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The past two years has been an incredible time for the campaign against BU's Bio-Terror Lab. After years of ongoing struggle against the level 4 lab construction in the Roxbury/South End area, 2007 saw national awareness of the campaign, rulings in favor of the campaign against the lab from the state and federal level, and incredible growth in the number of people involved. But the campaign is not over.
Join us as we welcome Klare Allen, lead organizer, rabble-rouser, mother, and activist to share with us. Klare has been involved with the campaign against the biolab since the beginning. She organizes with SafetyNet and the Coalition Against the Biolab.
Sun Apr 27, 2:45pm Somerville Theatre - Screen 2
Mon Apr 28, 5:30pm Coolidge Corner Theatre
During his service as chaplain at Texas's infamous Huntsville Prison, the Reverend Carroll Pickett presided over the execution, by lethal injection, of 95 inmates. The haunting memories of this fascinating, reticent man serve as the broken heart of this deeply moving new film from Steve James and Pete Gilbert, who previously collaborated on the unforgettable documentaries HOOP DREAMS and STEVIE. Displaying their trademark sensitivity and formidable editing skills, the filmmakers intersperse Pickett's troubled reminiscences with a recent investigation by Chicago Tribune reporters into what appears to be the wrongful conviction of Carlos de Luna, a prisoner whom this preacher escorted to his eternal reward back in 1989––convinced, all the while, of de Luna's innocence.
Pickett's gradual conversion from a death-penalty advocate to opponent over the course of his career is treated with the complexity and thoughtfulness the issue deserves. There are no split-second epiphanies or strident speeches here, just one man's poignant, lifelong struggle to bring his own innate decency and some semblance of humanity into a process that is, by its very nature, designed to dehumanize.
The Palestinian House of New England
cordially invites you and your family to...
Honored guests...
Dr. Elaine Hagopian and Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh
Dinner + cultural and musical activities
Tickets: adults $15, children free
Call: Samir 617-447-6744
Nakba 1948: 60 Years Of Palestinian Dispossession
Commemorating The 60th Nakba Anniversary
Five days of events at Harvard University, Cambridge
Harvard T stop on the red line
Monday, April 28 - Friday, May 2
Sponsored by The Harvard Nakba Committee
Contact: Hilary Rantisi
Rally for Universal Single Payer Health Care
with Tom Morello, Guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave
April 28, 4:30PM on State House Steps
Now that PBS Frontlines has attempted to bury Single Payer with its own pro-insurance-company puff piece, cleverly designed to mimic the international visits in "SiCKO!", it's important to view "SiCKO!" again to understand the difference and be prepared to fight!
Nominated for an Oscar and winner of seven Best Documentary awards in 2007, "SiCKO" is a revealing and disturbing exploration of our dysfunctional health care system. Follow Moore from the origins of managed care, to a day in the life of a health insurance hit man, all the way through universal health care systems in England, France, and Guantanamo Bay. Donna Smith, who appears in the film, will join us!
Tom Morello, the guitarist for Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave who plays firebrand folk guitar as The Nightwatchman, will be playing a set of four songs at the rally as part of his national Justice Tour. Tom was the co-founder of Axis of Justice, a political group whose declared purpose is "to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice together.
Sponsored by: American Patients for Universal Health Care, California Nurses Association, Healthcare-NOW!, Mass-Care, MA Jobs with Justice, MA Physicians for a National Health Program, and Mass. Senior Action.
Contact: email or (617) 524-8778
Nakba 1948: 60 Years Of Palestinian Dispossession
Commemorating The 60th Nakba Anniversary
Five days of events at Harvard University, Cambridge
Harvard T stop on the red line
Monday, April 28 - Friday, May 2
Sponsored by The Harvard Nakba Committee
Contact: Hilary Rantisi
Environmental Speaker Series
Back to the Farm: What Community Farms Do For Us
Greg Maslowe, Newton Community Farm
Grey Lee, Land's Sake, Weston
Monday April 28, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Free
Druker Auditorium,
Newton Free Library
330 Homer Street,
Newton Centre, MA 02459
(617)796-1360
Co-sponsored by the Green Decade Coalition/Newton, The Newton Free Library, The Newton Community Farm, The Newton Farmers Market, Cheshire Garden, and Newton Conservators.
Join us for a lively evening with Greg Maslowe, Farm
Manager of the Newton Community Farm and Grey Lee,
Executive Director of Land’s Sake in Weston, as they
address theimportance of community farms in our cities
and towns. The program will include:
* The role and purpose of non-profit farms
operating on community owned land
* Why cities and towns should support these farms
* How community based non-profit farms teach
sustainable agriculture, preserve open space and
foster community while reconnecting people withtheir
food and help build a local food economy.
