People Before Profit blog

LETTERS

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 07:31:00 +0000

Info on Cuban 5

Could you please tell me the status of the Cuban Five? I think it’s likely that the addresses could have changed and some are released by now? Had long wanted to write them, but sloth overcame me. If you have info I’d be delighted to hear. Thank you.

Ruth Wilson Rutherfordton NC

Editor’s note: The Cuban Five were denied a new trial and may appeal that decision. Actions like writing to these political prisoners are important, as is writing letters to the editor to your local newspaper to educate the public on this important case. (See PWW 9/23-29 article for talking points.)

Addresses are:

Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, No. 58739-004, USP Victorville, PO Box 5500, 3777 Air Expressway Road, Adelanto CA 92301;

Ramón Labañino Salazar, No. 58734-004, USP Beaumont, PO Box 26035, Beaumont TX 77720 (address your letter to “Luis Medina”);

Fernando González Llort, No. 58733-004, FCI Oxford, PO Box 500 Oxford WI 53952-0500 (address to “Rubén Campa”);

René González Sehwerert, No. 58738-004, FCI Marianna, PO Box 7007, Marianna FL 32447-7007;

Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez, No. 58741-004, USP Florence, 5880 State Hwy 67, South Florence CO 81226.

Hazleton and immigrants

I saw José Cruz’s article about Hazleton (PWW 9/16-22). I’m somewhat active in the immigrant rights movement, but my family is from Hazleton and it has been a favorite place of mine all my life.

Hazleton has a good progressive history. And it had quite a bit of past ethnic conflict also. Luzerne County was famous for the Communist-led Luzerne County Labor Party in the 1930s. It was a center for union agitation, particularly of the miners and garment workers.

For many years various crime syndicates were also prominent in Hazleton. In my lifetime I remember that a mob-connected guy on the FBI’s most wanted list was walking around Hazleton unmolested. And there were other forms of corruption also — like having to pay bribes to get jobs working for the city or teaching. It’s ironic that this could be tolerated but modern-day immigrants aren’t.

I don’t remember a time when there was not ethnic conflict there. Relations between the Irish and the Italians were never good. Each ethnic group had its own church and its own power base. This also entered into our unions.

I think these circumstances and events indicate that Spanish-speaking people around Hazleton have to think about consolidating political power and organize a union base. The hospitality industry in the Poconos needs to be organized somehow. Thanks for your good article!

Bob Rossi Salem OR

Poets for Palestine

I am the editor of the forthcoming book of poetry, “Poets for Palestine.” I am working on the project with Al Jisser, the group that helped put on the “Made in Palestine” and “Three Arab Painters” in New York art exhibitions. The proceeds of the book will go to Al Jisser to fund future cultural projects related to Palestine and the Middle East.

Our goal is to bring together poets, spoken word artists, hip hop artists, Palestinians, Arabs, Jews, Americans and all those who choose to raise their voice for humanity and justice. The book will also feature work related to Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan. In addition to its written works, Poets for Palestine will feature art created by Palestinians artists from the Occupied Territories and throughout the world. Inquiries and submissions can be sent to remroum@gmail.com.

Remi Kanazi Via e-mail

Nuclear power for space OK

In response to the article on solar power in space by Karl Grossman (PWW 9/23-29):

Solar power on earth or even out to Mars is one thing because solar energy density is sufficient for relatively small solar arrays to generate large quantities of electricity. The distant planets require larger fold-up panels that have to unfold in space. The folding mechanism must be light in weight for launch and fold out perfectly in space, keeping in mind that the size increases as the square of the distance from the sun.

The Cassini spacecraft went to Saturn, so its 600 watt power supply near earth would have been 240 square feet in area using 25 percent efficient (the best) solar cells. However, at Saturn, that area increases to 23,500 square feet. Such a solar array is far too heavy for launching in the first place as well as being practically impossible to unfold perfectly once in outer space. While the danger of nuclear-powered spacecraft re-entry certainly has to be considered as well as possible explosion at launch, the risk involved has to be weighed against not exploring outer space at all. That is the real choice involved. People need to keep in mind that nothing on earth is 100 percent safe. Everyday we all inadvertently take serious safety risks far in excess of what is involved with space exploration experiments.

It is suggested that Grossman and others would be on far more influential ground if they concentrated on the gigantic earth based nuclear power plants with not only their safety problems but more importantly their having no satisfactory solution to the nuclear waste disposal problem. We in the Southern California Federation of Scientists believe that nuclear power for small deep-space probes is the only good use of nuclear power.

Another earthbound nuclear radiation hazard rarely heard about is the use of a deadly speck of radioactive material is each ionization-type smoke detector. The small print on the box says that users are not to discard these devices but return them to the manufacturer for disposal. How many people even know this, let alone abide by the instruction?

Dr. Sheldon Plotkin Via e-mail

Sheldon Plotkin is an executive board member of Southern California Federation of Scientists (www.scfs-la.org) and holds a Ph.D. as a professional engineer.

Janitor solidarity worldwide

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 06:48:00 +0000

Hundreds of janitors marched in front of the JP Morgan Company in downtown Manhattan on Sept. 13, demanding justice and higher pay for their colleagues in South Africa, the Service Employees union reported. Other actions, including in Connecticut and at Morgan’s branch in London, demanded that firms with operations in South Africa agree to contracts giving their 20,000 striking janitors there a 12 percent raise.

The South African janitors, on strike for a month, now make 867 rands an hour, equal to $1.19.

— Press Associates Inc.

America Tropical 1932 Siqueiros mural lives again

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 03:59:00 +0000

On Aug. 2, after reading about “America Tropical,” the famous mural painted in Los Angeles by Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, there I was, for the first time — inches from the huge masterwork.

I received a call from Luis Garza, who sits on L.A.’s Siqueiros Mural, Events, and Marketing Committee overseeing the restoration of the mural. Garza invited me to the press conference where L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa would have exciting news regarding the mural.

