LaborGroups News 27Jan03

www.laborgroups.org/LaborGroupsNews27Jan03.pdf
www.laborgroups.org/LaborGroupsNews27Jan03.doc

1) AOL Sucks
2) AFL-CIO's Work in Progress 01/26/04
3) IL MegaVote
4) Now LIVE ! YourName (at) IllinoisDemocrats.org
5) Featured Link: America@Work
6) Featured Link: In These Times
7) Chicago: Ensure Community Benefits in Rogers Park TIF
8) "The Secret Files"
9) Head of Womens Development Bank of Venezuela, Feb 1,2 in Chicago
10) Labor at the Chicago Social Forum 1/31
11) News Brief - Underreported News
12) Eric Lee from LabourStart.org: Only 5 days LEFT
13) The Midwest STILL says no to war -- Info on the March 20th Protest in Chicago!!
14) Citizens for a Legitimate Government News
15) DAVID ROVICS: 2/5 Grocery Workers Benefit With David Rovics
16) Iraq Labor Tour- 2 NYC Events
17) Waco
18) Senator rules out amnesty for aliens
19) Senate Approves Landmark School Voucher Plan
20) More on Kerry's MIA Cover-up
21) Chicago: Open University of the Left: Third Parties
22) Nude PoliceWomen Calendar of Events
23) Carolyn Kay's "Make Them Accountable"
24) Rob Sanchez's JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER !
25) TruthOut
26) Disinformation Newsletter: Monday January 26, 2004


www.WorkingFamilies.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) AOL Sucks

Every AOL subscriber I have on all of my lists have been unsubscribed
because of AOL. All e-mails sent from my servers are being bounced and
censored by AOL.
AOL disagrees with my sending progressive news to their members,
even though each and every opt-in subscriber has specifically requested it.

The same has been done to Marc Ash of TruthOut and hundreds of other
progressive and labor related publications.

Please spread the word to as many AOL users as possible.
Please contact AOL and complain.

I am formally requesting to be contacted by a civil-liberties attorney
who is willing to make a name for himself by filing a class action lawsuit
on my behalf and my subscribers against AOL.

I do not spam.
I send LaborGroups News to the e-mail addresses I administer once per week.
I post messages to opt-in lists in which each and every member
has legally agreed to receive all e-mail from such listserver
with the right to also post to the list.
I refer to Yahoogroups, Topica, MSN, and such in-house lists
as I maintain.
I never e-mail anyone other than replying to direct correspondence to me,
or to notify an organization that I have included their submitted article
in my newsletter per their specific request out of courtesy.

Please consider an alternative e-mail account such as which I offer
at www.LaborGroups.org/freemail.htm

I am receiving dozens of requests per day by subscribers requesting me to change
their e-mail address, from AOL to their new ISP, as they have become intolerant
to AOL's spying, and censorship, not to mention being personally responsible for
approx. 90% of the privacy invading advertisements AOL forces their members to receive,
at the highest rate for dial-up access in the nation. A completely disgusting embarrassment.

I need your help. Please protect your right of freedom of information.

Kindly notify all friends who use AOL (Asshole On Line), and notify them of
these problems. I personally am unable to handle all of these inquiries, requests,
and complaints about AOL, a third party entity.

In Solidarity,
Bob
Robert P. Kolb

********************************************************************
Re: In response to the AOL Alert

Thanks for the heads up. We are in the process of changing our ISP to www.unions-america.com from Compukserve. With all of the outsourcing and, the fact that, AOL owns Compukserve, we have had about as much of this shit as we can stomach. We signed the contract with Compukserve in 2002 at purchase time with our computer, and our contract is up. They tried to tie us to another year saying we had a three year contract with them. Well, we nip that shit in the bud real quick, but not without having a several day argument with those "Reddots." We cancelled our debit card and ordered another one just in case they tried to bill us for another month. And, we also, told the "Reddots" why we are cancelling our subscription. They did say they were giving us a month free, whoopty-do.

I get sick to my stomach just thinking about the injustice we Amercians have endured by, not only those who are supposed to represent us, but the companies we have financed and built over the years (not that I would expect anthing different from the corporations). I say I'll spread the word, and thanks again for your great work in keeping with our union traditions.

In Solidarity,
Scott Wheat
IBEW Local 505



------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) AFL-CIO's Work in Progress 01/26/04

www.aflcio.org/aboutaflcio/wip/wip01262004.cfm

------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) IL MegaVote

International Assn of Machinists and Aerospace Workers presents: M E G A V O T E

January 26, 2004

In this MegaVote for Illinois' 11th Congressional District:

Recent Congressional Votes -
* Senate: FY2004 Consolidated Appropriations bill

Upcoming Congressional Bills -
* Senate: Pension Funding Equity Act
* Senate: NASA Workforce Flexibility Act
* House: Bankruptcy extension

=================================================================
Recent Senate Votes:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FY2004 Consolidated Appropriations bill
capwiz.com/iamaw/issues/votes/
Vote Agreed to (65-28, 7 Not Voting)

The Senate began the second session of the 108th Congress by wrapping up the 2004 fiscal year appropriations process.