Newton Community Farm, Inc. is the non-profit operator of Newton Angino Community Farm, the last farm in the City of Newton, for the benefit of the public since 2006. Founded in 1980, Land’s Sake is a private, nonprofit corporation dedicated to responsible stewardship of sub-urban farmland and forests. Land’s Sake is also a founding member of the Farm Based Education Association.
Tea will be served at this event. Please bring your own mug.
Nakba 1948: 60 Years Of Palestinian Dispossession
Commemorating The 60th Nakba Anniversary
Five days of events at Harvard University, Cambridge
Harvard T stop on the red line
Monday, April 28 - Friday, May 2
Sponsored by The Harvard Nakba Committee
Contact: Hilary Rantisi
FLOW: For Love Of Water, a new film by Irena Salina, highlights the local intimacies of an emerging global catastrophe: African plumbers reconnect shantytown water pipes under cover of darkness to ensure a community's survival; a Californian scientist forces awareness of shockingly toxic public water sources; a 'Big Water' CEO argues privatization is the wave of the future; a "Water Guru" in India sparks new community water initiatives in hundreds of villages; a Canadian author uncovers the corporate profiteering that drives global water business.
With an unflinching focus on politics, pollution and human rights, FLOW: For Love of Water ensures that the precarious relationship between humanity and water can no longer be ignored. While specifics of locality and issue may differ, the message is the same; water, and our future as a species, is quickly drying up. Armed with a thirst for survival, people around the world are fighting for their birthright; unless we instigate change, we face a world in which only those that can pay for their water will survive. FLOW: For Love of Water, is a catalyst for people everywhere: the time has come to turn the tide and we can't wait any longer.
Film and snacks brought to you by your munificent MIT GSC representatives.
If you have any questions please contact ... Amruta Sudhalkar or Shanti Kleiman
Nakba 1948: 60 Years Of Palestinian Dispossession
Commemorating The 60th Nakba Anniversary
Five days of events at Harvard University, Cambridge
Harvard T stop on the red line
Monday, April 28 - Friday, May 2
Sponsored by The Harvard Nakba Committee
Contact: Hilary Rantisi
April 30th Rally & Strike for Quality Human Services! Join us Wednesday, April 30th from 4 to 6PM at the State House for a rally to support human service workers as they prepare to strike for better conditions for themselves and the people they care for! Can’t make the rally? Join the workers at picket locations around Massachusetts on May 1st.
For more information call SEIU Local 509 at 617-924-8509.
6:00 pm: Screening of "Soy Cuba: el mamut siberiano"
followed by a conversation with Pavel Grushko
Psychology Building (PSY) at 64 Cummington St., Room B39 (basement)
(Public transportation: take the "B" Green Line on the
"T" and get off at "BU Central")
The Department of Romance Studies at Boston University is pleased to announce the screening of the recent documentary about the making of "Soy Cuba," called "Soy Cuba: el mamut siberiano" ("I Am Cuba: the Siberian Mammoth"). Directed by Brazilian film-maker Vicente Ferraz, the documentary looks at the making of "Soy Cuba," explains some of its complex technical feats and includes interviews with many of the people who worked on it. We will have the pleasure of having the Russian poet, playwright and translator Pavel Grushko (1931) with us to talk (in Spanish) about his personal experience in Cuba during the production of the movie (including his role as translator for Kalatazov). Grushko's poetry has been published in various Latin American countries and as a translator he has worked with a wide range of important poets from the Spanish-speaking world.
6:30PM: Benefit Concert for the Children of Gaza
Cathedral Church of St Paul Episcopal
138 Tremont St, Boston (across from Park St T Stop)
NANCY MURRAY: Introduction
ABOUD AGHA, lead vocalist of the Boston based Sharq
Ensemble
LAYAALI ARABIC MUSIC ENSEMBLE, Traditional Music of
the Arab world
DAVID MAXWELL, Grammy winning Blues Pianist: Blues for
Gaza
SERGIO REYES, Songs of Struggle, Love and Revolution
DEEMA FAISA, Poet from Gaza
ELLEN CANTAROW, Jazz pianist and singer: Original
songs on Palestine
ASKIA TOURE, Poet, American Book Award recipient, The
Monster's Shock and Awe
HILARY RANTISI, EMCEE
Director, Middle East Initiative, Kennedy School of
Government
Handicrafts from West Bank and Gaza, Slides by Skip
Schiel, more.
Suggested Donation $20
Sponsored by Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights, Jewish Voice for Peace - Boston, American-Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee, Massachusetts Chapter, Friends of Sabeel - New England; Endorsed by Stop the Wars Coalition, United for Justice with Peace
Nakba 1948: 60 Years Of Palestinian Dispossession
Commemorating The 60th Nakba Anniversary
Five days of events at Harvard University, Cambridge
Harvard T stop on the red line
Monday, April 28 - Friday, May 2
Sponsored by The Harvard Nakba Committee
Contact: Hilary Rantisi
6:30 PM: Revolutionary Ideals, Modern Debate series presents
"The Right to Vote"
Old South Meeting House
310 Washington Street, Boston MA
FREE and Open to the Public
Voting rights in America have been shaped by such forces as economic development, immigration and race and class relations. How do new efforts to regulate voting change our concept of this civic act?
