This weekend I’m traveling to Florida to help beat Bush on Tuesday, November 2nd. I’ll be volunteering with America Coming Together, one of a number of nation-wide organizations that has mobilized thousands of volunteers to convince undecided voters in critical swing states to vote against Bush.

Notice that I haven’t said I’m going to work on the Kerry campaign. I’m not a big fan of John Kerry, or the Democratic Party for that matter. I wanted to be in Boston in July to protest the Democratic National Convention, where war-mongering speeches drowned out the few voices of dissent allowed inside (the Mainers for Kucinich, for example), and a massive police presence squelched protests outside. I disagree with Kerry’s stance on the war in Iraq (he voted to give Bush the authority to wage war, and he now wants to “win” an unjust war), the so-called war on terrorism (he doesn’t address the root causes of terrorism, instead spouting violent rhetoric about “rooting out” and “destroying” the “enemy”), and military aid to Israel (he does not oppose the Apartheid Wall and ongoing oppression of Palestinians). I wish I could vote for a candidate I feel good about, and I firmly believe in the importance of breaking out of a two-party system controlled by corporate interests (yes, I voted for Nader in 2000). But this time around, there is too much to lose. Yes, I have joined the “anybody but Bush” campaign.

Miami Journal [ Why I'm going to Florida (10/30/04) I Touchdown (10/30/04) I One City, Many Worlds (10/31/04) ]

There's been a rush of independent videos about the 2004 elections. Here's just a short sampling:

Florida Voting Machines

Rooftop Films: Films For The New Democracy

Sweet Living
Directed by Matthew Lenski

Mosh
Music by Eminem, Directed by Ian Inaba

America's Biggest Dick
Presented by Dangerous Squid Productions

Son of a Bush
Music by Public Enemy, Directed by Memo Salazar

(Didn't Know I Was) UnAmerican
Music by Ian Rhett, Directed by Eddie Carden

The One-Finger Victory Salute
By George Bush

Across the nation, activist groups are mobilizing in the likely event of a tainted presidential election. Whether they are coalitions, de-centralized multiple actions, or local events unrelated to larger organizations, all are in preparation for a potential repeat of the Election 2000 fiasco or worse. Working through coordinated efforts or alone, countless numbers of people in the U.S. can see the writing on the wall. Many believe that the Orwellian-titled "Help America Vote Act" , ostensibly passed to overcome the problems in 2000, is really a civil rights time-bomb. Already reports have surfaced about vote fraud and ballot access denial.

The November 2nd election is drawing ever closer and IMCs from across the United States are stepping up their coverage. As accusations of voter fraud and disenfranchisement continue to accumulate, activists are preparing a nation-wide campaign to prevent another stolen election and imcistas will be reporting from the ground.

Michigan Indymedia will have two days of special coverage on N2 and N3, including a live webstream (more), a toll-free call-in number, and a text-messaging system to keep people up to date. IMCs in Portland, St. Louis and Cleveland, among other places, are also planning election coverage. IMC Pittsburgh has a live radio show on WRTC at 6PM EST.

Kerry has conceded defeat.

There are protests and rallies planned acrosss the country to protest stolen elections.

Local IMCs offering comprehensive coverage:

Indy Coverage			Web Radio Streams
michigan portland st. louis cleveland pittsburgh	houston nyc philadelphia san diego tallahassee	urbana-champaign charlottesville sf bay area tampa richmond	michigan portland san diego nyc san francisco

Tucson was the final event of our 12 city tour on the Caravan for Justice for the Women of Juarez that began in Seattle on October 18 at the University of Washington. On most of our stops, the response was standing room only and very supportive. We sold nearly all the tee shirts, gave away thousands of post cards and much information. Surprisingly, the smallest turnouts were in L.A. and Phoenix. The efforts made by each host city were truly wonderful displaying much solidarity, love and sorrow in raising this very critical issue. Altars, candles, photos of murdered young women, slide shows of Juarez and Chihuahua, art exhibits,poetry, music and mourning were common themes thruout the journey. Rain followed us all the way to Arizona giving a fresh feel to each big, crowded city.

Ramona lost her daughter, Sylvia Elena Rivera Morales,16, in l995, when she was found 2 months after disappearing by a man caring for his animals in the mountains. Sylvia was a student and also worked part time in a shoe store. Her eyes were carved out, her face scraped off, she was raped and killed. Ramona, whose husband died 3 months after her daughter's death of pure sadness, has been seeking justice for nearly 10 years. The police have mistreated her and many other mothers. Many innocent people have been tortured into signing confessions and jailed. An Egyptian, Shariff, has been charged with Syvia's murder even tho the judge stated there is not enough evidence and the accused claims his innocence. It is a multifaceted tragedy that threatens all of us if we fail to act in stopping more murders.

read more...[ more caravan for juarez articles ]

Odile Dumas' daughter Monique, a student at Howard University in Washington D.C., was so anxious to vote that back in September she requested an absentee ballot from Palm Beach County in Florida. On Friday, just five days before the election, when her ballot still hadn't arrived, she called her mother Odile in a panic. Odile immediately went to the Supervisor of Elections office to get her daughter's ballot and Federal Express it to her. But the lines were too long and she had to get to work. So she returned on Saturday and took her place on line. "My black ancestors were jailed and killed for trying to vote," said Odile. "The least I can do is stand in line so that my daughter can vote." Odile's patience turned to exasperation, however, when the 8-hour wait meant that she had missed the deadline for Federal Express and the wait was all for naught. "My daughter has just lost her right to vote," said Odile. "Is this the democracy we fought for?"

