying of potentially toxic materials.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
John Thielking
1346 The Alameda
Suite 7-318
San Jose, CA 95126
Investigation of
correlation
between possible concentration of Methyl Trioctyl Ammonium Chloride
(MTAC) at ground level during spraying to control LBAM in Santa Cruz, CA on Nov 8-9, 2007 and
appropriate exposure limits
By John Thielking
BA Physics
3-20-08
John Thielking
1346 The Alameda, Suite 7-318
San Jose, CA 95126
Summary Statement:
It is unacceptable that
the
actual concentrations of the methyl trioctyl ammonium chloride (MTAC)
and other inerts in the Checkmate aerial spray used over Santa Cruz on
Nov 8-Nov 9, 2007 were not fully disclosed. Disclosing the
concentrations would make it possible to evaluate weather or not
reported health effects could be due to the chemicals in question.
Although the proposed DOE TEEL’s for MTAC may be high enough to
seemingly rule out such a possibility, the way in which the TEEL’s
themselves are derived(4) leaves open some rather large uncertainties
in what minimal level of toxic exposure may produce health effects in
some people. Between the spray being applied unevenly, as documented by
the drift cards which had only 1/10 of the expected amount of capsules
on them, and the uncertainties involved in converting an LD50 or LC50
to an appropriate TLV, the total uncertainty in what intended
application rates will produce what type of health effect could be off
by +/- a factor of 800 or more. In layman’s terms, It is
quite possible that MTAC is more toxic than the DOE estimated, by up to
a factor of 82, and it is also possible that the spray was applied
unevenly, such that certain areas received up to 10 times more spray
than was intended. Although this latter point is not documented on
drift cards, the actual number of drift cards in the treatment zones
was small enough that this could have been overlooked. Also we
have some anecdotal reports that when people were affected by the
spray, sometimes whole families in one household got sick, which lends
credibility to the unevenly applied spray hypothesis.
Please completely disclose
the
concentrations of the inerts and also provide data on how much total
chemical was applied by each aircraft in each treatment area. Only in
this way can we get a good handle on what the peak concentrations of
the spray might be for 1%-5% of the population and also define what the
possible health effects might be.
Discussion:
The concentration of the MTAC in the spray was not fully
disclosed. All we know for sure is that it is a component of the
spray that was applied on Nov 8 and Nov 9, 2007 in the Santa Cruz area
and that it is less than 3% by weight of the entire mixture. We also
know that the MTAC was used as a surfactant and so was likely a
component of the water portion of the mixture, not part of the
capsules. If we make the reasonable assumption that the MTAC is
in fact 1% of the mix, then we can derive the following argument:
The active ingredient (pheromone) was intended to be applied at a rate
of no more than 20 grams per acre. This was supposed to be 25% of the
total mix.
This implies that no more than 80 grams per acre of Checkmate LBAM
spray was intended to be applied on Nov 8 and Nov 9, 2007. 1% of
this total is 0.8 grams per acre. An acre has about 43,500 sq ft, which
implies that no more than 0.0000183 grams (0.0183 mg) per sq foot of
MTAC would have been applied. If this MTAC were uniformly dispersed in
a cloud 10 ft high right on top of the ground, this would imply a
concentration of MTAC no more than 0.0183/10= 0.00183 mg/cu ft.
Multiplying by 27 to convert from mg/cu ft to mg/m3 gives 0.049
mg/m3.
The Dept of Energy (DOE) has published proposed Temporary Emergency
Exposure Limits (TEELs) for MTAC. (1) The TEEL-0 is 0.75 mg/m3,
while the TEEL-1 is 2.5 mg/m3. The TEEL-0 is defined as “The
threshold concentration below which most people will experience no
appreciable risk of health effects.”(4) The TEEL-1 limit is
“The maximum concentration in air below which it is believed nearly all
individuals could be exposed without experiencing other than mild
transient adverse health effects or perceiving a clearly defined
objectionable odor.”(4) I guess “nearly all” or “most people” does not
include the 643 people who reported health complaints in Santa Cruz and
Monterey after the Checkmate aerial spraying there (5). Note that
TEEL-1 is normally considered to be a 1 hour exposure limit, although
ref (4) suggests using 15 minute TWA’s for some reason. How
people are expected to breathe residual concentrations of chemicals
that remain in the environment 24/7/365 is not explained.
Since the only toxicity information available for MTAC on the
corresponding MSDS is for oral LD50 for rats, there may be grounds for
saying that there is significant uncertainty in the values of the
DOE TEEL’s. In a Japanese paper ( 2 ) an equation is
derived for converting LD50 to TLV. However, in order for the
linear regression to work, both this paper and one other similar paper
(3) concede that the LD50 and TLV numbers have to be plotted on a
log-log plot. Otherwise the regression coefficients are not
within acceptable ranges. In layman’s terms, what this means is
that while the correlations on a log-log plot are good, the possible
real world variations in the final answers are so big that they will
only fit within the boundaries of a sheet of graph paper if a log-log
plot is used. Log-log plots show results plotted in increasing factors
of 10, ie 10, 100, 1000, 10,000 etc, corresponding to what would be 1,
2, 3, 4, etc on a linear plot.