FEATURING:
Alexander Keyssar, Prof. of History and Social Policy, Kennedy School of Govt.
Nancy Abudu, attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Voting Rights Project
And Moderated by: Joanne Berry, Senior Director of The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Lowell Institute, and is presented in collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.
Robin D. DeBlosi
Director of Marketing and Events
Old South Meeting House
310 Washington Street
Boston , MA 02108
Tel: 617-482-6439 x15
Today's teenagers have money and independence, their lives the object of obsessive focus by corporate America. FRONTLINE explores the culture of today's teenagers and how they view themselves and their parents. Teenage tastes, attitudes, and aspirations are endlessly sampled by marketers to determine exactly what they want, while Hollywood and Madison Avenue tell a carefully tailored version of teenage life in movies, TV, music and advertising.
2:30pm: MARCH/RALLY for IMMIGRANT &WORKER RIGHTS
International Workers Day
Stop the Raids & Deportations
Legalization Now · Justice for ALL
East Boston, Central Sq.
2:30 pm - March from Central Sq. to Chelsea
Everett City Hall
2:30 pm - March from City Hall to Chelsea
Chelsea City Hall
3:30-5:30 pm - Rally/Cultural Celebration
May Day 2008 is critically important. Will the optimism and hope expressed around the Presidential elections translate into an end of immigrant raids and deportations? Will it bring an end to the foreclosures of homes, the lowering of gas and food prices, or an end to lay-offs?
Regardless of the elections, immigrants and their supporters throughout the country will be marching once again on May Day, International Workers Day to say no to all the attacks against workers here and around the world.
We call on the progressive community, the anti-war movement, the women's & LGBT movement, and especially the labor movement, to come out for May Day 2008. March for solidarity, because an injury to one is an injury to all!
For more information about the East Boston/Everett/Chelsea march please contact: 617.889.6080
Endorsed by: Art Builds Community; ACE; Alfaro Enterprises, Inc.; American Civil Liberties Union; Bella Isla Cafe; Bishop Filipe C. Teixeira Diocese St. Francis; BOLD Teens; Boston School Bus Union-USW 8751; Boston Environmental Network; Boston May Day Coalition; Boston Tenant Coalition; Brazilian Immigrant Center; Brazilian Women’s Group; Brazilian Worker’s Center; Broadway Jewelers; Castillo Productions; Centro familiar de Adoracion; Centro Latino de Chelsea; Centro Presente; Chelsea ASAP; Charles Group Consulting; Chelsea City Councillor Marilyn Vega-Torres; Chelsea City Councillor Roseann Bongiovanni; Chelsea City Councillor Roy Avellaneda; Chelsea Collaborative; Chelsea Green Space Committee; Chelsea Latino Coalition; Chelsea Latino Immigrant Committee; Chelsea Police Department; Chelsea School Committee Member Lucía Colón; Chelsea School Committee Member Melinda Vega Alvarado; Chelsea United Against the War; Chinese Progressive Association; CHOICE Thru Education; City of Chelsea; City of Everett; Community Labor United; Concilio Hispano; Clean Water Action; Danny Rodriguez; CSIO; CUDE; Dominican Development Center; Eastie Latino Magazine; EBECC; Edwin Mejia Law Firm; El Mundo Newspaper; El Salvador en el Aire; El Xielo; FMLN Boston; Gallego Real Estate; Gloribell Mota, Greater Boston Legal Services; HarborCov, Inc.; Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal CLA; Iglesia Metodista Unida “Nueva Vida”; Iglesia Santa Rosa de Lima; Iglesia Profetica Cristiana “El Tabernaculo”; International Action Center; Irish Immigration Center; Jarrett T. Barrios; Jobs with Justice Mass.; Jovanna Garcia; Kathy Brown; La Alianza Hispana; La Comunidad, Inc.; Law Office of Sylvia Guzman; Magacin 10AM 1600; Marcos & Neenah Luna; Maria Alamo; MASS COSH; MASSVOTE; Matahari Eye of the Day; Metapan Restaurant; MIRA; Neighbor to Neighbor; New England Human Rights for Haiti; NOAH; Now is the Time! Ya es Hora Ve y Vota!; Primo Simon 1600; Project Voice (AFSC); Radio Atlantica 1600; Rafael Perez; Representative Eugene O’Flaherty; Ritmo Guanaco 1600; ROCA Immigrant & Refugee Initiative; Salvadoreños Unidos en el Exterior; San Martin de Porres Church; Senator Anthony Galluccio; SEIU Local 615; SPC Noticias 1600; St. Luke’s/San Lucas Episcopal Church; Suffolk Building Services; Suffolk University Legal Services; Tito’s Bakery; Tu Casa Restaurant; ¿Oistes?; Painter’s Union District Council 35; Pioneer Valley; UMASS Gaston Institute; United for a Fair Economy; United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1445; Women’s Fight Back Network
Contact: 617.889.6080 or iacboston.org
Feeder marches to the May Day Rally in the Boston Common
On International Workers Day, Boston's streets will be filled with feeder marches, starting at 3pm, snaking towards the Common for the 4pm May Day rally. Here's a list of feeder marches, please skip work/school or duck out early and join up with the one closest to you:
Kenmore: For neighborhoods west of Boston's center (such as Allston/Brighton, Brookline, Watertown, Kenmore/Fenway area etc,) We will be rallying in Kenmore Square at 3pm, and then march to the Common.