MONDAY Nov 1 2004: New information indicates that hackers may be targeting the central computers counting our votes tomorrow. All county elections officials who use modems to transfer votes from polling places to the central vote-counting server should disconnect the modems now.

There is no down side to removing the modems. Simply drive the vote cartridges from each polling place in to the central vote-counting location by car, instead of transmitting by modem. "Turning off" the modems may not be sufficient. Disconnect the central vote counting server from all modems, INCLUDING PHONE LINES, not just Internet. In a very large county, this will add at most one hour to the vote-counting time, while offering significant protection from outside intrusion.

It appears that such an attack may already have taken place, in a primary election 6 weeks ago in King County, Washington -- a large jurisdiction with over one million registered voters. Documents, including internal audit logs for the central vote-counting computer, along with modem "trouble slips" consistent with hacker activity, show that the system may have been hacked on Sept. 14, 2004. Three hours is now missing from the vote-counting computer's "audit log," an automatically generated record, similar to the black box in an airplane, which registers certain kinds of events.

Related: An Election Spoiled Rotten - Kerry Already Down 1 Million votes | Greg Palast - newest BBC report on Florida Black Voter 'caging' | New Florida vote scandal feared | VOTERS BEWARE!! FRAUD HAS BEGUN! | E-Voting Tests Get Failing Grade & so does its fraudulent 'creditation' framework | Why Do Americans Need a Machine to Vote?

Voters from around the country have reported on their experiences at the polls. The League of Pissed Off Voters, a network doing national voter-organizing out of New York City, compiled a preliminary list of reports of voting irregularities in New Orleans, LA; St. Petersburg, FL; Toledo, OH; Columbus, OH; Beloit, WI; and Milwuakee, WI. Other reported voting problems posted to IMCs include Felton, CA; Nashville, TN; Michigan and Ohio; Portland, OR; Boston, MA; Pittsburgh, PA; Florida and Pennsylvania; St. Louis, MO; Tulsa, OK; Manhattan, NY; Urbana, IL; Brooklyn, NY; and elsewhere.

No matter what the outcome of the sElections may be, protests have been organized throughout the US. A nationwide Beyond Voting movement, sponsored by a broad coalition of anti-war/anti-empire/global justice organizations, planned for street demonstrations in over 30 cities on, Nov. 3, the day after the election, saying "No matter who wins, the world needs to hear that the people of the U.S. demand fundamental social, economic, and political change." In addition to protests, a World Party was called for in cities all over the the US, and throughout the world.

"Bakunin" writes: I was out in the streets tonight. About 1,000 people showed up to protest Bush, the war in Iraq, and the election results. The spirit was good, and so was the turnout.

Unfortunately the police had us almost completely in control. They blocked streets at every red light, effectively dividing the march into sections. The section of the march I was in - towards the back - never took the streets, or even tried to. On several occasions the cops completely divided the march, not allowing those of us in the back to join our comrades on the other side of the street. There have been reports of a few arrests (six at this point) and the use of pepper spray. By 6:30 a couple hundred people made their way back to the Square, while another several hundred gathered at the intersection of 5th and Morrison. It was around this point (around 6:50) that I used my transfer to come home.

"christ" writes: Just got home from the Portland protests and am feeling a little... disheartened. Things started out well- nice to see the feminists, queers, radicals, progressives, anarchists, etc. all in one place and pissed off. We began marching ON THE SIDEWALKS, which sorta defeated the whole point of the march. At first, not many cops around... I think we could have taken the streets and dunno why we didn't.

It immediately became obvious that folks marching had many different ideas about what we were doing. The chants were random and short lived, some wanted to shout FUCK BUSH while others wanted to sing THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE. But, I wondered, is this what democracy looks like? Marching ont he sidewalks? Waiting for the lights to change before we cross the street?

"lkae" writes: I'm a middle school teacher who could not stay at home with my depression and gloom and needed to be out with other angry folks. I have been saying for months that if he steals the election again we need to have riots in the streets. I have a five year old and a teaching job, so I don't feel like i can be a leader in this and serve jail time but we need to have the message sent that we are pissed. On one hand I am pleased with the way people abided the law and took the "high road" when confronted by the police. On the other I am wondering where the fuck is the rage?

read more >>

PHOTOS: [ 1 | 2 | 3 ]

Video of speakers at Pioneer SquareAt the Square, various people took the mike, giving their viewpoints about the Bush Administration, the Election, and what the people must do in order to correct the radical swerve to the right our country is taking. Angry, yet thoughtful; raw, yet respectful of each other; boistrous, yet non violent, this first part of the evening, at the Square and afterwards for about an hour, saw much outrage, much condmenation of Bush policies and equally as much creative insight on how to achieve the change everyone was in the streets to generate.

This video gives a window into the mood of the crowd, some words of the speakers, most of whom seemed to be speaking spontaneously and eloquently from the heart of their outrage and disillusion. Mostly young people, but not only young people comprised the majority of the gathering.