Sen. Richard Durbin voted YES
send e-mail (capwiz.com/iamaw/mail/)
see bio (capwiz.com/iamaw/bio/)

Sen. Peter Fitzgerald voted YES
send e-mail (capwiz.com/iamaw/mail/)
see bio (capwiz.com/iamaw/bio/)

=================================================================
Upcoming Votes:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pension Funding Equity Act - H.R.3108
The Senate is expected to complete action on this bipartisan bill that would change the formula companies use to calculate pension fund contributions.

NASA Workforce Flexibility Act - S.610
The House is scheduled to consider this Senate bill intended to help the National Aeronautics and Space Administration recruit and retain skilled workers.

Bankruptcy extension - S.1920
The House plans to replace the text of this Senate bill extending a section of the bankruptcy code with the text from the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act that was passed in March, 2003. If the bill passes, House leaders can then request a conference committee.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
4) Now LIVE ! YourName (at) IllinoisDemocrats.org

webmail.IllinoisDemocrats.org
www.LaborGroups.org/freemail.htm

Be Sure to Tell Your Friends !

------------------------------------------------------------------------
5) Featured Link: America@Work

aflcio.org/aboutaflcio/magazine/

------------------------------------------------------------------------
6) Featured Link: In These Times

inthesetimes.com/

------------------------------------------------------------------------
7) Chicago: Ensure Community Benefits in Rogers Park TIF

Come to a City Hearing on the Rogers Park TIF

WHAT: Community Development Commission Public Hearing

WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 27, 1:00pm

WHERE: Chicago City Council chambers 121 N. LaSalle

Tell the city that TIF subsidies should ensure community
benefits.

A proposal for a Devon-Sheridan Tax Increment Financing district
(TIF) will divert $100 million to $300 million from already
strapped public budgets, with the money to subsidize private
developers. Given the questionable nature of the claim that the
area is at risk of being blighted, it is especially important to
have concrete requirements for community benefits and worker
rights.

Rogers' Park Community Action Network (RPCAN) and other groups
believe that the city should not approve the TIF plan without a
commitment to worker rights and affordable housing.

Employers getting TIF funds must agree to:
* pay living wages * respect the right to organize
* agree to local hiring preferences

Also, ensure that 30% of funds support affordable housing for
low income
workers, including tenant buy-outs of their buildings as
cooperative
housing. And establish a community oversight board that "looks
like and
sounds like" the community.

If you can't make it, send an email voicing your support to:

Laura Hassan, Vice Chair, Community Development Commission
c/o jrampke (at) cityofchicago.org

You can also send a standard message by clicking on the
following link:

www.unionvoice.org/ct/NpzVzln1Fdt2/


------------------------------------------------------------------------
8) "The Secret Files"

SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2004, Issue No. 8
January 26, 2004


** GOVT DENIES FRAUD IN 1953 STATE SECRETS RULING
** DUTCH INTEL REPORT ON PROLIFERATION
** INTELLIGENCE AND THE WAR IN BOSNIA 1992-1995


GOVT DENIES FRAUD IN 1953 STATE SECRETS RULING

U.S. government attorneys last week denied allegations that a
1953 Supreme Court decision which enshrined the concept of
the "state secrets privilege" was based on a fraudulent
factual foundation.

The Supreme Court decision in question, United States v.
Reynolds, provides the legal precedent for the executive
branch to assert that there are "military matters which, in
the interest of national security, should not be divulged,"
not even to a federal court.

Survivors and heirs of the original plaintiffs in that 1953
case have recently contended that the government relied on
fraudulent national security claims to win the decision.

The Reynolds case originated over half a century ago when the
widows of three crew members who died in a 1948 crash of a
B-29 Superfortress bomber requested accident reports on the
crash. The Air Force denied the request and filed affidavits
with the Supreme Court claiming that the withheld reports
contained information about the aircraft's secret mission and
described secret electronic equipment on board that had to be
protected from disclosure. The Court, citing that claim,
ruled in favor of the Air Force and established the "state
secrets privilege."

But in early 2000, one of the daughters of the deceased crew
members acquired newly declassified copies of the documents
that the Air Force had withheld and was astonished to find
nothing corresponding to what the Air Force affidavits had
portrayed.

"Contrary to the statements in the Affidavits, on which the
Supreme Court expressly relied, not one of the documents...
contain any secret or privileged information," according to a
new complaint, filed last October. "The documents consist,
instead, of admissions of negligence on the part of the Air
Force."

The survivors and heirs of the original Reynolds plaintiffs
said that the Court was defrauded by the Air Force and that
they were improperly deprived of evidence and compensation to
which they were entitled.

Earlier last year, the plaintiffs had petitioned the Supreme
Court to reopen the case (Secrecy News, 03/04/03), but the
Court rejected the motion to file the petition
(SN, 06/24/03).

Consequently, the Reynolds survivors, represented by the same
law firm as 50 years ago, filed a new initial complaint in
federal district court. See Herring v. United States, filed
October 1 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, here:

www.fas.org/sgp/jud/herring1003.pdf

Last week, the government moved to dismiss the case, arguing
that the plaintiffs are not qualified to assess the original
sensitivity of the now declassified documents.

"The mere fact that the information ... may strike the
plaintiffs today as innocuous, trivial, or unimportant, is
simply not probative" of whether they were sensitive 50 years
ago, the government stated.

Moreover, even if it were true that government witnesses had
perjured themselves in the 1953 case, that would not legally
constitute a "fraud upon the court," the government said.