Harvard Square: (for Cambridge and points north) Meet at the Harvard Science Center near Harvard Yard at 3pm, march to Common.
Copley: Critical Mass CALLING ALL BIKERS! There will be a Critical Mass ride on May 1st in support of the May Day protest on the Common. The ride will meet in Copley Square at 3:00 and end up at Boston Common by 4(ish). A flyer announcing the ride is available at the link below. Please print and distribute.
Nakba 1948: 60 Years Of Palestinian Dispossession
Commemorating The 60th Nakba Anniversary
Five days of events at Harvard University, Cambridge
Harvard T stop on the red line
Monday, April 28 - Friday, May 2
Sponsored by The Harvard Nakba Committee
Contact: Hilary Rantisi
A powerful documentary film by Rhode Island video journalists Paul Hubbard and Robert Malin of four days of testimony by veterans of the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan given March 13-16
PLEASE NOTE
IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR (IVAW} ORGANIZED THE "WINTER SOLDIER" :IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN HEARINGS IN WASHINGTON,D.C. THIS PAST MARCH 13-16. THEIR VOICES WILL MARK THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE START OF THIS WAR. LAST MONTH WE VIEWED THE ORGINAL WINTER SOLDIER HEARINGS FROM 1991 OF THE VIET NAM VETERANS. THIS IS ONE OF THE ONLY DVD'S OF THE RECENT HEARINGS THAT IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE.
Extended informal discussion after the film. Refreshments will be served.
There is an inexpensive parking garage next to the library and some parking on the street. Pearl Street is just off Mass. Ave in Central Square.
Presented jointly by the Women's lnternational League for Peace and Freedom and the Cambridge Peace Commission.
Admission is free.
For further information call 617-244-8054
7PM: Unveiling Palestine film series
243 Broadway at Windsor St in Cambridge
(entrance on Windsor)
"USA vs AL-ARIAN"
USA vs AL-ARIAN is an intimate family portrait that
documents the American-Muslim family Al-Arian's
desperate attempt to fight terrorism charges leveled
by the US Government. (99 min)
In February 2003, university professor and pro- Palestinian civil rights activist Sami Al-Arian was arrested in Tampa, Florida, charged with providing material support to a terror organization. For 2 ½ years he was held in solitary confinement, denied basic privileges and given limited access to his attorneys. While the Bush administration considered this a landmark case in its campaign against international terrorism, Sami Al-Arian claims he was targeted in an attempt to silence his political views. The film follows Sami Al-Arian’s wife Nahla and their five children throughout his 6 month-long trial. It is an intimate family portrait that documents the strain brought on by the trial, a battle waged both in court and in the media. In the film a tight-knit family unravels before our very eyes as trial preparations, strategy and spin consume their lives.
This is a nightmare come to life, as a man is prosecuted for his beliefs rather than his actions.
Please join us for a stimulating night out; bring your friends! Free film, free refreshments, & free door prizes. [donations are accepted]
"You can't legislate good will - that comes through education." ~ Malcolm X
Why should YOU care? It's your money that pays for the occupation & illegal Israeli settlements.
Nakba 1948: 60 Years Of Palestinian Dispossession
Commemorating The 60th Nakba Anniversary
Five days of events at Harvard University, Cambridge
Harvard T stop on the red line
Monday, April 28 - Friday, May 2
Sponsored by The Harvard Nakba Committee
Contact: Hilary Rantisi
Nakba 1948: 60 Years Of Palestinian Dispossession
Commemorating The 60th Nakba Anniversary
Five days of events at Harvard University, Cambridge
Harvard T stop on the red line
Monday, April 28 - Friday, May 2
Sponsored by The Harvard Nakba Committee
Contact: Hilary Rantisi
9:30 am - 12:30 PM: Torture and the American Psyche:
Blurring the Boundaries Between Healers and Interrogators
First Parish Unitarian Church
382 Walnut Street, Brookline, MA
admission is free
DESCRIPTION:
Every day the news brings further details about our
country’s recent use of torture and other detainee
abuse in national security, and of the debates among
our leaders and citizens of practical, legal, and
ethical implications of this use. We invite concerned
citizens and members of the mental health professions
to join together in an open discussion of the far
reaching human and moral implications of our nation’s
use of torture.
