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Protesters Kick Off Orange Drive Out The Bush Regime! action in Charlotte, NC

By David Dixon
Action Center For Justice
July 29, 2007

A group of people kicked off Declare It Now Orange Fridays: Drive Out The Bush Regime! in Charlotte , NC at the busy intersection of 7th St & Pecan Ave on Friday, July 27.

Support from passersby was overwhelming. It was incredible, so many people smiling, waving, giving us a thumbs up, and car horns filled the air in response to the bright orange “Honk For Impeachment” signs. Several people walking by said beep, beep to us show us support. One man driving by was so happy to see us out there that after laying on his horn while passing by, he came back and brought us drinks & ice.

A lot of times, our street rallies only last about an hour, but due to the excitement from all the public support, two and half hours quickly passed by before we decided to wrap it up.

We were able to tell quite a few people in their cars stopped at the red light, in addition to the people on foot & bike, about wearing orange everyday & gathering every Friday. People showed a lot of enthusiasm for the idea.

Although we focused on encouraging people to take a visible, public stand for impeachment with us, we also collected signatures for an impeachment petition & contact info.

We will gather every Friday in CHarlotte at 5:30pm at the same location. We expect to have hundreds of people standing with us soon on Fridays, Declaring It Now, Wearing Orange & determined to Drive Out The Bush Regime!

The Declare It Now: Wear Orange! Drive Out The Bush Regime actions were called nationally by World Can't Wait.

For info on Charlotte, NC actions see Action Center For Justice at www.CharlotteAction.org or call 704-492-8527.

Boycott Hate DJ Jeff Katz's Advertisers

To: WBT
Petition for the Boycott of Businesses who Support WBT’s Jeff Katz Show

In light of the Islamophobic and hate-filled programming on WBT 1110 AM’s Jeff Katz show, a boycott is being called for all advertisers that have a financial relationship with Jeff Katz. Since the arrival of Jeff Katz at WBT there seems to be a move to profit off ignorance and hate at the expense of the Muslim Community. We are calling on people of faith, conscience and decency to boycott those that financially support this purveyor of hate. The boycott can be enacted by signing this petition on-line (or paper), and/or calling the businesses and not shopping with the advertisers. This petition is being sponsored by the Islamic Political Party of America (IPPA) and is inspired by the U.N.’s ‘Stop the Hate’ campaign.

Read the rest & sign the petition, click here.

Video of July 23, 2007, Impeachment March in DC

Hands Off Michael Moore! Lift Travel Restrictions on Americans

Please sign this petition & spread the word
http://www.petitiononline.com/sicko

Hands Off Michael Moore! Lift Travel Restrictions on Americans

To: Bush Administration, U.S. Justice Dept, & U.S. Congress

Michael Moore found out during an appearance on the Jay Leno show on July 26 that he has been subpoenaed by the Bush Administration. The subpoena regards Michael's trip to Cuba while filming SiCKO, where he takes 9-11 rescue workers to get needed medical care denied to them in the U.S. It was provided to them free of charge in Cuba.

We call on the Bush Administration & the U.S. Justice Department to immediately cease any & all investigations & any possible prosecution of Michael Moore.

We also call on Congress to change the laws restricting Americans right to travel to Cuba if they so desire.
Sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/sicko

Michael Moore Subpoenaed by Bush Administration

Michael Moore says he's been served

BURBANK, Calif., July 26 (UPI) -- Michael Thursday said the Bush administration has served him with a subpoena regarding his trip to Cuba during the making of his new film, "Sicko."

The Oscar-winning filmmaker, who appeared Thursday on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," said he was notified about the subpoena at the network's studios in Burbank, Calif.

"I haven't even told my own family yet," Moore said. "I was just informed when I was back there with Jay that the Bush administration has now issued a subpoena for me."

Moore filmed the trip as part of his film comparing the U.S. healthcare system with government healthcare systems in other countries.

He took three Sept. 11, 2001, emergency rescue workers to Guantanamo Bay "because I heard the al-Qaida terrorists we have in the camps there, detained, are receiving free dental, medical, eye care, the whole deal, and our own (Sept. 11) rescue workers can't get that in New York City."

Moore said the film's distributor, the Weinstein Co., will donate 11 percent of "Sicko's" box-office receipts Aug. 11 to "help these workers and the other workers who need help."

Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign narrow lead - one day left!

Dear Friends:

While Gaza remains cut off from the world and thousands are stranded at the border, The Rebuilding Alliance has launched an important initiative. If they receive enough donations in the next 24 hours to maintain their lead, they could win an important financial victory, help in the effort to make Palestinian causes mainstream, and tell the people in Gaza that there are Americans who care about them. Please forward widely.

Thank you,
Rachel's Words
Kathleen Chalfant, Sally Eberhardt, Jen Marlowe, Ann Petter,
Brian Pickett, Dave Reed, Suzy Salamy, Tom Wallace
www.rachelswords.org

Dear Friends,

GlobalGiving.com informed us that our project, the Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign, is narrowly leading their international competition. We have 24 hours to maintain this lead and win an important victory. Please donate before 11:59 EST on Friday, July 27!

Please help rebuild the next home in the Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza, the home of physiotherapist Ali Al Bahry and his family. Donate now at GlobalGiving and help us win an additional $5000, $3000, or $2000 for this project through an eBay match.

1. Why build this home in Gaza now? Our partner from Gaza, Mr. Husam El Nounou, Public Relations Director for Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, came to the U.S. in June to raise funds for this home. On return he became stranded Egypt, and remains there unable to return to his home and family in Gaza. Credible reports indicate some 5,000-6,000 Palestinians are stuck in Rafah and Al-Areesh and another 30,000 spread throughout Egypt as the blockade of Gaza enters its second month. Husam's colleague, Dr. Mona El Farrah, lost her mother, unable to see her one last time.

Being home, going home, rebuilding home -- our work is about all of that. Our projects are symbols of hope that help rebuild shattered communities and offer people around the world immediate ways to make peace, starting with the tangible support of a family's right to a home. We ask your help to rebuild a home for the Al Bahry family, and we also ask you to pick up your phone to ask Congress to speak out against this grueling blockade. Donate now

2. Rebuilding during the blockade of Gaza? Yes, we can because we just did! The Rebuilding Alliance completed the first home in the Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza on May 24 2007. We built it for the Nasrallah family, the family Rachel Corrie sought to protect when she stood before the Israeli Army D-9 Caterpillar bulldozer that threatened their home. When friends and family saw the home that American families helped build, they volunteered their time and talent to help finish it off right.

3. But how can the Rebuilding Alliance build this house during a blockade, when all imports of building materials have stopped and even the U.N. has called-off construction projects? Everyone is pitching in. Dr. Eyad El Sarraj is taking the list of materials to every contractor he knows to ask if they can spare ten cubic meters of concrete, or a re-bar or two.

"The first step starts with the drawings for the home. An engineering consultancy company in Gaza may want to provide this service as a donation from their company," writes Khaled Nasrallah, an expert in logistics and part of the family Rachel Corrie sought to protect. "The next step is to get the approval from the engineering association which also may be for free or with a big discount. This phase is the beginning and can show the world that the Gaza community still seeks to work in a healthy environment and uphold its responsibilities."

Then the family goes to the municipality to confirm title of the land and apply for water and electricity. Please note that this may not be easy: The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, in urgent call to save the judicial system, also reports that the system of permits, taxes, and fees has been suspended. By applying for a permit and doing this publicly with reports back to you, our donors, we'll find out where things stand.

The next step is building and that starts with clearing land and digging. Our team will be asking the Gaza community to help, a brave step for all who step forward.

4. Can you still transfer funds to the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme for this project? Yes, because the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme is a non-governmental organization, fully in compliance with the U.S. Patriot Act. Funds transfers to Palestinian NGOs for humanitarian projects are allowed.

5. Will rebuilding this house in Gaza somehow help the current government(s)?
No, because ours is a non-governmental project all the way. Construction is supervised by the Rebuilding Alliance's engineer, the Al Bahry family, and our NGO partner in Gaza, the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. Dr. Eyad El Sarraj at GCMHP is just one of many colleagues who speaks out against injustice no matter where it originates.

6. How does the Global Giving contest work? GlobalGiving.com is offering all projects in their filmfest competition the exclusive opportunity to receive $5,000, $3,000 or $2,000! Thanks to the generosity of one of GlobalGivings most valued partners, eBay, three of the pioneering projects will receive these additional funds.

