People Before Profit blog

Epidemics and cutbacks grip NYC

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 05:49:00 +0000

Community health epidemics are now facing almost every big city in the country and some rural areas also.

New York City is facing a triple threat. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is forcing large cutbacks in basic health care services. Gov. George Pataki is making matters worse as deals with the state’s $12 billion deficit by cutting back on the state’s Department of Health programs and subsidies to New York City. In addition, the city will suffer from President Bush’s economic and fiscal policies.

These conditions are making diseases skyrocket, especially diseases that affect working-class and poor people because of limited health services. These already limited services are being greatly diminished every day. The depth of this crisis is catastrophic.

For example, the New York City Commissioner of Health has announced that the percentage of adult New Yorkers with diabetes has doubled since 1994, from 3.7 percent to 7.9 percent of the city’s population. “While more than 450,000 New Yorkers know that they have diabetes,” he said, “it is estimated that approximately one-third of all diabetes cases remain undiagnosed.”

The commissioner also repored that this is preventable. “Diabetes is a serious, but largely preventable and manageable condition. With regular exercise and weight control, people can reduce their risk of developing diabetes by 60 percent,” he said.

The Health Department report continues, “Complications from diabetes include heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, foot and leg amputations, and difficult pregnancies. It is the sixth leading cause of death in New York City.”

There are strong indications that race plays a major role in this death and disability rate. “Hispanics are four times more likely to have diabetes than whites and Asians. Blacks are twice as likely to have diabetes than whites and Asians.”

It is not a secret that available health services and public health educational services have been cut over the years for Black and Latino communities. These essential services are the only means through which people learn about the health services that they have a right to. Without these educational programs, health services are not utilized. This then provides the phony basis to cut these programs back.

The planned cutbacks will make all of these numbers even worse.

The numbers of sexually transmitted diseases are also on the rise, even though they are totally preventable. According to the city’s Health Department figures there has been a 55 percent rise in syphilis cases in the last year.

Mobilizing the victims of this public health crisis is a high priority. It is the duty and responsibility of all elected officials, along with community and labor activists, to come to the aid of people in crisis. The broadest coalition of labor unions, community organizations and faith organizations must demand a tax on the rich and powerful, both personal wealth and corporate profits.

Ending the war budget and these simple economic tax policies would reverse this economic disaster.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Real estate market explosion gone bust

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 05:38:00 +0000

Open up the classified section in your local newspaper and you, unlike the most esteemed economic minds in the country, might notice two things. Number one, though I will not dwell on it here, is that there are not enough jobs to go around. Number two is that the amount of real estate in the market has reached gargantuan proportions.

From one perspective there is no shortage of housing; certainly there are enough houses, condos, luxury apartments and expensive high-rises for everyone. If your neighborhood is anything like mine, you won’t have to look in the classified for proof of this assertion; evidence abounds ... the open house signs are everywhere!

But if, like me, you make less then $100,000 a year, then you might realize that all those great bargain apartments at $1,800 a month, the fabulous low-cost condos for only $150,000, and the inexpensive townhomes starting at only $350,000 are not affordable for most working people. Yet during a time of record unemployment, astounding homelessness, and growing poverty, more and more high-priced housing is flooding the market.

The highly profitable real estate market has been booming for 40 years. With the recent recession, investment in real estate is at an all-time high, and profits are still rolling in. Developers hope that the sky’s the limit. But modest working-class people cannot afford to be anything but cynical toward this optimism.

The continued investment in the housing market is providing homes only to those with money enough. However, there is a great and unquenchable thirst for affordable housing.

While the supply is glutted with only over-priced housing, affordable housing is scarce. In fact, housing prices have risen twice as fast as inflation since the 1960s. The rapid increase in the high-priced supply has added to the lack of affordable housing. The accumulation of so much investment creates an over-supply, which can not sustain demand.

In addition, broader economic factors are starting to work against real estate profits. The market, which was already crowded with profit-driven suppliers, is becoming more crowded as developers and investors try to get in before the bust. This creates a situation where new housing starts look higher and increasing, giving the image of a market without limits.

But sooner or later, the amount of people able to afford housing at these excessive levels will become less than the amount of housing. Already this may be happening, as one real estate observer recently commented, “I’ve been watching homes in the $350,000-400,000 range and they are sitting much longer than they have in the past two years.”

A recent article in Barron’s by Jonathan Laing warned that “If the housing bubble bursts, instead of gently deflating, the nation’s economy could be in for a major meltdown.”

Real estate is an especially sensitive area in the economy because it is a source of equity, holding down debt, and because it produces so many jobs. Thus, if it were to bust people who already have mortgages and those with jobs connected to the real estate market would be hurt. The combined impact may be too much to take.

For those of us who might be hurt – those looking for affordable housing, those working in housing, and those who have invested their lives in their homes – we might find out that if we don’t start fight soon for a sustainable and affordable housing market in our own communities, we might be left up a creek ... without an affordable place to dry off.

The author can be reached at bkishner@pww.org

National Clips

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 05:12:00 +0000

GREENVILLE, N.C.: Residents fight for holiday

The Rev. Jesse Jackson was back in his hometown in February, marching with 500 residents to County Council chambers to declare Jan. 20 a holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In their hands were petitions signed by 10,000 registered voters in this rural county demanding that Pitt County join the rest of the country in celebrating King Day.

After residents sat in all night, the council appointed a citizens’ task force to study the issue.

Meanwhile in nearby Laurens, the town council voted to celebrate Dr. King Day as an official holiday. Communities throughout the area have been passing resolutions adding Dr. King Day to the official holiday roster.

DETROIT, Mich.: UAW stands up for diversity

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettlefinger announced Feb. 18 that the union was participating in an amicus brief supporting the University of Michigan’s affirmative action policies.

The UAW’s participation in the University of Michigan case began in 2001, when it was the only union to file an amicus brief with the Sixth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals in support of the university’s admissions policies. The appellate court upheld the university’s admissions policies in May 2002.

The UAW leader added that President Bush, who has joined with plaintiffs attempting to overturn the university’s admissions policies, was “out of bounds” in claiming the U of M used a “quota” system.

CHICAGO: Former MP returned to Ireland

Irish activist and former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin McAliskey was detained by immigration officials in Chicago, Feb. 21, and denied entry into the United States allegedly on “national security” grounds.

According to her daughter, Deidre, two INS officers threatened to arrest, jail and even shoot the civil rights campaigner when she arrived at O’Hare airport. Denied access to a lawyer, McAliskey was photographed, finger-printed and returned to Ireland against her will.

McAliskey has been frequent visitor to the U.S. for the past 30 years, although this was her first visit since passage of the Patriot Act.

McAliskey is now in the process of filing a formal complaint with the U.S. consulate in Dublin.

CARSON CITY, Nev.: State Patriot Act in trouble

A veteran lobbyist testified before the State Senate that a bill to make terrorism a crime in Nevada is so poorly written that she could be busted for picketing in front of a Department of Motor Vehicles office.

Someone who tries to “disrupt, affect or influence the conduct or policy of a government entity by intimidation” is defined as a “terrorist” in one section of the bill.

Sen. Valerie Wiener (D-Las Vegas) added that the “outraged parents” who show up at school board meetings to protest would be terrorists under the definitions of the bill.