[ DSL/Cable stream | 56k stream | read more ]

pdx indy coverage archives: [ the web radio broadcast | the Breaking News ]

related: [ Protest - Help me understand | If you need a safe place to go (if things get crazy) ]

background: [ oregon elections I national elections I us imc: national actions I nov 3rd actions I dont just vote mp3 ]

Most of us thought that the Bush adminstration's sinister plans for conquering the world were enough to convince the American public that Bush has got to go.

While it is important for this country to make sure that Karl Rove and other mastermind strategists did not pre-engineer this election, it is also vital that those of us who expected an easy Kerry win come to grips with why he might have actually lost.

Some argue that Kerry lost because his campaign strategists mistakenly catered to "the undecideds". Others say it was the peace movement's "spineless" Anybody But Bush strategy.

But the truth may be much simpler and harder to swallow: We are living in an extremely right wing, conservative religious country with fanatics at the helm who believe they rule by divine right.

If so, those yearning for change in this country might have to stop relying on protest marches in New York and San Franscisco and start going to Sunday Mass in the midwest.

Bush won Ohio by 136,483 votes. In the United States, about 3 percent of votes cast are voided—known as “spoilage” in election jargon—because the ballots cast are inconclusive. Drawing on what happened in Florida and studies of elections past, Palast argues that if Ohio’s discarded ballots were counted, Kerry would have won the state. Today, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports there are a total of 247,672 votes not counted in Ohio, if you add the 92,672 discarded votes plus the 155,000 provisional ballots. So far there's no indication that Palast's hypothesis will be tested because only the provisional ballots are being counted.

Controversial Weapons Increase Violence, Despite Police Claims Boston - On Thursday, November 4, the Boston Area Faculty Group on Public Issues, the National Lawyers Guild and the Save Our Civil Liberties (SOCL) Campaign issued a public demand for an immediate moratorium on police use of so-called “non-lethal” and “less-lethal” weapons. The press conference, held at the Emerson College campus, highlighted the recent death of Victoria Snelgrove during a Red Sox celebration as an example of the misuse of less lethal weapons by local, state and federal law enforcement around the country.

November 3 - Toledo, Ohio Hundreds of angry Ohio residents marched through the streets of Columbus—Ohio’s Capital—this evening and stormed the Ohio State House, defying orders and arrest threats from Ohio State Troopers. "O-H-I-O ! suppressed democracy has got to go," they chanted. After troopers pushed and scuffled with people, nearly a hundred people took over the steps and entrance to the State’s giant white column capital building and refused repeated orders to disperse or face arrest. People prepared for arrests, ready to face jail—writing lawyers phone numbers on their arms, signing jail support lists and discussing non-cooperation and active resistance (linking arms, but not fighting back).

A freshly painted banner held on the steps read "ONE VOTE DENIED = DEMOCRACY IN TROUBLE! 100’S OF 1000’S OF VOTES SURPRESSED = DEMOCRACY FAILED" articulated the crisis. An unprecedented massive grassroots voter registration and get out the vote effort and widespread opposition to Bush went up against the massive coordinated Republican effort to suppress, intimidate and possibly steal millions of votes. In addition to the voter suppression and intimidation is the fact that Bush campaign co-chair Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell is in charge of the election and vote counting. But much deeper questions about fundamental flaws in the system hang in the air.

US Seals Off Falluja as Assault Begins 11/05/2004: Falluja is now shut off from the outside world; the U.S. military has blocked roads and have warned they will "arrest any man under the age of 45 found trying to leave or enter the city". A ground assualt on Falluja and Ramadi is expected within days. Resistance fighters in Ramadi have been reinforcing their positions and stockpiling food and water, but civilians in Falluja are worried that they could quickly run out of food due to the US blockade. While some Fallujans have abandoned their city expecting post-election destruction, over 100,000 residents remain. Kofi Annan has warned the US and Britian about the humanitarian disaster that could come with a military assault. Full story | Iraq page

Washington, DC:The Nader/Camejo campaign has filed a challenge to the voting results in New Hampshire after receiving numerous complaints from voting rights activits. Below is Nader's letter to New Hampshire requesting a recount. Also, below is Nader's view on electronic voting without a paper trial. In addition, the Nader/Camejo campaign offered our campaign to poll watchers who wanted to be credentialed to be inside to monitor electronic voting. Hundreds of democracy activists in Maryland working with TrueVoteMD.org were credentialed to monitor polling through the Populist Party which was created by Nader-Camejo supporters in Maryland. read more >>

[ The Election was Stolen; How we know & Why it matters ]

This Time We WERE Watching

Video report on voters' experiences in Cleveland on election day: [ (same file, different sources) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]

From Video The Vote: "Our thanks to People for the American Way and Election Protection. My apologies to the Jayhawks for not clearing the music first. (I'm still waiting to hear back, their rights person is in transit, I'll do it next week). The decision to go ahead was mine. This was shot by a dedicated group of 20 volunteer filmmakers, but any faults in the editing or focus of this video are my responsibility. The organizers of the trip will release a longer selection of statements by voters who had problems voting."