7. How can I help? Please Donate Now via the GlobalGiving website and forward this message to your mailing list.

It is a brave move for a family to rebuild during a blockade. Your support means everything.

In rebuilding peace,
Donna Baranski-Walker
Executive Director of the Rebuilding Alliance

P.S. Heres a script that can help with your calls to Congress. Urge your senators and congressperson to speak out against this blockade and help Husam El Nounou, Dr. Mona Al Farra and thousands more return home.

P.P.S. Rebuilding Alliance board member, Jenni Fischer, has created a blog primarily dedicated to her Run for Peace, a 31.3 mile trail run she is undertaking for her 30th birthday as a fundraiser for The Rebuilding Alliance. It is called, "The Good Long Road." Check it out at http://jennifischer.blogspot.com/.

______________________________
The Rebuilding Alliance, a 501c3 nonprofit organization (EIN 56-2392452), rebuilds homes and communities in regions of war and occupation. We advocate for government policies towards these regions based on human rights and international law. Through a mutual commitment to justice, we create alliances among our supporters, partners, and those who suffer injustice and violence, yet resist through rebuilding. Our projects are symbols of hope that help rebuild shattered communities and offer people around the world immediate ways to make peace, starting with the tangible support of a family's right to a home.

Donations are tax deductible in the U.S. Donate Now

The Rebuilding Alliance
457 Kingsley Avenue
Palo Alto, California 94301
United States

phone: 650 325-4663
fax: 650 325-4667

email: info@RebuildingAlliance.org
www.RebuildingAlliance.org

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For more information, actions you can take to spread Rachel's words, and updates on efforts to bring the play "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" around the world, visit http://www.rachelswords.org

Please consider a financial donation to the effort. You can donate online securely at http://www.rachelswords.org/donate

Every Friday - Declare It Now: Wear Orange! Drive Out the Bush Regime! actions across the nation

Calls for Impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney Spreading

In Charlotte, NC:
Friday, Aug 3, 2007
5:30 pm (til at least 7:00pm)
7th St & Pecan Ave

Asking, “Do you want to see the Bush regime impeached and driven from office? Do you want the war in Iraq ended?” a new campaign challenges people to “Declare It Now! Wear Orange.” Proponents of removing Bush and Cheney from office are wearing bright orange shirts, bandanas, ribbons and buttons, wrapping trees and cars in orange tape, and holding bright orange signs.

Launch events Friday July 27 will inaugurate “Orange Fridays” on which people are especially urged to wear orange and gather in public places. According to Dr. Dennis Loo of California State University Pomona, the Declare It Now campaign is “a way of publicly declaring ourselves, seizing the moral high ground and showing our collective determination to bring the crimes of the Bush administration to a halt NOW. People will stand out loud in the crowd, making their sentiments visible as more people associate orange with ‘Bush & Cheney must go,’ and find people who think as they do.”

There will be a major rally in New York City at Union Square. Speakers at Friday’s rally in New York City are anti-war leader Cindy Sheehan, Colonel Ann Wright, Jonathan Tasini, Victor Toro, Rev. Billy, and Elaine Brower.

Wednesday the Washington Post poll reported a poll showing that President Bush has a disapproval rating of 65%, nearly equal to Richard Nixon’s 66% rating, four days before he resigned the presidency, and reporting that this is the longest sustained disapproval rating in modern history.

Articles of impeachment against Vice President Cheney (House Res 333) now have 15 co-sponsors in Congress. The Bush administration is openly defying subpoenas in the Gonzales federal attorney firing case to testify before Congress, asserting that the Justice Department will not enforce them. Recently, commentator Keith Olbermann, columnist Jimmy Breslin, and film maker Michael Moore called for President Bush to be impeached or resign. The demand reached Capitol Hill on Monday, where 46 people were arrested at the office of John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, protesting the committee’s refusal to move on impeachment.

Proponents of impeachment say that holding President Bush and Vice President Cheney accountable for their most unpopular acts of occupying Iraq, authorizing the use of torture in interrogation, and vastly increasing the powers of the presidency is both morally right and the only way to stop further destruction of the rule of law and end the Iraq war.

Debra Sweet, Director of The World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush regime said in Washington this week, “If George Bush is not driven from office, if his program is not repudiated, before the end of his term then everything he has done -- from the legalization of torture, the ripping up of the rule of law, the spying and lying and assaults on women and gays and science and critical thought, his betrayal of Black people in New Orleans -- all this will remain no matter who becomes the next president. It’s on us to change this.”

For national details see: click here.

For Charlotte, NC details see: www.CharlotteAction.org or call 704.492.8527

Coca-Cola Destroys Lives - Protest in Atlanta

Click here to watch video.

3 police officers convicted in beating

By CARRIE ANTLFINGER, AP, July 26, 2007

MILWAUKEE - Three white former police officers were convicted Thursday of beating a biracial man outside a party and violating his civil rights, but a suspended officer was acquitted in the case.

Federal prosecutors said the four were part of a group of off-duty officers who beat Frank Jude Jr. in October 2004 outside a housewarming party for one of the officers.

The jury that included one black man convicted fired officers Jon Bartlett, 35, Daniel Masarik, 27, and Andrew Spengler, 28, of violating Jude's civil rights and conspiring to assault him while acting as officers. Each faces up to 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines at sentencing, set for Nov. 29.

Suspended officer Ryan Packard, 27, was acquitted of both charges after the jury deliberated 3 1/2 days.

An all-white jury acquitted Bartlett, Masarik and Spengler of most state charges last year. Hundreds marched through downtown in protest.

Six months later, federal prosecutors charged those three and Packard, as well as four others, who have pleaded guilty to similar federal charges.

Jude smiled and put his arm around his attorney as about 20 people cheered outside the courthouse.

"I'm happy, but at the same time a little sad about Ryan Packard," Jude said. "He was there but didn't do nothing to help me or protect me."

Jude went to Spengler's home with Lovell Harris, 34, who is black, and two white women. He testified during the federal trial that a group of men surrounded their truck as they left and dragged him out.

Someone in the group punched him repeatedly and kicked him in the groin, causing him to black out at least once, Jude testified. The beating continued even after on-duty police arrived.

Jude testified that he recognized Spengler's voice as the person who threatened him while a gun was put to his head, but acknowledged he didn't see who it was. He also said he couldn't identify the people who beat him.

Other witnesses said the four officers punched or kicked Jude.

Bartlett's lawyer, Gerald Boyle, said he felt the trial was fair. Masarik's lawyer, Jonathan Smith, said his client was disappointed but no decision has been made on an appeal.

Attorneys for Spengler and Packard would not comment.

The police department disciplined 13 officers after the confrontation, including nine who were fired. Two of the fired officers won back their jobs.

Jude and the others who were with him have sued the officers and the city in federal court.

Race is the Tripwire for the Progressive Movement: John Conyers and Impeachment

By Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., AfterDowningStreet.org, July 26, 2007

On July 23, Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern and I met with U.S. Rep. John Conyers about the issue of impeachment. We delivered a petition for impeachment with one million American signatures. While we met, 400 activists waited in the halls outside of his office along with a hoard of media to find out what the outcome of the meeting would be. The meeting was a very significant moment for the progressive movement from a historical standpoint. The movement for impeachment and the immediate reactions to why John Conyers was publicly targeted on this issue reflect how race continues to be, as my dear friend Bill Fletcher says, the tripwire for the progressive movement.

Rep. Conyers is a great mentor to me and my respect for him is unquestionable. He has been fighting for peace and justice and civil rights for decades inside and outside of Congress. He is a man for the people and for America. So, it was a truly disappointing moment on Monday, when we realized – as mentor and mentee – that we do not agree on his role as the Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary committee to uphold our constitution by holding our President and Vice President accountable for their impeachable offensives.

After concluding our meeting I stepped into the hallway with Cindy Sheehan and Ray McGovern to inform the crowd that he refused to put impeachment back on the table. We then returned to his office and sat down, refusing to leave until Capitol Police arrested us.

Since Monday, our action has been criticized on two fronts. First, by the tedious “maintain the Democratic party line no matter what” folks who think that we should wait Bush out until November 2008 and get back at him by voting in a Democrat for President. Second, by folks who have interpreted our targeting of Rep. Conyers, a deeply respected African-American leader in Congress, as an attack that is fundamentally racist by the White leftists of the anti-war movement.