See the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the new complaint, filed
January 23, 2004 (35 pages, 780 KB PDF file):

www.fas.org/sgp/jud/herring0104usbrief.pdf

For some, the dispute over the history of the Reynolds case
raises very current questions about the extent of judicial
deference to the executive branch in matters of national
security.

The disclosures of the documents originally denied in 1953
"afford a rare opportunity to compare a government privilege
claim with the underlying, allegedly 'secret' information,"
wrote two attorneys in a recent critique of the matter.

"This comparison highlights the risk of permitting the
executive branch to determine, without close judicial
scrutiny, whether relevant government information may be
withheld from discovery," according to D. Churchill and E.
Goldenberg in a paper entitled "Who Will Guard the Guardians?
Revisiting the State Secrets Privilege of United States v.
Reynolds," published in Federal Contracts Report, vol. 80,
no. 11, September 30, 2003.

"Use of the state secrets privilege in courts has grown
significantly over the last twenty-five years," note William
G. Weaver and Robert M. Pallitto of the University of Texas
at El Paso.

And "recent cases indicate that Bush administration lawyers
are using the privilege with offhanded abandon," they write
in a comprehensive study to be published this year in
Political Science Quarterly.

In November 2001 President Bush issued executive order 13233
that would permit former presidents to independently assert
the state secrets privilege to bar disclosure of records
generated during their tenure.

More than that, the Bush order would make the state secrets
privilege hereditary, like some divine right of kings,
enabling the heirs of deceased presidents to assert the
privilege after their death.

"This is a power heretofore unrecognized either in courts or
politics," Weaver and Pallitto observe.


DUTCH INTEL REPORT ON PROLIFERATION

Scientific institutions and private industry in the
Netherlands need to be aware of the mechanisms of
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in order to
avoid becoming caught up in them, urges a recent report from
the Dutch intelligence service AIVD.

The report cites an episode from the nation's own experience:
"Dr. A.Q. Khan, the man who calls himself 'the father of the
Pakistani atomic bomb,' largely acquired his knowledge
through a study and a trainee project in the Netherlands. He
concluded his traineeship by stealing technology from his
employer."

See "Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: Risks for
companies and scientific institutions," General Intelligence
and Security Service of the Netherlands (AIVD), dated July
2003, published December 2003:

www.fas.org/irp/world/netherlands/wmdrisks.pdf


INTELLIGENCE AND THE WAR IN BOSNIA 1992-1995

The role of Western intelligence services in the war in Bosnia
a decade ago is probed with rigor and insight in a newly
reissued book by University of Amsterdam Professor Cees
Wiebes.

The author explores in depth the perceptions and interactions
of the various intelligence services, the contributions of
signals intelligence and satellite imagery, and the evidence
of clandestine arms transfers from Iran to Bosnian Muslims.

Based in part on interviews with the principals and the
still-classified archives of Dutch security services and the
United Nations, it is an unusually impressive addition to the
literature of intelligence.

"Intelligence and the War in Bosnia, 1992-1995" by Cees Wiebes
was assessed in this January 23 article by Brendan O'Neill,
including an interview with the author and a link to the
publisher:

www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CA374.htm


_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.

To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, send email to
secrecy_news-request (at) lists.fas.org
with "subscribe" in the body of the message.


OR email your request to saftergood (at) fas.org

Secrecy News is archived at:
www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html

_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood (at) fas.org
voice: (202) 454-4691


------------------------------------------------------------------------
9) Head of Womens Development Bank of Venezuela, Feb 1,2 in Chicago

Nora Castañeda:

“Creating a caring economy in Venezuela”

Nora Castañeda is the President of the Women’s
Development Bank in the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela

February 1, 2004 5pm
@ Decima Musa Restaurant ® 1901 S. Loomis ® Chicago
February 2, 2004 7pm
@ University of Chicago ® Social Science Building
(room 122) ® 1126 East 59th ® Chicago

* Translation * Video clips * Donation: $5-$20
No one turned away. Proceeds to benefit women in
Venezuela engaged in self-help.

This event is part of a US tour coordinated by the
Bolivarian Circle of the Global Women’s Strike with
the support of the Venezuelan Embassy.

Nora Castañeda, an economist committed to grassroots
women, was appointed by Venezuelan President Hugo
Chávez to head the Women’s Development Bank when he
agreed to women’s demand for a bank as a way of
funding reforms to benefit the poorest families &
communities.
Of African and Indigenous descent and the daughter of
a low-income single mother, Ms. Castañeda is a
remarkable woman in a remarkable time.
Venezuela is the world’s 5th largest oil exporter, yet
80% of its people, mainly people of color, live in
poverty. In 1988 they elected President Chávez to get
the oil revenue back so they could tackle poverty and
corruption. In 1999 they passed one of the most
advanced constitutions in the world. In 2002 they
defeated a coup carried out by the racist Venezuelan
elite with the support of the US administration.
Literacy, healthcare, housing, land rights . . . have
all leapt forward.

Selma James, GWS international coordinator, and Nina
López of the GWS Bolivarian Circle/UK will accompany
Ms. Castañeda, providing introductory remarks and
translation.

National Sponsors: Vanguard Foundation; WBAI, KPFK,
KPFA radio; Danny Glover; Ed Asner; Harry Belafonte,
Dolores Huerta; Greg Palast.