The State Senate has scheduled hearings around the state. WILLIAMSBURG, New student lobby

In April 2002, six students, most of whom are too young to buy a beer, decided that the over 300,000 students in the state’s colleges needed a political voice to mobilize voters and lobby the General Assembly.

The Students of Virginia Political Action Committee (SVPAC) began at William and Mary with the goal of persuading voters to approve a $900 million state bond issue for college construction and renovation. The students reached out to other schools to hold voter-registration drives and political rallies.

As the 2003 General Assembly session ended Feb. 21, members of SVPAC were congratulating themselves on their victories, including passage of the bond by a 2-1 margin.

With tuition hikes and cuts looming in most states, SVPAC leaders are convinced college students need to “get a seat at the table.” Their web site is: PutStudentsFirst.org.

SALEM, Ore.: Governor convenes hunger summit

With 14 percent of the state’s people relying on food pantries and almost 6 percent hungry, Oregon ranks as the worst in feeding its people. Oregon beat out Mississippi and North Dakota, which have higher poverty rates. Most of the hungry people are children and a startling 32 percent are in two-parent households

“I think you have to actually use the pulpit of the governor’s office to put this issue in the laps of the citizens,” Governor Kulongoski said announcing the first ever Hunger Summit in the state.

At least three hunger-relief bills being introduced in the legislature aim to bring in more than $1 million in federal money for programs that feed children and senior citizens.

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards. Joel Wendland and Jeanne Clark contributed to this week’s clips.

If you have a clip, send it to pww@pww.org

Professor protests arrest

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 04:58:00 +0000

A Florida university professor arrested last week said on Feb. 25 he was being “crucified” by U.S. authorities and vowed to continue a protest hunger strike, Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian born in Kuwait was arrested with three other men on Feb. 20.

The Department of Justice announced a 50-count indictment of eight Arab men, four of whom are not in the U.S. for crimes, including support of terrorism, racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder. The government claims that these individuals constituted a stateside support group of the Islamic Jihad, a group that has claimed credit for terrorist attacks against Israel.

Attorneys for the defendants deny the charges. A spokesmen for the Islamic Jihad also denied connections to the arrested men, Al-Arian, Sameeh Hamoudeh, Hatim Naji Fariz, and Gassan Zeyed Ballut.

The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Arab-American Institute Foundation are among a number of organizations raising questions about the indictments, especially of Al-Arian. The ADC statement says it “supports efforts to enhance our nation’s security but remains committed to ensuring that our civil rights are not violated in the process.” The ADC noted that Al-Arian has been under investigation for many years, and no evidence was ever presented suggesting his involvement with any illegal activity.

The government emphasized comments that Al- Arian had made about Israel some years ago, raising worries among civil libertarians that he is being singled out for opposing U.S. and Israeli policies in the Middle East.

Some civil libertarians also see these arrests as a way to win political support for even more far-reaching and anti-democratic laws, like the “Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003” which is being pursued by Attorney General John Ashcroft. Called Son of Patriot Act, this draft legislation allows for secret arrests and a host of other actions that contradict the Bill of Rights.

Al-Arian, the most high profile member of the group, was teaching engineering at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa. Al-Arian had been fighting efforts of the University to fire him after appearing on right-wing Fox News “The O’Reilly Factor.” In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when the media was anxious to promote the far-right line of vengeance, the show’s host, Bill O’Reilly, revived inflammatory but never proven charges against Al-Arian dating back, in some cases, 15 years. Those charges were that a now-defunct Islamic think tank Al-Arian founded and ran in conjunction with USF operated as a sort of home away from home for radical Palestinians and terrorists. The charges had been thoroughly investigated and rejected by USF, and an immigration judge; the FBI has been looking for years and never filed any charges, according to salon.com. After the sand bagging, the university administration began efforts to fire Al-Arian, which were strongly opposed by his faculty colleagues.

Al-Arian had also played a leading role in an unsuccessful effort to keep the government from deporting his brother-in-law, Mazzen al Najjar, on the basis of “secret evidence,” a procedure made legal under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. A federal judge had denied the government’s right to deport Al Najjar, and the Reno Justice Department appeared to have given up the effort to do so. However, after 9/11, the Ashcroft Justice Department promptly re-arrested Al Najjar without giving public reasons and promptly deported him.

Al-Arian, a very high profile member of the Arab-American and Muslim communities, had organized Muslim support in Florida for George Bush in the 2000 elections.

Hate-talk host hired by MSNBC

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 04:52:00 +0000

The latest hire by the cable news network MSNBC – co-owned by General Electric/NBC and Microsoft – is Michael Savage, a radio talkshow host noted for his unabashed bigotry. Savage is scheduled to have his own weekly one-hour show on MSNBC beginning in March.

Misogyny, homophobia and racism are staples of Savage’s radio show. Savage routinely refers to non-white countries as “turd world nations” and charges that the U.S. “is being taken over by the freaks, the cripples, the perverts and the mental defectives” (San Francisco Bay Guardian, 9/20/00). In a recent broadcast he justified ethnic slurs as a national security tool: “We need racist stereotypes right now of our enemy in order to encourage our warriors to kill the enemy,” he explained (San Francisco Chronicle, 2/6/03).

In announcing the hire, MSNBC President Erik Sorenson described Savage as “brash, passionate and smart,” and promised that he would provide “compelling opinion and analysis with an edge.”

If you’d like to express your opinion on Michael Savage hosting a show on MSNBC, you can write to the cable channel directly.

MSNBC Feedback: feedback@msnbc.com

Erik Sorenson, MSNBC President: Erik.Sorenson@MSNBC.com

As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if you maintain a polite tone. Please send a copy to: fair@fair.org.

This is excerpted from Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting’s (www.fair.org) Feb. 12 action alert.

Coalition cites Bush tax cut

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 04:48:00 +0000

The Fair Taxes for All Coalition (FTFAC), uniting over 500 grassroots organizations, has launched a petition and direct action campaign demanding that the House and Senate block George W. Bush’s $674 billion tax cut for the rich, which they warn will cost $2 trillion in lost revenues over the coming decade.

The new coalition was announced at a Capitol Hill news conference Feb. 12 attended by AFL-CIO Pres. John Sweeney, People for the American Way President Ralph G. Neas, ACORN President Maude Hurd and other leaders.

Nancy Duff Campbell, president of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), co-chair of the FTFAC told the news conference, “NWLC is co-chairing this Fair Taxes for All Coalition for one reason: to fight the devastating effect of President Bush’s massive new tax cuts on women and children. These tax cuts threaten to sabotage all of the priorities critical to woman and the vast majority of Americans.”

Bush’s $364 billion cut in taxes on dividends, she charged, could provide health insurance for all the 9.2 million uninsured children

It could also extend the Head Start program to all eligible school children in the U.S. Instead, Bush’s 2004 Fiscal Budget tightens eligibility for these programs and converts them to a block grant.

“But its gives millionaires an average tax cut of $89,000,” Campbell said.

Hurd, a substance-abuse prevention specialist from Dorchester, Mass., told the news conference that Bush’s proposal for “yet more tax cuts for millionaires is so willfully blind to the destruction it will cause that it reminds me of the behavior of a substance abuser.”

Bush peddles his tax cut scam as an “economic stimulus” but Hurd argued that “putting money into the hands of the least well off would be most likely to stimulate the economy while giving piles of cash to millionaires doesn’t help. People choosing between heat and food will immediately spend any money they get. Millionaires will put money in the bank.”