To uncritical supporters of the Democratic Party, I say this is not a time for partisan politics. To use the American people’s frustration with Bush as political leverage in the 2008 elections, and to ignore the constitutional responsibility the legislative branch has to hold the executive branch accountable through the impeachment process, flies in the face of our democracy. People are dying in Iraq because of Bush’s lies; people are being tortured in Guantanamo because of Bush’s disregard for the Constitution and international law; and the American people are loosing faith in our democracy. But, Congress doesn’t get that, and that is why their current approval rating is lower than Bush’s.

To my African-American counterparts who take issue with the White progressive anti-war movement, I understand your criticism of our recent action in Mr. Conyers office, but I do not agree. It was extremely difficult to challenge a man that means so much to African-Americans, but impeaching Bush is critical to the future of our country. We cannot let the precedent stand that Bush has established, which severely oversteps the bounds of executive power. We cannot send the message that such actions will not go unpunished, or at least unchecked.

Impeachment begins in the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, which Rep. John Conyers chairs. He is in the position to begin the impeachment process or keep it from happening, and no other human being is in that position. In addition, Rep. Conyers is the recognized authority on Capitol Hill both on impeachment and on the impeachable offenses of Vice President Cheney and President Bush. He and his staff literally wrote the book on them before the Democrats won the majority last November: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/constitutionincrisis.

Moreover, the action on Monday was not a first resort – it was a last resort. There is no other recourse against Bush for the American people after impeachment, and if Rep. Conyers does not put forth impeachment then we have no recourse and the Democrats will have failed us.

This moment is not about race, it is not about John Conyers, and it is much bigger than the divides within our movements. This moment is about our future as a country, because humanity is at stake. The Bush administration’s hunger for war has caused so much instability in our world that we face a state of permanent wars.

The challenge we face as activists and leaders is how can we possibly bring an end to this madness when the Democrats in power are not with us? We need a broad-based movement that can hold our elected officials accountable and to create such a movement we need to address our internal divides. The reason many African-Americans have interpreted our action against Rep. Conyers as racial betrayal goes deep into the tradition of the progressive movement. How we can begin to address this is something I will discuss in an upcoming article.

In the meantime, for the sake of our country and our world, let us all work to impeach Bush and Cheney now.

Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. is the President of the Hip Hop Caucus. The Hip Hop Caucus is a national, nonprofit, non-partisan organization meant to inspire and motivate those of us born after the ‘60s civil rights movement.

War Profiteers Plan Next Summit to Continue Looting Iraq

By David Dixon, www.CharlotteAction.org, July 26, 2007

The Iraq Development Program (formerly Iraq Procurement) is a virtual guide to companies profiteering from the invasion & occupation of Iraq.

They have been organizing "Meet The Buyers" conferences since 2004 to facilitate face-to-face discussion between “key business leaders & decision makers” according to their website.

IDP's next event “Iraq Oil, Gas, Petrochemical, & Electricity Summit” is scheduled for Sept 2 – 4 in Dubai.

The “Event Sponsor" is Chevron and “Gold Sponsors” include: Shell, Conoco-Phillips and BP.

There is a section of their website dedicated to “Explaining Iraq’s New Hydrocarbon Law” that states, “The implications of the hydrocarbon law for international oil companies looking to work in Iraq are huge, with the arrangement allowing for regional government officials and local companies to engage in contracts with any foreign corporations.”

The links on the section for “Official Summit Media Partners” contain a wealth of information of what the war profiteers are up to.

There could not be a better resource for understanding one of the primary goals of the U.S. invasion & occupation of Iraq. Indeed, to judge by the Iraq Development Program’s website everything is going along just fine as planned.

Be sure to share this with your friends and save it to use as a resource in the future.

A guide to Iraq War Profiteers:

Iraq Development Program
www.iraqdevelopmentprogram.org

Groups Protest Bush in Philly, Call for Impeachment

Click here to watch CBS News clip. (short ad at beginning.)

See the Movie, Start the Revolution ...a letter from Michael Moore

Thursday, July 26th, 2007

Friends,

I am overwhelmed by the response to "Sicko." And I'm not just talking about all the wonderful, heart-felt letters you've sent me and the stories you've shared with me about the abuse you've suffered from our health care system.

No, I'm talking about how thousands of you are taking matters into your own hands and using the movie to do something. From Seattle to New England, each day I learn of numerous groups holding meetings or dinners after the movie to discuss it and to plot a course for action. A church in Plano, TX took its weekly bible study group to see "SiCKO." 70 people crammed into a Wisconsin coffee shop's back room. Groups are plotting over pancakes in Illinois and microbrew in Missouri. E-mail addresses are being exchanged in theater lobbies. A Connecticut group is inviting legislators to see "Sicko" and keeping a tally on their website. Local groups have been buying out theaters to have special screenings for their members. Information tables are set up, literature is distributed, action groups are formed.

It's all an amazing sight. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see the impact a movie can have. For all of you who have written me to ask, "What can I do," well, read more about what others have done, and then try these simple steps:

1. Call or write you member of Congress right now (I'll wait) and tell him or her that you insist they become a co-sponsor of H.R. 676 -- "The United States National Health Insurance Act." It's sponsored currently by Rep. John Conyers and 76 other members of Congress. Insist that your congressperson be one of those co-sponsors. I want to see 100 co-sponsors by Thanksgiving. Will you help make that happen?

2. Call and write to each of the candidates running for President. Tell them you expect them to back H.R. 676, and to take the Senator Brown pledge. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio refuses to accept his free, government-run health insurance until EVERY American is covered.

3. Organize your own local HealthCare-Now! coalition. You can do it in your own neighborhood. It has to start somewhere. Everyday people have to make this happen. Don't wait for someone else to do this. Ask yourself, "if not me, who?"

4. Call your local media and tell them about your health care horror story. Many papers and TV stations have been running these since "Sicko" arrived in theaters. They like the local angle. Tell them you saw the movie and that there's a "Sicko" story happening right here in (fill in the blank). Tell them you are passing it on to me.

Well, that's a start. Here's what I'm going to do. Because last weekend's "Win a Trip to a Universal Healthcare Country" was so successful (the winner will be announced next week), this weekend we're going to try something different: it's "Take a Republican to 'Sicko!'" C'mon, we all have a conservative in the family! They mean well. It's just that they believe what they've been told about that scary "socialized medicine." Treat them to the movie this weekend and tell them to send me their ticket stub and entry form. I will hold a drawing and the lucky winner will get to have me come to their home and do their laundry -- just like in France! Now, what would make a Republican happier than to see me working away in their laundry room?!

I truly believe that the health care issue is one where we can find some common ground with those who may hold different opinions than us. After all, they're getting the shaft by the same insurance and pharmaceutical companies we are. And sooner or later, they're not going to take it any more, either.

Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. I will be on Jay Leno (The Tonight Show on NBC) tonight (Thursday) at 11:35pm ET/PT. I will be making a special announcement on the show.

IRAQ: Living Becomes Hard in a Dead City

By Ahmed Ali*

BAQUBA, Jul 23 (IPS) - Life in the violence-plagued capital city of Iraq's Diyala province has become a struggle for day-to-day survival.

Heavy U.S military operations, sectarian death squads and al-Qaeda militants have combined to make normal life in Baquba, 50 km northeast of Baghdad, all but impossible.

Movement from the city to another destination is extremely dangerous. Kidnappings have become rampant in a lawless city where government control is only a mirage.

Lack of security and mobility have meant severe shortages of fuel, food, medical supplies and other necessities.

The central market in the city of about 325,000 has vanished. It is not just the shopping that is gone. People used to meet acquaintances in the market to socialise and sometimes do business.

The ongoing violence has ended all that. The market has become scattered around city districts. Many shop owners have reopened smaller shops within their houses, and abandoned their business locations.

About two or three persons have been killed or abducted in the market daily on average in recent weeks. This had started to happen even before the U.S. military operation Arrowhead Ripper was launched last month with the intention of targeting al-Qaeda forces. Now residents say it is much worse.

"The troops have closed all the outlets from the city, and never allow cars to move," Amir Ayad, a 51-year-old assistant professor in the sciences college at Diyala University told IPS. "To get my college, I have to get a cart as other people do. It is five kilometres, and it is better than walking."