We will discuss the emotional and ethical consequences of being members of a society that sanctions torture and that uses psychologists to make sure abuse is medically and “ethically” conducted. We will have three speakers, followed by a discussion among the panelists and with the members of the audience on the diverse aspects of this topic. Our aim is to facilitate a discussion which will include the emotional, ethical and spiritual dimensions of this topic and allow room for all to participate. We understand that the topic will give pause to all who consider attending and care will be taken to ensure that the discussion will not devolve into a political diatribe or an immersion into a graphic depiction of torture. We hope that some perspective on feasible actions may emerge from the discussion.
SPEAKERS:
Eric Fair currently a divinity student at Princeton
will speak from his experience as a civilian contract
interrogator in Baghdad, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib in
early 2004. He will lend his first person account to
our conversation.
Leonard Rubenstein, J.D. President of Physicians for
Human Rights, a Nobel Prize winning organization, is
an attorney and veteran of many human rights
struggles. He will speak of the role of torture in our
contemporary political culture.
David Sloan-Rossiter, Ph.D. will bring his long
standing interest in using a psych oana¬lytic
perspective to aid communities to the role of
moderator of the program. He is co-chair of the
Curriculum Committee at Boston Institute for
Psychotherapy and Massachusetts Institute for
Psychoanalysis.
Stephen Soldz, Ph.D. a local psychoanalyst, social
activist and Professor at the Boston Graduate School
of Psychoanalysis, is one of the nation’s leaders in
opposing psycholo¬gist participation in torture and
abuse. He will speak to the history of that struggle
in the context of the broader struggle for human
rights.
SPONSORS:
Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, Institute
for the Study of Violence
Boston Institute for Psychotherapy
Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute
Brookline PeaceWorks
Coalition for an Ethical Psychology
First Parish of Brookline
Massachusetts Association for Psychoanalytic
Psychology
Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis
Physicians for Human Rights
Psychoanalytic Institute of New England
Psychologists for Social Responsibility–End Torture
Action Committee
Registration is not required but would help us anticipate attendance. If you are interested in attending this program, please email by Monday, April 28, 2008.
Starts 10AM: 2nd Annual Massachusetts Socialist Conference
Confronting War and Exploitation in 2008
Hosted by Socialist Alternative
Location: UMass Boston, Snowden Auditorium in the
Wheatley Building
Free and open to the public
Schedule:
10:00am Coffee and Bagels
10:30am Forum on US Economy: Housing Crisis Hits Home
12:00pm First Round of Workshops:
1. Martin Luther King Jr's Assassination and Black
Liberation
2. The History of May Day: International Workers Day
3. Is Socialism Against Human Nature?
4. BU Biolab - Sickening our Communities
1pm Lunch - $5 suggest donation
3pm Debate: Should we vote for democrats in 2008?
4:30pm Second Round of Workshops
1. Youth, Veterans and Resistance to War
2. Women's Rights and Socialism
3. Re-building the Labor Movement
4. Immigrant Rights: Building the Struggle
5. "The Arts, Revolution and Leon Trotsky" hosted by
Dr. Abbott Ikeler, Professor of Communications at
Emerson College
5:30pm Rally: 40 Years Since May 1968 Revolt
For Child Care RSVP
For more information contact by email
or call 774-454-9060.
Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
April 16, 2008
Dr. Al-Arian Faces Shocking Abuse in New Facility
Yesterday morning, Dr. Sami Al-Arian was transported
by immigration agents to the Hampton Roads Regional
Jail in Portsmouth, Virginia. Since arriving at the
facility, he has been subjected to numerous, shocking
abuses, even worse than those he experienced at a
detention center in Maryland.
Take Action: call 757-488-7500
And if you haven't already, sign the petition.
See also:"USA vs AL-ARIAN"
To everyone in the Boston area progressive community, After months of development and testing by a few dozen folks, Open Media Boston, the new progressive news, views and arts web portal, has just launched and is now ready for your participation. (Site is still labeled "beta.")
We have quietly been working away at TecsChange in Roxbury to refurbish computers. We recently sent one of our bigger shipments of 15 computers to a series of radio stations in Oaxaca, Mexico.
We work most Thurday evenings and Saturday afternoons
(1pm to at least 4 PM, usually longer)
We have one day a week where daytime volunteers come in. Presently it's Mondays but it might change soon.
Please call if you are interested.
TecsChange Office
617-442-4456
Bush's FY2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in military aid for Israel, a proposed increase of 9% over actual spending in 2007, now rests with the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.