Villaraigosa’s spoke on Olvera Street, the city’s founding avenue and location of the Siqueiros mural. Before a large crowd of city officials, local business people, artists and reporters, the mayor announced the city’s collaboration with the Getty Foundation on finalizing conservation efforts and providing public access to the mural. At last, the day many of us had dreamed of for years had finally arrived. It was official: a budget for the project had been approved and the renowned mural would live again.

Villaraigosa remarked, “The people of the city of Los Angeles will finally be able to view this cultural treasure long obscured from sight. The mural, while controversial in its time, will allow adults and children of all ages to learn about and appreciate the diverse history of this city, the importance of freedom of artistic expression and the origins of the muralist movement in this city.”

The mayor added, “While people can agree or disagree with the message, what’s important is that it was art, and art, while sometimes controversial, is important — because what it does is to lift the soul.”

In fact, the work may be more provocative today than when it was first painted. Rather than shying away from the artist’s political message to concentrate on his mural as purely an artistic triumph, we should celebrate and defend the anti-imperialist politics of “America Tropical.” I must applaud the mayor’s bold leadership in campaigning for the conservation of this priceless and influential artwork.

Judy Baca, famed L.A. muralist and the founder/artistic director of the Social and Public Art Resource Center of Venice, Calif., gave an impassioned speech on the importance of the Siqueiros mural and of muralism in general. She noted L.A.’s reputation as the mural capital of the world, and implored those present to support a revitalization and expansion of the L.A. muralist movement.

The artwork is now sheltered by a metal covering, over which is stretched a digital reproduction of the mural as it looked before it was censored by a coat of whitewash in 1932.

The Getty’s plan is to preserve the mural just as it is — a ghost image — and not to repaint or fully restore it. Siqueiros painted his mural on concrete using Pyroxylin, a newly developed material that was primarily used to paint automobiles. Conservators have found that the paint’s adhesion to the wall was flawed, adding to the problems of restoration.

Fleeing repression and persecution in Mexico, Siqueiros came to Los Angeles in 1932. During his six-month stay here, he painted three important murals before being brusquely deported by the U.S. government.

His first mural was “Mitin Obrero” (Worker’s Meeting), a two-story creation painted on the side of a building at Chouinard School of Art, where he had been teaching mural painting techniques. It was the very first time anyone in the world had used an industrial spray gun to paint a mural directly on cement. In July 1932, the mural was almost immediately painted over by right-wing authorities.

Siqueiros’ second mural was “America Tropical,” and his third, “Retrato del Mexico de Hoy” (Portrait of Mexico Today), only survived because it had been painted on the wall of an outdoor patio at the private residence of film director Dudley Murphy.

The fact that “America Tropical” is a more well-known and significant work indicates that its reinvigorated presence will no doubt render tremendous positive effects for the people and city of Los Angeles.

Reprinted from www.art-for-a-change.com/blog.

LETTERS

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:57:00 +0000

Ham radio anyone?

Calling all radio amateurs who are tired of most Ham contacts and would like instead to have some on a regular basis which are civil, meaningful, thoughtful, informative, purposeful and other stimulating and satisfying attributes.

What say we get in touch with each other, get acquainted, explore thoughts and set up some times to meet on the air for roundtable discussions? Certainly there are many areas of interest, talents, knowledge, expertise and the like among PWW readers and their families and friends, some of whom are Hams.

Are there already some such groups I’m not aware of? If so, please fill me in on the details. I can operate all HF bands between 80 and 10 meters, 160 with less reliability.

For me landline is best contact media since I don’t have a PC or access to one on a regular basis. Please call me and, if you like, I’ll call you right back so it’s on my charges (pretty much a flat rate for me). Phone 907-241-5863; leave message if necessary.

I’ve been active at times and inactive at others since I was first licensed at age 12, almost 56 years ago as W5HGK, My call now is W21AS which I picked up while in graduate school at Rutgers in the 1970s.

Let’s do it!

Bill Ramsay Grand Junction CO

Wal-Mart fallacy

Response to the letter on Wal-Mart by S.G. Hauser (PWW 9/16-22):

The idea that Wal-Mart stores bring jobs into the community seems plausible but is a fallacy.

Retail operations are not like factories. They do not create anything new to distribute, they only distribute the same goods that would otherwise be distributed by others. So a big Wal-Mart store coming into a community does not “bring in” jobs the way, for example, an auto factory would do. It merely absorbs them from other retail operations which go broke or at least lose business when Wal-Mart comes in.

And because Wal-Mart, because of its size, accomplishes “efficiencies of scale,” it can sell the same amount of merchandise employing fewer people than smaller retailers would employ. So you end up with fewer jobs, not more. A study done by the University of Illinois-Chicago several years ago demonstrated this for the proposed Chicago Wal-Mart operations specifically.

I do not think Hauser’s information on people starting with low pay at Wal-Mart and then getting promoted along the line until they are raking in big management salaries is accurate. This is simply not going to happen with the vast majority of cleaning crew members, cashiers, etc. That is not how corporations are structured — they are always steep pyramids. In the case of the Wal-Mart corporation, the four surviving members of the family of the founder, Sam Walton, are all multi-billionaires as a result of the company’s practices.

Cheap merchandise at Wal-Mart is an attraction, but really does not reflect the cost to the public of Wal-Mart’s operations. To calculate that, you would have to factor in the cost to the taxpayers of the social safety net, especially including health care, that communities have to provide for underpaid Wal-Mart employees, and also the fact that people who make $7 an hour do not have money to spend in the local economy.

Capitalism left to itself always perpetrates monstrous atrocities. That is why Wal-Mart employees need unionization rights, and why we have to keep the pressure on this greedy corporate monster.