"For the final examinations which were held unfortunately during this period of military operations, students had to walk hours to get to the exam centre," Prof. Majeed Abid told IPS. "They were exhausted and sweating."

Animal-drawn carts have now become a new business in Baquba. Most of these are drawn by donkeys, and each cart carries 10-15 passengers who pay two to three dollars a journey.

"Every day I bring vegetables four kilometres by cart and pay 25-35 dollars for this," 29-year-old Adil Omran told IPS. "For this reason, the prices have increased tremendously."

"A tomato, which is grown commonly in Iraq, is usually around six cents," said Mahmood Ali, a retired teacher. "Nowadays, we buy it for 1.25 dollar. Families now tend to buy one or two bags of potatoes (30 kilos each) because they cannot afford the increasing prices of other vegetables."

Complicating matters is the already unsteady disbursement of salaries due to the volatile security situation.

"Officials used to receive their salaries every month, but for a year and a half now we receive our salaries only every 50-70 days," Kadhim Raad, a 44-year-old official in the municipality of Baquba told IPS.

"The staff at the Ministry of Education have not received their salaries for three months because no money is available in the banks," Sara Latif, an official in the finance department of the Directorate General of Education told IPS.

People are now looking for ways to leave this city of continuing violence, delayed salaries, lack of jobs, lack of open markets, closed factories, no functioning municipal work, and very little farming due to lack of water and electricity.

The average house in Baquba gets one or two hours of electricity a day. It is not uncommon for three or four days to pass without a minute of electricity.

Most people have bought small generators, but lack of fuel often makes it impossible to run these. Before the U.S.-led invasion, a litre of petrol in Iraq cost five cents; today in Baquba it is nearly two dollars.

There are no functioning fuel stations. Instead, people buy 20-litre jugs.

"People have forgotten there is something called a petrol station," Hamid Alwan, a 46-year-old taxi driver told IPS. "The owners of petrol stations sell the tankers of petrol before they are brought to Baquba to make more money."

And all this is less than the biggest concern – to find a way just to stay safe.

(*Ahmed, our correspondent in Iraq's Diyala province, works in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who travels extensively in the region) (END/2007)

Food & water in northeastern Baghdad in short supply

AP, July 26, 2007

Iraqi women clamor for food distributed by Iraqi Red Crescent Society workers in the Husseiniyah area of northeastern Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, July 26, 2007. Food and water are in short supply in the Shiite stronghold after U.S. troops cordoned off the area during military operations there.(AP photo/Wisam Sami)

Clip of Reuters Interview with Gerardo Hernández broadcast on Democracy Now!

Anti-terrorist imprisoned by U.S. in the media

Cuban spy jailed in U.S. pins hope on appeal
by Marie Frail, July 24, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Cuban spy serving two life sentences in a U.S. high-security prison hopes an appeals court will annul convictions by a Miami jury he says was too scared to acquit him in a highly charged anti-Castro setting.

Gerardo Hernandez told Reuters by telephone from prison that he was spying on paramilitary exile groups in Miami, not the United States, when he and four members of his so-called Wasp Network were arrested by the FBI in 1998.

His mission was to prevent "terrorist" attacks on Cuba, he said.

"You can be a terrorist in this country if you are a terrorist against Cuba, no problem with that. Those are the good terrorists for the U.S. government," he said from Victorville Penitentiary in California.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta will hold oral hearings on August 20 in an appeal that could reopen the case of the "Cuban Five" convicted in 2001 of spying on behalf of Fidel Castro's Communist government.

Prosecutors accused the Cuban Five of trying to infiltrate U.S. military installations to obtain secrets. One did work as a janitor at a Boca Chica Navy training base near Key West.

Hernandez, 42, was also indicted for conspiracy to commit murder based on the allegation he passed information to Havana that led to the downing in 1996 by a Cuban MiG jet of two small planes operated by a Miami-based Cuban exile group and flying near Cuba. Four people were killed.

Hernandez says that was no secret: the exile group Brothers to the Rescue, which had overflown Havana dropping leaflets, announced its plan to fly toward Cuba in a news conference.

"If you go to the worst espionage cases in U.S. history, those people got life sentences for stealing very secret and damaging documents for foreign powers," he said. "I got life for stealing nothing."

Hernandez says jurors in his trial, who unanimously found him guilty, were intimidated by the media in Miami, the bastion of the Cuban exile community.

A three-judge panel from the Atlanta court overturned the convictions against the five men in 2005. It said intense publicity and "pervasive prejudice" against Castro had prevented them from getting a fair trial in Miami.

But that decision was reversed by the full court last year.

In Cuba, the jailed spies are officially portrayed as national heroes cast as victims of the hostility U.S. governments have held for Cuba since Castro took power in a 1959 revolution.

AMATEUR CARTOONIST

Hernandez said he was not appealing a conviction for using false names and documents, or for not registering with the U.S. government as an agent of a foreign country, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

"That's right, we were working for Cuba. We always recognized that," said Hernandez, an international relations graduate and amateur cartoonist.

The hardest thing in prison is not seeing his wife, Adriana Perez, he said. They last saw each other a decade ago. U.S. authorities have denied her a visa to travel to see him.

Hernandez is allowed to write letters and gets 300 minutes of telephone time a month but is barred from sending e-mails.

"They are condemning us never to see them again," Perez said in Havana.

Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly, says the five agents were subjected to "cruel and absurd" treatment in the United States for not switching sides and denouncing the Cuban government.

"They have not been able to break them. They have made them and their families suffer," he said in an interview.

The Cuban Five were put in solitary confinement for the first 17 months after their arrest, which obstructed their contact with defense lawyers, a fact that in itself would warrant a retrial, Alarcon said.

By contrast, he said, Cuban-American businessman Santiago Alvarez, who was found in possession of an arsenal of guns, grenade launchers, mortars and explosives, was jailed last year in Miami for three years and recently got a reduced sentence.

(Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle in Havana)
************************
For info on the Campaign to Free the Five see www.freethefive.org.

Thousand people march to demand justice & freedom for Genarlow Wilson


Click here to watch part 1.


Click here to watch part 2.

Michael Moore: 'Impeach the President'

Justice Should be Color-Blind -- Journey for Humanity and Accountability Day 16

By Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star Families For Peace, July 25, 2007

Justice should be color-blind, but we all know that it still is not.

There are many perhaps thousands if not millions, historically, cases disputing the blindness of justice but when I think about this contradiction a few cases jump to my mind.

The incident in Georgia where the young man was given a sentence of ten years in prison for consensual sexual contact between minors is one example. Paris Hilton got a slap in the wrist for breaking parole, but she's white and rich. White, rich people rarely have to pay for their crimes.

Black people in New Orleans were shot or arrested for "looting" after Katrina and if white people did the same thing, they were only trying to "survive."

Mexican illegal immigration is now being blamed for all of our economic woes in America when the blame lies with the military industrial war economy and such entities as Wal-Mart sending our jobs and manufacturing to Asia. In previous times of economic challenges, the Irish and Chinese were blamed.

Now, incredibly, I am being accused of being a racist for demanding that Congressman John Conyers do his job as is Ray McGovern. When I think of the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, I don't think of a black man, I think of a legislator that should do his/her job whatever color their skin is.

Why does everything have to be divided along lines in this country? As Rev. Yearwood (who is black and is challenging Rep Conyers to do his job, too). We need to look at the human and not their political party, religion, color, or economic status.

When I have challenged George Bush, does that make me a self-hating Caucasian?

When I challenge Nancy Pelosi for her seat in Congress, does that make me a female chauvinist pig?

Bringing up the race issue in this case is irrelevant and sleazy. It's like being labeled an anti-Semite because one is against the policies of Israel toward Palestine, or being called anti-American because we are against the anti-humanitarian policies of the Bush regime.

I have stood with Cynthia McKinney when she was up for re-election because I believe she is a woman of principle, even when it wasn't popular to do so. I have stood and been a guest of other members of the Black Caucus in Congress because we all stand for peace. I believe the Democrats used the anti-war left of which I am a leading member to regain both houses of Congress and many, including John Conyers appeared at events and in photos with me, and to know label this a "white activist" vs. black man is further proof of this exploitation of the anti-war movement.