What the Japanese paper in effect says is that the available toxicity
data for MTAC (oral LD50 for Rat) uses the testing method that has the
lowest correlation between LC50 or LD50 and TLV of any of the
estimating methods used in the paper. In the real world, what
that means is that if the DOE only used oral LD50 for the rat to derive
the TEEL’s, those TEEL’s could be either too high or too low. If
they are too high, you could reasonably divide the numbers by 57. If
they are too low, you could reasonably multiply the numbers by 57.
Those two possible answers would be within the range of three standard
deviations of the average or what is otherwise known as the 95%
confidence interval. That is also assuming that the correlation between
LD50 and TEEL/TLV is improved since the units are kept the same between
the two values (mg/kg or mg/m3 in this case compared to mmole/kg vs ppm
in air which gave a better correlation of LD50 to TLV in the Japanese
paper). If the correlation is not as good, then dividing by 82 would be
appropriate.
What this means in practical terms for people exposed to MTAC after the
spraying is that any concentration higher than 0.75mg/m3 divided by 57
(= 0.013 mg/m3) or even possibly as low as 0.75 mg/m3 divided by 82 (=
0.009 mg/m3) could reasonably be expected to possibly cause a
noticeable health effect in some portion of the general population.
There is also the possibility that LD50’s correlate better with short
term exposure limits than these numbers suggest. While LC50’s were
shown to correlate better with short term exposure limits in the
Japanese paper, LD50 correlations of this type were not discussed at
all for some reason.
Note that the proposed TEEL-1 for MTAC of 2.5 mg/m3 divided by 57 is
only 0.043 mg/m3, which is just under the estimate of 0.049 mg/m3,
which leaves open the possibility that the govt could officially
concede that classical, mild, reversible health effects could be
experienced by the general population if MTAC were in fact 1% of the
mix sprayed on Nov 8 and Nov 9, 2007. This requires no hypothesis
of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, at least not for the initial one hour
of exposure.
All of these numbers assume of course that the spray was uniformly
dispersed and the MTAC completely evaporated, condensing in a heavier
than air cloud near the ground. The actual experience is more
varied than that. The concentration of pheromone capsules captured at
official recording stations was on average only about 1/10 of the
expected amount. Unofficial reports say that the spray mixture
actually came down in giant globs, some of which slimed entire fence
stakes (but only 2 fence stakes out of a whole set). Plus, the planes
flew in an overlapping grid pattern that could have caused some areas
to get sprayed more than once. Obviously, when there is a big negative
deviation (1/10 of expected concentration) in one place, there should
also be a big positive deviation (higher than expected concentration)
somewhere else. Throwing these additional factors of 10 into the
equation for what is the minimum concentration of MTAC expected to
produce a health effect in some portion of the general population opens
up the possibilities even more.
In addition, the recent
reaffirmation by Robert Leavitt that the average droplet size of a
water droplet incasing a typical pheromone capsule is on the order of
1000 microns in diameter during the spraying process(6) completely
obliterates the estimate that only 80 grams of total spray mixture was
applied over each acre. If you do the math, a maximum 800
capsules applied per sq ft as estimated at one of the hearings on the
issue(7) implies that up to a whopping 30 kilograms of spray
[correction: this should be 18 kg] would have been applied per acre if
the 1000 micron droplet size estimate is accurate. How much of
this additional water component has surfactant such as MTAC in it is
not clear.
Because of these uncertainties in the possible concentrations of MTAC
and the possible concentrations of MTAC required to produce health
effects, it is
essential that the following steps be taken to ascertain more
completely the scope of these variables:
1) The total amount of aerial spray applied in Santa Cruz and Monterey
Counties should be disclosed, broken down by individual aircraft,
specific areas and specific dates.
2) The actual concentrations of all of the ingredients in the spray
should be disclosed.
Only in this way can better defined limits be placed on what inert
ingredients if any may be contributing to the reported health effects
due to the spray.
Notes on other chemicals
that
are proposed to be used in ground spraying to control LBAM :
Permethrin is planned to be used in concentrations of 6%(8). This
chemical is highly toxic to house cats. A few drops of 45%-60%
concentration of the flea control products normally used on dogs can be
fatal to cats.(9) For this reason, pet experts recommend using
flea control products for cats that have 0.1% or less Permethrin
concentration.(9) The animal testing of Permethrin has apparently not
included house cats in the analysis, and so gives a false sense of
safety for that chemical.(10) Cats are notorious for climbing
trees and fences and so they will likely be exposed to Permethrin,
especially if the clay-like substance used to contain the Permethrin is
not fully dried. It may not wash off in the rain, but it will
likely transfer to the exposed skin on the bottoms of cats’ paws.