Emile Schepers Northern Virginia

How to steal an election

“Some Princeton researchers made a demonstration video of how it’s possible to steal an election with a Diebold voting machine in under a minute.” If you haven’t seen this serious video, about nine minutes long, about Diebold, you will want to see how the bourgeoisie have solved the problem of free, democratic elections: www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/how-to-steal-an-election-with-a-diebold-machine-200693.php.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Peter Gardner Via e-mail

Scare tactic vs. reality

Here’s a question for reporters, columnists, bloggers and others interested in the political scene: when people in the Bush administration and elsewhere talk of the threat of Islamic terrorism or Islamic fascism or however they choose to phrase it, do some people reject it out of hand because of the source? If so, could this be a major mistake? Is it for real or is it not? Is it just a right-wing scare tactic to drum up votes for neocons in ’06 and ’08 or does it really exist? If it is real, how would/should Dems cope with it if elected to positions of national decision-making power in ’06 and ’08? How is the current administration dealing with it beyond bellicose rhetoric? Are the media doing an adequate job of covering all sides to this issue?

Will Shapira Minneapolis MN

Ignore Coulter at your peril

In his Aug. 5-11 PWW book review, Nick Bart correctly calls on readers to expose right-wing media celebrity Ann Coulter’s latest simplistically-titled attempt at confusing working people to identify with an alien (capitalist) viewpoint and to vote against their own class interests. She is also, in effect, trying to make an ultra-rightist such as George W. Bush appear less reactionary by comparison, to the casual observer.

The challenge for activists is how to effectively critique Coulter’s hypocrisy and demagoguery without playing into the hands of the hard-right media-savvy elements she represents and ending up as fodder for her next volume of hackneyed, far-right invective.

R. Seier New York NY

Peoples assembly names Lopez Obrador president

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 08:51:00 +0000

Delegates to an extraordinary National Democratic Convention in Mexico City last weekend chose Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as Mexico’s new president. They also decided to continue the campaign of peaceful civil resistance to prevent the officially declared winner of the July 2 election, Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party, from assuming office.

The convention, organized by the left-wing For the Good of All coalition — composed of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, Workers Party and Convergence — was held in Mexico City’s central square, the Zocalo, Sept. 16-17. It drew over 1 million participants.

The huge assembly, representing coalition members and supporters through Mexico, voted Lopez Obrador the new president and gave him authorization to form a cabinet. They also decided Lopez Obrador will take office Nov. 20 instead of Dec. 1 when President Vicente Fox officially steps down.

“Today is a historic day,” Lopez Obrador told the assembly. He said the assembly had “proclaimed the abolition of the actual regime of corruption and privilege and has established the bases for the construction and establishment of a new republic.”

Delegates vowed never to recognize Calderon as president. They formed three committees to carry out ongoing work: a national political committee, a civil resistance committee and a “plebiscite and constituents” committee. The overarching goal is to block Calderon’s ascendance to the presidency Dec. 1. Delegates also voted to hold future assemblies.

The convention marks a serious challenge to the country’s ruling elite. Despite evidence of widespread fraud and electoral irregularities, the Federal Electoral Tribunal declared Calderon president Sept. 5. The U.S.-allied elite aims to enforce that decision.

At the same time, Lopez Obrador commands the loyalty of millions of Mexicans who feel that Calderon’s party rigged the election to ensure that he won.

NATIONAL CLIPS

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 08:00:00 +0000

BALTIMORE: NAACP keeps tax-exempt status

When NAACP Chairman Julian Bond delivered a scathing critique of the Bush administration’s policies regarding the Iraq war, education and the economy at the civil rights organization’s 2004 convention, he did not think the first call he would get would be from the Internal Revenue Service. Two years ago, the IRS initiated an extensive investigation and, as with the All Saint’s Church, threatened to reverse the NAACP’s tax-exempt status.

Hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars later, the IRS concluded the NAACP did not violate the rules and it will keep its tax status. The decision came six weeks after Bush addressed the NAACP’s 2006 convention for the first time in his presidency.

“It’s disappointing that the IRS took nearly two years to conclude what we knew from the beginning: the NAACP did not violate tax laws and continues to be politically nonpartisan,” said CEO Bruce S. Gordon.

Marcus S. Owens, an attorney with Caplin and Drysdale and former head of the IRS’s tax exempt division for 10 years, said, “I find it extremely unusual, the circumstances under which the audit was begun — the timing of it, the nature of the allegations.” He pointed out that while the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute were “pumping out press releases” supporting Bush’s policies during the 2004 campaign, only the NAACP was singled out.

“It just leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth,” he added.

Included among the audit documents were letters from Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) and U.S. Reps. JoAnn Davis (R-Va.) and Larry Combest (R-Texas) either calling for an IRS probe or conveying requests by one or more of their constituents for a probe.

PASADENA, Calif.: IRS threatens church for antiwar sermon

During the 2004 presidential election campaign, former All Saints’ Episcopal Church rector Dr. George Regas, appearing as a guest speaker, strongly condemned the Iraq war. At no time did he urge parishioners to vote for a candidate. That prompted an IRS audit.

Looking out from the pulpit at over 900 congregants, current rector Rev. Ed Bacon devoted his Sept. 17 sermon to the just-received threat by the IRS to pull the church’s tax exempt status based on the audit.

Bacon told reporters after the sermon, “These people are offended. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion have been assaulted by this act of the IRS and I think my people want to be heard in court.”

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, which has filed 58 complaints for politicking in church over the last 15 years, said they were surprised by the IRS probe.

“What perplexes me,” said Barry Lynn, the group’s spokesman, “is that I have never heard of a church being asked to undergo such a sweeping, broad and deep investigation on the basis of a complaint about a single sermon by a guest speaker.”