Chicago event hosted by the organization of Latin
American Students, Students Organizing and United with
Labor, and the Chicago Coalition of Venezuela which
includes,
The Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Pueblo Sin
Fronteras, Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism,
Chicago-Cuba Coalition, the Chicago Religious
Leadership Network, the Colombia Action Network, the
Colombia Solidarity Committee-Chicago, La Coordinadora
en Apoyo al Pueblo de Mexico, Evanston Neighbors for
Peace, International Action Center- Chicago,
International Answer-Chicago, La Vos de los de Abajo,
Rojo.net, and the Bolivarian Circle “Amada Libertad”.

For more info on the Global Women’s Strike, including
its March 8 activities: globalwomenstrike.net
philly (at) crossroadswomen.net Phone: 215-848-1120


For further info on Chicago events Tel: 773-960-4231
Email: Kelykleiser (at) yahoo.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
10) Labor at the Chicago Social Forum 1/31

Come hear from labor¹s front lines at the Chicago Social Forum
Sat., Jan. 31 * 9 am to 6 pm * Jones High School * 606 S. State

****Labor Organizes for Justice: Taking on Wal-Mart, Cintas and more
Speakers: James Thindwa, Chicago Jobs with Justice; representatives from
UNITE on the organizing drive at Cintas, the industrial laundry giant, UFCW
Local 881 on the battle in the grocery industry and the fight against
Wal-Mart, and Kevin Kelleher, board member, SEIU Local 880, on organizing
homecare workers

****Cross-border solidarity vs. corporate free trade: from NAFTA to the FTAA
Speakers: Dorine Godinez, USWA Local 1010 Executive Board, member of
Steelworkers¹ delegation to Colombia, Gregg Shotwell, UAW Local 2151 (Delphi
Automotive), author of the Live Bait & Ammo newsletter; Nacho Gonzales,
Continental Front of Community Organizations/Organizer, Learning Network,
delegate to a recent meeting of social movement organizations in Mexico

*****Labor Activists, Veterans & Military Families Against War
Speakers: Bill Davis, national coordinator, Vietnam Veterans Against the
War, chief shop steward, IAM Local 701 and delegate to U.S. Labor Against
War; Joe Allen, shop steward, Teamsters Local 705 and member of Chicago
Labor Against the War; Stacey Paeth, mother of two soldiers, one in Iraq

*****Schools and the struggle for global justice
Speakers: George Schmidt, editor, Substance education newspaper (George is a
former teacher fired for publishing answers to a test imposed); Jesse
Sharkey, delegate, Chicago Teachers Union; representative, Teachers for
Social Justice

For details on the 40 other workshops and plenary discussions, go to
www.chicagosocialforum.org/html/jan31forum.htm to download the
program in PDF format.

You¹ll find details about more than 40 workshops on the following themes:
militarism, workers¹ rights, economic justice, affordable housing,
sustainable development, immigrant rights, racism and civil rights, the arts
& culture in social justice movements, and much more. The plenary sessions
will include reports from participants in the World Social Forum in India,
where tens of thousands are gathering January 16-21 (see www.wsfindia.org)
for updates.

* Pre-registration *
Note that if you pre-register via email, you get a free lunch! Contact us at
info (at) chicagosocialforum.org. Please include "Registration" in the header
and your name, organization (if any) and contact information in the message.

* Registration fee: $10, $5 seniors/students (no one turned away)

* Child care available with RSVP *

If you need child care, please call 312-427-2533 to let us know.

* Volunteers needed*

We need your help for setup and other tasks. Write to us at
volunteers (at) chicagosocialforum.org and let us know when you¹re available.
Please write "CSF volunteer" in the subject headline.

An updated list of speakers and endorsers follows:

Chicago Social ForumŠ.another Chicago is possible

Speakers include:

DR. CALVIN MORRIS, Community Renewal Society * NJOKI NJEHU and SOREN
AMBROSE, 50 Years Is Enough/US Network for Global Economic Justice * DR.
QUENTIN YOUNG, Physicians for a National Health Plan * MARICELLA GARCIA,
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights * JAMES THWINDA, Chicago
Jobs with Justice * MARY ZERKEL, American Friends Services Committee *
SASKIA SASSEN, University of Chicago * DAVE RANNEY, Hemispheric Social
Alliance * AHMED SHAWKI, International Socialist Review * CARL DAVIDSON,
Chicagoans Against War in Iraq

Another Chicago is possibleŠand you can help make it happen.

The Chicago Social Forum will bring together activists from different
movements, organizations, campaigns and struggles for democratic
discussions, debates and building solidarity. A "movement of movements," we
seek to create on ongoing center for activism that can educate, organize and
mobilize our diverse campaigns for social justice as well involve
individual activists on a range of issues.

We take inspiration from the World Social Forum in Brazil, which attracted
more than 10,000 people at its first meeting in 2001. Two years later, some
100,000 attended, from across Latin America and around the world. The social
forum movement has meanwhile become a genuine global movement, with tens of
thousands attending the annual meetings of the European Social Forum in
Italy and France. And tens of thousands more are expected at the next World
Social Forum to be held in January 2004 in Mumbai (Bombay), India and an
Americas Social Forum in Quito, Ecuador in July 2004.

