i apologize, mostly to myself, for being a little self-centered on my ponderings of home (read the prior journal entry). i know it’s ok for me to go through what i’m going through, and to journal about it and work it through like anyone struggling with personal life questions. but i feel like i’m taking my home (borders drawn by the united states) for granted and not being thankful enough for what i have here as a citizen in the richest country. please read up on the following issue…i feel like we all have much to do change the laws and give rights to undocumented migrants. this continent, after all, did not belong to european immigrants 200-300 years ago, and still does not in my opinion…

In 2003 the ICE launched Operation End Game, the largest police operation in US history, to remove all undocumented migrants from the US by the year 2012. The project’s predecessor, Operation Wetback(!) in - 1954, removed 1.2 million Mexicans from the American Southwest.

ICE does not need warrants to make arrests or to conduct raids. Since July 2007, raids have increased the number of detained migrants from 18,000 to 26,000 nationwide. Homeland Security relocates 700 detainees a week in the United States.
 
(http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/04/374998.shtml)

 
read up:
- Repressive ICE Raids create fear in immigrant communities; civil and human rights violations growing
- Smash ICE Northwest Detention Center - docushort
- The Real Political Purpose of the ICE Raids
- US Citizens, Lawful Residents Sue Government for Illegal Detention in LA Immigration Raid
- US Supreme Court Affirms Rights of Foreign Detainees

Z-Net Interview with Tom Hayden on the publication of Writings for a Democratic Society: The Tom Hayden Reader
(read the full interview here)

What issues do you feel are being under-discussed, ignored, or just off point in the speeches and debates between Obama and Clinton?

a. What “ending the war” in Iraq actually means has been ignored, primarily by the media. Obama at least has a timetable for withdrawing combat troops, but seems to want to leave a counter-insurgency force of tens of thousands. Clinton only says she wants to “begin” withdrawals, and seems to propose an even larger “counter-terrorism” force behind. This will turn Iraq into something like Central America in the Seventies. It’s never talked about.

b. the mass incarceration strategy toward inner-city youth, masked as the war on gangs and war on drugs, with the U.S. now holding 20 percent of the world’s inmates.

c. Latin America. Not a word.

d. the economic crisis causes a lot of chatter and a few important issues to surface, like reversing the Bush tax cuts. But the terrible effects of the privatization and deregulation policies are not much discussed, mainly because both candidates favored or flirted with those very policies in recent years.

It is a progressive populist moment in terms of a frustrated public opinion. The voters are to the left of the Democrats.

from the his recent book:

“Is the only value in rebellion itself, in the countless momentary times when people transcend their pettiness to commit themselves to great purposes? If so, then radicalism is doomed to be extraordinary, erupting only during those rare times of crisis and upsurge which American elites seem able to ride. The alternative, if there is one, might be for radicalism to make itself ordinary, patiently taking up work that has only the virtue of facing and becoming part of the realities which are society’s secrets and its disgrace. . . . Radicalism would then give itself to, and become part of, the energy that is kept restless and active under the clamps of a paralyzed imperial society. Radicalism then would go beyond the concepts of optimism and pessimism as guides to work, finding itself in working despite the odds. Its realism and sanity would be grounded in nothing more than the ability to face whatever comes.”

—Tom Hayden

lately i’ve been watching some of my friends don obama buttons and send out forwards for his campaign, and i see people debating the news of who voted black or who voted female. overall, i do think this is an important election in our country’s history. i also think a lot of people are just burned out on politics and big government, despite the opportunity for a woman or an african american to be in the white house. some people might see past the hype and still feel like neither republicans nor democrats can represent their interests or their ideologies. i’ve heard a fifty year-old, working-class black man living in new orleans tell me he is not going to vote. and i’ve heard a young, professional woman living in new york city tell me she is not going to vote. and i’m sure there’s a million more stories out there…
 
here’s one from howard zinn, although i can’t tell if he’s going to vote this election or not:

Ziga Vodovnik: One personal question. Do you go to the polls? Do you vote?

Howard Zinn: I do. Sometimes, not always. It depends. But I believe that it is preferable sometimes to have one candidate rather another candidate, while you understand that that is not the solution. Sometimes the lesser evil is not so lesser, so you want to ignore that, and you either do not vote or vote for third party as a protest against the party system. Sometimes the difference between two candidates is an important one in the immediate sense, and then I believe trying to get somebody into office, who is a little better, who is less dangerous, is understandable. But never forgetting that no matter who gets into office, the crucial question is not who is in office, but what kind of social movement do you have. Because we have seen historically that if you have a powerful social movement, it doesn’t matter who is in office. Whoever is in office, they could be Republican or Democrat, if you have a powerful social movement, the person in office will have to yield, will have to in some ways respect the power of social movements.

We saw this in the 1960s. Richard Nixon was not the lesser evil, he was the greater evil, but in his administration the war was finally brought to an end, because he had to deal with the power of the anti-war movement as well as the power of the Vietnamese movement. I will vote, but always with a caution that voting is not crucial, and organizing is the important thing.

When some people ask me about voting, they would say will you support this candidate or that candidate? I say: ‘I will support this candidate for one minute that I am in the voting booth. At that moment I will support A versus B, but before I am going to the voting booth, and after I leave the voting booth, I am going to concentrate on organizing people and not organizing electoral campaign.’

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).

By Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek

“The Burmese government’s grotesque crackdown on pro-democracy protests will have one certain effect. The United States and the European Union will place more sanctions on the country. Its economy will suffer, its isolation will deepen. And what will this achieve? Sanctions are the Energizer Bunny of foreign policy. Despite a dismal record, they just keep on ticking. With countries like Burma, sanctions have become a substitute for an actual policy.”

read the rest of the article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21162318/site/newsweek/

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…)