Hurd said ACORN and its allies will not just “scream at the addict … We are going to stop this destructive policy in Congress.”

In the coming weeks ACORN and others in the coalition will be circulating the petition, staging rallies, teach-ins and other mass actions,

Rachel Burrows, ACORN legislative representative told the World, “Our petition is directed to Congress and it seeks to get across one point: that there are literally millions upon millions of people across this country who are opposed to these tax cuts.” (The petition is online at www.fairtaxesforall.org). “I think we are in a different situation than we were when Bush’s first tax cut for the rich was approved,” she said. “We are acting on the assumption that this is a fight we can win,” Burrows said.

“I expect Tax Day, April 15, will be a day of protest against these tax cuts across the nation,” she said. “The Republicans hold only a tiny margin in the Senate and as the debate heats up some moderate Republicans can be persuaded to vote against the tax cut scheme,” Burrows predicted.

The combined $150 billion in state and local budget deficits caused by Bush’s tax cuts loomed like an 800 pound gorilla at the National Governors Association annual meeting in Washington. George W. Bush told the Governors they had received enough federal money. He told them to line up in support of another tax cut for the rich. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) reminded the governors that Bush’s “homeland security” is an unfunded mandate that will cost them billions with no help from Washington. Yet Bush doled out $37 billion in taxpayer funds to bribe Turkey to allow the Pentagon to invade Iraq from Turkish territory.

Health and Human Services Secretary Thommy Thompson tried to sell the governors on the Bush plan to shift Medicaid costs to the states, touting it as “discretionary power.” But the only “discretion” it confers is to slash Medicaid to the bone and take the heat from the outraged poor. “We gotta move rapidly,” Thompson said, speeding past the fine print.

But the governors weren’t buying. They demanded that Bush come up with an immediate $15 billion aid package for the states. They also demanded that the federal government assume the costs of providing health care for six million low income seniors by shifting them from Medicaid, partially funded by the states, to Medicare, wholly funded by the federal government. These seniors are 15 percent of those enrolled in Medicaid but 35 percent of the programs costs.

Washington Governor, Gary Locke told reporters that he governors struggling with the deepest deficits since World War II “received nothing but great smiles and rhetoric” from the Bush administration.

The author can be reached at greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com

The story behind the Cuban Five

Fri, 21 Feb 2003 05:18:00 +0000

Take a glance at any major newspaper and you are likely to read something about terrorist groups based overseas. Perhaps Al Qaida, Hamas, or Black September. You will hear about the appalling actions that they carry out. But what is more appalling is what you don’t get to read about.

For over 40 years there have been terrorist groups based in Miami, Fla. Most are made up of Cuban exiles who are also often ex-CIA agents. These groups have clever names such as Cuban America National Foundation (CANF), Commandos L, Alpha 66, and Brothers to the Rescue. The aim of these groups is to undermine the Cuban government in almost any way possible, including violence. Their terrorist tactics are among the most horrendous used in the world. Most frightening, however, is how complacent the United States government has been toward these groups and their actions.

For example, in 1976 a Cuban American named Orlando Bosch blew up a Cuban airplane killing 73 innocent civilians on board. He was put in prison in Venezuela but escaped to the U.S., where President Bush senior pardoned him. Orlando Bosch is now living happily in Miami and is still active in Miami-based terrorist actions. (For a summary of the main terrorist actions against Cuba, see www.cubasolidarity.com/summary.htm.)

More recently, in 1997 a series of violent explosions rocked several Cuban hotels. One killed a young Italian tourist. The attacks were aimed at discouraging travelers from visiting Cuba, weakening the tourist industry, one of Cuba’s major lifelines. On July 12 and 13, 1998, in an interview with The New York Times, well-known terrorist and ex-CIA agent Luis Posada Carriles publicly admitted that he organized the attacks on the Cuban hotels including the one that killed the Italian tourist. When asked about the tragic death Posada coldly responded, “He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Posada also admitted that the Cuban American National Foundation bankrolled his actions, which included paying another man $4,500 to plant each bomb. No legal action was ever taken by the United States government against Posada or the CANF for those actions.

Realizing that the U.S. had no real intention of holding these terrorists or their groups responsible, the Cuban government took the issue upon itself and launched its own “War on Terror” of sorts. It did not use bombs or guns or even violence. What it did do was send five Cuban citizens to Miami to infiltrate the private terrorist sector of that city. Their work was extremely successful and they prevented dozens of terrorist attacks, several that were to occur in the United States against Americans who were viewed as being sympathetic to the Cuban revolution.

However, the right-wing political machine in Miami proved to be too strong. The five Cubans were arrested on outrageous charges that included espionage for which there was never any evidence, even at trial. The five were cruelly kept in solitary confinement for 15 months before their trial. Recently they were sentenced to extremely long prison sentences by a biased Miami court.

If the U.S. government was at all serious about its “War on Terror” it would release the Five Cuban Patriots, it would disband groups such as the Cuban American National Foundation, Alpha 66 and Commandos L, and it would strongly prosecute anyone that carried out illegal actions against Cuba.

Cuba has never done anything to the United States, it wishes no harm on the United States, and it certainly poses no threat to the United States. Cuba only wishes to live in peace. This wish, however, has seemingly been proven impossible due to the extreme length the Miami right will go to undermine Cuba. Perhaps the five Cubans said it best: “In the four years that we’ve spent here we have never stopped wondering why it is that our two people cannot live in peace, and how it is possible that the mean interest of the extreme right, including terrorist groups and organizations made up of Cuban Americans, can strain relations between two people that are so close geographically and could easily maintain relations based on respect and equality.” Amen.

Teddy Wood is a student in Santa Cruz, Calif. He can be reached at Scsk8er35@cs.com

Why no police action on North Dakota murders?

Fri, 21 Feb 2003 05:16:00 +0000

our Native American men – all members of the North Dakota-based Turtle Mountain Chippewa [Ojibway] Nation – have been murdered in and around Grand Forks, N.D., within the last year and a half. There have been no arrests. The efforts by various North Dakota law enforcement and other officials in these tragedies have been notably laconic, confused, and omissive.

In Sept. 2001, three Turtle Mountain men were murdered at virtually the same time in the Grand Forks setting – a town of 50,000 on the Minnesota border. (It’s the hometown of Leonard Peltier.) Robert Belgarde, 40, and Damian Belgarde, 19, father and son, were shot and killed near the town. Within the Forks itself, Jerome Decoteau, 50, who I knew personally, was bludgeoned to death in his apartment.

In mid-July, 2002, a Turtle Mountain youth, Russell Turcotte, 19, was hitch-hiking through Grand Forks at night to his home in Wolf Point, Mont. Last seen at a gas station on Highway 2 at the western edge of the Forks, he was reported missing a day or two thereafter. His partially nude body was eventually found in early November, just off Highway 2, near Devils Lake, N.D. – a town about 90 miles west of Grand Forks.

The response to the Belgarde murders by the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s office was to claim at several points that they were drug-related in some fashion – and hence of presumably minimal concern to the general run of citizenry. (These claims have now stopped, at least publicly.) There have been leaked hints for months that arrests in this matter are forthcoming. No action.

Virtually nothing has been said by the Grand Forks Police Department in the killing of Jerome Decoteau. A few months ago, a leaked hint spoke of forthcoming arrests. No action.