With Bacon due in court Oct. 11, the 3,500 member church is debating how to proceed. “It’s a very tough call we have to make,” said Bob Long, All Saints’ senior layman and a retired attorney. “But we’re at the point where they really are trampling on our constitutional rights.”

TUCSON, Ariz.: Victory in border rescue case

Calling the federal prosecution unfair, U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins dismissed all charges against Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, two volunteers with the Tucson-based humanitarian group No More Deaths, on Sept. 1.

Sellz and Strauss were arrested July 9, 2005, while medically evacuating three sick migrants from the Arizona desert. The men were found several miles north of the U.S.-Mexico boundary, severely dehydrated and unable to hold down water.

Volunteer doctors instructed Sellz and Strauss to bring the men to a Tucson clinic after it was determined they needed more care than what could be administered in the field.

At the time of their arrest, the two volunteers were following a protocol that had been previously agreed to by the U.S. Border Patrol.

In his ruling, Judge Collins states that Sellz and Strauss had made reasonable efforts to ensure that their actions were not in violation of the law, and that further prosecution would violate their due process rights.

Isabel Garcia, a leader of Tucson’s immigrant rights group Coalicion del Del Derechos Humanos, hailed the judge’s decision but noted that immigrants are still being persecuted every day.

She called for solutions that will create a just society and keep people from needing to leave their homes and risk death in a hostile environment.

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com). Joe Bernick contributed.

LETTERS

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:44:00 +0000

Takes issue with headline

The headline “Class struggle is a fact, not a theory” (PWW 9/2-8) reflects a misunderstanding of the word “theory.” This misunderstanding has serious consequences. A theory is a principle that explains certain phenomena, such as the wave theory of light or Marx’s labor theory of value. A theory is not the opposite of a fact, but rather an explanation of facts.

Current dictionaries offer — far down the list of possible definitions — one usage of the word “theory” that we hear today from those who oppose rational and scientific thought, such as those who deny the theory of evolution. This usage suggests that a “theory” is an unfounded or unproven assumption or speculation. In this way, the religious Right argues that Darwin had a mere “theory,” and that “creationism” should be taught as valid.

Marxists should not perpetuate this false opposition. Class struggle is a valid theoretical explanation for what’s going on in the world, as Scott Marshall argues. (His article, by the way, does not use the word “theory” — the problem is only with the headline.)

Doris Marquit Minneapolis MN

Equality for lesbians, gays

I read with great interest and excitement the Communist Party’s call to action in the Sept. 2-8 issue of PWW. It is a very strong platform that can unify voters of many different backgrounds to help defeat the Bush/Republican agenda on Nov. 7.

I was a little surprised to see that in the top 10 reasons to change Congress, number 4 describes HR 676 as an expansion of Medicaid, when in fact it would expand Medicare to provide much-needed universal health care.

More troublesome, however, was the fact that the struggle for equality for our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender comrades, allies, family members, neighbors, co-workers, and union brothers and sisters did not make the top 10.

In a period when Bush and the Republicans use homophobia and transphobia to split voters and the working-class movement, and to provoke hatred of a group of people because of who they are, unity on this issue and its decisive importance has never been more apparent.

Divisions on this issue has helped to keep Bush and the Republicans in power, and the failure to address it and to prioritize the call for full equality and to fight on the issues that face LGBT persons is a serious misstep.

Let’s struggle together to correct this error.

Joel Wendland Ypsilanti MI

CPUSA Political Action Chair Joelle Fishman responds: Issues of unity, of which lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender rights is one, are key to wresting control of Congress from the right wing and also key to building the movement for equality beyond this stage of struggle against the far-right wing.

As indicated in the text, however, the top 10 is not a program. Rather, it is a list of key existing bills that have been introduced to Congress but hijacked by the Republican leadership, which has refused to allow them to be put on the agenda for debate or action. It is an argument that changing control of Congress on Nov. 7 will open the door to win these bills, as well as many additional victories through mass pressure.

The use of Medicaid instead of Medicare was a mistake that was not caught in time.

Wrong on ‘Big Box’ ordinance

Your recent article “Don’t steal the big box ordinance” (PWW 9/9-15) was misleading. You think that because retailers in other locales haven’t left upon the initiation of similar ordinances that Big Retail is bluffing in Chicago. True enough, I doubt that any of them currently in Chicago would leave in the ordinance were instituted.

Attracting new investment, however, is a different thing altogether. Corporations simply will not come in with new stores if their financial calculations show that they won’t make a suitable return on their investment. Though most of these corporations make sizable charitable contributions, as a rule, they don’t do so by building projects that have unsuitable return on investment.

The threat by Big Retail to stay away was real. Because of Mayor Daley’s veto, Chicago will gain both jobs and a local source for quality low priced merchandise. Sure, the starting wages are low. But some of those hired on at $7 will prove themselves worth much more, and will advance into high paying management jobs. Still others will prove themselves worth not even $7, much less $13, and will be let go. Capitalism works quite well when it is allowed to do so.

S.G. Hauser Via e-mail

Editor’s note: Readers, tell us what you think about S.G. Hauser’s letter. Send responses for publication to pww@pww.org.

What’s LMHC?

I’ve read some of your articles with interest, but it would help if I knew what these qualifications, licenses or degrees stood for: LMHC, LMFT, NCC? Thanks so much.

Jim Maki Via e-mail

Editor’s note: Good question. You probably are referring to the health columns by Brenda Crawford-Clark, who has those initials after her name. According to Psychology Today, LMFT stands for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. A person who is a LMFT has a graduate academic degree (a 2- to 3-year master’s degree or a 3- to 5-year doctoral degree), clinical work experience and has passed a state-certified licensing exam. LMHC stands for Licensed Mental Health Counselor. In order to get that qualification you have to have a graduate academic degree, clinical work experience and have passed a state-certified licensing examination. NCC is Nationally Certified Counselor, the certification issued by the National Board of Certified Counselors, an independent organization. We should list these in the author’s ID.