Biodiesel is the fastest growing alternative fuel in the U.S. For the proponents of biodiesel, it promises to deliver us into an age of clean and renewable fuel. If present trends continue, biodiesel is more likely to escalate human misery around the world for years to come.

Is biodiesel renewable? Any resource is renewable only if it is extracted at a rate no greater than it is replenished. Overcutting a forest or overfishing a fishery renders a renewable resource non-renewable. Given that biodiesel potentially involves taking human food from the top of the ecological pyramid and feeding to automobiles, the renewability issue is paramount.

On Sunday, US occupation forces launched a major ground offensive against the beseiged Iraqi city of Fallujah. - demolishing one hospital, seizing another and bombing neighborhoods throughout the city - in an all out effort to crush the Iraqi resistance. Over 50,000 men, women and children remain trapped in their homes without food, running water or electricity as fighting rages across Fallujah. US troops have met fierce resistance from the city's defenders, and over 200 Iraqi troops have deserted.

In Chicago, over 180 antiwar protesters gathered in Federal Plaza Monday evening for a hastily called emergency rally and march to protest the attack on Fallujah and the continung occupation of Iraq. Protests will continue on Thursday, November 11, with a Veterans Day Protest against the War in Iraq, organized by VVAW at 11 AM, corner of Wabash & Wacker, Chicago.

Related Links: Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism | Peace Pledge Chicago | Vietnam Veterans Against the War

The United States Government responded to a motion filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center Foundation to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding the seizure of two Indymedia servers last month. The US Government claims that (1) the movants have no standing; (2) that the MLAT, as a treaty obligation, supersedes the law cited in the EFF/UCIMC motion; and, (3) that there is an ongoing investigation that needs to be kept secret.

The 2004 Presidential election is NOT over! There's evidence the election may have been "hijacked" by fraud and that Bush has NOT won. A nationwide grassroots movement is underway to uncover the fraud, get the votes counted (or recounted) and file lawsuits, and YOUR HELP IS NEEDED NOW. Please spread the word, pitch in some volunteer time, help recruit volunteers with legal and/or computer expertise, and consider donating money. The Presidency won't be decided until the Electoral College meets on December 12; it's not too late to Redefeat Bush Again.

(from the Open Newswire): Victory on the Streets of NY Monday! Students and activists interrupted the launch of Victoria’s Secret’s ‘Angels Across America’ tour today with a rowdy protest by people dressed in angel wings and lingerie and wielding chainsaws, and including a large banner reading “Victoria’s Secret: Their Catalogs Destroy Endangered Forests.” The so-called supermodels and Victoria's Secret cancelled the event apparently to avoid the protest.

This week, Local 2 hotel workers took the struggle to the Monterey Hyatt, one of many sources of scab labor for the locked-out hotels. Local 2 formed a picket line for one day, and most workers stayed home, refusing to cross the picket line. The Falluja protest in San Francisco on 11/09 was also a solidarity protest for the locked out hotel workers; the march went past several hotels and the crowd chanted in support of the workers getting a contract. Photos On 11/07, dozens of San Franciscans took to the streets as part of a "flying picket" in solidarity with locked-out hotel workers, expanding the picket lines and giving scabs a proper San Francisco "not-welcome." Video

LOS ANGELES, November 9, 2004 - At 7:50 PM armored tanks showed up at an anti-war protest in front of the federal building in Westwood.

The tanks circled the block twice, the second time parking themselves in the street and directly in front of the area where most of the protesters were gathered.

Enraged, some of the people attempted to block the tanks, but police quickly cleared the street.

The people continued to protest the presence of the tanks, but after about ten minutes the tanks drove off. It is unclear as to why the tanks were deployed to this location.

Video

The U.S. assault on Fallujah continues into its third day although news reports have had few verifiable facts to report. Most of the mainstream news reports are coming from reporters embedded with U.S. forces. Independent, verifiable reports are not readily available. The U.S. military's initial moves to take control of the hospitals, which it consideres to be sources of "propaganda", i.e. casualty figures, shows that the they are determined to control whatever information comes out of Fallujah.

The total number of Iraqi civilians and insurgent fighters killed are as yet unknown (update: Democray Now! reports 41 Iraqi soldiers killed). Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claims that there will not be large numbers of civilian casualties, as U.S. forces are using "precision attacks" against specific targets. This claim seems doubtful considering U.S. military reliance on helicopters, rockets, tank fire and air strikes. Al Jazeera is reporting that U.S. firepower has already destroyed almost half of the Mosques in Fallujah, a city with an estimated 120 such holy sites.

ongoing independent coverage of Iraq: [Democracy Now!]

As pro-democracy activists in Ohio take to the streets once again demonstrating against electoral fraud and disenfranchisement, the mainstream corporate media has gone into a virtual lockdown over the issue. As of this writing, few other than Keith Olbermann of MSNBC have dared to broach the subject of a possible rigged presidential election. Obermann even picked up on the story aired on Democracy Now! concerning reported Dept. of Homeland Security or FBI interference in vote count observation.

On Wednesday, November 10, hundreds of people demonstrated and bargined at UC Santa Cruz for better wages and working conditions for AFSCME members at the nine University of California (UC) campuses and five medical centers. Local 3299 AFSCME members (American, Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees) are employed by the UC to serve food; clean bathrooms, dorms, labs, offices, and hospitals; drive shuttle buses, and park cars.