In mid-October, 2001, I wrote an angry statement about the Belgarde and Decoteau murders, the growing deterioration and mounting lack of sensitivity within the GF Police Department, and the general breakdown in race relations occurring in and around the town itself. The local newspaper, The Grand Forks Herald, ran this as an editorial and asked the police chief to give his response. He refused to do so.

For months after Russell Turcotte’s ominous disappearance at Grand Forks in July 2002, North Dakota lawmen in the region took the very strange position that it was officially a matter relating to his then residence, Wolf Point, in eastern Montana, and did nothing. When, early on, a convenience store manager told Forks police that he had a routine surveillance video that showed Russell Turcotte and other customers of that evening, the police indicated they had no interest in it – and the tape was eventually destroyed in the store’s conventional recycling process.

Over many years and after many tough campaigns, we gained much ground in Grand Forks and North Dakota on a wide variety of social justice endeavors – including anti-racism. But it’s obvious that much is now going downhill very fast. While never any bed of roses by any means, things are a far cry into the negative side from where they were when I came to North Dakota in 1981.

The Belgarde and Decoteau killings have strong racist dimensions. Organized hate groups, like spin-offs from the old Posse Comitatus, are found throughout this general region. In addition, the setting is rife with plenty of “independent” racism. The mounting economic vicissitudes in North Dakota and adjoining sections – e.g., unemployment and the collapse of many small farmers and ranchers – have deeply fueled these poisonous rivers.

The victims’ family members, myself and a number of Native and non-Native people in the area are vigorously planning appropriately creative approaches designed to keep the fires burning on all of these tragic issues – and to increase the degree and scope of the constructive heat. Your help is much needed. We ask for e-mails. Please contact these two State of North Dakota officials and ask them to lend every resource at their command to push the murder investigations of the four Turtle Mountain men and secure arrests. In addition to the need for justice, there must be no more of these murders.

Honorable John Hoeven, governor, governor@state.nd.us; Honorable Wayne Stenehjem, attorney general, ndag@state.nd.us.

Hunter Gray is a long-time Native activist and social justice organizer who now lives in Idaho. Originally from Northern Arizona, Gray lived and taught in Grand Forks. He was head of the Grand Forks Mayor’s Committee on Police Policy for years and was chair of the city’s Community Relations Committee. For more information see www.hunterbear.org

Oklahoma educators fight budget crisis

Fri, 21 Feb 2003 04:52:00 +0000

Thousands of teachers, school administrators, parents and students converged on the Oklahoma State Capitol Feb. 12 to protest the state’s budget crisis. They demanded that the state’s educational system not continue to be sacrificed.

The crowd at the capitol had been predicted to reach at least 20,000. Early news reports called the turnout an “overflow crowd.” The Oklahoma Education Coalition includes twelve organizations. Many of the teachers and school administrators are members of the Oklahoma Educator’s Association (OEA), which is affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA). The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is included. The coalition has sponsored important rallies before, and a few schools were closed, but this time they shut down whole school districts all over the state, including four of the five largest districts! At previous rallies, school employees had arranged for substitutes before committing to attend protests.

Oklahoma is one of at least 36 states facing budget shortfalls this year, according to a February article by the Associated Press, which said that the estimates of state budget deficits had risen 50 percent since November. The three-month increase went from $17.5 billion to $25.7 billion.

They now say that the collective budget shortfall will reach $68.5 billion next year, and that these estimates will probably rise. The AFT said that state budgets are facing the worst crisis since World War II: “This year alone, state budget deficits are expected to reach a nationwide total of $76 billion or more.”

The Oklahoma Education Coalition pointed out that Oklahoma children are facing larger classes, loss of safety and fewer bus routes among many other problems as a result of budget cuts. Educators interviewed said that they blame the current crisis on the former Republican Gov. Frank Keating and a system of tax cuts and abatements for big business.

Oklahomans have been told that at least $158 million will be needed to continue their education program. The newly elected governor declared an emergency on the day before the big rally. He said he could free up $25 million, but the educator’s coalition said the amount was far too little. A statewide lottery and a 1-cent across-the-board sales tax increase are also being considered as sources of additional revenue. The giant Oklahoma City school district is experimenting with asking parents to volunteer to replace teachers in schools.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Students across NY: No increase in tuition

Fri, 21 Feb 2003 04:50:00 +0000

BUFFALO, N.Y. – In protest of Gov. George Pataki’s proposed increase in tuition to the State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) systems, students held candlelight vigils on campuses throughout the state.

The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), a statewide student organization with chapters on over 20 campuses, in conjunction with other campus organizations, organized the Jan. 30 vigils. A statewide coalition of over 500 student and community organizations has been organized to fight the proposed increase.

At Buffalo State College over 100 students turned out in the frigid cold to let the governor, the SUNY Board of Trustees and state legislators know that students already pay too much in tuition. The governor’s proposed increase of $1,200 per year, in connection with proposed cuts to the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and other opportunity programs would constitute the largest increase in tuition ever for the public university system.

According to a report issued by NYPIRG and the Student Assembly last fall, the last time tuition was increased, the SUNY system experienced a drop in enrollment of over 29,000 students. This proposed increase, more than double the previous, is likely to produce worse results.

During the candlelight vigil students took turns on the microphone letting the governor know the effects the increase will have on them. Many students stated they would be forced to take out more loans, while others stated they would be left with no choice but to withdraw from school.

Todd Espinosa, a Buffalo State College Junior, told the crowd, “We’re being held hostage for the fiscal crisis caused by the governor.”

The coalition of student groups is planning a “No Tuition Hike” Feb. 25. Students will march from Buffalo, at the western end of the state, and Long Island, at the South Eastern end of the state, to convene in Albany for a mass rally on the state capitol March 11. Students will also organize lobby visits with their representatives to demand that they oppose any increase in tuition or any cuts to financial aid.

Chris Hryvniak, vice president of Buffalo State Students For Peace, asked why “we are getting ready to spend billions of dollars on a war, but are facing more cuts to education?”

At campuses around the country, students are organizing for a “Books not Bomb” student strike, set for March 5. The demands of the strike, called by the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition, include an end to the drive for military action against Iraq and a reallocation of funds to domestic needs like education and health care. Students will be calling on their campus administrations to oppose the war drive, disclose military research contracts, reduce or freeze tuition and fees, and put JROTC and ROTC money toward college preparation and financial aid.

The author can be reached at smitgl40@mail.buffalostate.edu

National Clips

Thu, 20 Feb 2003 13:54:00 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC: Fight on affirmative action

Feb. 18 was the last day to file briefs before the Supreme Court regarding the University of Michigan affirmative action case. When the smoke cleared, the university counted 60 briefs supporting their affirmative action plan, which guarantees diversityat the school. President Bush weighed in opposing the University’s plan and only 12 individuals or organizations agreed.

The High Court will hear the case April 1.

A group of retired generals and former Pentagon officials filed for Michigan. “It (affirmative action) is absolutely essential to our fighting forces,” said former Army Undersecretary Joe Reeder making the announcement of the military’s legal action. “You can’t get there yet without taking race into consideration.”

From the House, 100 Democrats filed for affirmative action. Affirmative action “is as fundamental as democracy itself,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

The AFL-CIO supports and filed before the Supreme Court to defend affirmative action and the American Federation of Teachers submitted an additional brief.