Around the world, the movement stresses its common ground: a world free of
militarism and war, for human and civil rights as well as economic and
social justice. Under the principle of self-organization, the forums provide
the opportunity for workshops and meetings initiated by a wide range of
groups.

The Chicago Social Forum is one of a number of regional and local social
forums being organized around the world. In the U.S., organizing for local
social forums from New York City to the Pacific Northwest are underway as a
step toward a proposed North American Social Forum in 2005.

Join us for the inaugural Chicago Social Forum and help us organizeŠbecause
another Chicago is possible.

Saturday, January 31
9 am to 6 pm
Jones High School
606 S. State
Chicago
For more information or to endorse this event, call 312-427-2533 or visit
www.chicagosocialforum.org

Endorsers (List in formation)

ADAPT, American Friends Service Committee, Andersonville Neighbors for
Peace, Beyond St. Leonard¹s, Campaign for Victims of Police Torture &
Wrongful Convictions , Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Center for
Economic Research and Social Change, Chiapas Peace House Project, Chicago
Africa Initiative, Chicago Anti-Bashing Network, Chicago Coalition Against
War and Racism, Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights, Chicago
Independent Media Center, Chicago Media Action, CSA Learning Center,
Coalition to Protect Public Housing, Community of Uptown Residents for
Affordability & Justice, The Coordination of Mexican Organizations in the
Midwest, Earth Charter Chicago, ECOVIDA, Eighth Day Center for Justice,
EnlacesAmerica, Freestyle Collective, Genewise, Gingarte Capoeira, Haymarket
Books, Hyde Park Committee Against War and Racism, Illinois Coalition
Against the Death Penalty, Illinois SOA Watch, Inside Out Art Studio,
Insight Arts, The International Coalition of Mexicans Abroad, National
Writers Union-Chicago, The New Chicago School, Open Book Peace Project, QUAD
Productions, Queer to the Left, Rogers Park Community Action Network,
University of Hip Hop, University of Illinois-Chicago Campus Antiwar, West
Humboldt Park Development Council

***************************************************************************

The program for the Chicago Social Forum, January 31 at Jones High School,
is now online!

Go to www.chicagosocialforum.org/html/jan31forum.htm to download the
program in PDF format.

You¹ll find details about more than 40 workshops on the following themes:
militarism, workers¹ rights, economic justice, affordable housing,
sustainable development, immigrant rights, racism and civil rights, the arts
& culture in social justice movements, and much more. The plenary sessions
will include reports from participants in the World Social Forum in India,
where tens of thousands are gathering January 16-21 (see www.wsfindia.org
for updates).

* Pre-registration *

Note that if you pre-register via email, you get a free lunch! Contact us at
info (at) chicagosocialforum.org. Please include "Registration" in the header
and your name, organization (if any) and contact information in the message.

* Child care available with RSVP *

If you need child care, please call 312-427-2533 to let us know.

* Volunteers needed*

We need your help for setup and other tasks. Write to us at
volunteers (at) chicagosocialforum.org and let us know when you¹re available.
Please write "CSF volunteer" in the subject headline.

An updated list of speakers and endorsers follows:

Chicago Social ForumŠ.another Chicago is possible

Speakers include:

DR. CALVIN MORRIS, Community Renewal Society * NJOKI NJEHU and SOREN
AMBROSE, 50 Years Is Enough/US Network for Global Economic Justice * DR.
QUENTIN YOUNG, Physicians for a National Health Plan * MARICELLA GARCIA,
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights * JAMES THWINDA, Chicago
Jobs with Justice * MARY ZERKEL, American Friends Services Committee *
SASKIA SASSEN, University of Chicago * DAVE RANNEY, Hemispheric Social
Alliance * AHMED SHAWKI, International Socialist Review * CARL DAVIDSON,
Chicagoans Against War in Iraq

Another Chicago is possibleŠand you can help make it happen.

The Chicago Social Forum will bring together activists from different
movements, organizations, campaigns and struggles for democratic
discussions, debates and building solidarity. A "movement of movements," we
seek to create on ongoing center for activism that can educate, organize and
mobilize our diverse campaigns for social justice as well involve
individual activists on a range of issues.

We take inspiration from the World Social Forum in Brazil, which attracted
more than 10,000 people at its first meeting in 2001. Two years later, some
100,000 attended, from across Latin America and around the world. The social
forum movement has meanwhile become a genuine global movement, with tens of
thousands attending the annual meetings of the European Social Forum in
Italy and France. And tens of thousands more are expected at the next World
Social Forum to be held in January 2004 in Mumbai (Bombay), India and an
Americas Social Forum in Quito, Ecuador in July 2004.

Around the world, the movement stresses its common ground: a world free of
militarism and war, for human and civil rights as well as economic and
social justice. Under the principle of self-organization, the forums provide
the opportunity for workshops and meetings initiated by a wide range of
groups.

The Chicago Social Forum is one of a number of regional and local social
forums being organized around the world. In the U.S., organizing for local
social forums from New York City to the Pacific Northwest are underway as a
step toward a proposed North American Social Forum in 2005.

Join us for the inaugural Chicago Social Forum and help us organizeŠbecause
another Chicago is possible.