The rally and bargining meeting effectively demonstrated that AFSCME workers, UC students and members of the Santa Cruz community, including Mardi Wormhoudt, the Chair of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, and newly elected Santa Cruz City Council member Tony Madrigal, are committed to improving the working conditions for service workers in the UC system.

Photos: [ Workers, Students and Community Members Rally in Baytree Plaza I Estudiantes y Trabajadores Undios a UCSC ]

Audio: UC Bargining Committee Hears from Workers and Supporters

Previous IMC Coverage: [ (5/20/04) UC Workers Hold Statewide Marches I (10/17/04) UC Service Workers Converge on Berkeley Campus ]

We held our signs high. We passed out flyers. We've marched in the streets. We've blocked traffic. We made noise and cried out against the war, against oppression. We went home with uplifted spirits, again preaching to the choir and irking passersby. We even went out and voted.

But the monster is still in office. There is to be four more years of absolute terror in the white house. Four more years behind a veneer of moral values and nationalism. We are fucking mad.

We need mass decentralized actions, fucking shit up at night. In every city, against, against military recruitment centers, against republican offices, against banks, against walmarts, and against - every component of the military industrial compex.

[ North Carolina: Vandals hit GOP Headquarters | Illinois: Republican office vandalized | Kansas: Vandal hits headquarters of county GOP | Wisconsin: Tires slashed on 20 GOP vehicles, Milwaukee police report | Vandals cause major damage to Wal-Mart ]

read more >>

The latest Indypendent takes a hard look at the next four years with a recap of the last election and thoughts about what lies ahead.

We examine the election and its aftermath in Ohio, and ponder the fate of the Greens. David Graeber argues that the nation state is "so over," and we ponder the future of independent media under Bush.

Plus, choice quotes from some of our new Senators, a new look at rent laws, reviews of The Necessary Evil and Cornel West's new book, and much more.

The Indypendent has an open door, and weekly meetings every Tuesday at 7pm.

[Online PDF]

Activists continue to occupy the upper canopy in unit 5d of the Blue River Face Timber Sale located in the Mckenzie Ranger District, Willamette National Forest. More treehouses have recently been installed at the 150 ft. level in hopes of offering the 40 acre unit protection from the chainsaws. Traverse lines running through the treetops are in place as a deterrent to cutting.

Our wish is to bring about increased awareness of the continued cutting of native and old-growth forest in the Mckenzie Watershed. The tree at Blue River Face are massive and the forest is lush. Owls can be heard hooting in the cool night air. Flying squirrels are visiting the tree-sits and telling us they would rather live in an intact forest than a managed stand of trees.

read more >>

previous stories: [ Occupation of Blue River Face Timber Sale continues (Oct. 10, 2004) | Active Logging at Blue River Face (Apr. 18, 2004) | Rosboro Lumber steals trees, logs some of last Willamette Old Growth in Blue River Face (Apr. 30, 2004) | Cascadians occupy Unit 5d of Blue River Face timber sale (Aug. 31, 2004) ]

BREAKING -- SATURDAY NOV 13 2004: Black Box Voting has launched a fraud audit into Florida. Three investigators (Bev Harris, Andy Stephenson, and Kathleen Wynne) are in Florida right now. We will initiate hand counts on selected counties that have not fully complied with our Nov. 2 Freedom of Information request by Monday (Diebold counties) or Tuesday (other counties).

BREAKING -- SATURDAY NOV 13 2004: We have reports that both David Cobb (Green Party) and Michael Badnarik (Libertarian Party) will be filing for official recounts in Ohio. Black Box Voting is also launching a fraud audit in Ohio.

Preparations for Annual Demonstration Underway

Its that time of year again, when thousands of people get ready to trek across the country to a small city in Georgia for the largest annual demonstration in the Southeast. Columbus is home to Ft.Benning and the notorious School of the Americas- SOA (now called the Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation), an army training facility which graduates students cum laude with the finest skills in human rights abusing and dictatorship propping up.

The yearly protest usually draws participants from as far away as Maine to California. While Georgia has a history of under-representation at the event, local organizers hope this year will be different. Check out info about local events, and activties already underway in Georgia. And stay tuned as Atlanta Indymedia brings you great coverage for the 5th year running.

Local Events: Nov. 11- Meet Puppetmaker David Solnit, Nipponzan-Myohoji Atlanta Dojo annual peace walk, Footprints Peace Run from Cordele, GA

For more info on the protest visit www.soaw.org

In Washington, D.C., a coalition of social, political, and religious activists have come together to protest the coronation of George W. Bush. You and all your friends and family are invited to join hundreds of thousands in the streets for Counter-Inaugural 2005.

On November 2nd and 3rd as the votes were being counted residents of Washington DC took to the streets to show opposition to an inherently corrupt system, no matter who won the presidential election. Now the inauguration looms on the horizon and in DC where 91% voters rejected Bush energy is high to organize visible resistance to another four years of Bush through linking the national and global struggle against the Bush regime to the local struggle for democracy here in the District of Columbia. Come out and help shape this resistance!

Join us for a week of action January 15-Janurary 20, 2005. Check out Counter-Inaugural.org for upcoming information on events, planning, housing, and transportation.