Microsoft, American Airlines and Proctor and Gamble lead a list of 40 Fortune 500 corporations that also had their lawyers turn in a brief favoring Michigan.

On the Bush administration side, brother and Governor of Florida Jeb Bush lead the list of 12.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.: Now let us praise famous men and women

The Bluegrass State is the first in the country to dedicate a museum to chronicling the African-American experience through the history of a state. The groundbreaking on the multi-million dollar project was Feb. 20.

From pioneer days until the Civil Rights Movement, the museum will feature an extensive research library as well as inter-active displays in three buildings.

Visitors “will learn about the experiences of many ordinary people who rose above circumstances to achieve,” said Lora Bradshaw, chairwoman of the African-American Heritage Foundation. York, an enslaved African-American who played a crucial role in the Lewis and Clark expedition, is among the thousands of “ordinary people” the museum will honor.

The land is owned by the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro government and leased to the foundation for $1 per year.

HOUSTON, Texas: Calling All Morticians

The U.S. Navy/Marine Corps announced that it is offering a $6,000 signing bonus for morticians who enlist. Fully trained undertakers will enter at the highest pay grade. They are for “special duty” in the services’ hospital corps. Applicants must be less than 35 years old and in good health.

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards. Send clips to pww@pww.org

Texas budget battle begins

Thu, 20 Feb 2003 13:46:00 +0000

AUSTIN – About 1,000 people rallied here to stop state budget cuts to public education and the state’s low-income health insurance program for children (CHIP) at the State Capitol the day before Republican Gov. Rick Perry gave his state of the state speech.

The rally was organized by the Interfaith Alliance of Texas, a network of clergy-led grassroots community organizations that fights for better public education, affordable health care and enhanced public services for working families.

It was one of the first of a growing number of actions being taken to fight back against the severe budget cuts and accompanying reductions in public services that are looming over the state since it was announced that the state faces a revenue shortfall of nearly $10 billion.

Demonstrators demanded that Texas revamp its tax structure to raise more revenue and provide tax relief to working families who pay a disproportionate amount of their income in state taxes. Texas spends less on government services per capita than any other state and has one of the most regressive tax structures in the nation.

Governor Perry must have been paying attention because he announced in his speech the next day that he would recommend an extra $500 million for public education and would not cut CHIP, but he also proposed a nine percent across-the-board cut to most state agency budgets to make up the shortfall. Perry said that the cuts could be made without reducing services, but most state agencies are already underfunded.

For example, Texas ranks 47th among all states in the amount of money that it spends on administering welfare. The only way for most agencies to make such extreme cuts will be to lay off staff and cut services.

Of course, the business lobby was ecstatic after Perry’s speech. Bill Hammond of the Texas Association of Business, which represents the state’s largest employers although it purports to represent small businesses, could hardly contain himself. “Perry is acting on the will of the people, the pleas of small-business owners and the demands of the state by balancing a budget ... without raising taxes,” Hammond crowed to the Austin American Statesman.

Despite the optimism of the business lobby and their extremist right-wing allies who control state government, grassroots opposition to the cuts is starting to surface. In addition to Texas Interfaith, other groups will be coming to Austin to fight for more and better public services. The Texas Federation of Teachers and the Texas State Teachers Association, the two biggest teacher organizations in the state, are mounting a grassroots campaign against Perry’s proposal to siphon public money off to private schools through vouchers. They are also fighting Perry’s attempts to increase class sizes, divert money intended to fund technology allotments for public schools, and for a substantial pay raise.

State employees are also organizing a fight back. The Texas State Employees Union, CWA Local 6186, has scheduled six Mini-Lobby Days in which TSEU members from different agencies and universities will visit legislators to tell them how cuts will harm their constituents and explain why state employees need a pay raise.

On April 9, TSEU will hold a state employee Lobby Day. Thousands of state workers from all over the state will flood Austin to march, rally and talk directly to legislators. “On April 9, the Capitol will be wall-to-wall with state employees,” said Will Rogers, a TSEU state executive board member. “And we’ll be speaking with one, loud voice saying ‘no to budget cuts,’ ‘no to privatization,’ and ‘give us the pay raise that we earned and deserve.’“ Other advocates for state services will be visiting Austin throughout the legislative session, which lasts until May 30.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Rock the Vote awards honor activist artists

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:57:00 +0000

NEW YORK – British superstar Robbie Williams, revolutionary rap group Public Enemy and 2003 Grammy nominees Vanessa Carlton and The Flaming Lips will perform live Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., when Rock the Vote and MTV present the 10th Annual Rock the Vote Awards at the Roseland Ballroom here.

Recording artists Peter Gabriel and Alanis Morissette will be honored with Rock the Vote Patrick Lippert Awards and Chuck D, founding member of Public Enemy, will receive the 2003 Rock the Vote Founders Award.

Gabriel will be honored for his work with the Witness project and his continued activism on behalf of worldwide human rights issues. Gabriel co-founded Witness in 1992 to arm activists with video cameras and communication technology, empowering them to document abuses in an effort to end human rights atrocities. In addition, Gabriel helped to set up the “Human Rights Now” tour with Amnesty International, participated in Nelson Mandela concerts, and visited the USSR to help launch Greenpeace.

Morissette will be honored for her “tireless dedication on behalf of causes making the world a safer place for young people.” She has donated her talent and time to numerous benefit concerts including: Groundwork, a benefit for The Act To Reduce Hunger; The John Lennon Tribute Concert, a benefit for gun control and 9/11 relief; Music Without Borders, a benefit for the United Nations Donor Alert Appeal, and many more.

Chuck D, founding member of the legendary rap group Public Enemy, is being honored for his numerous contributions to community service organizations and his work with advocacy groups like Rock the Vote, the National Urban League, and the National Alliance of African American Athletes, among others.

The Rock the Vote Patrick Lippert Awards commemorate the group’s first executive director, who died in July 1993. The awards ceremony recognizes “the activist in the artist” and the belief that “each of us can use our talents to reach out to others and take part in creating a better future for our country and world.”

Tickets to the annual fundraiser are available to the public and can be purchased by calling The Blue Room Group at (310) 491-1401.

Songs of Protest: The Vietnam Songbook

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:52:00 +0000

NEW YORK – Joe’s Pub plays host on Saturday, March 1, to a unique event celebrating the protest-song tradition through performances of songs drawn from the definitive source, The Vietnam Songbook. The evening will feature performances by artists who experienced the ’60s anti-war movement including legendary protest/blues singer Barbara Dane, Tuli Kupferberg (Fugs), activist singer/songwriter Bev Grant, noted Vietnam vets/musicians Watermelon Slim and Joe Bangert, and younger musicians such as Thurston Moore, Jenni Muldaur, Barry Reynolds, Jim O’Rourke, Stephan Smith, Dean Wareham. David Licht, Lenny Kaye and Curtis Eller.

They will all be performing pieces from The Vietnam Songbook and other examples of anti-war songs from that time. The performers involved intend to highlight parallels between being “waist deep in the big muddy” (to quote a Pete Seeger song) of the war in Vietnam and the current beating of war drums. “Revolution is a continuous and dynamic process if it exists at all” said Bill Homans, aka Watermelon Slim, Vietnam vet whose anti-war songs from 1973 will be featured at the show.

