Respected journalist Amy Goodman has been arrested. Here’s the video:

As you can see, she’s an extremely intimidating physical presence, and obviously a clear and present danger to all in the vicinity, most of all the multiple cops in riot gear. Given that peaceful activists targeted in earlier house raids were called “anarchists” by the police, and too many in the press has repeated that uncritically, I wonder how this incident will be reported. Let’s work to make sure it’s reported accurately, as the abuse of power it is.

Here’s the press release, emphasis added:
Read more »

SHIITES ACROSS IRAQ PROTEST U.S. OCCUPATION (there I fixed it)

Thousands of followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protested Friday in Shiite enclaves across Iraq against plans for a long-term security pact that would allow for an extended U.S. military presence in the country.

“No, no to America. No, no to the occupation,” demonstrators waving Iraqi flags and banners chanted after afternoon prayers in Sadr’s Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City. “Yes, yes, Moqtada. Long live al-Sadr.”

Some protesters carried pictures of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dressed as former president Saddam Hussein. One group burned an effigy of Maliki, then danced and stomped on it, as Iraqi government soldiers kept their distance.

The protests highlighted Sadr’s still-formidable power and popularity among poor Shiites, even as the Shiite-led Iraqi government, backed by U.S. and British forces, has waged a campaign in recent months to weaken his movement and undermine his leadership credentials.

More at the Washington Post

Via The Huffington Post:

Kinda answers the question of how George W. Bush got elected, doesn’t it?

Civil disobedience, that’s not our problem. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.

~ Howard Zinn ~

A general strike is proposed for the United States on September11, 2007, the sixth anniversary of the 9/11/2001 attacks on New York City and Arlington, Virginia. The general strike movement has no clearly named leadership. It’s described as an Internet viral effort. Wikipedia defines viral efforts on the Internet as:

An object (or an idea) is viral when it has the ability to spread copies of itself or change other similar objects to become more like (it) when those objects are simply exposed to the viral object.

General strikes, more common in Europe, are events that shut down the normal operations of a city, state, or nation for a period of time. These strikes aim to force awareness and action on a single issue or broader set of concerns. The 9/11/07 General Strike has a central location - http://www.strike911.org/ - on the Internet, which is linked to and reproduced on a variety of other internet sites. The site states the rationale for the effort:

The General Strike is a national call to action, from citizens to other citizens. It is not about a single issue. It is not an anti-war protest, a civil rights protest, an election fraud protest. It is not about torture, surveillance, corporate media, the 9/11 coverup, or the environment. This strike is about all these issues and more.

We all have different concerns, but we all have the same concern: we are being lied to and this government does not represent us. Join other Americans in demanding truth, justice, and accountability.

This is our country.
And our world.
We just have to stand up.

More at Scoop

More information here

From the ACLU, information about the Day of Action:

For nearly seven years, our core values of freedom and fairness have been eroded, from the suspension of habeas corpus and due process, to shameful acts of torture, CIA kidnappings and secret prison programs.

On June 26, 2007, join us in Washington, D.C. as we call on Congress to restore habeas corpus, fix the Military Commissions Act, and restore all our constitutional rights. We even have free buses leaving from many parts of the country… It’s easy to come!

Rally with us outside the Capitol, then help deliver our urgent message in person to Members of Congress.

Go here to sign up (free buses) or sign the petition

by Jim Swanson

A judge ruled yesterday that the city of New York can no longer prevent the public from viewing intelligence documents that police used to create arrest policies for the 2004 Republican National Convention.

According to the City of New York, those papers should remain sealed, claiming it would possibly hurt the city’s fair trial rights, if they were opened. According to lawsuits that have been filed, the city violated the constitutional rights rights of more than 1,800 people who were arrested at the convention.

Judge James C. Francis IV made the ruling yesterday about information used by the New York City Police Department while the convention was in progress. The city is apparently considering an appeal, while the judge stayed his ruling for ten days.

Almost one third of the City’s 35,000 member police force was used to patrol and and protecet the city from any terrorism threats and cope with demonstrators whose numbers reached the tens of thousands during the 2004 convention.

The four day long Madison Square Garden gala saw more than 1,800 people arrested.

LOS ANGELES - Demonstrators demanding a path to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants hope that nationwide marches will spur Congress to act before the looming presidential primaries take over the political landscape.

Marches, meetings and voter registration drives were planned Tuesday from California to New York, a year after 1 million flexed their economic muscle in a nationwide boycott during last year’s May 1 activities.

Though this year’s turnout will likely be lower, organizers say immigrants feel a sense of urgency to keep immigration reform from getting pushed to the back burner by the 2008 presidential elections.

“If we don’t act, then both the Democratic and Republican parties can go back to their comfort zones and do nothing,” said Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “They won’t have the courage to resolve a major situation for millions of people.”

In Miami, Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean was scheduled to speak to a coalition of immigrant groups, while Ricardo Chavez, the brother of famed agricultural labor leader Cesar Chavez, was expected address crowds in Milwaukee.

In Washington, D.C., about 400 members of Asian groups from across the country were set to make a lobbying push with lawmakers. Students planned to march in Chicago.

In New York, groups are planning an “American Family Tree” rally, where immigrants will pin paper leaves on a large painting of a tree to symbolize the separation of families because of strict immigration laws.

The event is a response to a White House immigration reform proposal in March, said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

The plan would grant illegal immigrants three-year work visas for $3,500 but also require them to return home to apply for U.S. residency and pay a $10,000 fine. It has been roundly criticized by immigrant groups.

Read More at YAHOO!

From The Hill

U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) arrested 74 people in wheelchairs on Capitol Hill Monday, charging them with unlawful assembly.

USCP Sergeant Kimberly Schneider confirmed the arrests, adding that they took place on the House side of the Capitol. Schneider added that the arrestees belonged to ADAPT, a group that supports funding for in-home care.