The location of the pirate radio station 106.9FM in San Diego, California was visited for the third time by members of the FCC, Wednesday, the 10th of November. Agents entered the property, claiming that they did not need a warrant, to inspect the equipment. Subsequently, they issued a verbal order that the signal be shut down immediately, or the broadcasters would be issued a ten thousand dollar fine. Though it is not the policy of the station to honor the "authority" of the FCC, an un-knowing individual allowed the agents into the location. The station does not plan on further cooperation with the FCC and resumed broadcasting immediately.

The Libertarian and Green parties plan to file for recounts of the 2004 presidential election in all of Ohio's 11,360 precincts in 88 counties.

Blackbox Voting in action

After a march through Raleigh, NC and a demonstration at the Republican party state headquarters, Melissa Brown, Vanessa Zuloaga, and David Hensley were arrested late on Friday, Nov 5. Though it seems that there was evidence of nothing except that they were in the area, each was charged with one count of malicious destruction of property with an incendiary device, a felony, and were held with bail set at $50,000.

In hearings for all three on Monday, both their charges and bail were reaffirmed and Brown and Hensley received court appointed lawyers. Friends and community members have been working with local NLG lawyers and the defendants' court appointed lawyers on their behalf. The legal support network has been struggling to raise $15,000 non-returnable bond to get them out of jail. Early Thursday morning, Vanessa's bond was posted and she was released.

To date, over $11,000 has been pledged, but we are continuing to raise money (at least $4000 more) for the release of Melissa and David and for ongoing legal costs. We are extremely grateful for all of the legal, monetary and emotional support that we have received. Further support can be sent to Liz Albiston PO Box 281 Chapel Hill, NC 27514.

After broadcasting over the radio airwaves in the Santa Cruz, Ca. area for almost 10 years without a license, in defiance of federal regulations, one day this fall, the U.S. government decided to take some action. On Sept. 29, 2004, Federal Marshals, aiding the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), raided Free Radio Santa Cruz (FRSC), seizing radio equipment to disable their broadcasts. I wondered what FRSC volunteers, and other microradio, or “pirate,” radio station volunteers, were feeling about this raid. It seems so often the government does things like this to “set an example” for others, to be a warning to others engaging in similar activity, to deter them from continuing on with defiant behavior…and sometimes that type of governmental intimidation works, and sometimes it does not. Questions linger, such as what the federal government intends to do with FRSC’s seized radio equipment. I interviewed several West Coast microradio station volunteers about their reactions to the FRSC raid for this article.

[ Freak Radio I Enemy Combatant Radio I Free Radio Olympia I Radio 4 All I Micropower Radio Stations I Seizing the Airwaves, a free radio handbook I Micropower Broadcasting - A Technical Primer ]

Portland State University (PSU) has signed a contract to change all of its student campus id cards to MasterCards. There is no opt-out, and students are mad. A boycott has been announced, and a rally is planned for this Tuesday (November 23).

"Financial aid is sacred to many of us," said student Sascha Krader, "It's not like the privatization of other campus areas such as food services. It has a profound effect on student life." The decision to sign a contract with Higher One was made without any attempt to involve students in the process, including student representatives and organizations.

Over 2,000 students at PSU are organized in a boycott and prepare for a walkout in protest of their new Campus ID Cards. The debit cards, emblazoned with a MasterCard logo, were mailed to students this week from the Connecticut-based "virtual bank" HigherOne. Students aim to have their university's contract with Higher One terminated.

[ read the full article... ]
[ Community Journal I Southern Oregon Univ. Solidarity I Associated Students of PSU I Previous Article: Portland State Outsources Financial Aid ]

A number of activists and performers spoke out against School of the Americas (WHINSEC) throughout the day Saturday, and all returned to the theme of perseverance and solidarity. Despite forecasts of rain, the crowd of thousands explored vendors and literature tables and listened to the speakers and musical guests, including religious leaders such as Rev. Graylan Hagler and Sister Helen Prejean, the writer of Dead Man Walking, and Susan Sarandon, who played her in the movie of the same name. The audience also enjoyed a performance by the Puppetistas, who worked with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIA) in designing the show this year, with the theme “A Better World is Under Construction.” Puppet Pageant Photos [1,2,3] BTL interview with Kathy Kelly, co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness and SOA Watch prisoner of conscience. Canadian solidarity vigil [Photos]

more coverage from Michigan: Thousands converge to protest SOA

Over 300 million turkeys are killed every year in the United States, 40 million of them specifically for Thanksgiving. The majority of these are raised in factory farms where they are stacked in cages in windowless sheds where they can't live naturally (or happily) in any sense of the word. Often they cannot move, and many die in the conditions before they are fully grown. They are debeaked and declawed without anesthesia, making it difficult or even impossible for them to eat, and research shows that they feel the pain of this for the rest of their lives. Those who survive are fed until they are grotesquely obese and cannot stand because their skeletons are too weak from confinement. Over-burdened in this way, and trapped in close quarters with too little oxygen, many turkeys die when their hearts explode from the physical stress. read more >>

Think that turkey looks appetizing? Think again.