“As far as I am concerned, the reason for doing this is directly tied to the imminent threat of a brand new war which promises to be far more devastating even than Vietnam,” said Dane. “We need to seize this moment to call attention to the madness of American aggression anywhere on the globe. We owe it to some two to four million Southeast Asians and 60,000 Americans who died in the Vietnam War. We also need to make the country aware of the few million guys, now in their 50s, whose lives were wrecked by the war. Look under any bridge or in any lighted doorway at night, near the steam vents in winter and the parks in summer, and you will find them.”

The Vietnam Songbook was compiled and originally published in 1969 (it’s currently out of print) by Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber. It was a comprehensive collection of more than 100 protest songs concerning the Vietnam War featuring songs that’d been written or performed by important artists such as Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Nina Simone, Ewan MaColl, Tuli Kupferberg, Barbara Dane, Richard Farina, Joe McDonald, Matt Jones, Tom Paxton, Thom Parrott, and Peggy Seeger, as well as by U.S. Vietnam veterans, Vietnamese citizens and many others from around the world voicing opposition to this war.

The producers say the event will remind the American public of the power of song to express dissent against national and international government policy and outrage over wartime atrocities and injustice. The presentation is also intended as a call to contemporary musical performers to take an active role in this important tradition.

As part of the documentation of the show, the producers are recording oral histories from Dane and other performers and Vietnam veterans. These recordings are being done with the support of the Alan Lomax Archive and will become part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution to which Dane and Silber previously donated the catalogue of their record label, Paredon, and related archives in 1991.

***

“Songs of Protest: The Vietnam Songbook” Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street (at Astor Place), New York City, Saturday, March 1 Showtimes are at 7:00 and 9:30.

(Tickets are available at the box office, open Sun. & Mon. 1 p.m.-6 p.m. or Tues.-Sat. 1 p.m.-7:30 p.m. or through Tele-Charge online at www.telecharge.com or by phone (212) 239-6200. Dinner reservations can be made for the first show only at (212) 539-8778.)

Remember the Columbia 7: keep the peace in space

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:50:00 +0000

It is a sign of the times that we are so focused on stopping George W. Bush’s rush to war in Iraq that most of us didn’t even know that seven astronauts were in space until the Shuttle Columbia’s tragic end. The media reports the space program on the back pages nowadays until disaster strikes. But every warmongering phrase of the Commander in Chief appears on page one.

The space age transformed the way we visualize the world. The images transmitted back from space make our planet appear fragile, a jade and turquoise gem on black velvet. We could easily smash it through recklessness or procrastination.

I was a high school senior in an isolated farming community in Washington State on Oct. 4, 1957, when news arrived that the Soviet Union had orbited Sputnik. My family rejoiced at the technological prowess of the world’s first socialist state.

They did it again in 1961, launching Yuri Gagarin, the first human being in space. A few months later came Gherman Titov. And then Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. In 1981, Cuban Gen. Armando Tamayo Mendez became the first person of African descent in space, flying aboard the Soviet Soyuz.

These achievements began only a few years after the Soviets lost 20 million people, their nation half destroyed, defending their country from the Hitler invaders.

In 1974, the Soviet Embassy invited this reporter to travel to the Soviet Union on Aeroflot’s inaugural Washington to Moscow flight. In the delegation were U.S. astronauts Bruce McCandless, Paul Weitz and Dr. Joe Kerwin. Weitz and Kerwin had recently returned from 28 days aboard Skylab II. Skylab had been damaged during launch and the astronauts went “extra-vehicular” to break loose a jammed solar panel. They also deployed a big sheet of gold foil to protect the craft from the broiling sun. During a banquet in Leningrad, Kerwin told our hosts that he had looked out the Skylab window while flying 200 miles above the Soviet Union and admired its beauty and immensity. “We must work together to achieve lasting peace both on earth and in space,” he said.

For the Cold Warriors, Soviet space achievements were a “threat “ and they were in a desperate race to catch up. These elements then, and now, see space as the final battlefield. They are determined to deploy nuclear-powered Star Wars weapons in space. It is a key element of their strategy for U.S. global domination.

But there was always a counter-force, seeking to preserve space as a realm of peace and cooperation. There was even a treaty signed to preserve space for peace, now actively flouted by George W. Bush. The peace-in-space trend got its most dramatic boost when the Apollo spacecraft linked up with the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, July 17, 1975. It was followed years later by visits of U.S. astronauts to the Soviet’s Mir (Peace) space station in the 1980s.

Today, the Soviet Union is no more. But the International Space Station is a symbol of peace and cooperation. Dependent on the space shuttles for crew transport, resupply and keeping it in orbit, the space station’s future has been placed in jeopardy by the Columbia disaster. Only three shuttles of the original fleet of five are left and all of them are more than 20 years old.

The Columbia disaster has stirred a debate on the value of space exploration with many asking how we can justify spending for NASA at a time of mass unemployment and poverty. Some argue that “Tang and Teflon” are the only breakthroughs produced by manned space flight. But Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), a former astronaut, cites a long list of technologies, including the CAT scan, that were spin-offs from the space program. The Apollo Moon project of the 1960s gave a huge impetus to development of the microchip essential for the on-board computer that guided the spacecraft to the moon and back. The size of a basketball, it had the power of one of those enormous mainframe computers the size of a basketball court. It can be argued that the personal computer and the Internet were byproducts of space exploration.

The Hubble Space Telescope is an unmanned satellite. But the focusing mechanism was damaged during launch and it had to be repaired by a Shuttle crew. The Hubble telescope, with the power to capture light 5 billion light years away, has fundamentally altered our understanding of the origin of the universe.

The New York Times carried a letter to the editor Feb. 3 by a reader mourning the death of the Columbia astronauts. “I hope that President Bush will do the right thing by slowing down his march to war and focusing instead on the healing that such a blow to national pride requires,” he wrote.

War will devour resources needed for education, health care, and jobs here on earth as well as funds needed for peaceful space exploration. We keep the Columbia astronauts’ dream of space travel alive, and the reachable goal of exploring Mars, in struggling to stop Bush’s runaway war machine.

Tim Wheeler is editor of the People’s Weekly World. He can be reached at greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com

Black history is Americas history

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:47:00 +0000

In February every year, Black History Month is celebrated across the nation. Or perhaps it would be more truthful to say it is celebrated in places across the nation. Every year I am amazed at the number of communities who opt out of this opportunity to learn some of their history, which has been neglected and forgotten because they feel it doesn’t concern them, it only matters to African Americans. The truth is that Black history is every American’s history, and the sooner we recognize that, the sooner we will begin to understand that African Americans have made significant contributions to the building of this nation and have every right to be here and to enjoy the same rights and privileges as other Americans.

What is now Black History Month was begun as Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson, an African American educator and historian who died in 1950. Dr. Woodson, the author of many scholarly works, including The Mis-Education of the Negro published in 1933, realized that many Black students knew nothing of the accomplishments of their race and that because of that, it was impossible for them to imagine themselves as anything but servants and sharecroppers. He also realized that most white Americans also only saw Blacks in menial roles and had no clue about the many contributions of Blacks to this nation.

As one of the founders of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Dr. Woodson sought to remedy this ignorance by setting aside a week to highlight the achievements of Black Americans. He chose the week in February in which Abraham Lincoln’s birthday was celebrated. Through the years African American institutions, particularly schools and churches, used this week to teach their students and members about the contributions of Black Americans. Over time, Negro History Week expanded to Black History Month, as more and more stories needed to be told and as that original emphasis on Black Americans expanded to include our African history as well.