The use of Bt is also problematic, as some of the strains used are
genetically engineered and therefore may not fit the definition of
“organic” as well as being closely related to and under some
circumstances indistinguishable from bacteria known to cause food
poisoning in humans. (11)
References:
1) DOE Rev 19 TEEL’s (2003)
http://hss.energy.gov/HealthSafety/WSHP/chem_safety/teel/TEELs_Rev_19v.xls
Note that DOE has not included MTAC in subsequent TEEL Revs for some
reason, nor is MTAC included in the PAC REV 23 Online Data base at
http://hss.energy.gov/HealthSafety/WSHP/chem_safety/teel.html
2) The Contribution of Acute Toxicity in Animals to Occupational
Exposure Limits of Chemical Substances
http://www.journalarchive.jst.go.jp/english/jnlabstract_en.php?cdjournal=indhealth1963&cdvol=37&noissue
=1&startpage=22
3) Regression method to estimate provisional TLV/WEEL-equivalents for
non-carcinogens
http://annhyg.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/44/5/361
4) Derivation of Temporary Emergency Exposure Limits (TEELs)
http://orise.orau.gov/emi/scapa/files/TEELMethodExtension-Tox%20Data-Searchable.pdf
5)Appendix to CASS Health Complaint Letter
http://www.lbamspray.com/00_Documents/2008/Mike%20Lynberg%20Health%20package%202008
_01_03/Complaints%20of%20Adverse%20Reactions_names%20removed.pdf
6)Robert Leavitt March 13, 2008 Letter To CDFA
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/lbam/pdfs/ETF/Letter_and_LBAM-F_PSA.pdf
7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PzAMzsQdyE
8) USDA APHIS Document on EA of LBAM Eradication Program
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/ea/downloads/lbam-treatmentprog-02-14-08.pdf
9) Cat Fanciers’ Association: Health Committee -- Cats and Flea
Control Products
http://www.cfainc.org/articles/flea-products.html
10) Roy Upton “Permethrin – Safety Review” 2-5-08
11) Roy Upton “Bacillus thuringiensis – Safety Review” 3-6-08
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The Deadlines
for submitting written comments to the CDFA and the USDA
about the Light Brown Apple Moth Spraying Program Are Fast Approaching.
Submit written comments to:
Oral and written comments will be accepted.
The
deadline for written comments is March 20, 2008. They may be sent to:
Jim Rains, Staff Environmental Scientist
CA Department of Food and Agriculture
Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services
1220 N Street, Room A-316
Sacramento, CA 95814
The USDA APHIS document is viewable at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/ea/downloads/lbam-treatmentprog-02-14-08.pdf
Comments may be sent by March 18, 2008 to the address in that document
and also to
Ed Schafer, Secretary of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250
and
STOP the USDA
PO Box 681
Pescadero, CA 94060
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Emergency Vigil Monday and Tuesday
Nights Feb 11 + Feb 12 at Berkeley City Hall:
Code Pink is having an overnight and all day vigil
to counter the demo
planned by the right wing that wants to undo the Berkeley City Council
resolutions that told the Marine recruiters that they were not welcome
in Berkeley. For more info, visit indybay.org.
Berkeley Threatened With Loss Of State and
Federal Funds Over Marine Recruiting Center Flap
by John Thielking
2-8-08
Last night it was reported on the TV news and in the
Berkeley
Daily Planet that Berkeley might
lose $5 million in Federal and State funding for such vital services as
transportation and school lunch programs because of the Berkeley City
Council's principled stand opposing the location of a Marine recruiting
center within Berkeley city limits. It was also reported that because
of this backlash, some of the Berkeley City Council people were
considering toning down their proposed letter to the Marines and
modifying the resolution to make it clear that they support the troops
even if they don't support the war.
It should be pointed out that the movie "Sir! No Sir!" made it clear
that the story about servicepeople being spat on as they returned to
the
SF airport after returning from Vietnam is a myth. We know this
is a
myth because the servicepeople did not go through the normal airport
screening process at that time in history. The movie "Rambo" made this
story into a myth that the averge movie-goer took as fact because the
average movie-goer had no direct experience to contradict the Rambo
character's
statement that the returning troops were spat on.
In response to the threats voiced by some State and Federal Lawmakers,
I made the following statement on Indybay.org
:
If
the city of Berkeley has Federal and State funding pulled due to this
incident, I will personally pony up a $100 donation to do my part to
make up for the funding shortfall. I think the city should take a
stand and demand that the Marines leave. Having the Marines
in
Berkeley is like having Checkmate aerial spray or a Navy ship in Santa
Cruz. It just doesn't wash. I don't see Santa Cruz being
sanctioned
for rejecting the Navy ship a few years ago.
The fighters in Iraq
and
Afghanistan are fighting for capitalists and their cronies, not to
protect the people of the US. Have the National Guard troops come
home
from Iraq and help rebuild New Orleans and the rest of the state of LA.
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com blog
|
A humanitarian crisis is underway as the Gaza Strip's only power plant began to shut
down on Sunday, and the tiny coastal territory entered its third full day without
shipments of vital food and fuel supplies due to Israel's punitive sanctions.
Read more and leave comments in
the Pagesincolor.com blog
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What
Chemical Aerial Spraying
May Be
Doing To
You, Your Children's & Pets' Health
Way of Life Health
Lecture Series Presents
An
Evening With
New York
Best
Selling Author of
"Your
Toxic
World: A Wake Up Call"
Dr. Doris
Rapp
MD
Thursday
Evening January 10, 2008
Rio
Theater
1205
Soquel
Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Admission is FREE (donations gratefully accepted). Everyone Welcome
(crying room available).