It is not personal for me with Rep. Conyers or racist. I think the white power elite who has always had the say and authority to enforce or disobey laws at will and has a monopoly about what happens politically in this country since people with my indoor sexual plumbing weren't allowed to vote and people with the color of John Conyers' skin were only counted as 3/5s of a person, need to finally be brought to justice.

There has never been an equality of justice in this country. No one in the Bush regime has ever had to be held to account for the death and destruction they have caused. Their domestic politics have left every child behind, but particularly in disadvantaged communities where we all know there is an inherently racist poverty draft.

Rep. John Conyers was not targeted for the color of his skin, but for his betrayal of the American public and the Constitution.

No matter what color they are, the Bush Crime mob needs to go to prison and no matter what color he is, John Conyers needs to do his job.

When does having a thirst for justice and a yearning for peace make one racist? When the country is run by the Orwellian Rove masters, I guess.

Go to www.thecampcaseypeaceinstitute.org for more information on our Journey for Humanity and Accountability or to donate to defray our expenses.

Bush Executice Order another step towards dictatorship

Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq
White House Office of the Press Secretary
, Tuesday 17 July 2007

Fact sheet: Message to the Congress of the United States Regarding International Emergency Economic Powers Act

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)(NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that, due to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, it is in the interests of the United States to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003, and expanded in Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004. I hereby order:


Section 1. (a) Except to the extent provided in section 203(b)(1), (3), and (4) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1), (3), and (4)), or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, all property and interests in property of the following persons, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,

(i) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:

(A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or

(B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people;

(ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act or acts of violence or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or

(iii) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.

(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include, but are not limited to, (i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order, and (ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

Sec. 3. For purposes of this order:

(a) the term "person" means an individual or entity;

(b) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; and

(c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.

Sec. 4. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the type specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.

Sec. 5. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that, because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.

Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government, consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order and, where appropriate, to advise the Secretary of the Treasury in a timely manner of the measures taken.

Sec. 7. Nothing in this order is intended to affect the continued effectiveness of any rules, regulations, orders, licenses, or other forms of administrative action issued, taken, or continued in effect heretofore or hereafter under 31 C.F.R. chapter V, except as expressly terminated, modified, or suspended by or pursuant to this order.

Sec. 8. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

July 17, 2007.


Cindy Sheehan at Sterling tonight in Allentown PA

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is scheduled to speak at the Sterling Hotel on Hamilton Street in Allentown at 7 p.m. tonight.

Sheehan was arrested Monday in Washington for disorderly conduct shortly after telling a group of activists that she would run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the California Democrat's refusal to try to impeach President Bush. Sheehan and about 200 protesters then walked from Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., to the Capitol Hill office of Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Sheehan and 45 other protesters were arrested in Conyers' office after trying to convince him to begin impeachment proceedings against Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Police said each would be released after paying a $50 fine.

A peace walk from Allentown's National Guard armory, at 15th and Allen streets, to the Sterling Hotel will precede Sheehan's appearance.

-- Morning Call staff reports

The Media Notion of President's Ultimate War Power

by Norman Solomon, Creators Syndicate, July 21, 2007

Days before an all-night session of the Senate failed to result in passage of an out-of-Iraq measure last Wednesday morning, President Bush told a news conference: "I don't think Congress ought to be running the war."

Such assertions often proliferate in news media. Many politicians and pundits encourage us to believe that we should defer to presidential power as the proper way to determine foreign policies in general and war policy in particular.

Those claims are routine from loyal partisans who back the president as the head of their party. Respecting the authority of the man in the Oval Office has been thematic for officeholders who reinforce the concept that the president is the decider for war and peace. Frequently, the message is that members of Congress who say otherwise are interlopers.

David Brooks — who writes a syndicated New York Times column and serves as a regular commentator on the PBS "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" and other TV programs — is among the many commentators who keep trying to reinforce the notion that the president is the boss. "The Constitution gives the president power to wage war and really to manage this thing," Brooks said on CNN's "Reliable Sources" in late May.

Brooks was echoing a long line of mainstream journalists who have distorted what the United States Constitution actually says about presidential power to wage war. The president is not the legislative branch's "commander in chief." The extensive list of congressional powers enumerated in the Constitution includes basic decision-making on military matters. And most importantly, Congress has the undisputed right to decide whether to pay for a war effort — or to end it by refusing to appropriate money for it.

More than 40 years ago, a widely esteemed journalist named Peter Lisagor was making the same kind of dubious claims on network television. As the moderator of the CBS program "Face the Nation," Lisagor told a guest: "Senator, the Constitution gives to the president of the United States the sole responsibility for the conduct of foreign policy."

A reply came in a split second from the guest, Senator Wayne Morse.
"Couldn't be more wrong," he shot back — "you couldn't make a more unsound legal statement than the one you have just made. This is the promulgation of an old fallacy that foreign policy belongs to the president of the United States. That's nonsense."

Lisagor replied with a key question: "Then to whom does it belong, then, Senator?"

Again, Morse didn't hesitate. "It belongs to the American people," the senator fired back, "and the Constitutional fathers made it very clear —"

Journalist Lisagor interrupted: "Where does the president fit into this in the responsibility scale?"

"What I'm saying is under our constitution all the president is, is the administrator of the people's foreign policy, those are his prerogatives, and I'm pleading that the American people be given the facts about foreign policy —

"You know, Senator, that the American people cannot formulate and execute foreign policy —"

"Why you're a man of little faith in democracy if you make that kind of comment," Morse retorted. "I have complete faith in the ability of the American people to follow the facts if you'll give them, and my charge against my government is we're not giving the American people the facts."

Believe it or not, that exchange on CBS Television occurred in May 1964 — more than two months before the Gulf of Tonkin resolution sailed through Congress on the basis of presidential lies about a supposed unprovoked attack on U.S. ships in the Tonkin Gulf. That resolution served as a congressional green light for massive escalation of the Vietnam War.

More than four decades later, the war debates on the Senate floor are sharpening. But for several years they have wandered along the dull edges of political evasion and obfuscation.

With rare exceptions, even the most vociferous war opponents of today were unwilling to challenge the president's war-making dominance over policy in 2003 and 2004. Like the pundits whose slings and arrows they fear, the vast majority of senators have fallen far short of the standards set by Senator Wayne Morse, a truly visionary leader whose prophetic warnings went unheeded.

Norman Solomon's latest book, "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death," is now available in paperback. To find out more about Norman Solomon and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Playing With Us and With People's Lives - Transcript of Conyers

By David Swanson, AfterDowningStreet.org, July 25, 2007

Last Friday, Congressman John Conyers spoke in San Diego. Here's a transcript:

CONYERS: Now, let me close with this one suggestion, is that I need some Members of Congress to come to me and say Mr Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I heard you were out in San Diego, and they really put it to you, and you made commitments that we don't know if you were just saying, saying something to get out of that hotel alive or were you, or were you serious and here's what we need to do. We need to have three Members of Congress from anywhere come and say, "Congressman, if you... if you are willing to support an inquiry into a resolution of whether there had been acts of impeachability conducted by, the Vice President of, and the President of the
United States, that could lead to High Crimes and Misdemeanors, then we will join you if you introduce such a resolution."

SPECTATOR: With House Resolution 333, you have that right now, do you not?

CONYERS: No, I, I, this is something that we are working on right now. We don't have it right now.

SPECTATOR: We do have House Resolution 333.

CONYERS: I'm talking about more. Look. And so let us, let us see how many people would be willing to back us up, in addition to the ones --

SPECTATOR: Maxine Waters.

CONYERS: Let, let us, let us stay in close communication. These are decisions that should not be taken lightly. We have, I want to examine and put forward as we move along a close, critical examination of all of the benefits and the costs involved in making this momentous decision. It's easy to say that this is an easy, this is a no brainer, the logic is all on one side, and I wish that were so. If it were so, you would be here congratulating me for doing what you had been asking me and others to do for so long. So let's think soberly about it. There is no, let's say, now is the
time and we don't have to worry about the future. I, with due respect, disagree with
that. I have to think about the future. I have to weigh what this, the impact of this is going to be. And, by the way, you probably know, that there is such a thing as the retroactive impeachment process.

SPECTATORS: No, what's that? Tell us more.

CONYERS: If you introduced the resolution of impeachment after the person is gone.

SPECTATOR: Really? Wow!

CONYERS: When, I just, I just want you to know about all of the things. I am so glad that Bill Moyers did what he did. Those CDs and, we have to, print, and we want everybody to listen to them carefully and think seriously on this matter.

