word-of-mouth, i’ve told many friends about a radio show i heard while laying on the floor of my apartment in chicago last summer. i don’t listen to radio stories as much as i’d like (unlike one friend). it was one of those moments where i was completely engrossed in nothing, maybe drawing on my wall or washing dishes. and then this radio program came on wbez:
Memory and Forgetting
Show #304 - Radio Lab, WNYC
Friday, June 08, 2007
 
:: site
:: mp3 stream
:: download mp3
 
“According to the latest research, remembering is an unstable and profoundly unreliable process. It’s easy come, easy go as we learn how true memories can be obliterated and false ones added. And Oliver Sacks joins us to tell the story of an amnesiac whose love for his wife and music transcend his 7 second memory.”

Friday, April 11 @ 8 pm
New Orleans, LA
Co-presented with WWOZ

Tapping into the city’s vibrant radio scene and joining forces with New Orleans’ Jazz and Heritage Station, WWOZ, the Third Coast Festival presents an evening of lively, sound-rich and NOLA-relevant radio stories—you’ll hear about jazz (duh), ghosts, mousetrap sadists…

After a couple hours of hot radio, Delfeayo Marsalis’ New Orleans Jazz Show will continue the evening’s sonic celebration, taking the stage at 10 pm.

Where: Donna’s Bar and Grill - 800 N. Rampart St, French Quarter

Tickets: Admission is free all night!

[ PDF flyer! ]

Pledge of Resistance in Defense of the Right to Housing in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
www.peopleshurricane.org

A major human rights crisis exists in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. It is a crisis that denies the basic rights to life, equality under the law, and social equity to Black, Indigenous, migrant, and working class communities in the region. While this crisis was in existence long before Hurricane Katrina, the policies and actions of the US government and finance capital (i.e. banking, credit, insurance, and development industries) following the Hurricane have seriously exacerbated the crisis.  

One of the clearest examples of this crisis is the denial of the right to housing in New Orleans, particularly in the public housing sector. Since the Hurricane, the US government through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has denied the vast majority of the residents of public housing the right to return to their homes. Unlike the vast majority of the housing stock in New Orleans, the majority of the public housing units received little to no flood or wind damage from the Hurricane. Yet, as of October 2007 only one-fourth of the public housing units have been reopened and reoccupied. The Bush government refuses to reopen the public housing units in New Orleans because it appears intent on destroying the public housing system, demolishing the existing structures, and turning over the properties to private real-estate developers to make profits.  

Based on the discriminatory Federal Court ruling issued on Monday, September 10th, all of the major public housing units in New Orleans are now subject to immediate demolition (the latest report from Monday, November 5th is that HUD will attempt to start the demolition on Monday, November 19th. However, this is being challenged by various legal advocates and will be delayed until at least Wednesday, November 28th pending a Federal court hearing). The first site on the schedule for demolition is the Lafitte housing project. Lafitte therefore, is the line in the sand that must be drawn by all peoples in support of the human right to housing.  

Pledge:

• I believe in the fundamental human right to housing.

• I will not be a witness to the denial of this right to the peoples of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

• I therefore pledge myself to resist the denial of this right by all civil and humanitarian means available, including civil disobedience.

• I pledge to stand ready to take action against this imminent threat and to put myself on the line, either directly in New Orleans or in strategic locales throughout the US, in support of the demands and leadership of the peoples of New Orleans and their organizations in the struggle for housing and human rights.  

Have you ever received training in civil disobedience? 

We ask that all those interested in coming to New Orleans to contact us before making the journey. We need to ensure that everyone coming is registered, properly orientated and trained in order to partake in this act of resistance in the manner determined by the local leaders and residents.
Please contact us via email at action@peopleshurricane.org 

CALL TO ACTION!

We will be holding the CHEVRON PROTEST through FAX and PHONE calls on TUESDAY October 9th from 1:00pm-3:00pm Pacific Time (8:00pm-10pm GMT), (4:00pm-6:00pm Eastern Time).

• * Chevron pays millions of dollars in oil and gas royalties to the current military junta. We will demand that they put these royalties in escrow for the legitimate, elected government of Burma headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. These monies are being pocketed by the military leaders - it is not their money.
• * We are also asking that Chevron contribute significantly to humanitarian efforts in Burma. Such donations should be directly to the NGO’s and not through the military government.

CALIFORNIA HEADQUARTERS
1.Chevron Corp.
6001 Bollinger Canyon Road
San Ramon, CA 94583
United States

Phone: +1 925-842-1000
Fax: +1 415-894-6817

Ask for David O’Reilly, CEO

AND Call Chevron TOLL FREE in US and enter all zeroes for your credit card #: 1-800-243-8766 - ask for a supervisor and register your concern.

- - -
You should also call your local Chevron office at 1-3pm your local time if you are outside the US/Canada/Mexico. Go to http://protestchevron.blogspot.com for the contact info for each Chevron office throughout the world.

For Q&A on what sparked the protests in Burma–first against the rise in the price of fuel, which doubled or more–read http://www.burma-watch.org (originally published by the BBC News).

As you may have read in the news recently, the human rights atrocities committed by the military regime in Burma are not improving. The military raids towns in the middle of the night. The military goes through the streets, pulls all of the people out of their homes, lines them up and compares them to the faces of the protesters captured in pictures. If the military finds people that “match” the pictures, they brutally haul them away. Best case: the people are arrested (aka detained and probably tortured). Worst case: they “disappear.”