Who is Dr Rapp? Doris J Rapp, MD, F.A.A.A., F. A. A. P., is a
board-certified environmental medical specialist and pedatric
allergist. She is clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at
the State University of New York at Buffalo. The founder of the
Practical Allergy Foundation in Buffalo, Dr. Rapp is a past president
of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine and was an honored
speaker at the First World Conference on Non-Pharmacological therapies
identifying substances that cause illness and behavioral changes in
children & treatment ideas. And her new book "A Toxic Wake Up
Call: Understanding The Cumulative Effects Of Chemical Exposure." Dr
Rapp will be addressing specific reasons why our community needs to be
concerned about aerial spraying. Dr Rapp has been seen on Oprah &
Larry King Live.
Read more on
Pagesincolor.com
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Request To Put Speed Limits On All Sections
Of The Autobahn Network In Germany Petition
To: German Federal Government
To Angela Merkel (current Bundeskanzlerin of Germany)
and the German Parlament:
This is a petition to be signed by the many people of the world and is
addressed to the German Parlament and to the current Bundeskanzlerin
(Federal Chancellor) of Germany, who has a PhD in Physics, to highlight
how putting speed limits on all of the German Autobahn network could
curb global warming world-wide.
The existence of “no speed limit” sections of the Autobahn network in
Germany increases world-wide consumer desire for faster and more
powerful cars and increases the desire of manufacturers to endlessly
hype power and speed as being essential components of automobile
design. The gas wasted by cars using the “no speed limit” sections of
the Autobahn network in Germany is not as important as the problem of
the internationally over-hyped “need for speed” that is made possible
in part due to the mere existence of roadways with no speed limits.
The power required to propel the average compact car at normal USA
freeway speeds of 55-65mph is about 11hp on a level road. (Electric
vehicles use only about 80 amps @ 100V @ 55mph.) Having a 200+ hp gas
engine under the hood ends up burning a lot of extra gas, proportional
to the displacement volume of the engine.
In contrast, it seems reasonable to expect that if the trend towards
ever higher acceleration rates and ever heavier cars with more powerful
engines were reversed, incredible savings in fuel consumption could be
realized using off the shelf technology. Some compact cars sold in USA
in the 1990’s achieved 40-50mpg highway using 1 liter 55 hp engines.
Scaling down a 2007 model, 2 Liter, 200 hp, 30mpg sports car engine to
65hp would result in a 650 cc engine that could get even better gas
mileage. A hybrid with such an engine could have better gas mileage
than any hybrid on the road today.
We urge you to set an example for the rest of the world and retire the
legend called the “no speed limit Autobahn”, thus reducing the hype
that creates the “need for speed” and the resulting world-wide wasting
of fuel in high performance automobiles. Please impose binding speed
limits on all sections of the Autobahn network. And please publicize
what you have done so that others will reduce or eliminate their “need
for speed”. The resulting world-wide fuel savings could power all of
Germany’s energy needs. Thank you.
Sincerely,
The
Undersigned
See the complete petition online at http://www.petitiononline.com/pagesin2/petition.html
Read or leave comments in
the Pagesincolor.com blog
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Come To The Court Hearing For The Lawsuit
Against The Checkmate Spraying: 10AM Tuesday, Nov 20, 2007
US Federal Court, 280
S 1st St, San Jose, CA, in Courtroom 8.
The USDA is attempting to
have the lawsuit to stop the Checkmate spraying in Monterey and Santa
Cruz Counties dismissed.
Checkmate is a pheremone based spray designed to disrupt the mating of
the light brown apple moth in an attempt to control the population of
the LBAM. Checkmate also contains 3% inert ingredients other than
water, some of which may cause various forms of irritation or health
problems in humans. Checkmate has not been tested for effectiveness
against the LBAM or for safety in humans. The CA Dept of Food and
Agriculture has declared a poorly pubicized "emergency", attempting to
justify circumventing California and Federal environmental laws to
promote their spraying program.
If you care about your health and the health of your neighbors, please
show up for this event. The number of people who show up will be
recorded in the court records and possibly influence the case.
For more information visit:
http://www.lbamspray.info
http://www.drrandy.org
http://www.pagesincolor.com
The hwy 17 bus runs from downtown Santa Cruz to 1st St and Santa Clara
St in downtown San Jose. To get to the courthouse, get off the
bus at
1st St and Santa Clara St. and walk 3 or 4 blocks South to San Carlos
St. The courthouse is on the Northeast corner of 1st St and San
Carlos.
For more background on the Checkmate spraying of Santa Cruz and
Monterey Counties, check out:
Biochemical Spraying Over Santa Cruz Scheduled to
start TONIGHT!
http://www.indybay.org/santacruz/
Update: The lawsuit
was dismissed due to conflicts with the 11th amendment. The City
and County of Santa Cruz are continuing their lawsuits in State court.
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com Blog
|
The CA Dept of Food and
Agriculture sent me an e-mail at 8AM November 9 to tell me that
Checkmate spraying over Santa Cruz had already occurred on Nov 8.
So much for being warned BEFORE the spray
starts by the e-mail alert system:
****************************************************************
On the evening of November 8 and in the early morning hours of November
9, CDFA applied Light Brown Apple Moth pheromone in Santa Cruz County.
Treatment began at 8:01 p.m. and was completed after 4 a.m. The results
are as follows:
Zone CASC 1 - 100 percent complete
Zone CASC 2 - 100 percent complete
Zone CASC 3 - 38 percent compete
Zone CASC 4 - 15 percent complete
Zone CASC 5 - 58 percent complete
Zone CASC 6 - 100 percent complete
Please click on the following link for a map with more detail.