Here's the video: http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/25051

On Monday, in Washington D.C., Conyers told a group of citizens that he had no interest in pursuing impeachment. He had 45 of them arrested for sitting in his office.

Opposing impeachment when the case is so clear is bad enough. But toying with us about it amounts to playing with people's lives. Every day that Conyers holds off on impeachment, people die as a result of Cheney and Bush's crimes.

It is for the best that the sit-in on Monday has exposed the truth of Conyers' position. We can now all stop saying "He wants impeachment and will do it very soon," as so many people have been saying for the past 7 months. That deception leads to apathy. We can now say "He opposes impeachment and will do it as soon as we force him and his colleagues to do their jobs." That understanding leads to activism.

It's Up To Us - Journey for Humanity and Accountability Day 14

by Cindy Sheehan, The Camp Casey Peace Institute, July 24, 2007

I am lying in my hotel bed at the end of a very busy, productive, yet sad day.

About 300 people gathered today and marched the 3½ miles from the entrance of Arlington Cemetery to Congressman John Conyers' office to demand impeachment and accountability from one of the leading figures in American politics for the last four decades.

We were so thrilled with the turn-out and the energy of the group. There was great media coverage and about one dozen freepers on the opposite corner with signs like: "Traitors go to Hell" and "Cindy Sheehan go to Hell." Nice. I have learned that hell can be on earth and if there is anything worse than burying a child, I
don't want to know about it.

At the end of the march, Reverend Lennox Yearwood, President of the Hip Hop Caucus, Ray McGovern (retired CIA analyst) and I met with Congressman John Conyers to implore him to institute impeachment proceedings against the pretenders to the White House who are destroying our democracy, making a mockery out of our rule of law and who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

This was my third meeting with Congressman Conyers about impeachment. I hold a special place in my heart for him and I revere him for his decades long service to this nation but for the life of me, I cannot understand why he will not go forward with impeachment now.

A year ago he introduced HR635 to impeach George Bush while he was Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee and not even chairman. He wrote the book on impeachment called: The Constitution in Crisis and he readily admits that BushCo have committed impeachable offenses.

It's about partisan politics, pure and simple. The Congressman claims that there is absolutely no way that impeachment can go forward and when I was nearing the end of my hope I cried out: "So, if the people's house won't help us then we the people have no recourse against the executive branch." To which he replied: "Yes you do, vote the enablers out in '08." Firstly, Congressman Conyers told us to put Democrats
back in Congress to end the war and impeach BushCo. We did that and instead of ending the war, they gave George Bush more money to wage it and to conduct his deadly and tragic surge. Secondly, '08 will be too late to hold George and Dick accountable. Thirdly, thousands of more people will die in these last months of the worst Presidency in American history and lastly: after Dick proclaimed that he was not part of the executive branch and that his office does not have to comply with requests to turn over documents to the National Archives: 435 Congress Reps should have signed onto H Res 333 to impeach Cheney. Only fourteen have co-signed Congressman Kucinich's bill, so that makes 421 elected Congressional officials enablers of the crimes of the Bush Regime.

At the end of this day, Speaker Pelosi has not supported impeachment and has not upheld her oath of office to "protect and defend" the Constitution. Like Congressman Conyers said almost a year ago, our Constitution is in Crisis and we can't wait for more meetings and more stalling from Reps who think the problem will go away in '08. The Middle East is rapidly falling apart under this regime and our country is sliding rapidly into a state of one-branch tyranny while our "heroes" the Democrats fiddle.

It was with very heavy hearts that Rev. Yearwood, Ray, and I reported back to the media that the Congressman had said that with over one million signatures on
petitions and with one phone call coming into his office every 30 seconds supporting impeachment and with 300 activists in the hall to support him, he was still not going to move forward with the most urgent duty of his career. The Rev and I were particularly disheartened and broken because we do love the Congressman so much, but we love our country and the people of Iraq and the Middle East more. The Rev and Ray spent many years serving their country in the military and the CIA and I had a son who gave his life to do what the Congress is supposed to do: protect our freedoms, not hand them over to the mob that runs our country.

It is also with a heavy heart that I announce my candidacy against Nancy Pelosi in California's 8th. If anybody would dare think that I am not serious, I would hope that they would look back at the last three years of my life and everything that I have sacrificed to restore our nation to one that obeys the rule of law and can be looked up to with respect once again in the international community and not as the hated laughingstock on the block.

I am committed to challenging a two party system that has kept us in a state of constant warfare for the last 60 years and has become more and more beholden to
special interests and has forgotten the faces of the people whom it represents.

I am committed to using our strength as a country to wage peace and to elevate the status of every citizen in our country by converting the enduring war economy to a prosperous one with lasting peace.

Someone needs to step up to the plate to do this and I challenge other Americans to do the same. Challenge the status quo, because the status quo is no good. We need to become plugged into our government once again as active participants not just passive voters.

It is up to us.

For more about the Journey For Humanity & Accountability and to donate go to http://www.thecampcaseypeaceinstitute.org

Iraq Parliament approves law on oil refineries

By Reuters, July 24, 2007

BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament on Tuesday approved a draft law that opens the way for foreign companies to build and operate oil refineries in the country.

According to the law, regional governments and provincial authorities will be able to deal individually with foreign companies, sign contracts and award licences for the construction of refineries.

The Law on Investing and Refining Crude Oil is separate from a draft hydrocarbons law that will govern overall exploration and production and which is seen as crucial to bridging the deep sectarian divide in Iraq.

The draft hydrocarbon law has been submitted to parliament but has yet to be debated by the full legislature. Iraqi television showed parliamentarians approving the refining law.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry should supply crude oil to the investing companies according to export price of Iraqi crude, minus the cost of moving the oil to the nearest delivery point to the refinery and a one percent discount, the laws says.

Investing companies have the right to set the prices of refined oil, the law says, and sell the refined oil both within Iraq and externally.

Investing companies will be able to use Iraqi storage, port and pipeline facilities for export, according to contracts to be signed by the two parties.

July 27 Declare It Now with Cindy Sheehan in NYC - Drive Out The Bush Regime!

July 27, 2007
5:00 PM
Location: Union Square (South End)

Come to the Press Conference starting at 5 PM to stand with Cindy Sheehan (founding member of Gold Star Families for Peace) and others as they Declare It Now against the crimes of the Bush regime and give their reasons why.

At 6 PM a rally will begin with the sounds of live music, drumming, and poetry. Orange will cover Union Square Park as there is a procession around the park led by musicians to bring more people into the rally. The monthly Critical Mass bike ride will arrive in the part at this time.

Speakers at the rally will include:
Cindy Sheehan
Sunsara Taylor--Advisory Board member of World Can't Wait and writer for Revolution Newspaper
Elaine Brower--member of the National Steering Committee of the World Can't Wait and mother of a US Marine who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
There will be a performance of the Declare It Now call and a reading of the Call to Drive Out the Bush Regime.

This event will launch the color orange into New York City as people across the city come together to Declare themselves against the crimes of the Bush regime and then go out to ask others to do the same!

Call to volunteer at this event: 347-678-5905
email: nyc@worldcantwait.org
Donate to make it happen: nyc.worldcantwait.org

4 U.S. Troops Among Many Dead in Battles With Taliban

By Griff Witte, Washington Post, July 24, 2007; Page A10

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 23 -- Nearly 100 people, including four U.S. troops, died in clashes in Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday, military spokesmen said, as security forces battled Taliban fighters in a war that has been gaining intensity on both sides of the border.

The vast majority of those reported killed Monday were suspected insurgents.

In Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition reported that its troops, along with Afghan National Army soldiers, killed about 50 Taliban fighters in the southern province of Helmand. The battle began Sunday night when insurgents ambushed an Afghan army patrol with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, and continued into Monday. U.S.-led forces dropped four bombs on suspected Taliban positions, the coalition said.

Later, NATO forces reported that they had used air power to attack a meeting of Taliban leaders in southern Afghanistan. NATO did not provide casualty figures.

The four U.S. troops were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan, a NATO forces spokesman said. Another soldier was injured in the attack. Two other NATO troops were killed in separate incidents Monday. One was identified as Norwegian, while the other's nationality remained unconfirmed Monday night.