Labor victory in California casino vote

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 07:59:00 +0000

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gambling interests could not muster enough State Assembly votes to ram through confirmation of a new Native American gambling casino agreement at the end of the 2006 California legislative session. The legislation would have set back casino workers’ rights while radically increasing the number of slot machines in the state.

Unite Here, the union that represents casino workers, along with the California Federation of Labor and some Native American tribes, influenced enough Assembly members to vote “No” or “Abstain” on the proposed agreement to stop it from getting a majority.

Gaming compacts are negotiated between the state government and individual Indian tribes, which are sovereign nations that are not subject to federal or California labor laws. The proposed new casino would have been the third for one of the state’s wealthiest gaming tribes, the Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians. The workers in California’s $9 billion gaming industry are predominantly women and people of color.

Recently ratified American Indian-owned casino agreements provide for union representation when half or more of the employees sign union cards. However, under provisions of the defeated agreement, in order to have union representation, casino employees would have had to go through a drawn out election process rather than having access to the fairer card-check.

In hearings before Government Operations Committee, several Agua Caliente casino employees told of getting asthma from cigarette smoke in the casino and not being able to afford health insurance. They pointed to grievances ignored by the casino’s internal arbitration committee and letters from casino management to employees asking them to call police if union organizers knocked on their doors.

“If you speak up about anything, Agua Caliente managers will make your life a hell,” claimed one woman.

Meanwhile, the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians spent the last two weeks of August on a “Fast for Justice” on the lawn of the State Capitol building here. They urged passage of a compact to allow them to open a casino in the Southern California town of Barstow in partnership with the Big Lagoon Rancheria, another poor tribe in Northern California’s Humboldt County.

The Los Coyotes, based in the mountains outside San Diego, are one of the poorest tribes in California. Only part of the reservation has running water or a working sewer system, and electricity was only brought to its edge in 1998.

“Our land is not commercially fit for business, and the Big Lagoon land on the California coast is environmentally sensitive and habitat-reserved,” the fasters told the PWW.

Barstow, an impoverished city in the Mojave Desert, is not part of either tribes’ land, but the casino would bring jobs there, they added. Their gaming compact was signed by the governor almost a year ago, but has yet to be ratified by the Assembly.

The compact provides for union representation for the casino and hotel workers, and would pay the state 25 percent of the casino’s profits. Tribes that already operate casinos opposed the Los Coyotes compact.

The fasters seek to “bring attention to the disparity between the haves and the have-nots,” said Melody Sees, who is environmental director of the Los Coyotes Band. “We want justice for our people and for all the other non-gaming tribes.”

NATIONAL CLIPS

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 06:18:00 +0000

LOUISVILLE, Ky.: Honor 9/11 victims with peace

On Sept. 11, 1906, Mahatma Gandhi launched his first nonviolent protest in South Africa before returning to his native India to use nonviolence in the successful campaign which freed the Indian people from British colonialism in 1947. Interfaith Paths to Peace, a local religious-based antiwar coalition, celebrated Gandhi’s achievement by walking 53 miles through four counties over four days to call for an end to the Iraq war.

“We think it’s a perfect way to honor the memory of the people who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001 — to work for nonviolence,” said organizer Terry Taylor.

The walk, limited to 50 participants, reached that mark weeks before stepping off in Nelson County. More than 70 businesses and religious groups sponsored the pilgrimage, which ended with a Sept. 11 rally of hundreds in Louisville’s Central Park.

“A walk is a good time to focus on nonviolence,” Chris Harmer told reporters as he marched. “The timing to me is really important, about taking back 9/11 from the memorial of fear.”

Mark Isaacs, an activist in the Louisville Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue, said marchers reflected concern for social justice in the U.S. and overseas, and included participants dedicated to the peace movement generally as well as those focused on Israeli-Palestinian peace, with two states living side by side, on eradicating poverty and on stopping environmental degradation.

CHICAGO: Daley vetoes living wage law

In defiance of a massive, labor-based grassroots movement, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley vetoed a law passed by the City Council, 35-14, in July to require mega-retailers like Wal-Mart to pay workers at least $10 an hour. The Sept. 11 veto was the first in Daley’s 17 years as mayor.

Thirty-four votes are needed to override a mayoral veto. As the World went to press, the City Council was debating the issue. In the weeks preceding the override vote, Daley and big business interests put enormous pressure on several aldermen to switch sides and oppose the ordinance, and there were reports that several had done so.

Look for a more complete story in next week’s edition of the World.

WASHINGTON: Bolton nomination hits snag

When Bush appointed John R. Bolton Ambassador to the United Nations, he was forced to make the temporary appointment in the dead of night. Then as now, a storm of controversy swirled around Bolton, forcing Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich to withhold support. Over the summer, Voinovich switched to supporting Bolton, but now, Republican Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, facing a tough primary, is withholding endorsement, stalling the confirmation in committee.

In light of the wars in Iraq and Lebanon, Chafee said, “It is no secret that I have serious questions about this administration’s policies in the Middle East.”

BISMARCK, N.D.: Priest, veterans face trial for missile protest

Father Carl Kabat, 72, who spent more than 15 years in prison for anti-nuclear protests, former military officer Greg Boertje, 51, and Vietnam veteran Michael Walli, 57, faced a federal jury Sept. 13 for dressing in clown costumes, then hammering and pouring blood on a Minuteman III nuclear missile silo. The government alleges the three men damaged the 40-ton nuclear weapon. If convicted, each is looking at 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

In a statement released through their attorney, the three jailed activists wrote, “U.S. leaders speak about the dangers of other nations acquiring nuclear weapons while our nation has thousands of horrific weapons of mass destruction. Our nation fails to act in accordance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which commits the U.S. to take steps to disarm its weapons of mass destruction. We act in order to bring attention to people’s responsibility for disarming weapons of state terrorism.”