But the truth is that most Americans, sadly including many African Americans, cannot name a dozen Black history figures. They can’t get much beyond Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and maybe Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rosa Parks. There are thousands of heroic and amazing stories of Black Americans who changed the world, which most Americans still don’t know.

I recently saw an incredible new play by Tazewell Thompson. Called Constant Star, it is the story of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, one of my own spirit guides. A journalist born the year before the Civil War ended, Ida Wells was in many ways ahead of her time. While Black men such as Booker T. Washington basked in the glory of white America, as a woman she was deemed inferior in intellect and abilities. Even her white female counterparts such as Susan B. Anthony did not see her as their equals.

As the editor of the Memphis newspaper Free Speech, Ida Wells began to see that many of those Black men who were being lynched in the South after being accused of raping or even speaking to white women were innocent of these charges. Many were Black businessmen who threatened white businesses or were men who stood up for the rights of Blacks. Thousands were being lynched across the South, sometimes after being burned, tortured, castrated or dismembered. Often whole towns attended the lynchings, with parents bringing their children and picnic baskets (some say that is where the term picnic came from—picking a n- to lynch.)

Blacks were unable to go to local sheriffs and elected officials turned a blind eye. So, Ida Wells began a one-woman campaign to take the story of lynching to people across this nation and around the world. She wrote tirelessly about the victims and horrors of lynching. Because of her determined campaign, she was run out of Memphis and told that if she ever returned she would face lynching herself.

Ida Wells escaped to Chicago, where she continued her public speaking and writing campaigns against lynching, met and married her husband and had children. She refused to stop forcing this nation to confront these atrocities, working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and others until lynching was stopped. It was not until the 1930s that the large-scale lynching of Black men and women ended in this nation, but small numbers of lynchings occurred into the 1960s. Even today, we occasionally hear rumors of lynchings in small towns in the South.

In these days where talk of terrorism is often heard, it is important to remember our own American brand of terrorism. More than 3,000 died in the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. But an estimated 4,742 Black men and women died by lynching between 1882 and 1968. This, too, is a part of our Black history and part of our American history as well. Lest we forget.

Bernice Powell Jackson is Executive Minister for Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ, www.ucc.org/jwm/. This article is from her weekly column, Witness for Justice, which addresses a broad spectrum of justice issues that impact our world.

International Notes

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 05:39:00 +0000

Communist & workers parties say: No war!

Over 60 communist and workers parties from around the world, including the CPUSA, have joined in signing an Appeal against the Aggressive War on Iraq, initiated by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia.

The appeal, timed to coincide with this weekend’s worldwide anti-war demonstrations, takes note of the unprecedentedly broad mobilization of world opinion calling for a diplomatic, peaceful settlement. The statement urges “an even more massive mobilization of the people,” and an intensified anti-war campaign in the workplaces, the trade unions, the media and the legislative arena. It calls on other countries not to provide the Bush administration with military support or facilities to attack Iraq.

“The war will result in huge losses among the Iraqi people, who have already suffered severe hardships as a result of years of embargo, air strikes and Saddam Hussein’s regime,” the parties said. “Aggression against Iraq, which is based on the new U.S. doctrine of ‘preemptive’ strikes, threatens to destabilize the whole region and bring grave consequences for human civilization as a whole,” the appeal warns.

“It poses a huge threat to international peace and the system of international law and creates a precedent for other arbitrary acts of aggression,” the parties added.

Greece: Dozens of cities to hold anti-war rallies

Thousands of marchers are filling the streets of Athens today as anti war protesters march to the Greek parliament and the U.S. Embassy. The rally is organized by the Greek Committee for International Detente and Peace, with support of Action-Thessoloniki 2003, Youth Action for Peace, Balkan Anti-NATO Center, trade unions, students’ associations, women’s organizations and others.

At the same time, demonstrations will take place in dozens of cities across the country. Protesters will demand the Greek government withdraw its support for war against Iraq, and immediately stop providing any facilities or forces for such action.

The Piraeus branches of the peace organizations are planning to greet NATO’s Mediterranean naval force when it anchors at the port from Feb. 19-24. “When the NATO ships reach Piraeus ... once again our people will demonstrate that murderers are not welcome in the country’s biggest port,” organizers said.

Germany: Rumsfeld’s relatives reject war stance

Donald Rumsfeld’s German relatives said this week they oppose the U.S. Defense Secretary’s drive to war against Iraq. The Rumsfelds of Bremen suburb, Weyhe-Sudweyhe, who had greeted their long-lost cousin warmly when he visited them a quarter-century ago while U.S. Ambassador to NATO, told the British newspaper The Telegraph their views have changed.

“We think it is dreadful that Donald Rumsfeld is out there pushing for a war against Iraq,” said Karin Cecere (nee Rumsfeld), 59. “We are embarrassed to be related to him.” Her 85-year-old mother, Margrete Rumsfeld, added, “We don’t have much to do with him any more. Nowadays he’s just the American defense secretary to us, but for God’s sake, he’d better not start a war.”

Australia: Senate censures gov’t over troops

In a 33 to 31 vote last week, the Australian Senate last week censured the federal government for deploying troops to the Persian Gulf, declaring no confidence in Prime Minister John Howard.

The unprecedented Senate action – the first such move in over a century – included insistence that the UN be involved in disarming Iraq.

Greens Senator Bob Brown said the motion arose from the prime minister’s decision to send 2,000 defense personnel without backing from parliament or the Australian people, or a request from the UN. Said Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett, “The Senate has backed our troops and the United Nations, while delivering a rebuke to the government.”

Lebanon: Union leader warns vs. war

Ibrahim Qweidar, director-general of the Arab Labor Organization, told Beirut’s al-Mustaqbal newspaper last week that a war on Iraq would have direct psychological, social and economic impact on the whole Arab region.

“The economic impact will be terrible and will not only affect Iraq’s neighbors but also will expand from Morocco to Bahrain,” Qweidar said. “The Gulf region will witness great economic problems and there will be stagnation in the oil sector as never seen before.”

Qweidar said economic development programs would be affected and tourism – the main revenue source for many Arab countries including Lebanon – will suffer great losses.

“If the war (on Iraq) lasts a month, it will undoubtedly negatively affect the whole Arab region for the 10 coming years,” he added.

International Notes are compiled by Marilyn Bechtel, international secretary of the Communist Party USA. She can be reached at cpusainternat@mindspring.com

Secret plan surfaces for Patriot Act II

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 05:11:00 +0000

Civil libertarians are reacting with shock to a draft of new legislation being circulated in the Bush administration which, if passed, would radically reduce the Constitutional rights of everyone, citizen and non-citizen alike. It would also drastically reduce the “checks and balances” of government.

Although The Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 has not been presented in Congress, a draft of the legislation was sent to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and to Vice President Dick Cheney on Jan. 10. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s minority staff who have inquired about “Patriot Act II” were told as recently as last week that no such legislation is being discussed.

The USA/PATRIOT Act, passed in October 2001, has already weakened Constitutional rights by allowing more government surveillance with fewer judicial checks and balances and giving the executive branch a greater level of secrecy in the conduct of its operations.

The draft surfaced last week on the website of the Center for Public Integrity and became the topic of a Bill Moyers’ television interview with Chuck Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity.