Treatment Map of Santa Cruz :
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PDEP/lbam/pdfs/maps/LBAM_AERIAL_08_11_07_SCRUZ.pdf
The tentative plan for Friday evening, November 9, is to complete
treatment in Santa Cruz County, weather permitting. Then, if time and
weather permit, we would move to the Prunedale/Royal Oaks treatment
area and then to the North Salinas/Boronda area. We will have
additional details later today.
To reply to this message, email LBAM
[at] cdfa.ca.gov
For more information call the toll-free LBAM Program hotline
(1-800-491-1899) and visit the Program's web site.
*********************end of CDFA report**************
I did see a plane making overflights at a low altitude as I was leaving
the Western Service Workers office on Mission st at about 9:30PM on Nov
8. I couldn't smell or taste anything at that moment.
I do have a copy of the intake form that WSW uses for their free
medical services and I went through the admission process with a client
at their office. However, WSW were unwilling to help me directly with
screening people who may have health complaints about the Checkmate
spray.
If you have experienced symptoms, visit the emergency room or your
personal doctor if the symptoms are severe. Emergency rooms have to
admit you even if you can't afford to pay. Doctors are required to
report illnesses due to pesticide use within 24 hours of seeing the
patient with symptoms.
If your symptoms are not severe but still troublesome and you feel you
can't afford a doctor visit, then please call me at 408-924-0846 or
408-914-2751 or e-mail me at pagesincolor
[at] aol.com and I will use your testimony in an effort to round up
some doctors who might be willing to at least give you an exam for
free.
This free medical exam concept will continue to be explored even if the
results from this week's spraying don't pan out since the spraying will
probably resume in the Spring and Summer months of 2008.
For more background on the Checkmate spraying of Santa Cruz and
Monterey Counties, check out:
For the latest update on CDFA spraying check out:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/09/18459506.php
Now they are saying that they will send us complete info on areas
sprayed AFTER they are sprayed.
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com Blog
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Pagesincolor.com Retail Store is NOT
closing
October 30, 2007
I am in the process of finalizing a deal to keep the store open for at
least one more year. Stay tuned for details. For the most part,
the 50% off sale has ended. However, some items being sold by my
current landlord are still 50% off, since he may be moving his stuff
out at the end of October.
The home delivery discounts and home delivery options have been
discontinued at the request of the new business partner, who is taking
over on November 1, 2007. However, a couple of the UFW store
items
will be sold at a discount until further notice. The adult UFW
T-shirts will sell for $10 (instead of $18) and the mini UFW flags will
sell for $7 (instead of $8). Over 5000 fair trade items can be special
ordered, with no shipping charges and no minimum order, and will be
available for store pickup. For more information on
that, check out http://www.pagesincolor.com/storepickup.html
.
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com blog.
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Being zapped by a taser is like being struck by a bolt of
lightning. Only Marty Mcfly in Back To The Future, or Ben
Franklin flying his kite in the rain would be so stupid as to
deliberately be struck by a bolt of lightning. In real life people die
when they are tasered, just like what happens to most people who are
struck by lightning.
Since 2004, when SJPD started having all of its officers carry tasers,
5 people in San Jose have died after being tased. Over 200
people nationwide have been killed by tasers. Too often
tasers are used on people who are being detained, but who are not
resisting. Sometimes these people are very young or very old or
disabled. This has to stop.
The San Jose March and rally follows the following path: 5:00 PM
gather outside the DA's office at 70 West Hedding St. Then march
to the San Jose police dept. Then the march continues, arriving
at San Jose City Hall at 200 E Santa Clara St. at 6:30 PM.
Click
here to see pictures from the rally.
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com blog.
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Visit Zoe Lofgren 4-6PM, Monday, July 23,
2007
Pagesincolor.com is organizing a protest at Congresswoman Zoe
Lofgren's office on Monday July 23, 2007 from 4PM - 6PM
Show up, be respectful,
but demand action! And try not to get arrested. Lofgren's office
closes at 6PM.
Demand the impeachment
of George Bush and Dick Cheney. This is in concert with Cindy
Sheehan who will be marching on Washington DC on the same day.
While we are there we
might also remind Zoe to not allow Bush to attack Iran.
Anyone who shows up to
this protest will get a free Orange No Sweat T-Shirt, while supplies
last. The color Orange symbolizes the Orange Revolution, for
impeachment.
Zoe Lofgren's office
635 N 1st Street, Suite
B
San Jose, CA
Thanks.
Sincerely,
John Thielking
Pagesincolor.com
888 E Santa Clara St.
San Jose, CA 95116
408-924-0846
Read or leave comments in the Pagesincolor.com blog.
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Michael Moore's Movie "Sicko" Is A Step In
The Right Direction
7-15-07
by John Thielking
Michael Moore's latest movie, Sicko, portrays the dismal state of the
health insurance industry in the United States. Short on
statistics, Moore focuses on anecdotal cases to make his point that
many people in the US are being denied appropriate treatments by
insurance companies that do not pre-approve treatments that are needed.
