Protesters clash with police over New Orleans demolitions
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Thursday December 20, 2007

Violence broke out in New Orleans on Thursday after police shut the gates of City Hall against protesters who were attempting to enter a City Council meeting that was expected to approve the demolition of 4500 units of public housing. When about 100 protesters broke through, police began using pepper spray and tasers and even engaging in fistfights with the demonstrators.

MSNBC spoke to Judith Brown-Dianis of the Advancement Project, an organizer of the demonstration, who explained that the City Council normally allows people to stand in the aisles and at the back but had arbitrarily set a strict limit on the seating capacity in order to exclude the protesters. She said the violence could have been avoided if the police had just let people in.

"What's behind this is a new vision for the city," Brown-Dianis told MSNBC. "That means fewer poor people in the city. There's a lot of money going into this.".... (video below the fold)

Dear All,
We face many challenges in our push for peace. One of them should not be harassment for how we fly our flag (or if we chose NOT to fly our flag). Recently a CODEPINK coordinator has been hassled for NOT flying the flag in a peace march - so I thought I check it out.

The link below will take you the best information on flag etiquette:
http://www.lifescript.com/channels/healthy_living/Life_Tips/the_flag_cod...

Some interesting notes:

1. Even the President himself has been associated with several flag code violations. After September 11th, a carpet with the image of the flag was placed at the Ground Zero memorial. Not only did the President and the First Lady have their picture taken while standing on the flag carpet, the small carpet was also in direct violation of Section 8b of the Flag Code that states: “The flag should never touch anything beneath it, including the ground.”...

Beyond Justice: Bush Administration's Labor Department Abuses Labor Union Regulatory Authorities
By Scott Lilly
December 10, 2007

Read the full report (pdf)

The State Department Web site explains American democracy to the rest of the world as follows:

"The rule of law is a fundamental component of democratic society in the United States, the rule of law is based primarily on the U.S. Constitution and on the assurance that U.S. laws—in conjunction with the Constitution—are fair and are applied equally to all members of society."

How closely the United States actually adheres to those principles, however, has been increasingly drawn into question—particularly over the course of the past year. Revelations about the firing of U.S. attorneys because they were not sensitive enough to the Bush administration’s political priorities almost turns the State Department claims on their head...

WASHINGTON - Firefighters in major cities are being trained to take on a new role as lookouts for terrorism, raising concerns of eroding their standing as American icons and infringing on people’s privacy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21940968/

Protest activities announced By Paul Flemming November 24, 2007
Here are some of the events of the week announced by organizers on Friday:

• 6 p.m., Sunday at Free Spirit Community Church in Springfield for a mass meeting.


• 7 p.m., Monday at Providence FGME Church in Springfield for a political forum.


• 7 p.m., Wednesday at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Panama City for a prayer meeting.


• 7 p.m., Friday, at the Glenwood Community Center in Panama City for a youth rally.


• 9 a.m., Dec. 1, beginning at Redwood Cemetery for a march to the Bay County Juvenile Courthouse, with a rally set for 11 a.m. at the courthouse.

PANAMA CITY — Six weeks after the verdict in the Martin Lee Anderson case, ministers and activists announced a week of events to mark their outrage at the outcome.

Seven former drill instructors and a camp nurse were cleared of all charges in the death of Anderson, a Panama City teen who died Jan. 6, 2006, after he was struck, kneed and forced to breathe ammonia capsules at a Bay County juvenile boot camp...

Does anyone else think it's time to take away their tasers?

Taser video shows RCMP shocked immigrant within 25 seconds of their arrival
Last Updated: Thursday, November 15, 2007 | 12:52 PM ET CBC News

An eyewitness's video recording of a man dying after being stunned with a Taser by police on Oct. 14 at Vancouver International Airport has been released to the public.

The 10-minute video recording clearly shows four RCMP officers talking to Robert Dziekanski while he is standing with his back to a counter and with his arms lowered by his sides, but his hands are not visible.

About 25 seconds after police enter the secure area where he is, there is a loud crack that sounds like a Taser shot, followed by Dziekanski screaming and convulsing as he stumbles and falls to the floor.