Saturday, January 31
9 am to 6 pm
Jones High School
606 S. State
Chicago
For more information or to endorse this event, call 312-427-2533 or visit
www.chicagosocialforum.org

Endorsers (List in formation)

ADAPT, American Friends Service Committee, Andersonville Neighbors for
Peace, Beyond St. Leonard¹s, Campaign for Victims of Police Torture &
Wrongful Convictions , Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Center for
Economic Research and Social Change, Chiapas Peace House Project, Chicago
Africa Initiative, Chicago Anti-Bashing Network, Chicago Coalition Against
War and Racism, Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights, Chicago
Independent Media Center, Chicago Media Action, CSA Learning Center,
Coalition to Protect Public Housing, Community of Uptown Residents for
Affordability & Justice, The Coordination of Mexican Organizations in the
Midwest, Earth Charter Chicago, ECOVIDA, Eighth Day Center for Justice,
EnlacesAmerica, Freestyle Collective, Genewise, Gingarte Capoeira, Haymarket
Books, Hyde Park Committee Against War and Racism, Illinois Coalition
Against the Death Penalty, Illinois SOA Watch, Inside Out Art Studio,
Insight Arts, The International Coalition of Mexicans Abroad, National
Writers Union-Chicago, The New Chicago School, Open Book Peace Project, QUAD
Productions, Queer to the Left, Rogers Park Community Action Network,
University of Hip Hop, University of Illinois-Chicago Campus Antiwar, West
Humboldt Park Development Council


------------------------------------------------------------------------
11) News Brief - Underreported News

Wal-Mart's ignoble war on drugs

by Tom Moroney, MetroWest Daily News [Framingham, MA]



Jan. 22, 2004

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is looking out for you and me. Did you know this?

A friend of mine didn't know this when he went shopping recently for camera batteries.

The batteries, expensive little numbers, were on sale at the Bellingham Wal-Mart for $1 off each package.

My friend grabbed up five packages and headed to the cash register. And things went smoothly until the fifth package, when the register would not ring up the sale. "Over quantity," it said.

Over quantity? My friend was puzzled. That's when the manager came over and explained there were only a certain number of battery packages he could buy.

My friend decided the limit was due to the bargain price. Stores will cap the number of items each person can buy so more people can get the price break. It only makes sense.

Not so, said the manager. This was a law.

A law limiting battery sales? Who ever heard of such a thing?

To find out, I called Wal-Mart's Arkansas headquarters. Spokeswoman Danette Thompson opened a window for me on a whole new world.

Wal-Mart, it seems, has a master list of items for which there are limits. And these limits are programmed right into the cash register.

"The list is not something that's published," said the spokeswoman. "I've never even seen it."

"Are we talking dozens of items? Hundreds?"

"I don't know," she said. "It's ever evolving. Things are being added at all times."

So why are batteries on the list?

This she could answer. The camera batteries contain lithium. It is an ingredient used in the illegal manufacture of the drug, methamphetamine, or crystal meth.

The fact that addicts were cooking up their own crystal meth became such a problem that federal officials went to Wal-Mart in 1997 asking for help. The giant retailer responded by putting the batteries in the so-called "register prompt system," or master list.

The limit on lithium batteries is four packages for all Wal-Marts except those in Missouri, where the limit is three.

Fascinating stuff, I told the spokeswoman. She said Wal-Mart was simply trying to do the right thing by the war on drugs.

For that reason there is also a limit on packages of cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine, another common ingredient in crystal meth.

In addition to limiting purchases, Wal-Mart encourages its clerks to closely monitor people buying such items. Two years ago it paid off.

An alert Wal-Mart clerk in Kentucky reported to her supervisors a woman buying four boxes of Sudafed.

Police followed the woman and discovered she was a meth cooker who had been involved in a homemade lab explosion that killed her son. She was booked for murder.

Impressive. But what prevents anyone from buying the limit on potentially dangerous items such as batteries or pseudoephedrine, and then going to another Wal-Mart for more?

Or sending an accomplice inside after you've left? Or you simply coming back an hour later?

The manager at the Bellingham store told my friend that if he saw him come back in, he would refuse to sell him more batteries.

When I laid out the same cheating scenarios for the company spokeswoman, she said, "We're not perfect."

I was curious about something else, too. Does Wal-Mart also put limits on items related to terror?

"I've never had that question before," she said.

"For instance, fertilizer," I continued. "You can blow up large buildings with enough fertilizer." Timothy McVeigh proved that in Oklahoma City.

"I can check that for you," she said.

Turns out, Wal-Mart has no limit on fertilizer.

That was certainly weird.

There's something else weird, too. In an Associated Press story about limiting cold remedy sales, a Wal-Mart spokesperson is quoted as saying, "It's not about sales. It's doing what's right."

In Wal-Mart's case, I think it's more about appearing to do right.

Because if doing right really was the priority, maybe Wal-Mart would want to spend less effort on the master list and more on, say, worker benefits.

With total sales eclipsing the gross national product of certain countries, Wal-Mart treats many of its workers like dirt.

Only 38 percent get health coverage, while the average employee is paid $8.23 an hour, well below union wages for comparable jobs.