Turkeys and other poultry are often infected with salmonella and campylobacter bacteria from their unnatural living conditions, and deregulation of the industry means that more diseases are reaching the dinner table. Even if a particular bird is free of these bacteria at the point of purchase, it was most likely raised on a steady diet of antibiotics and chemical growth stimulants which are not good for human health. Additionally, working conditions in poultry factories are unpleasant and dangerous, and big business has blocked legislation that would grant workers relief. The turkeys lose, and the people lose. read more >>

More information: [ The Turkey Day | Save a Turkey | Turkeys Want to Be Friends, Not Food | Gruesome treatment of turkeys as exposed by PETA | Turkeys: Hooked on Drugs (Jim Hightower) | United Poultry Concerns, Inc. Turkey Brochure | Reviews of Karen Davis' Book "More Than a Meal" | At Our Mercy: The Eating of Animals | About Factory farms | Meat Is Murder (Resources) | VEGETARIAN FOOD SOURCES | United Poultry Concerns | Animal Liberation Front | portland indymedia animal rights news ]

Related: [ Why I Hate Thanksgiving | Thanksgiving some suprises? ]

Did you know that there is going to be a recount in Ohio that could reverse the presumed but not yet official results of the presidential election? David Cobb and Michael Badnarik raised $150,000 in 4 days in order to make this possible and now they need help in the form of 1400 additional volunteers to make it happen!

Giles County, VA -- One Virginian activist, Niklan Jones-Lezama, is believed dead and another, Sue Daniels, is missing.

On Saturday, Niklan's body was found by a search party of friends within a few hundred yards of Sue's cabin outside of Blacksburg. This past Thursday, Sue's cabin had been burned to the ground in an apparent act of arson. Sue and Niklan's two cars were found parked outside the charred remains of the building. The badly burned remains of what is believed to be a dog were found inside.

Both Nik and Sue were active around varous social justice issues, such as opposing war in the Middle East, oppression in Central America, and violent mountaintop removal in Appalachia. The two were in their forties and spent several months in federal prison last year due to their participation in the annual School of the Americas protests in Georgia. These annual SOA protests coincidentally occurred this past weekend. The last time people report seeing Niklan was when he was due to leave to attend the protests 5 a.m. on Thursday.

This photo features both Sue and Nik leading a procession into their 2002 trial for protesting the SOA in 2001.

Fault Lines #6 is Out

The new issue of the monthly newspaper of the SF Bay Independent Media Center, Fault Lines is out. Coinciding with the Thanksgiving holiday, the theme of the sixth issue is Indigenous People; read about the Occupation of Alcatraz that took place 35 years ago, the indigenous struggle in Brazil and the origins of Thanksgiving.

Eddie Yuen analyzes the implications of the U.S. election and Kevin Keating provides readers with a historical overview of mutiny during the Vietnam War. In the Arts and Action section you can read how cinema has penetrated the abyss of electoral politics.

Other articles include, letter from Angola 3 political prisoner Herman Wallace, insight into the next 5 years in the Middle East by Immanuel Wallerstein, Bay Guardian lawsuit against SF Weekly publisher New Times, US approved carnage in Haiti and life after the oil peak.

PDF of the Sixth Issue| Distribution points

People gathered in the University City Loop on Saturday to challenge the Bush agenda. Over one hundred people listened to a variety of speakers, looked at the Iraqi Occupation display, and shared their grief about the recent election and battle of Fallujah. Speakers included Joan Lipkin from the UPPITY Theatre Company, Jeanette Mott Oxford,social justice activist and newly elected State Representative, and the Reverand Al Smith from St. Paul's AME Church. Instead of War organized the event as a way to get people re-engaged in the public demonstrations and as a lead off event to the January 20th Inagueration Date for George Bush. [Comments on rally]

Pictures [1 | 2 | 3 ]

The U.S. is embarking on yet another mission of economic terrorism. A new bi-lateral trade agreement between America and three South American countries – Colombia, Ecuador and Perú – will be hashed out in Tucson, Arizona. The AFTA talks will be held from November 30 through December 4th.

Locals have already spent a considerable amount of time organizing resistance. During the week activists have begun to plan protests, teach-ins, press conferences and other actions. In the next few days, noafta.org will be launched with housing and ride boards, calendars, background info, a newswire and many other features. For now, some information about AFTA and resistance events can be found here.

Keep checking back to both Arizona Indymedia and noafta.org for ongoing updates leading up to and during the negotiations.

The November/December issue of Critical Moment is now available and can be picked in storefronts and community spaces throughout Southeast Michigan.

The new issue is the seventh issue of the Ann Arbor-based political journal and focuses on the theme of "Palestine." CM #7 features articles on historical and contemporary issues of the Israel/Palestine conflict. Articles deal with topics such as the apartheid wall, the question of Israel & colonialism, the lives of Mizrahi Jews in Israel, the "forgotten" occupied territory of the Golan Heights, Ann Arbor's Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends, Palestinian lesbian organizing, the future beyond Yasser Arafat, and more.

also, view the entire issue in pdf form:Critical Moment Issue #7 (pdf)

For a long time people have talked about Cascadia rising up and seceeding from the union. Some say we should ask Canada to take us in, others aspire to a life free from governance by someone outside the community.

some have questions: Is it worth the effort? What about rural Oregon? Am I Cascadian? What is the Common Vision?