This proposed increase in military aid to Israel is the first installment of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the United States and Israel in August 2007 to increase military aid to Israel by 25%, totaling $30 billion over the next decade.
Can you think of a better way to spend $30 billion instead of funding Israel's human rights abuses and illegal military occupation in violation of U.S. laws?
TAKE ACTION
Send a Personal Letter to Members of Congress on the
Appropriations Sub-Committee Challenging Military Aid
to Israel.
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Mass. House Bill #4477, if passed, would finally make it illegal for drivers of motor vehicles in Massachusetts to use hand-held phones while driving (as in NY and elsewhere). This bill recently passed the House and now is languishing in the Senate and may not come to the floor for a vote unless you phone or send a message to your friends in various towns and cities to have them urge their state senators (617-722- 5551) to vote for this bill.
According to Senate Assistant Majority Leader Marian Walsh, what needs to happen is for senators to get many phone calls from their constituents in favor of this bill. Passing House #4477 is a matter of public safety. Please call your senator and what would make a significant difference is for you to contact your friends throughout Massachusetts so House Bill #4477 becomes law.
Ed O'Reilly (PDA-endorsed candidate who advocates for single-payer health care, impeachment, stopping our current wars, and marriage equality) seeks the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by John Kerry.
In addition to making sure that Ed's name appears on the ballot, this is a great opportunity to identify new supporters and expand our network. So we really hope you can participate by gathering signatures from your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors.
To get on September's primary ballot Ed needs 10,000 signatures from registered Democrats and unenrolled (independent) voters. We need to file the signatures with city and town clerks no later than 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, on May 6, 2008.
Call the campaign (866-716-2008) and we will mail nomination signature forms for you to use.
U.S. war provocation against Iran: Another Tonkin
Gulf? Take Action NOW to Stop War on Iran!
The Bush Administration has initiated an extremely dangerous war provocation just off Iran's coast, in the Strait of Hormuz. With Bush on his way to the Middle East to mobilize a collection of oil-rich U.S. client states against Iran, the U.S. government is working overtime to create a phony public-relations incident to heighten tensions in the region and threaten a new war.
An aide to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) says the Lieberman/Warner climate change bill (S. 2191) “would be the most historic incentive for nuclear in the history of the United States.” (E&E Daily, February 8, 2008)...
S. 2191 is expected to be debated on the Senate floor this Spring. Your help is needed.
For more information visit the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
Congressman Robert Wexler's campaign office says that (unlike most of our Democratic Reps) he is pushing hard to force a committee hearing on Rep. Dennis Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment, recently introduced into the House of Representatives and referred to the Judiciary Committee.
This fight is not over. We must continue the pressure on our representatives or else Congress and its fellow lackey media will take no notice. That would be a historic mistake – one we must prevent Congress from making.
We stand at a critical juncture in our efforts. Forget all of those arguments that it is too late or that we have run out of time. You can’t run the clock out on our Constitution. Those of us dedicated to this fight – Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the online community, and millions of patriotic Americans – must keep the pressure on. Please continue to spread the word and help deliver accountability to the corrupt Bush-Cheney administration.Congressman Conyers needs a huge kick in the tail.
Please sign on to Congressman Robert Wexler's petition to help push the issue.
TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBERS FOR THE U.S. CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD
US House of Representatives Web Sites
Another Day, Another FISA Veto Threat By The Bully In The White House
Yesterday, Bush again put the self interest of himself and his giant telecom criminal co-conspirators above our national security, by threatening to veto the FISA update bill unless we gave them all get out of jail free cards. And if Congress were to bend over yet again, he would still probably veto it to demand even more changes and/or defy other major provisions with a signing statement, as he so outrageously did with the recent defense bill.
We must be just as relentless as the criminals who are working overtime to gut our constitution. We have had two successful filibusters so far, and it looks like we're going to need a third. And we need strong opposition in the House too, for that is our last bulwark.
Tell your Congressional Representative to vote against this awful legislation, which has passed the Senate and returned to the House. The House has stood up to pressure to provide telecom immunity to date, so don't let them buckle to pressure from the White House and Senate.
S 1959 "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" must be stopped at all costs. (It's already been approved by the House of Representatives by a HUGE majority.)
Pick up your phone and contact our US Senators' offices to instruct them to vote "NO" on S.1959, titled "To establish the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism, and for other purposes".
If this bill is passed, and becomes law, your words and actions could be considered terrorism. S 1959 EVISCERATES FREE SPEECH, and empowers the govt. to declare ANYTHING they deem an "extremist belief system", instantly make you a terrorist, resulting in stripping of US citizenship, torture, and/or execution, with no habeas corpus rights, no ability to challenge even in the US Supreme Court.