After the story broke, the director of public affairs for the Justice Dept., Barbara Comstock, said, “It would be premature to speculate on any future decisions … that are being discussed at staff levels.”

The draft legislation goes much farther than either the USA/PATRIOT Act or the Homeland Security Act in giving the executive unchecked power to go after people it chooses to define as supporters of terrorism. Among its provisions are those:

• Allowing the government to strip people of their U.S. citizenship if they are found to be “associated” with groups declared to be terroristic.

• Authorizing creation of a DNA database of terrorists, people suspected to associate with terrorist groups, and non-citizens suspected of certain crimes that might aid terrorism.

• Imposing secrecy orders on information about “worst case scenario” reports of industry. outlining the kind of disasters that might result from their operations resulting from terrorist activity

• Permitting secret arrests and deportations of non-citizens, including legal permanent residents.

According to Lewis, the legislation has been kept secret from Congress as well as the public. Its emergence into the light of day has set off indignant protests by political leaders such as Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), as well as the ACLU and other civil liberties organizations.

Brandi Kishner contributed to this article. The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

National Clips

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 04:52:00 +0000

MIAMI, Fla.: Peace warms Freedom Torch

Students joined “Grandmas for Peace” for a rally at the Freedom Torch plaza downtown demanding no war with Iraq. Hundreds of residents assembled protesting the Bush administration war policy.

The rally flowed from a weekly peace vigil, like many cities and towns throughout the South, where neighbors and friends gather on street corners with signs urging motorists to “honk for peace.”

Miami will host the Feb. 15 peace demonstration. Buses from throughout southern Florida have already been chartered for the march.

WASHINGTON, DC: Militant solidarity wins trucker contract

When 95 percent of over-the-road truck drivers voted to strike, the Motor Freight Carriers Association decided to negotiate with the union and a new contract was hammered out Feb. 5.

The tentative agreement will go to 65,000 Teamster members for a ratification vote. “It’s a huge improvement in job security issues,” said Teamster negotiator and secretary treasurer of IBT Local 63 in Southern California Randy Cammack. He said that company– paid benefits, like health care, dominated the negotiations. The tentative contract does not have any health care co-pays, maintains all benefits if drivers work 60 hours a month and includes a $2.25 raise over five years. Cammack’s local voted 997 – 14 to strike.

Mike Washington, a shop steward at Yellow Truck’s San Bernardino terminal called the deal a big victory. “I think everyone was really worried about the health and welfare. I was amazed. I know a lot of other companies are getting (health care) co-payments these days. Based on what we were up against, we scored big.”

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas: Professor fights deportation

The only reason the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is threatening to deport the Giraldo family back to Colombia is the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, according to Jose Giraldo, father and professor at Texas A&M, Corpus Christi. Giraldo has lived in the U.S. for 20 years and taught mathematics at A&M for 10. His children were born in the U.S. and now attend college. In Jan. the INS denied Giraldo’s visa. In accordance with INS rules, Giraldo returned to Colombia in 1986, but the country was in a political upheaval. The family was held hostage for seven hours. They decided to leave immediately. The fact that they did not stay the required two years, is the technicality that the INS is using for deportation.

The INS had granted four visas to Giraldo in the intervening years. This is the first denial and Giraldo’s first application since Sept. 11.

More than 275 colleagues and students in the Math Department have signed a petition supporting Giraldo. “There’s certainly an injustice being done,” said associate math professor Blair Sterba-Boatwright. “He (Giraldo) is one of the ones that are most insistent that his students think. He is one of the hardest workers out here.”

AUSTIN, Texas: Workers demand education, health care

Working families, more than 1,000 strong, do not believe that the way to plug the $9.9 billion hole in the state budget is by cutting schools and health care. They took their case directly to the state legislature Feb. 10, rallying on the state house steps and then lobbying their state representatives.

The Industrial Areas Foundation Network and several religious groups organized the protest.

“It is very hard to watch our community implode on itself,” said Pastor Rhenel Johnson, Ebenezer United Methodist Church, “because children are not being educated well enough to even get inside of our universities. If we don’t do something now, even if that means putting taxes in place, we are only going to feed our prisons and not feed our society with good citizens who will help people.”

Students and the administration at nearby Texas A&M University are planning an “orange and maroon” day to protest cuts and tuition hikes in higher education.

BANGOR, Maine: Save worker safety

With their arms in slings, “Keep OSHA here” printed on the cloth, union members demonstrated outside the Federal Building demanding that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offices be kept open. If the federal government closes the Bangor OSHA office due to budget cuts, the only other office is in Portland. The Bush administration plans to consolidate both offices into one located in Augusta.

Rep. Michael Michaud, a paperworker, addressed union members vowing to keep the Bangor office open. “Why should someone from the northern part of the state have to drive an additional 78 miles just to protest their health and safety at work,” said Michaud.

The Bangor OSHA office serves an estimated 4,000 mostly lumber and paperworkers in northern Maine. On Sept. 14, 2002, immigrant workers were killed on a lumber company road in the Allagash Wilderness area.

National Clips are compiled each week by Denise Winebrenner Edwards dwinebr696@aol.com). Barbara Collins contributed to this week’s clips.

Pentagon gets edge on student recruitment

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 04:47:00 +0000

Even though Section 9528 is buried deep within 670 pages of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) its heading clearly explains its purpose, “Armed Forces Recruiter Access to Students and Student Recruiting Information.” While education advocates were concentrating on issues surrounding school funding, vouchers and over-testing, the clause was slipped through and became federal law with the rest of the NCLBA on Feb. 8, 2002.

Section 9528 mandates that upon government request all secondary schools receiving public funding must hand over their students’ names, addresses and telephone numbers to the Pentagon. In addition, these schools must also allow recruiters from the Armed Forces on their campuses.

While this new law was overlooked a year ago, its effects have become increasingly significant as the U.S. approaches war on Iraq and plans to occupy the nation into the next decade.

Many people are having trouble figuring out just how Section 9528 supports the objective of the NCLBA, “An Act to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind.” Yet, the Pentagon seems to see itself as the “choice” for high schoolers.

While joining the military may be a viable option for some high school graduates, the Section 9528 clause gives an unfair advantage to military recruiters over colleges and employers. While a student or parent must give consent for information to be released to prospective colleges and employers, the process to get a student’s name dropped from a military recruitment list works conversely. Students and parents must take the time to write their school districts in order to stop the Pentagon from getting student names, addresses and numbers.

And that might not work. U.S. Army recruiter Major Johannes Paraan has reportedly stated that “The only thing that will get us to stop contacting the family is if they call their congressman. Or maybe if the kid died, we’ll take them off our list.” This callous comment shows the real concern the military has for this nation’s children.

The federal government requires schools to obtain parental consent before releasing any students’ information to a third party, yet at the same time orders that schools concede this same information to the Pentagon. Dissenting schools have been forced to go along, threatened with losing federal funding if they do not fully cooperate.

Student opposition to the mandate has been expressed as well. “I feel that our rights as well as our privacy are being invaded,” says Bradley Cannady, currently a sophomore at John Hope College Preparatory High School in Chicago. Bradley and high school students across America may now be funneled into considering military service years before they get one letter from potential colleges.

Many education advocates say the “No Child Left Behind” may sound good, but the federal government needs to give us more than catchy phrases and ultimately move its focus from building up the military to building on the potential of our nation’s youth.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org