The broad cross section of people being drawn to this struggle are being drawn because they lack hope. We see the ideal of a socially just state and are drawn to it like moths to a flame. But will our desire to taste liberty get us burned? The democratic party crumbled under the might, and in some measure, burden of corporate facism in america. People are bitter. Actavists that months ago would call the cops if they saw us at a protest, are openly debating insurection.
[ original article ]

Let us secede. Let us recognize that this region is being economically and culturally raped by the rest of the U.S., and put a stop to it. Let us establish a true American nation, one that is not a superpower through military domination but rather a world leader through cooperation and fair trade with the rest of the American nations - Mexico, Canada, and the peoples of Central and South America; and indeed by recognizing the special role and cultural riches the First Peoples of this region still carry. We will still be Americans, but will no longer be part of the failure that is the U.S.A. [ original article ]

[ Things you can do now. ] recent secession articles: [ Seceding and the White Left I building a broad movement for Secession I non-violent strategies I The big quake and the rise of Cascadia I Viva Cascadia! ]

previous articles about cascadia free state: [ 10/02/2004 I 6/27/2004 I 10/28/2003 I 10/08/2003 I 3/27/2002 I 12/15/2001 I 4/23/2001 I 3/25/2001 I 3/4/2001 ]

secession calls countrywide: [ Nevada I Arizona I New England I California I Massachusettes ]

Critical Mass Radio Network (CMRN) is a decentralized network of independent community radio stations producing a coordinated broadcast on the last Friday of every month. CMRN's initial broadcast took place on August 27, 2004 in anticipation of the Republican National Convention in New York. Participating stations are located in the cities of Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz; in addition, other stations across the country have been relaying the signal.

One participant summed up CMRN like this, "In matters of war and peace, poverty and hunger, homelessness, health care, justice and your mama's pumpkin pie, we can have a voice that circumvents the sound bites of the powerful; such direct participation in our future is clearly necessary for survival."

((( (( ( Listen ) )) )))

The standards for conviction with or without direct evidence in any charge brought by the government or any allegation publicly made are very low in the U.S.. In fact there are dozens of people sitting on death row convicted on just circumstantial evidence alone, no direct evidence whatsoever.

In the case of voter fraud committed by America's organized right wing operating under the authority of the Republican Party there is enough direct evidence illustrating a convincing pattern of a broad conspiracy to steal the election of November 2, 2004 in the U.S. that it would make former mob boss John Gotti blush in his grave.

As more and more people come to the realization that America's shadow government has come out of the shadows and is no longer threatened by the daylight of the media they now own oh so completely and is it no longer threatening the social and environmental compact in America but is rather acting aggressively and violently against it in the open instead of covertly as was done past.

For the first time in more than five years, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is set to execute a prisoner, George Banks, a man with severe mental illness who has been on death row for nearly two decades. On December 2, barring unforeseen intervention by the courts or Governor Rendell, Banks will be the fourth person to be killed by the state since Pennsylvania reinstated the death penalty in 1978. Banks has not waived his appeals and would be the first person executed against his will in Pennsylvania since 1962.

The jury did not consider Banks' mental illness as a mitigating factor, due to jury instructions that the Third Circuit ruled unconstitutional on on October 31, 2001, and on January 14, 2003. The Third-Circuit ruling in Banks' case prompted PA courts to overturn several other death sentences, including that of Mumia Abu Jamal. Yet on June 24, 2004, the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that this constitutional standard was set in 1988, eight months after Banks exhausted his state appeals, and therefore could not be applied retroactively to Banks. Prompted by this Supreme Court decision, on June 29, 2004, the Third Circuit lifted its stay of Mumia Abu-Jamal's execution.

A massive letter-writing campaign to Governor Rendell and to the Board of Pardons is under way, demanding that he immediately rescind the death warrant for George Banks. (See Governor Rendell's response.) On Dec. 2, activists will demonstrate throughout Pennsylvania against the scheduled 7 p.m. execution.

[ Full Story | PA Abolitionists | Mumia Abu-Jamal's legal updates ]

November 30, 1999 represented a triumphal moment for worldwide civil resistance against a global economic system that gives private corporations more power than governments. In the morning hours of N30, 1999, tens of thousands of activists from across the globe converged in the streets of downtown Seattle, to shut down meetings of the World Trade Organization, the undemocratic, international governing forum of neoliberal globalization.

The conflict became infamous around the world, partially because of the violent police response to the largely peaceful demonstrations. In years since, N30 has been remembered in the streets of Seattle and around the globe, with marches, rallies and celebrations of resistance. Dialogues about the effectiveness of the movement have multiplied in number, both within and beyond activist circles. The date is also remembered as the birth of the Independent Media Center, www.Indymedia.org.

At the WTO protests in Seattle, we had a collective vision. We saw beyond the borders that divide us. We saw people come together across every kind of political and cultural difference and stand up in a way that we had not seen in this country for decades. We saw peaceful protests shut down one of the most powerful institutions in the world and we saw a system dazed and frightened by the sound of our voices.

Audio:

• FRSC's Look Back to the Historic Anti-WTO Protests of Five Years Ago
• This Is What Democracy Looks Like