Critics of Sicko, such as Michael
F Cannon and Deroy
Murdock in the National Review claim that Moore is leaving
out certain key facts when he makes his case for Single Payer
Healthcare. They point out that if everyone in the US had access
to whatever health care they wanted, there would be massive increases
in costs as everyone accesses the services or there would be rationing
of available services with waiting lists for major operations
stretching into weeks or months. Murdock also points out the fiasco at
Walter Reed Medical Center where the govt was supposed to be paying for
Veterans' medical treatment.
What the critics leave out is that the current system in the US makes
many people wait until they are dead and they still don't receive
treatment. How is this any different than being put on a month's long
waiting list as in David
Gratzer's nightmare vision of socialized medicine? Plus, they
neglect the fact that in Britain the doctors who have patients with
healthier lifestyles make more money. People live longer in these
countries than in the US, dispite the long waiting lists for some
treatments as claimed by Cannon, Murock and Gratzer. Moore does
not neglect to point out that in Britain and France the people in
charge of their governments are the ones running scared from people
protesting in the streets in massive numbers every time their
governments try to weasel out of their obligations to their social
safety nets in some small way or another. Ronald Reagan and Bill
Clinton wouldn't be nearly so famous for their "Welfare Reform"
packages if people protested in the US the way they do in Britain and
France.
In Canada, Moore didn't mention that there were massive protests.
Rather he pointed out that about 50 years ago one Canadian, Tommy
C. Douglas, who is now regarded as a national hero in Canada,
convinced both Liberals and Conservatives of the merits of Single Payer
Healthcare.
It is clear that if the people in the US want Single Payer Healthcare
they are going to have to fight for it, and remain vigilant after the
goal is achieved. Unless we want to wait for some dead Canadian
hero to come back to life to convince everyone of the merits of Single
Payer Healthcare, we will just have to roll up our sleeves and get to
work. Start by defunding the war in Iraq, and don't allow a war
to get started with Iran. The payments we
will have to make on the spending spree so far in Iraq may
unfortunately constrain the national budget for some years to
come. But if we continue to fund endless wars we will never have
enough money for Single Payer Healthcare or childcare for new mothers
or free college education or whatever other wonderfull programs they
have in Britain and France.
Read or
leave comments in the Pagesincolor.com Blog.
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Cindy Sheehan Is Back On The Anti-War Path
National Conference
Scheduled For July 4th In Philadelphia, PA
6-28-07
by John Thielking
It was widely reported in the mainstream press that Cindy Sheehan
recently stepped down from her role as a national anti-war activist,
citing her disillusionment with the Democratic party. She claimed
that as soon as she attempted to hold the Democrats to the same
standards as the Republicans, she was attacked by the Democrats
too. They seemed to have little genuine interest in ending the
war. Certainly, the Democrats' behavior after the election has
left little room for doubt. The primary front runner, Hillary
Clinton, has said essentially that the war in Iraq is going just fine,
the only problem is that Bush is running it. With talk like that,
the Democrats don't stand a chance of turning things around.
Now Cindy Sheehan has jumped back into the fray. She has teamed up with
Michael Moore in radio spots advertising the anti-war convention in
Philly. She has also embraced the 911-truth movement, claiming that 911
could have been an inside job.
For more details on the conference, visit http://www.actindependent.org/
.
For more background, visit http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/06/361555.shtml
.
Read or
leave comments in the Pagesincolor.com Blog
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"El Gigante Awakens" Premieres In Downtown
San Jose, CA
6-19-07
John Thielking
On May 1, 2006 in downtown San Jose, over 200,000 people marched in
support of immigrant rights and against the draconian HR4437 that would
have made it a felony to be in the US illegally. The 45 minute
English/Spanish DVD "El Gigante Awakens" doccuments the march that
occurred in downtown San Jose, CA. The movie will be shown on
June 22, 23, and 24th at CET, 701 Vine St, San Jose, CA. There will
also be live bands and poetry readings at the 5 showings of the
movie. For more information and tickets visit http://www.elgiganteawakens.com
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com Blog.
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Poll Shows That Majority Support
Negotiations To End Hamas/Fatah Gaza Standoff
6-19-07
John Thielking
Last week, the militant group and majority coalition member of the
Palestinian Government, Hamas, siezed control of Gaza from the rival
militant group Fatah. International support of Fatah's contol of
the remaining territory in the West Bank and Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas' dismissal of the Hamas-led government has led
to the virtual isolation of the Gaza Strip. Nations such as the
US and the European Union states have promissed to lift sanctions
against the now Fatah controlled government in the West Bank, while
isolating the Gaza strip. Israel holds open the possiblity of invading
the Gaza Strip to throw out Hamas if any rocket attacks are perpetrated
against Israel.
A recent poll conducted by http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerMain.jhtml
suggests that a
majority of readers support either letting Hamas and Fatah work it out
or to
have international negotiators talk to Hamas. Only
12% support military action against Hamas. Only 35%
support sanctions/isolation of Gaza.
For more background opinions on the
situation, check out:
Whose
Coup, Exactly?
AlterNet:
Palestine: How Will the Hypocritical West Deal with a Coup
D'état by an Elected Government?
Towards
a Geography of Peace: Whither Gaza?