Doing right? Could've fooled me.
Published by

MetroWest Daily News

Gary L. Koniz

Apt. 815

9480 Princeton Square Blvd. S.

Jacksonville, FL 32256-8310

(904) 730-2055

lspbookstore.netfirms.com/religion.htm


------------------------------------------------------------------------
12) Eric Lee from LabourStart.org: Only 5 days LEFT

In this week's mailing:

* Only 5 days left to vote
* LaborTech 2004
* Masters program on labour and globalization
* New Zealand nurses appeal for help for cyclone victims
* Why I don't get any more spam

***

ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT TO VOTE

With the Saturday midnight deadline approaching, 3,627 of you have already voted for your favorite labour websites. The race is a close one with seven sites already above 100 votes apiece. The top ten sites will appear on our winners' page, to be announced on Sunday, 1 February. If you have not yet done so, please vote today. Pass on this message to your colleagues, co-workers, and fellow union members. The ballot is here:

vote.laborgroups.org

LABORTECH 2004

Mark your calendars for LaborTech 2004, scheduled for 2 - 4 April at Stanford University, in the heart of Silicon Valley, California. The conference this year is entitled "Labor Media And Access: How Working People/Labor Can Break The Media Blockade". Full details are here:

www.labortech2004.org

MASTERS PROGRAMME ON LABOUR POLICIES AND GLOBALIZATION

Friends at the International Labour Organization have asked us to pass this on: The ILO supports, in cooperation with the international labour movement and academic institutions from around the world, a Master's Programme on Labour Policies and Globalisation. Project partners include Global Unions, the Canadian Labour Congress, the DGB, COSATU and others. A pilot course starts next year at the University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics in Germany. More information is here:

www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actrav/glp/

NEW ZEALAND NURSES APPEAL FOR HELP FOR CYCLONE VICTIMS

Here's an appeal which has been passed on to us by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO). The NZNO has set up a relief fund for Niueans affected by cyclone Heta, which has devastated the island. Nurses and other health workers are particularly affected as the hospital on the main island of Niue has been destroyed. NZNO is collecting donations from union members in New Zealand. Union members from other countries who wish to support Niuean Islanders can also contribute to the NZNO fund. More information here:

www.nzno.org.nz/SITE_Default/SITE_Current_Issues/Latest/NZNO_Niue_Relief_Fund.asp

WHY I DON'T GET ANY MORE SPAM

After battling with a massive amount of unsolicited commercial email (spam) for years, I've finally found a solution that really does seem to deal with the problem. Anyone can set up filters in their email program to cope with spam, but that still means that tons of unwanted emails come to your computer, sometimes carrying dangerous viruses. The solution is to stop them at server level, before they ever reach your PC.

Recently, I have been using Mail Washer Pro and I have to say that I'm delighted with it. It gives me 100% control over incoming email and is far easier to configure than any email client filter I've ever used. I strongly urge all LabourStart readers to try the program for free for 30 days. Download your copy here:

entier.ecosm.com/link/

Let me know if you have any questions or comments after you've downloaded it. If you decide you like the program, and you buy it, you're helping to support LabourStart.

Thanks.

Eric Lee

------------------------------------------------------------------------
13) The Midwest STILL says no to war -- Info on the March 20th Protest in Chicago!!

*** PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY *** PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY ***
Downloadable flyer available at chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/35716/index.php
On March 20, 2003, more than fifteen thousand people marched down Chicago's Lake Shore Drive to oppose the beginning of the war on Iraq. This March 20, we'll finish that march - and join millions across the world in sending a clear message to the Bush administration:
The Midwest STILL
says no to war!
* End the Occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan &
Palestine * Troops Out Now! * Money for Jobs, Housing, Healthcare & Education, Not for Wars & Occupation * Stop Racial Profiling - Defend Civil Liberties and Immigrant Rights!
Noon * Saturday * March 20
March step-off from Michigan & Pearson
One block north of Chicago Ave.
1:30 PM Rally
Federal Plaza, Dearborn & Adams, Chicago
Every day brings news of fresh disasters for the Bush administration's policies of war and colonial occupation. Across the world, the United States increasingly is seen as the greatest threat to world peace and justice. The Bush administration has used fear, intimidation and repression at home to support its agenda - from terror alerts and round-ups of immigrants to repressive legislation like the USA PATRIOT Act, which strips us of our hard-won constitutional protections. Working people are paying the costs of this hyped up "security" at home and U.S. military domination abroad. While the rich get tax breaks, "free trade" agreements, and sweetheart contracts to "rebuild" Iraq, the national deficit spirals to record levels, state and local governments in fiscal crisis are imposing layoffs and gutting social services, and millions of people have been thrown out of work.
Demand an END to the war at home and abroad - and respect for the right of Iraqis and all people to decide their own destinies, without occupying armies, without ANY form of foreign intervention, without commercial schemes to rip off their national wealth, without puppets imposed on them from Washington. Add your voice to the growing sentiment at home and across the globe for an immediate END to the occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. On March 20 - the anniversary of the first full day of the U.S. invasion of Iraq...and the one-year anniversary of one of Chicago's most vibrant protests in recent memory - join demonstrations around the world by participating in a midwest regional mobilization in Chicago to oppose George Bush's illegal and immoral war.
Convened by The March 20 Anti-War Organizing Coalition
For more information, email CCAWR (at) aol.com CCAWR (at) aol.com> or call 888.471.0874.
JOIN US at our next organizing meeting!
Noon, Saturday, February 7
Location to be announced.
Co-sponsors' list in formation. Labor donated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
14) Citizens for a Legitimate Government News

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
January 25, 2004
www.legitgov.org/
All articles, dates, and links from summaries below are here:
legitgov.org/index.html
Please contribute today, for January expenses!! We need funds to continue. Thank you.