What part of exercising power doesn't Harry Reid get? The Washington Post reports him "pleading" with the White House. And yet, it is his decision which version of the FISA bill to have the Senate consider, and by choosing to bring forward the bad one, he is knowingly forcing opponents of yet another "get out of jail free card" for Cheney cronies to get 60 votes to strip it out of the bill. Or filibuster yet again.
And what greater hero do we have than Dennis Kucinich, still standing strong as ever on every issue that matters. Here is his own leadership statement opposing telecom immunity.
And yet, even now, powerful corporations are pouring money into Dennis's district, to try to buy his seat out from under him by threatening him in his own primary. They are running malicious attack ads in heavy rotation. Please consider making a donation to Dennis now, to help him fight back.
At the end of January, thousands of people all over the world will march, speak, celebrate, and dialogue in villages, rural zones, and urban centers, in the context of hundreds of decentralized self-organized actions. They will mobilize over a one-week period in January, culminating in a Global Day of Mobilisation and Action on the 26th to show that another world is possible.
At the same period, the "old" world will meet in Davos for the World Economic Forum, bringing together its economists, experts, ideologies and techniques that produce violence, exploitation, exclusion, poverty, hunger and ecological disaster, depriving people of human rights and our Earth of its resources.
The World Social Forum is an open space where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organisations come together to raise issues, debate ideas, formulate proposals, share experiences, and build networks for effective action. These movements are opposed to a world ruled by capitalism and all forms of imperialism and domination.
Since the first worldwide encounter in 2001, the World Social Forum has become a permanent global process seeking and building alternatives to neo-liberal policies.
World Social Forums have taken place at the end of January at different sites throughout the world every year for the past seven years, and this spirit of diversity will continue to be reflected in the activities planned for the Global Day of Mobilisation and Action in 2008.
Our website is the main connection tool for all participants in the decentralized WSF 2008. Invite your friends to join and contribute through action spaces, present your action, upload your videos, publish news and connect your actions with those of others.
Comcast has given us a glimpse of a world without Net
Neutrality, and it's a chilling sight.
An investigation by the Associated Press caught the
cable giant secretly inspecting online communications
and crippling users' ability to share information with
one another.
On 11-1-07, Free Press filed a legal complaint
demanding that the FCC take action to protect the free
flow of information on the Internet. By joining our
complaint, you can help stop Comcast and other
gatekeepers.
The MBTA on October 10th started broadcasting
continuous [corporate] radio ads and "music" at South
Station, North Station and Airport Station with a plan
to expand the continuous radio broadcast system-wide
after Thanksgiving. This will adversely monopolize
this historic First Amendment public space:
1. Curtail and Interfere with Conversations of all
MBTA patrons
2. Curtail and Interfere with Reading of all MBTA
patrons
3. Target ads to all School Children who use the MBTA
4. Eliminate Subway Musician Performances
We, the undersigned, support the diversity of
expression of patrons and artists in the subway. We
petition Governor Deval Patrick and Massachusetts Bay
Transportation Authority Board of Directors to stop
the T-Radio broadcast.
Congress will be debating war appropriations again, and the Senate - as the Republicans have routinely demonstrated - has the power to filibuster any appropriations it doesn't like. A filibuster in the Senate would effectively force an end to the war. So if each of us does our part in exposing the filibuster option, then we can apply tremendous pressure on our senators, the likes of which they haven't felt in decades!
Doris Tennant and Ellen Lubell (of Newton) are representing a Guantanamo prisoner pro bono, so they are providing their time at no charge. However, their costs, including their own travel and that of a translator, translator fees, and Freedom of Information Act requests, are running at least $20,000 for this year, and will likely continue at that same pace or more. Most of the other attorneys who are representing Guantanamo detainees are members of large law firms that can cover these types of expenses, but in their case the two of them are the firm.
If you would like to make a contribution to help them defray costs, it would be much appreciated. Please make your check payable to "Tennant Lubell Detainee Fund." Your contribution will NOT be tax-deductible, but they promise to put it to good use to help provide fundamental legal rights to a man who remains in indefinite detention.
Doris Tennant, Esq.
Tennant Lubell, LLC
288 Walnut Street, Suite 500
Newton, MA 02460
617-969-9610, X 101
Fax: 617-969-9611
Action Alert: The Alliance for Democracy warns us to oppose Holt bill (HR 811). We call for a ban on the use of Direct Recording Electronic voting equipment (DREs) and to require the use of paper ballots.
AFD urgently calls upon all citizens to call their Representatives to demand amendments to rectify the defects in HR 811, specifically to ban the use of DRE voting machines and require the use of paper ballots in all elections in the United States.
1. DRE systems must be banned.
2. All voting must be by voter marks on a paper ballot.
3. All recounts must be by hand counting of paper ballots.
4. All elections must have a statistically significant verification.
5. All recounts at every level of government must be by hand counting.
6. All software must be subject to public disclosure.
7. No connections to the Internet should be allowed.
8. All election records should be available to the public.
Go to for on-line information and a link to a printable flier.