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com).

Cartoon: Hey David!

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:19:00 +0000

Hey David – PWW’s intrepid cartoonist Get recharged soon! We need your artistic wit and wisdom.

PWW staff & editorial board & all of your many fans

LETTERS

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 07:46:00 +0000

Action alert!

On September 10th and 11th, ABC is planning to air a “docu-drama” called “Path to 9/11,” which is being billed as “an objective telling of the events of 9/11.” In fact, the film was written by an unabashed conservative who twists the facts to blame President Clinton.

Tell ABC to cancel this inaccurate and slanted Sept. 11th program.

ABC’s new six-hour film was apparently screened in advance only to conservative bloggers and journalists — and received extensive praise from none other than Rush Limbaugh. The film is apparently also riddled with factual errors and distortions; former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke has completely refuted one of the key scenes in the show.

It’s simply stunning to think that as this fall’s election approaches, a major television network would devote six hours of prime-time programming to air such a slanted and inaccurate program.

Tell ABC (818-460-7477 or abc.go.com) this type of inaccurate and slanted program does not belong on prime-time television, and they should cancel this show.

Will Easton ActForChange.com

Did the right thing

Recently federal Judge Anna Diggs Taylor did the right thing and declared that the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program was unconstitutional. She was able to see through the jingoism, propaganda and fear-mongering to support free speech and some rights to privacy. The war-president has gained too much power since 9/11. If the Congress won’t limit his “Orwellian” powers, then the judiciary must.

Chuck Mann Greensboro NC

Globalization and class struggle

Congratulations to Scott Marshall on a well-reasoned article. (“Class struggle is a fact, not a theory,” PWW 9/2-8) What a misfortune that some otherwise effective labor leaders try to find a “respectable” means to gain their goals, a sort of Horatio Alger Internationale! What a pity it doesn’t ever work!

Globalization is the latest effort of the monopolists to organize the world into One Big Corporation — a kind of reverse side of the old IWW slogan of One Big Union! The IWW agitators were known as “Wobblies,” but if you want to see something wobble, just keep an eye on the imperialists when they try to take on the International Working Class they are creating!

After all, it was none other than Marx who said, “Workers of the world, unite!”— not “Workers of one company, take a dime to overlook your brothers and sisters!”

Warren Greer Via e-mail

South Asian theater at Rutgers

We are currently working on a theatre production called “Yoni Ki Baat.” Originated by South Asian Sisters on the West Coast, the show will be the second of its kind, in the midst of one of the largest concentrations of people in the country who trace their origins to South Asia. “Yoni Ki Baat” is a theatrical performance that strives to create a safe space for often marginalized South Asian experiences of identity, along different lines of class, race, gender, nationality, religion, sexuality, immigration and Diaspora. The pieces will challenge stereotypes and reconstruct the figure of a South Asian woman. The result is an eclectic confrontation of issues from identity, to labor rights, to sexual violence, all critically engaged in the question of what liberation means for people of South Asian descent. (South Asian descent includes everyone from the Caribbean who traces their roots to South Asia and those who take part in the South Asian Diaspora.) For more information, e-mail ykb_rutgers@yahoo.com.

Sarangi Iyengar New Brunswick NJ Sarangi Iyengar is the president of the South Asian Women’s Collective of Rutgers University.

Allen’s racism

Good article by Emile Schepers, “Senator Allen’s monkeyshines” (PWW Online eXtra, www.pww.org/article/articleview/9720/1/266/). As an Indian American I suggest that your article be directed at those Indian Americans who planned to vote for George Allen despite his anti-immigrant and anti-African-American stance. With people like that we do not need white racists and xenophobes. They can wave the Confederate flag and do the job for Allen.

Reddy Chell G. Via e-mail

Fathers and Sanchez

Roberto Botello’s article, “Poet Sanchez to be missed” (PWW 8/19-25), brought fond memories for his legion of fans, friends and family.

His fans knew him for his social activism and moving poetry. Friends knew him for his soulful humanity. And then there is Trinidad Sanchez’s altruism for family. Many did not know of his empathy for fathers who are shut out of their children’s lives. I was surprised one time to find his comments in a New England Fatherhood Coalition discussion group.

From his days in Denver, he wrote “Eulogy for a Deadbeat Dad,” a portion which reads, “We will celebrate you and the fathers we carry in our souls / the men living, struggling daily to be good fathers and men.” Let us never forget the legacy of our friend, our activist, our teacher, our poet — Trinidad Sanchez.

Don Mathis Sherman TX

CIA spins spiders web vs. Cuba, Venezuela

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 07:15:00 +0000

U.S. intelligence head John Negroponte announced Aug. 18 the creation of a new Central Intelligence Agency mission to oversee intelligence operations in Venezuela and Cuba at the strategic level. J. Patrick Maher, a 32-year CIA veteran with supervisory experience in Colombia and the Caribbean, was named as acting mission manager.

According to Negroponte, “Policymakers have increasingly focused on the challenges that Cuba and Venezuela pose to American foreign policy.” He noted Washington’s concern about the close ties between the two countries and failure on Venezuela’s part to cooperate with Washington’s “anti-terrorist campaign.”

The change comes in the wake of Raul Castro’s temporary accession to the presidency of Cuba on July 31 and coincides with preparations in Venezuela for presidential elections set for Dec. 3.

As a measure of the seriousness with which the U.S. government regards Cuba and Venezuela, the new post is one of only six agencies operating at the strategic level within the intelligence bureaucracy. One of them covers Iran and North Korea — the only other countries with a mission manager — and four others deal with counter-proliferation, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and weapons of mass destruction.

Negroponte gave Maher responsibility “for ensuring that policymakers have a full range of timely and accurate intelligence on which to base their decisions.” That objective, analysts suggest, portends a buildup of agents and field officers in both countries.