So far this year, 114 Western troops have died in Afghanistan, including 54 U.S. soldiers, according to a tally by the Associated Press. Violence has picked up in recent months, with NATO and U.S.-led forces launching operations in the south and east aimed at winning back territory that had become off-limits to the embattled government of President Hamid Karzai.

As support for the international mission in Afghanistan wavers, Taliban fighters have been kidnapping people from countries perceived as ambivalent about their commitment to the operation. The Islamic extremist movement ruled most of Afghanistan until the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

On Monday, the Taliban extended until Tuesday a deadline for killing 23 South Koreans who were taken hostage last week. The group has demanded the release of Taliban prisoners in exchange for the South Koreans, as well as for a German whom the group claims to be holding. The Taliban also has demanded the withdrawal of troops -- Germany has 3,000 in the country, while South Korea has 200 noncombat medics and engineers. The Seoul government previously announced that its personnel would go home by the end of the year.

Negotiations for the hostages are underway, but Afghanistan's military has said it will attempt a rescue if the talks break down.

On Pakistan's side of the border Monday, government forces killed 35 extremist fighters in North Waziristan, security officials said. Two Pakistani troops died in the clash.

Violence has flared in the restive tribal area for the past week since Taliban fighters renounced a 10-month-old accord with the government. Pakistani officials continue to try to revive the deal, but the United States has indicated a desire for it to remain dead. U.S. officials last week identified the tribal areas, and North Waziristan in particular, as a haven for al-Qaeda.

U.S. officials have been urging the government of Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to crack down in the area, and have said the United States reserves the right to act on its own if Pakistan does not follow through on promised operations.

That has elicited an angry response from Pakistani officials, who have asserted that any U.S. military action on Pakistani soil would be unacceptable and that the U.S. statements have only undercut Pakistan's ability to carry out an offensive.

VA failing Mideast vets, lawsuit contends

Troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are not getting proper medical and mental health care, the suit says, citing post-traumatic stress disorder as a particular problem.
By Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times, July 24, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was accused in a major lawsuit Monday of "shameful failures" in providing medical and mental healthcare to injured servicemen and women returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 73-page suit, filed in federal court here on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans, is the first of its kind and seeks to dramatically transform the way the VA operates.

The suit targets what it describes as the agency's "unconscionable" backlog of 600,000 claims, the adequacy of its services and the long waits to receive mental health care, particularly for post-traumatic stress disorder, which is described as the "signature problem" of vets returning from the current fighting.

A recent report by a special Pentagon task force found that 38% of soldiers and 50% of National Guard members coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan have mental health issues, ranging from stress disorder to brain injuries. But only 27 of the VA's 1,400 hospitals around the country have in-patient post-traumatic stress disorder programs, the plaintiffs' lawyers said.

The individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, are being deprived of mental health services in the early phases of the illness, when identification and treatment are critical, the suit alleges. Left untreated, severe PTSD can lead to substance abuse, depression and suicide, the lawyers said.

"A number of veterans have committed suicide shortly after having been turned away from VA facilities either because they were told they were ineligible or because the wait was too long," the lawsuit states.

In response to the suit, the VA issued a formal statement, saying it "is committed to meeting the special needs of our latest generation of heroes, and it would be inappropriate to comment directly upon a potential or pending lawsuit."

"Through outreach efforts, the VA ensures returning Global War on Terror service members have access to the widely recognized quality healthcare they have earned, including services such as prosthetics or mental health care. VA has also given priority handling to their monetary disability benefit claims."

Attorney Gordon P. Erspamer, one of the lead lawyers for the plaintiffs, said at a news conference that the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, is an attempt to establish a basic set of "civil rights" for veterans.

"This isn't a case about isolated problems or the type of normal delays and administrative hassles we all occasionally experience with bureaucracies," said Erspamer, of San Francisco's Morrison & Foerster, which has taken the case pro bono. "This case is founded on the virtual meltdown of the VA's capacity to care for men and women who served their country bravely and honorably, were severely injured and are now being treated like second-class citizens."

"This is the first class-action lawsuit to directly challenge" the adequacy of care for post-traumatic stress disorder and "the VA's unconscionable backlog of claims," added attorney Sid Wolinsky of Disability Rights Advocates, a nonprofit advocacy group that also is representing the plaintiffs.

Symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, the suit says, include intense anxiety, persistent nightmares, depression, uncontrollable anger and difficulties coping with work, family and social relationships.

Veterans suffering from PTSD and other psychiatric problems are less able to handle battles with the VA bureaucracy than other vets, according to retired Marine Col. James Cook, who spoke at the news conference. He brandished a 23-page standard form that veterans must fill out to seek help.

"The VA's outmoded systems for providing medical care and disability benefits" have been overwhelmed by "the huge influx of injured troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan," the suit states. About 1.6 million men and women have served in the two countries since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The VA had significant problems even before the two current wars were launched, but its current backlog has become an "insurmountable barrier" that has made a mockery of the VA's mandate, said attorney Melissa Kasnitz, of Disability Rights Advocates.

"The VA's motto, taken from Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address is, 'To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphan.' The VA is not living up to its motto or its obligation to care for our disabled veterans," she said.

The named plaintiffs are two veterans' advocacy groups, Veterans for Common Sense, based in Washington, D.C., and Veterans United for Truth, based in Santa Barbara. The case was not filed on behalf of individuals because "veterans fear retaliation," Erspamer said.

However, Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said that individual veterans would be speaking out in the future. "Since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began, the VA has betrayed our veterans," said Sullivan, who served in the Army during the first Gulf War and worked as a project manager for the VA from 2000 to 2006, monitoring the disability claims of veterans from the Gulf War and the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Instead of hiring more doctors and claims processors," as he recommended, Sullivan said, "the VA instituted new policies that block veterans' access to prompt mental health care."

Sullivan is scheduled to testify Thursday at a hearing of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, which will be considering a recently issued report by the Institute of Medicine examining how the VA handles treatment and compensation claims for PTSD.

The defendants in the lawsuit include R. James Nicholson, outgoing VA chief, several other ranking VA officials and Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales. A spokesman for the Justice Department said the agency would have no immediate comment because its lawyers were just beginning to review the suit.

The plaintiffs' lawyers emphasized that they were not seeking monetary damages. Rather, they said the suit was designed to stop repeated violations of federal laws that guarantee healthcare for returning veterans.

The plaintiffs' lawyers assert that the VA's claims-processing and appeal procedures for denied claims violate the veterans' constitutional rights to due process under the 5th Amendment and their right to petition for redress, guaranteed by the 1st Amendment.

Erspamer said the VA had created perverse incentives to deny claims by awarding employees bonuses based on the number of claims processed. Rather than considering veterans' claims carefully, he said it was much easier and faster to deny a claim, particularly a complicated one, than to grant it.

Moreover, the suit contends that the VA "has consistently presented misleading statistics" understating the length of time it takes to decide a claim, the number of veterans who need mental health services and the amount of money the agency needs to meet its obligations to veterans.

Sullivan said the two recent wars have generated more than 220,000 disability claims. The lawsuit also alleges that government officials have improperly persuaded many soldiers suffering from PTSD to accept "personality disorder" discharges by telling them they will get help faster. In fact, the suit states, agreeing to that bars veterans from obtaining disability benefits and from receiving ongoing medical treatment because the "disorder" is characterized as a "pre-existing condition."

Unless "systemic and drastic measures are instituted immediately, the costs to the veterans, their families and our nation will be incalculable, including broken families, a new generation of unemployed and homeless veterans, increases in drug abuse, increases in alcoholism and crushing burdens on the health care delivery system and other social services in our communities," the suit charges.

The attorneys said that although they were hoping for help from the federal court, congressional action also was needed to increase funding and other resources for the VA.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
henry.weinstein@latimes.com

Photos of July 23, 2007, Impeachment March and Sit-In


Gallery of photos by Jeff Brewer


Gallery of photos by Linda Swanson

Today in DC - March from Arlington Cemetery to Rep. Conyers demands impeachment

by Debra Sweet, World Can't Wait, July 23, 2007

Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern and Rev. Lennox Yearwood met with John Conyers this afternoon, while about 300 of us were outside in the hall. We had arrived after a really spirited, really ORANGE march from Arlington Cemetery where the response from people in cars, on the Mall, and in offices was mostly very positive. There was a loud, permitted "Gathering of Eagles/Free Republic" counter-rally of 30 people with a guy criticizing WCW, Cindy, and Medea Benjamin.