A call for all people of conscience
to donate to its Lebanon Palestine Emergency Relief Fund.
All donations will be used to help Palestinian and
Lebanese victims of the latest Israeli aggression.
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail link
We are happy to report that a new shipment of olive oil has arrived. The most recent harvest was excellent and per case prices are less than they were last year.
As with our previous shipments, this oil comes directly from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees, PARC, a non-profit, non- governmental organization in the West Bank. PARC works with 15 different small cooperatives. This shipment comes from the Mazare' Al Nubani/ Ramallah and the Kufr Thulth, Jayous and Azzoun cooperatives. The labels are printed in the West Bank and the oil is bottled at the PARC bottling facility in Aram. PARC is a member of the International Fair Trade Association, and is the only Palestinian organization that has received the Palestine Standards Institution certification for its olive oil.
OLIVE BRANCH OLIVE OIL DONATIONS
As with past shipments, a percentage of the proceeds of olive oil sales is donated back to organizations working directly with Palestinians. Past recipients include:
Palestinian Medical Relief Society Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Birthright Unplugged American Friends Service Committee-Middle East Crisis Fund American Near East Refugee Aid Olive Harvest Coalition Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees Ibdaa Cultural Center International Solidarity Movement US OMEN Ta’ayush
THE IMPORTANCE OF OLIVE OIL TO THE PALESTINIAN ECONOMY
Olive oil is the backbone of the Palestinian agricultural economy. Eighty percent of cultivated land in Palestine is planted with olive trees, and the olive harvest provides between 25 to 50 percent of a farming family’s annual income. Olive trees, many of which are hundreds of years old, hold a deep significance in the culture and economy of the Holy Land. As the political and economic situation in Palestine continues to deteriorate, with increased restrictions on the mobility of people, goods and services, olive oil has become a matter of basic survival for many Palestinian families. Buying this oil is a constructive and tangible way to help alleviate poverty and build peace.
PARC assists at every stage of the olive oil production process, from helping farmers to reclaim rocky land, conserve water and implement sensible environmental practices (like re-cropping, dry-land farming and recycling of waste materials) to setting up regional labs for farmers to test their olive oil. PARC strictly monitors the quality of the oil, testing and re-testing it at its main laboratory to ensure that it meets all specifications. Extra-virgin olive oil comes from the first pressing of the olives, contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste. There can be no refined oil in extra-virgin olive oil.
Palestinian farmers traditionally care for their trees without the use of pesticides or sprays. PARC is currently working with international agricultural organizations to obtain organic certification for its olive oil, which should be finalized in the next few months. Because both light and heat are known enemies of olive oil, Olive Branch Olive Oil comes in a dark green glass bottle that is optimal for storage.
Available in 750ml bottles, by the case (12 bottles, $145), or more.
For ordering and other info, please email us at palestinebostonoliveoil@yahoo.com or call Susie at 781-648-6307.
Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee will be holding a vigil for Gaza from 11:45 am to 12:15 pm on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. All who care for Palestine are invited to attend. Please wear black and spread the word widely.
These are the meetings where we decide on events and discuss strategies to end the war. Anyone is welcome -- from seasoned activists to beginners and we look forward to building a dialogue with anyone opposed to the war. Our main tenent is that we are independent of both the Democratic and the Republican Party, such that we can build an anti-war movement that survives elections and continues to oppose the war, regardless of which candidate is in office.
Meet briefly at the statue to exchange thoughts,
then walk silently around the Yard and nearby streets,
returning to the statue by 12:30pm.
Southeast corner of Rt 27 and 30 (nearest to Brooks Pharmacy).
Come for all or part. Bring a candle, lantern, or flashlight.
Organizer: Sandy Coy.
Join the Boston Tea Party Conference call,
Participant call in: 402-756-9100; Access code: 680903#
Socialist Alternative Radio, 91.5 FM Boston
listen anytime on the Web at WMFO.org. A democratic socialist, working-class view of politics and culture, including solidarity announcements, interviews, music, and more.
Write to us at BostonSAradio@aol.com.
Join a Friday fast and/or protest in solidarity with illegal detentions. The fast began in 2005 when Nobel Peace Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Adolpho Esquivel, (Argentina), along with others around the world, chose this method to seek the release of our unjustly detained and tortured brothers and sisters.
In Boston, local activists Susan McLucas and Phoebe Knopf have joined the Friday fast and will protest every Friday in front of the JFK Building from noon to one. The action, which is rooted in nonviolence, includes speakers, music, hand-outs and petitions to create public pressure to stop all illegal detentions and to try those responsible for the illegal treatment of thousands of detainees, most of whom are Arab and Muslim men. Susan and Phoebe will be wearing orange jumpsuits.