Stepped-up U.S. intelligence attention to Cuba comes five weeks after the Bush administration released an update of its plans for returning Cuba to capitalism. Fidel Castro’s departure from power was supposed to have signaled the time for implementation to begin, facilitated by $80 million set-aside for Cuban government opponents. That clock, of course, has started.

Intelligence operations in Venezuela are intensifying just as new indications of massive U.S. spending to get rid of President Hugo Chavez are in the limelight. According to an Associated Press report on Aug. 26, the U.S. Agency for International Development since 2002 has distributed $26 million via 220 grants to Venezuelan recipients under a “Venezuela Confidence Building Initiative.” The data emerged from a survey of 132 contracts detailed on 1,600 pages made accessible under the Freedom of Information Act.

Within USAID, an “Office of Transition Initiatives” sees to spending in Venezuela and other “priority countries” such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Bolivia and Haiti. Reportedly, OTI funding is free of stipulations applied to other USAID grants, and funds are available on short notice because they originate from “disaster assistance” appropriations.

As a parallel program poised to complement U.S. intelligence activities in Venezuela, the National Endowment for Democracy has distributed some $2.9 million over a four-year period for technical training in organizing of political parties and for voter education.

If other Latin American experience holds true, U.S. undercover work will try to influence the media in Venezuela, a fertile field inasmuch as opposition newspapers and television stations there are far from silent.

On Aug. 25, for example, a few newspapers throughout Latin America, among them La Nacion of Buenos Aires, carried an article by Simon Romero of Caracas claiming that Venezuela has collaborated with Iran in a uranium enrichment program.

Journalists working with that paper and others told the Association of Media Professionals in Argentina that the CIA had fostered that line. They alleged that U.S. “diplomats” had offered them bribes to present the U.S. side in stories covering Venezuela’s admission into the Mercosur trade group and Brazilian President Lula da Silva’s bid for re-election in October.

The exposé by Victor Ego Ducrotto, appearing on the Rebelion web site on Aug. 25, claimed that CIA personnel worked “elbow to elbow” with the representatives of the right-wing Inter American Press Society, based in Miami.

NATIONAL CLIPS

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 05:49:00 +0000

This week’s clips are a brief roundup of a few of the hundreds of Labor Day parades, marches and picnics around the country.

DALLAS: Labor breakfast, immigrant rights march

Labor Day in Dallas began with the annual AFL-CIO breakfast. It was the largest in the event’s history. Over 400 unionists, candidates and religious leaders attended. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell was the main speaker. He energized the crowd with statistics showing Texas at the bottom of social well-being indicators such as school dropout rates and the number of people without health insurance.

Immediately after the breakfast, activists rushed downtown to catch the last part of the immigrant rights march called by ACORN and civil rights organizations.

About 300 marchers braved the rainy weather to walk from Guadalupe Cathedral, around the Kennedy Memorial, to the Dallas City Hall for the very upbeat rally.

A jar on the stage, beside a bundle of People’s Weekly Worlds, collected donations for immigrant rights activist Elvira Arellano of Chicago, who is fighting deportation.

PITTSBURGH: Workers demand change in Washington

Western Pennsylvania’s backbone, 60,000 working families, lined up behind their union banners and marched through downtown. They stopped in front of the City-County Building to pay their respects to Mayor Bob O’Connor, who died Sept. 1. The AFL-CIO dedicated the annual parade to O’Connor, who supported labor.

Bob Casey, the Democratic challenger to far-right anti-labor Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, drew cheers and thumbs up from the 197 union, band and performance contingents as they passed the reviewing stand. State Sen. Jim Ferlo’s car, bedecked with banners calling for passage of HR 676, the national health care bill, was hailed all along the route. Allegheny County AFL-CIO President Jack Shea told reporters that “single-payer health care” cries out for action in Washington, and changing the Senate and the House is a big step toward achieving that goal.

Unite Here members carried banners demanding rights for immigrant workers. Despite a nasty $5 million TV ad campaign by Santorum, the banners won support from marchers and spectators.

DETROIT: Flight attendants lead 50,000 marchers

Two rivers of workers converged into downtown, swelling to 50,000 sporting bright T-shirts. Baby carriages and banners were in evidence. Teamsters and Building Trades union members started from their own staging area but joined with the rest of the labor movement, led by the UAW.

Dozens of uniformed Northwest Airlines flight attendants marched at the front. Facing a 40 percent pay cut with a 20 percent increase in workload, they are vowing to conduct selective strikes throughout the system. Northwest is in bankruptcy.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Michigan’s U.S. senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, marched together holding the AFL-CIO banner high.

Workers also marched or held picnics in Marquette, Muskegon and Grand Rapids.

In a Labor Day message broadcast over public radio, the Michigan AFL-CIO pounded on the staggering job losses in the state, 215,000 since Bush took office. The federation said, “We’re had enough of policies and practices that serve the interest of corporate America while leaving the majority of workers behind.”

LORAIN, Ohio: ‘The air was electric’

Ohio’s largest Labor Day celebration and political rally was in this industrial city of about 100,000, near Cleveland. Bruce Bostick, retired US Steel Lorain mill worker with 30 years of shop floor and union leadership, said, “I have never seen 30,000 people enjoy the day — we have music, the unions set up tents and it is a family celebration — then wait, stay for a political rally.”

“They came for the politics, the elections,” said Bostick. The air was electric, he said. “The enthusiasm for the politicians, I have never seen that before. This was a first for me.”

Cheers and laughter punctuated the speech of Ted Strickland, Democratic candidate for governor. His opponent, Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell, the current secretary of state, is under a cloud for what many charge is his role in helping steal the 2004 election for Bush.

Sherrod Brown, the progressive Democrat challenging Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, was unable to attend due to illness.