Cindy announced after meeting with Conyers, that he said the 2008 elections were the way to end the Bush regime, and that nothing was more important than the Democrats winning the presidency. Rev. Yearwood said how disappointing it was to have Conyers, his mentor, turn his back on the peoples' demand for justice.

Immediately, about 30 people jammed into Conyer's outer office, and were arrested within about 20 minutes. Hundreds of others were in the hallway, and some of them were arrested when they sat down in protest.

50 people met outside Conyer's Detroit office this morning. Homeland Security allowed only 5 people in, who sat for hours in solidarity with the people demanding impeachment in Washington.

More on all of this soon....Debra

Cindy Sheehan leads Impeachment March to Rep. Conyers office


Sheehan Wants Impeachment, Pelosi's Job

By NATASHA T. METZLER, Associated Press Writer
AP, July 23, 2007

ARLINGTON, Va. - Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan on Monday moved another step - actually several thousand of them - toward carrying out her promise to run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi because the California Democrat won't consider impeachment proceedings against President Bush.

Sheehan and about 200 other war protesters began walking from Arlington National Cemetery to the Capitol Hill office of Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, where any impeachment proceedings would begin. Sheehan said she would ask Conyers to initiate impeachment proceedings against both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

"Impeachment is not a fringe movement, it is mandated in our Constitution; Nancy Pelosi had no authority to take it off the table, " Sheehan told her group of orange-clad activists Monday. "If Nancy Pelosi doesn't do her constitutionally mandated job by midnight ... I will announce that I'm going to run against her."

Across the street, about 20 people demonstrated against Sheehan and the other anti-war protesters.

Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq, has been saying for two weeks that she would seek to oust Pelosi from office by running against her as an independent in her San Francisco district if Pelosi didn't change her mind by July 23 on trying to impeach Bush.

Conyers, D-Mich., introduced a bill last term calling on Congress to determine whether there are grounds for impeaching Bush. Pelosi has steadfastly dismissed any talk of impeachment, saying Democrats should focus their efforts on ending the war in Iraq.

Time's Up, Congress! Impeach Now! Journey for Humanity and Accountability, Day 14

By Cindy Sheehan, The Camp Casey Peace Institute, July 23, 2007

Our Constitution established a tri-partite system of government, with the notion that each branch of government would act as a check on the other two. Unfortunately, for the last six years, the Republicans in Congress have largely viewed themselves as defenders of the Bush Administration, instead of a vital check on overreaching by the Executive Branch. By doing so, I believe they have acted to the detriment of our Constitutional form of government.

We have seen so many transgressions by this Administration that it is easy to forget last week's scandal amid this week's new outrage. I am hopeful that compiling all of these events of the last few years will help wake all of us up to the gravity of these matters and the cumulative damage to our country. Congressman John Conyers, Constitution in Crisis July 31, 2006

Congressman Conyers wrote this brilliant and stinging indictment of BushCo almost a year ago. The booklet outlines and expounds on the crimes of the Bush Regime, and my question for him the last time we met in May, was: What has the President and Vice President done since the Dems regained both houses of Congress in January to miraculously become "innocent" of treason and other high crimes and misdemeanors?

Today we march from Arlington to Congress.

We arrived in DC yesterday from Crawford, Tx after two weeks of our journey.

Twenty-five (sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less) of us have traveled from town to town where we were almost universally welcomed with a small amount of protest mostly in the form of the foul-mouthed and gnarly-breathed, Gathering of Eagles (they call us "hippies" "dirty"). All along the way we have encountered our fellow Americans who are sick and fed up with the crimes of BushCo and the slaughter in the Middle East.

Today we will march from Arlington Cemetery where absolutely no desecration is planned by our group, but where desecration has been committed on a daily basis by the neocon war mongers who use our troops unwisely, illegally, immorally and for monetary and political expediency.

When we arrive at Congressman John Conyer's (D-Mi, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee) office today we will arrive with over one million signatures on petitions to impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney. We will arrive with the sentiments of the majority of Americans on our side. We will arrive with a thirst for justice and armed with the truth and compassion for our children serving in Iraq and our brothers and sisters who have had to suffer there under the corporate greed of US war profiteers.

The other day in San Diego, Rep. Conyers told an audience that he would go forward with impeachment if 3 other members joined him, well he has 15 other members already signed on H(Res) 333 which is Articles of Impeachment for Dastardly Dick introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Both Rep. Conyers and Speaker Pelosi need to be reminded of what their constitutional duties are and must be forced to act now before it is too late. I wonder how many more of our troops and Iraqis they are willing to sacrifice on the altar of partisan politics?

Today there will be dozens of us who will sit-in Congressman Conyer's office until he agrees to do the right thing and we will risk arrest if he doesn't. We are doing it because we profoundly believe that accountability in the form of impeachment is imperative to restore the rule of law and to protect the future from an executive branch that has run amok.

We march for peace. We sit for accountability.

On Tuesday, July 24th, I may become a candidate in California's 8th district. The ball's in Congress' court now. I hope they come through for us.

Go to www.thecampcaseypeaceinstitute.org for more info on our Journey for Humanity and Accountability or to donate to help with expenses.

Cindy Sheehan Caravan Arrives in Philadelphia July 24

Anti-War Activist to Demand Impeachment of Bush/Cheney, Will Announce Candidacy Against Speaker Pelosi

www.vvaw.org

www.Arlington-LibertyBell.org

Who: Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan, Iraq War Vets, Constitution Scholars, local activists, citizens from every demographic, musicians, poets, and YOU

What: Press Conference and Rally, discussing the High Crimes and Misdemeanors Bush & Cheney have committed while trashing the 1st, 4th, 6th, & 8th Amendments of our Constitution.

Where: Near the Center Door of the Visitors Center, between Independence Hall and the Constitution Center. Between 5th & 6th Streets, North of Market Street.

When: Tuesday, July 24th, 1:30 to 3:30 pm

Why: Bill Perry, Executive Director of Delaware Valley Veterans For America, notes "Our Founding Fathers feared concentrated power. To prevent the abuses of a King, or similar despot, they formed THREE co-equal branches of Government. The Executive Branch now ignores the Legislative Branch. The Legislative Branch is our 'Peoples Branch ' . We are being ignored" !

Impeachment is MANDATORY for high crimes & misdemeanors.

Article II, Section 4 of our Constitution reads:

"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, High Crimes and Misdemeanors." Our Constitution says "SHALL"----not "MAY"

Perry states "I took an Oath to protect and defend our Constitution. The same Oath everybody represented by one of these Tombstones took. We were all willing to stand between a bullet, and our Constitution. This Oath NEVER expires. It's the same Oath our Commander-in-Chief took.

He has trashed the Constitution. It's the same Oath our Speaker of the House took. She refuses to do her Constitutional duty. All of us gathering here demand our Constitution be honored, not trashed."

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES:

A consortium of Veterans groups erect a stunning visual display of faux Tombstones numerous times during each year, representing the Human Cost of our War on Iraq.

The Tombstones, erected in rows, in a likeness of Arlington Cemetery, evoke stunned silence, and intense respect for all the lives lost. The juxtaposition of Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Constitution Center, and George Washington ' s Slave Quarters, all within a stones throw of Cindy ' s Caravan & the Tombstone Display bring home the 2 Billion Dollar per week Crimes and Sins of Bush~Cheney mob.

Info on Tombstone Display, and both IMPEACH Rallies, & Photo Op sessions, Call:

Del Val Vet Executive Director Bill Perry, 215-945-1269, 215-945-3350, 215-589-9413

INTERVIEWS:

Six hours after Ms Sheehan plans to announce her campaign for the 8th District California House Seat, v. Nancy Pelosi, in Washington, DC, Cindy will be available for In Depth interviews, here in Philly. She will explain the Constitutional Duty to replace Speaker Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi ' s refusal to put IMPEACHMENT on the table is in direct contradiction of her highly progressive 8th District 's Pro-Peace wishes.

Ms Sheehan has received hundreds of offers from politically savvy operatives, offering free, dedicated, and determined volunteers for her campaign, v. Pelosi.

These interviews can have Independence Hall, Tombstone Display, Liberty Bell, etc., backdrops.

Live Interviews for the 5 to 7 pm news cycle, and all the evening Talking Head Cable shows can be scheduled through:

Tiffany Burns, 562-912-5859