Another loud crack can be heard as an officer appears to fire one more Taser shot into Dziekanski.

As the officers kneel on top of Dziekanski and handcuff him, he continues to scream and convulse on the floor....

In 2005, for example, in just those 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year.

Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans
NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2007(CBS) They are the casualties of wars you don’t often hear about - soldiers who die of self-inflicted wounds. Little is known about the true scope of suicides among those who have served in the military.

Ain't this a BUNCH of TOTAL BS?

U.S. official: Privacy must be redefined - Residents need to adjust to loss of anonymity, government leader says updated 7:41 p.m. ET, Sun., Nov. 11, 2007
WASHINGTON - As Congress debates new rules for government eavesdropping, a top intelligence official says it is time that people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.

Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people’s private communications and financial information.

Kerr’s comments come as Congress is taking a second look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act...

Senate confirms Mukasey as attorney general
Bush nominee wins backing for post despite waterboarding flap
updated 12:56 a.m. ET, Fri., Nov. 9, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed retired judge Michael Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night to replace Alberto Gonzales, who was forced from office in a scandal over his handling of the Justice Department.

Mukasey was confirmed as the nation’s 81st attorney general after a sharp debate over his refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.

President Bush thanked the Senate, even though the margin had been whittled down from nearly unanimous by a sharp debate over Mukasey’s refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.....

Roll Call Vote...

I guess this means no water-boarding simulations in front of Bill Nelson's offices!

Kucinich on the Early Show - "Republicans didn't call my bluff"...

On Tues. Nov. 6th 2007 Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced Articles of Impeachment against Dick Cheney via a "special privilege" parliamentary maneuver. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer moved to table (kill) the resolution but was out maneuvered by the Republicans and lost the motion to table. Hoyer then moved for referral to the Judiciary Committee, which succeeded.

In this video, Kucinich reads the articles of impeachment on the House floor. The bill, originally HR333, is now referred to as H RES 799 (HR799).

Tucker's such a snide lil' weasel... but Dennis stands firm!

Dennis Kucinch's HR333 Articles of Impeachment against Cheney have been renamed to H Res 799 (HR799,HR 799, HRES799, H RES 799)...

BTW, you guessed it, our own Congressman Allen Boyd is not on board for impeaching Cheney. Check the roll call vote. He voted to table (kill) Kucinich's resolution to impeach Cheney.

It's Time to Impeach Cheney
By Congressman Dennis Kucinich, special to www.ImpeachCheney.org

As a member of Congress, I have sworn an oath to defend the Constitution and the laws of our nation, and I have pledged to represent the views of my constituents and of all Americans.

That’s why I feel both duty and sorrow in pursuing the path of impeachment against Vice President Richard B. Cheney.

While the impeachment movement has generated intensely strong sentiment and activism, there have been only two polls published on the question of impeaching Vice President Cheney. In a national poll, 54 percent of Americans favored impeachment. In one state poll, 64 percent of Vermonters favored impeaching the Vice President.

Twenty-one of my colleagues have heeded the public demand and signed on as cosponsors of my resolution, H Res 333. Others in the Congress have claimed they have more important priorities, but have told their constituents they will keep their views in mind if the matter ever comes up for a vote.

Well, the issue is coming up for a vote this week on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the “distraction” will require members to balance their priorities between Constitutionally proscribed justice and recourse and the alternative: Constitutional abuse and dictatorial power...

TOXIC TRADE

Globalization and the Safety of the American Consumer
As American consumers buy a sharply increased share of their goods from overseas, the American government has been cutting back its ability to regulate and inspect imports. Americans consumers are thus exposed to increasing numbers of products that were neither produced in America nor subject to American safety standards. The results put people at risk.

Our report, "Toxic Trade: Globalization and the Safety of the American Consumer," documents these two trends. Government statistics show that imports have increased by 338 percent since 1974, the year the Consumer Product Safety Commission was created. Yet the budget for that agency today is less than half what is was in that year. In effect, we have been disarming our ability to protect ourselves, even as the need to do so has been soaring. Our report concludes that it is past time for a change.

Download this report (PDF)

TAKE ACTION: Ask your member of Congress to back a law that will help shut down the flow of dangerous consumer products into our stores...