LOS ANGELES: ‘We’re building power’

“All right! We’re building power,” said Maria Elena Durazo, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, welcoming hundreds of labor leaders and activists, elected officials and candidates to the federation’s Labor Day Breakfast. Phil Angelides, Democratic candidate for governor against Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, was the keynote speaker.

“I wanted to be in a city where the labor movement is showing the rest of America how we rebuild a movement of working people,” said Unite Here President John Wilhelm.

Labor leaders announced a huge organizing drive of hotel workers, mostly immigrant workers, and security guards, mostly African-American, to be launched this fall.

At a mass following the breakfast Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony’s homily was a stinging indictment of grocery and hotel owners fighting tooth and nail to prevent workers from organizing, and of Congress for failing to protect immigration rights, “one of the most pressing moral and social issues of our time.”

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com). Jim Lane contributed to this week’s clips.

LETTERS

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:49:00 +0000

Crossing guards for fairness

I’ll send a donation when I get paid but here’s our problem in Chicago: People have wasted five to six years to be called for a job with the city. Many people were unaware that the names were eliminated from the computer and we have to redo applications. Why should we wait another five years? It’s not fair.

We get checks for uniforms but they take out federal tax and Medicaid, almost $75! What do these things have to do with a uniform? We’re crossing guards and new guards do not have benefits. We’re in the union and the city is trying to get rid of out benefits possibly within two years. It’s not fair. We cannot march!

A Reader Chicago IL

Minimum wage and Oprah

Your coverage of the fight for a better minimum wage, and for all wage improvements, is really appreciated. It’s amazing how a person can simplify the key question, “Which Side Are You On?” just on this one issue.

One of the people on the good side is Oprah Winfrey of television fame. On July 28, she made her entire program about the impossibility of living on the present minimum wage. One of the outstanding guests was former UFCW Vice President Beth Shulman, author of “The Failure of Work.”

Also, congratulations on your excellent article by José Cruz, “Lawsuit seeks overturn of Hazleton, Pa., anti-immigrant law” on your Online eXtra web site, www.pww.org.

More than likely, these tiny racist fires will blaze all over Middle America, because the arsonists in the U.S. Congress very intentionally lit them. The City Council of Farmers Branch, just half an hour from Dallas, has put forward breathtaking anti-Latino resolutions that even shock the rest of Texas. Protests have broken out at their meetings, and Dallasites joined a crowd of 300 in protest there on Aug. 26.

Even some of Texas’ most right-wing businesspersons are trying to distance themselves from the craziness. In a half-page op-ed on Aug. 28, businessmen entreated Congress to put aside “enforcement only” legislation and allow undocumented workers to continue working (at starvation wages). Among them were “Bo” Pilgrim, notorious for openly buying votes with $10,000 checks on the floor of the Texas Legislature, and James Leininger, who has spent millions to undermine public education.

Jim Lane Dallas TX

Picture would tell tale

There was a Ku Klux Klan rally in Amarillo, Texas, last month. I kept up with the events as they unfolded as my father is a legal immigrant from Mexico. The KKK claims they want to have a peaceful rally to address the immigration issue. The only thing that keeps these groups alive is people taking notice. Would they hang around if no one showed up? Would they even return to Amarillo if not one gave them credence? I think not. What is more powerful than showing up is this one thing, a picture. If we are interested in what involvement prominent members of our civic community, our leaders, our government, and churches have in the KKK, then a picture of them showing up in support will tell the entire story. That is what should be plastered on each paper and newscast. Then we can know who we are sitting next to in our churches, who the faces of our leaders are and who we are in business with.

Veronica Fuentes Via e-mail

Facts not right

Unfortunately, your story “Hammer on Ballot” (PWW 8/12-18) is factually wrong. I publish Ballot Access News (www.ballot-access.org) and follow these election law cases carefully. Texas law allows Tom DeLay to withdraw if he wanted to, and he did want to. No court forced him to remain on the ballot. The only issue before the courts was whether the Republican Party could put a new nominee on the ballot. I realize The New York Times got this wrong also. The New York Times has made at least three factual errors about three election law matters in the last month. Just because the Times says it is so, doesn’t mean it is.

Richard Winger San Francisco CA

Response

Sean Mulligan (“Differs on Hezbollah” letter, PWW 8/19-25) makes some useful points which contribute to our debate concerning events in the Middle East. First, Israeli actions in non-recognition of the Palestinian government and in serving as the Bush administration’s invasion of southern Lebanon have in effect strengthened both Hamas and the Party of God aka Hezbollah. A rational policy by both Israeli and U.S. progressive forces should be to stop massive military retaliation for the actions of Hamas and Hezbollah, which only plays into their hands and strengthens them, and seek both negotiated settlements and the strengthening of secular and progressive forces among the Palestinian and Lebanese people, who only “alliance” with groups like Hamas and Hezbollah is rooted in their opposition to Israeli military actions and occupations.

However, we shouldn’t fall into the trap of defending Hamas or Hezbollah, since their formal rightist clerical ideology and role in orchestrating attacks on civilians really is a matter of record, not simply the propaganda of the U.S. government. For us to cheer on these groups because of our opposition to U.S. policies is as sensible as those sections of the left who hailed the Afghan “freedom fighters” in the 1980s because of their deep hatred o the Soviet Union and its policies.

Norman Markowitz New Brunswick NJ

PWW does it again

Every week is the same: I read a report that is outstanding and decide to thank the author(s) as soon as I get through the paper. But every issue has so many good reports that I end up with too many things to say so I say nothing. This time I started an e-mail as soon as I’d finished Joelle Fishman’s “November elections: This battle can be won” (PWW 8/5-11)

If I had the funds, I’d reprint the article as a brochure and put that “Bush 5-year Budget Proposal” box on the front and ask every group and individual to read, ponder and act on it.

Kenneth Carstens Via e-mail