According to an ADAPT organizer, Babs Johnson, the protesters were chanting, “Community Choice Act now.” She said about 120 people were arrested both in and around the Rayburn office building.

The group came to Washington to support S. 799 and H.R. 1621. The bills would “give people a choice of services in their own home rather than a nursing home,” Johnson said.

Last week, ADAPT met with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to discuss disability issues.

~ 40th anniversary of the historic 1967 march on the Pentagon ~
~ 4th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war ~
~ Where we will assemble on March 17th

On March 17, 2007, the 4th anniversary of the start of the criminal invasion of Iraq, tens of thousands of people from around the country will descend on the Pentagon in a mass demonstration to demand: U.S. Out of Iraq Now! 2007 is the 40th anniversary of the historic 1967 anti-war march to the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. The message of the 1967 march was “From Protest to Resistance,” and marked a turning point in the development of a countrywide mass movement.

In the coming days and weeks, thousands of organizations and individuals will begin mobilizing for the upcoming March on the Pentagon. Organizing committees and transportation centers are being established to bring people to the March on the Pentagon.

More information and downloadable flyers here

From United For Peace and Justice:

IT IS TIME FOR CONGRESS TO ACT!
With support from True Majority, Working Assets, the RainbowPUSH Coalition, the National Organization for Women and hundreds of other national and local groups, word about the Jan. 27th antiwar mobilization is reaching far and wide. Momentum is building and people from all walks of life and every corner of the country will be marching on Washington, DC, on Saturday, Jan. 27th.

Our message will be clear, our voice will be strong: End the war in Iraq, Bring all the troops home now! We urge you to join us!

On Mon., Jan. 29th, we will take our message directly to the new Congress during our lobby day. Click here for more info and to register for the lobby day.

Coverage on C-Span

Let’s hope they don’t try out their new rayguns on this crowd!

H/t SN for the link!

That title would make you think of a group of people, probably led by Cindy Sheehan, camped out in front of the White House trying to bring an end to this senseless war.

Nope. The “pro-death except before birth” crowd are at it again.

Pro-Lifers Ready to Kick-Off Rallies for Life

WASHINGTON - Pro-lifers across the nation are ready to tell Congress, the media, and American citizens “No to abortion!”

From coast to coast, grassroots campaigns are being organized to protest abortion. Tens of thousands of participants are expected to show their support for the sanctity of human life starting Saturday.

Sanctity of human life? Aren’t you folks pro-war? Hypocrite much?

The Third Annual Walk for Life West Coast will take place on Saturday with an expected 20,000 people to gather in San Francisco. Organizers of the walk say the goal is to deliver the message that “abortion hurts women, and that Life is the best choice,” according to a letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) earlier this week.

Rallies and events will take place throughout the weekend leading up to the 34th anniversary of the legalization of U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion.
…

Joe Scheidler, the director of the Pro-Life Action League, commented, “With the new pro-abortion leadership in Congress, we need grass-roots activism more than ever.”

Erm, Joe… it’s pro-choice, not pro-abortion. Mind if I call you anti-choice? Anti-rights? Pile-o-Dogshit? I didn’t think so.

…

“America was founded on the principle that we are all endowed by our Creator with the right to life and that every individual has dignity and worth,” said President George W. Bush, who is against abortion, in a statement on Friday regarding National Sanctity of Human Life Day on Sunday.

Tell that to the Iraqis and your war prisoners, bastard.

Bush called for using science to relieve human suffering without abusing the “dignity of human life.”

Is he talking about contraceptives here? I thought that was a no-no with the religious-right crowd. Bush made a boo-boo here.

Source: The Christian Post

Today marked 5 years since the first “terrorist” was brought to Guantanamo. This anniversary was marked with worldwide protests.

Read more here

But hey, let’s send in more troops for the slaughter…..

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - In Kansas City, they will light candles and lay out more than 80 pairs of empty combat boots. In Chicago, anti-war activists will hand out black ribbons, each bearing the name of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.

And in New Haven, Connecticut, opponents of the war plan to read aloud the names of 3,000 dead U.S. soldiers.

In all, organizers say some 140 demonstrations in 37 states are planned to mark the 3,000th U.S. military death in Iraq, a milestone that is likely only days away. By Thursday, some 2,989 U.S. troops had died in Iraq since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in the unrelenting violence.

Among those keeping track of the U.S. death toll, including soldiers’ families, peace activists, politicians, veterans and others, many say they will commemorate the 3,000 mark as both a way to honor the dead and demand an end to the war.

“This horrific and tragic milestone allows us to remind this country of the daily unending human toll of a war that didn’t have to happen,” said Nancy Lessin, who co-founded Military Families Speak Out after her stepson was called to serve with the Marines in Iraq.

“When we reach the 3,000 mark, it is 3,000 too many.”

Read more at YahooNews

Columbus, Ga.
November 19, 2006

Thousands of demonstrators paraded, chanted and raised white crosses Sunday outside the Army’s Fort Benning as they continued a 17-year-long effort to close a military school they blame for human rights abuses in Latin America.

“This is about men with guns,” said the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, a Catholic priest who spent five years as a missionary in Bolivia and founded the group SOA Watch in 1990 in the effort to close the school.

“People of these countries are hungry,” said Bourgeois, a naval officer during the Vietnam War. “You can’t eat guns. You can’t eat bullets. They want food … medicine. They need schools for their children.”

The Army’s School of the Americas moved to Fort Benning from Panama in 1984 and was replaced in 2001 by the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), under the Defense Department. The school trains Latin American soldiers, police and government officials.

video and the rest of the article are here

additional coverage is here
more about School of the Americas here

“If… the machine of government… is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.” - Henry David Thoreau