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com Blog
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SF 8 Bail Reduction Hearings Scheduled For
The Week Of 6-18-07
6-19-07
by John Thielking
The San Francisco 8 are 8 African American former members of the Black
Panthers who are being charged with the1971 killing of a San Francisco
police officer. Many of the charges have already been tried in
court previously and have also been presented to numerous Grand Juries
without any indictments being handed down. Some of the "evidence"
against the 8 was extracted under torture when they were orginally
arrested in the 1970's.
The SF 8 have called on John Conyers, Chair of the Judiciary Committee
in Congress, to reopen the COINTELPRO hearings to examine why it is
that African Americans who were framed up by COINTELPRO 30 years ago
are still behind bars.
Read
more at Indybay.org
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com blog.
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Meeting to Honor Leonard Peltier
6-13-07
LPSG South Bay is honoring Leonard Peltier on Tuesday 26th June in San
Jose, 32 years after the shoot-out. We will be showing the film
"Incident at Oglala". We are meeting at 7:00pm at Pagesincolor.com Fair
Trade Store located at 888 East Santa Clara Street, near 19th Street
and across the street from Roosevelt Park in San Jose. Refreshments are
potluck.
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com Blog.
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Berkeley, CA Passes New Downtown Ordinances
6-13-07
John Thielking
Berkeley has just passed a new set of ordinances that would criminalize
their homeless population. It makes it illegal to posess a
shopping cart or to sit or lie on the sidewalk. Where are the
mass protests (akin to the 1994 Santa Cruz protests against the sitting
ban)?
1st unintended consequence or selective enforcement non-action:
Those little old ladies with their walker/baskets could be targeted for
having "shopping carts". I seriously doubt that homeless people
with suitcases bungy corded to hand trucks will be let go. But
the cops will never ticket a little old lady with her pushcart.
Read more at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/11/BAGVUQD2GO1.DTL
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com Blog.
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From
alternet.org
Iraqi Parliament
Sets The Stage For Troop Withdrawl From Iraq
6-7-07
Up until now, the Iraqi government has been little more than a rubber
stamp for US foreign policy. Now however, there is a movement
within the majority of lawmakers in Parliament to attach conditions to
and/or not renew authorization for the UN mandate for peacekeeping
forces to remain in Iraq. This would mean that if the current binding
resolution that has passed Parliament requiring renewal of
authorization of the UN mandate every 6 months is not vetoed by the
Prime Minister and if the authorization is not renewed in
December 2007, the US forces could be asked to withdraw on some kind of
timetable. Read the complete article at alternet.org.
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com blog.
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Rally To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
Thursday, May 17, 2007 from 4-6PM
San Jose Federal Building
2nd and San Carlos St
San Jose, CA
Death Row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal is going to have essentially his
last best shot at a new trial on May 17, 2007. Robert Bryan will
be presenting one hour of oral arguments before the third circuit court
of appeals. Mumia Abu-Jamal was wrongfully convicted of killing
Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in an altercation that took
place on Dec 9, 1981. Lots of evidence exists to suggest that
Mumia is innocent, including the confession of a hit man, Arnold
Beverly, who claims that he, not Mumia, shot and killed Officer
Faulkner. Bryan will be focusing on a few main points as part of the
appeal:
* The prosecutor's attempt to dilute the presumption of innocence by
stating that if Mumia were convicted he would have appeal after appeal.
* The racist exclusion of a majority of the black jurors in the jury
pool from serving on Mumia's jury.
* The racist bias of Judge Sabo during the appeals process.
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com blog
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San Jose Events For The Week Of April
29-May 5, 2007
Sunday April 29, 2007 1:00
pm Justice March for Immigrant
Children, from Federal Building, 280 South First St, San Jose,
CA .to San Jose City Hall.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 4:00
pm Immigrant and Workers' March
from Mi Pueblo Center, South King and Story Roads, San Jose, CA
to San Jose City Hall. Organized by Voluntarios de la Comunidad.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
7PM -8:30PM Root
Force Road Show
Pagesincolor 888 E Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95116
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com Blog.
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From
Indybay.org
Root Force Road Show Comes To San Jose
May 1, 2007
7PM-8:30PM
Pagesincolor.com
888 E Santa Clara St.
San Jose, CA 95116
PUPPETS * FILM * SLIDES * MUSIC
The Root Force Road Show is coming to San Jose!
Are you tired of talking about “the system” and ready to do something
about it? Are you looking for a way to fight the onslaught of corporate
globalization beyond summit hopping and buying fair trade?
Root Force is a strategic campaign designed to exploit weak points in
the global economy and hasten the system’s collapse. Using direct
action, Root Force pressures all those involved in specific
infrastructure construction projects in Latin America to end their
participation in ecocide and genocide.
This FREE event will feature:
* Segment from a new film on Plan Puebla Panama called “La Conquista
Sigue” (The Conquest Continues), produced in Chiapas, Mexico.
* A puppet show on international solidarity
* Slides from communities of resistance in Mexico and El Salvador
* A talk on the Root Force campaign
For more information, visit http://www.rootforce.org.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LA GIRA DE FUERZA RAIZ
¡La Gira de Fuerza Raíz viene a San Jose!