Earlier at a press conference/briefing Maung Maung (former prime minister of Burma) participated as a panelist. Maung Maung’s message included the below points:

• * These demonstrations were not random and are not over. The protests were planned and organized. The organizers do not want to be shot, beaten, or arrested and tortured so they have gone underground for the time being in order to reorganize. These peaceful protests will continue; however, before that happens we must assess our resources so that we know how many satellite phones still exist, where they are located, who has gone underground, who has been arrested, as well as who has “disappeared,” etc. In sum, THIS IS NOT OVER and is not losing momentum.
• * We need the international community to stop and prevent the military’s brutal crackdown however they can.
• * We need meaningful support from the international community. I.E. We need Sanctions that prevent the regime from getting any income; we need support from the Security Council; we need to challenge the regime’s credentials and their right to represent Burma at the UN; etc.
• * The regime reacts to pressure, and we need the press and the international community to hold the regime accountable. We cannot let this story disappear again like it did in 1988.
• * We need direct funding for the pro-democracy movement. What we are able to do, and the resources we are able to provide, etc. are directly related to how much money we have. Thus, we need funding in order to keep this movement strong.

Okay so, what can all of us do about this?

(1) We can show the world we care and will not tolerate these horrendous human rights violations by participating in demonstrations at home like the International Day of Action (Oct.6) with Worldwide Rallies supporting the people of Burma, thus encouraging our governments and leaders to continue to care about this issue and apply international pressure. Please check out these events at: www.burma-watch.org and participate in the demonstrations near you. If you’ve missed the demonstration, start one of your own. Talk to your peeps. Make noise…

(2) We can stay educated about the issue and educate others. Some websites and resources you might find interesting include:

* The Democratic Voice of Burma (a radio station): www.dvb.no
* Burma Watch: www.burma-watch.org
* The Irrawaddy (quoted by BBC, CNN, etc. :) www.irrawaddy.org
* Ko Hite’s Blog (also quoted by BBC, CNN, etc.): www.ko-htike.blogspot.com
* Asia-Pacific People’s Partnership on Burma: www.apppb.blogspot.com
* Reporters without Borders (view news in righ-hand column on website): http://www.rsf.org/country-50.php3?id_mot=86&Valider=OK
* The Free Burma Rangers: www.freeburmarangers.org
* The BBC (search Burma): www.news.bbc.co.uk
* The Economist (search Myanmar): www.economist.com
* The Lehrer NewsHour (search Myanmar): www.pbs.org/newshour
* Forum for Democracy in Burma: www.democraticforumburma.org
* Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma): www.aappb.org
* Avaaz.org, web action network: www.avaaz.org

[please send this far & wide…]
Dear Friends,

If you’ve been following the news, you know last week’s massive,
peaceful demonstrations protesting the Burma/Myanmar dictatorship have
been followed by severe repression and brutality. Reports of possibly
200 monks being killed in retaliation cannot be verified or confirmed,
because of the media blackout and military crackdown. They were heard
by a Burmese army major, Major Win, who defected because he did not
want to be part of killing civilians and monks. But certainly the
death count is higher than the official government count of 9 people.
Somewhere in the range of 1,400 protestors are in jail now.
Democratically-elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who decisively won the
1990 elections, has been under house arrest for years.

If you would like to do something to support the Burmese people, these
are some simple actions you can take: (more…)

(from Kolectivo Todxs Somos Presxs)
 
San Isidro Aloapam. Ixtlàn de Juàrez. Oaxaca
June 20, 2007

End to the violence of the PRI party, paramilitaries, lumber poachers, and police against the compañeros, compañeras, defenders of the forest of San Isidrio Aloapam, CIPO-RFM members, and adherents of the Zapatistas’ Other Campaign!
 
To the people of the world:
To the people of Oaxaca:
To the people of Mexico:
To people, groups, and collectives:
To the anarchists of the world:
To all the compañeros and compañeras that make up the Other Campaign:
Compañeros and compañeras:

On the morning of June 18, approximately 600 lumber poachers from the municipality of San Miguel Aloapam entered the ecological forest reserve under the care and protection of San Isidro Aloapam with sharpened sticks, firearms such as rifles and shotguns, machetes and axes. Under the pretext of an insect plague, they entered with the intention to clear the forest that does not belong to them.

(more…)

June 20, 2007

To the People of Oaxaca, Mexico, and the World:

The situation in the state of Oaxaca continues to be delicate, and now, in the indigenous Zapotec community of San Isidro Aloapam, in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, a dangerous agrarian conflict between the community and the municipal capital is returning. Though the conflict is decades old, on June 18, upon finding out that Sam Miguel Aloapam authorities had entered San Isidro’s forest under the pretext of treating an insect plague, San Isidro residents continued their difficult resistance to San Miguel’s aggressions, and they went up to forest to initiate a dialogue so that the forest would not be cleared. With this, those from San Miguel responded violently, insulting, striking, detaining six and shooting at men and women, all of which led San Isidro residents to flee, running. In the midst of the pursuit, two people from San Miguel were shot, by their own people.

(more…)

 

picture balata tour 2007
06 april : nyc
07 april : washington dc
09 april : pittsburgh
11 april : boston
13 april : chicago
15 april : san francisco

i am part of a small group building the foundation to a west-side chicago cooperative and you are invited to be a part of it. projects include:
    - a living/working/project space for 10-20 people.
    - construction workers’ cooperative.
    - food cooperative and urban agricuture.
    - community aid.
location will be somewhere on the greater west-side area.

you can see our somewhat disorganized notes on our wiki:
        bbq.twenty12rice.com

please write me if you have questions or are interested.