TITERES * PELICULA * DIAPOSITIVA * MUSICA
¿Está cansado de quejarse sobre "el sistema" y listo para
hacer algo en contra? ¿Está buscando una manera de luchar
contra la globalización corporativa además de protestar
en las cumbres o comprar "comercio justo"?
Fuerza Raíz es una campaña estratégica,
diseñada para aprovechar de los puntos debiles de la
economía global para apretar el paso de su derrumbamiento.
Utilizando la acción directa, Fuerza Raíz presiona a
todos que están involucrados en unos cuantos proyectos de
construcción de infraestructura en América Latina, hasta
que ponen un fin a su participación en el ecocidio y genocidio.
Este evento es GRATIS e incluye:
* Un segmento de "La Conquista Sigue," una pelicula nueva acerca del
Plan Puebla Panama producido en Chiapas, México
* Una presentación de títeres sobre la solidaridad
internacional (solo en inglés)
* Diapositivas de comunidades de resistencia en México y El
Salvador
* Una plática sobre la campaña Fuerza Raíz
Para más información (en inglés), visita a http://www.rootforce.org.
For
the complete event listing, check out Indybay.org.
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"Yellow Journalism" about the Post Office
on Pagesincolor: How The Post Office Shredded My Letter On Behalf Of
Mumia
by John Thielking
4-27-07
A letter and check that I sent to the Black United Fund in January 2007
on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal was shredded by the Post Office after
sitting in the dead letter office for 3 months. I always have
postage and return address on all mail that I send out. There can
be no excuse.
Read
the complete story at Indybay.org.
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Pagesincolor.com Blog.
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From Indybay.org:
In Preparation
for Cinco De Mayo Cop-Watch: Know Your Rights Training
Sunday, April 29th 3pm-6pm @ PagesInColor 888 East
Santa Clara St. San Jose, CA 95116
Know your rights when interacting with the police. Free and open to the
public. Preparation/refreshment for Cinco de Mayo Copwatching. Will
also include a
discussion on strategy for the 5th.
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www.Catalysts of HOPE.org
Healing Our People & Earth
Cross
Continental Bicycle Journey
for Peace &
Sustainability
will facilitate a discussion on
Building Community
Earth Day
Sun 22 April 2007
Potluck 5:00 PM
Bring your utensils & locally grown food
Discussion 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Pagesincolor.com
Fair Trade Craft Store
888 E. Santa Clara St
San Jose, CA 95116
corner of 19th St.
541-829-3379
The cyclists arrived in San Jose on Friday and are staying over for a
discussion of their work. Join them for a potluck and discussion.
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Sustainability Week
April 16th -
19th, 2007
San Jose State
University
San Jose, CA
Earth Day
April 18th 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Join the celebration! Featuring organizations, vendors, dancers, a mini
farmer's market, a speech from Ocean Robbins, and a memorila tree
planting for Gaylord Nelson, Earht Day founder. Central Plaza off
of 7th street.
Carmencita "Chie" Abad
April 17th 12:30 PM
Chie speaks from personal experience about the hardships endured by
millions of workers in sweatshops around the world. Her story is
an inspiring example of how people can win if they stand up for their
rights. Martin Luther King Library Rm 255/257 (MLK Library is
located at E San Fernando and 4th Streets.)
David Bacon and Juan Manuel Sandoval
April 17th, 1:30 PM
David Bacon is a photojournalist and writer who spent twenty years
organizing labor unions. Juan Manuel Sandoval is a leading social
activist and academic. MLK Library Rm 255/257
Fair Trade Faire
April 17th, 18th and 19th, 10AM-3PM
Sales of crafts from Ten Thousand Villages. Fair Trade
Certification ensures that workers are paid fair wages, are free from
abusive labor practices, and use environmentally sustainable
methods. Central Plaza off of 7th Street.
For more information and the complete schedule, visit
http://www.sjsusustainabilityweek.org
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China Blue
10:30PM
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007
Pagesincolor.com
888 E Santa
Clara St.
San Jose, CA
95116
This movie
documents the life of a 16 year old girl who works in a sweatshop in
China making blue jeans. The owner of the sweatshop claims that
his is one of the better factories in China, hence he graciously
allowed the uncensored filming of the factory. Even so, the film
reveals that the workers suffer under deplorable conditions, working
12+ hours per day 7 days per week. This movie will be broadcast
on KQED Channel 9 at 10:30PM Tuesday April 3rd, 2007. You are
welcome to see the movie at Pagesincolor.com and make a donation to
Pagesincolor.com to cover the cost of the room. Discussion
preceeds and follows the movie.
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Race To Execution
Wed, March 28th, 2007 6PM
Pagesincolor.com
888 E Santa Clara St.
San Jose, CA 95116
"Race To Execution" follows the cases
of two Death Row inmates, Robert Tarver in Russell County, Alabama and
Madison Hobley in Chicago, Illinois to illustrate how race plays a role
in jury selection and in sentencing in capital cases.
This movie is being broadcast on KQED Channel 9 at 6PM,
Wed, March 28th, 2007. Come watch the movie at Pagesincolor.com
and have a discussion afterwards. You can contribute a donation
to Pagesincolor.com if you like and/or visit the fair trade crafts
store. The movie will be viewable on the 24" TV upstairs and the
13" wheelchair accessible TV downstairs.
Read or leave comments in the
Pagesincolor.com Blog.
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