LA federal judge rules part of Patriot Act unconstitutional --A federal judge has ruled that a portion of the USA Patriot Act which bars giving expert advice or assistance to groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations is unconstitutional and the government may not enforce it.

US must quit Iraq before vote, say Sunnis --An influential Sunni Muslim group in Iraq said yesterday it was opposed to partial elections scheduled for the summer and wanted a vote taken only when American forces had left the country.

Bechtel in $2.5b deal to build Doha airport --Qatar yesterday announced it had awarded a $2.5 billion contract to US construction giant Bechtel to build a new airport.

Dean: Iraqi Standard of Living Worse Now --Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean said Sunday that the standard of living for Iraqis is a "whole lot worse'' since Saddam Hussein's removal from power in last year's American-led invasion. "You can say that it's great that Saddam is gone and I'm sure that a lot of Iraqis feel it is great that Saddam is gone,'' said the former Vermont governor, an unflinching critic of the war against Iraq. "But a lot of them gave their lives. And their living standard is a whole lot worse now than it was before.'' [Also, the living standard of most Americans is a *whole lot worse* since Bush took [literally, *took*] office.]

Kucinich: Iraq Policy Will Lead to Draft --America's policy in Iraq will lead to a resumption of the military draft, Democrat Dennis Kucinich told high school and college students Saturday. "The body count keeps rising,'' Kucinich said, pointing to reports of more deaths in Iraq.

Kerry: Bush Rush to War Ignores Vietnam --Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says Dictator Bush has breached a faith to keep young people from dying needlessly in combat, which he said was a lesson from the Vietnam War.

Kay: Lack of Iraqi WMD Requires Review --U.S. intelligence agencies need to explain why their research indicated Iraq possessed banned weapons before the American-led invasion, says the outgoing top U.S. inspector, who now believes Saddam Hussein had no such arms. "I don't think they exist," David Kay said Sunday. "The fact that we found so far the weapons do not exist — we've got to deal with that difference and understand why." [NO! Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-and the PNAC crew need to explain why they LIED to the American people in order to carry out an illegal and immoral war for Halliburton and Bechtel!]

Kay Asks Why U.S. Thought Iraq Had WMD --U.S. intelligence agencies need to explain why their research indicated Iraq possessed banned weapons before the American-led invasion, says the outgoing top U.S. inspector, who now believes Saddam Hussein had no such arms.

Kay Doubts Presence of Illicit Iraq Arms --The outgoing chief U.S. weapons inspector says his inability to find illicit arms in Iraq raises serious questions about American intelligence-gathering. [We need to raise 'serious questions' as to why Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rove have not yet been tried for treason.]

Democrats Call for Probe of Iraq Weapons Claims --Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry said on Sunday the Bush dictatorship, including Vice pResident Dick Cheney, should be "held accountable" for claims Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Spy chiefs warn PM: don't blame us for war --British intelligence chiefs launched a pre-emptive strike against Poodle Tony Blair last night, ahead of the publication of the Hutton report, and blamed the government for pressurising them into cherry-picking intelligence to justify the war on Iraq.

Blair defiant over WMDs as aides face Hutton censure --At least nine people - six associated with Poodle Tony Blair's government and three from the BBC - could be in the firing line when Lord Hutton delivers his much-anticipated report into the death of David Kelly on Wednesday.

Blair Faces Major Test in Iraq Arms Probe --Prime Minister Poodle Tony Blair faces a crucial judgment next week in a political and personal drama that goes to the heart of the debate about whether he hyped the case for war in Iraq.

Blair stares into abyss --Chancellor challenged to save PM in fees fight --Poodle Tony Blair was last night battling to save his premiership from the abyss on tuition fees with more concessions due to be announced to MPs today, and a minister calling on the chancellor to warn rebels they would not be given ministerial office in a future Brown administration.

Paranoid Poodle: Blair feared Chirac was "out to get him" before Iraq war --Poodle Tony Blair believed that Jacques Chirac was "out to get him" ahead of the Iraq war, because the French leader feared Britain's prime minister was usurping his own position as the natural leader of Europe, the Financial Times (FT) newspaper reported.

As with the United States, Iraq wants direct elections, Bush does not: Delays and Split on Iraqi Council Imperil U.S. Plan --A powerful cleric's demand for quick elections has delayed the drafting of an interim constitution and created a serious new split in the Iraqi Governing Council, officials said Sunday, further undermining the Bush dictatorship's troubled plan for a political transition in Iraq. [Wasn't one of the mega-lies that Bush espoused to justify the Halliburton oil grab, was that the U.S. wanted to 'bring democracy' to the people of Iraq?]

Iraqi Melting Pot Nears Boiling Point --In oil-rich Kirkuk, Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens compete for a place in the new order. This fabled city of muddy streets and hidden guns, where one person's folklore is another's atrocity, has U.S. officials concerned that ethnic tensions could ignite a civil war and spoil plans for a unified Iraq.

U.S. Loses Fifth Copter This Month in Iraq --The U.S. military lost its fifth helicopter this month in Iraq, which crashed in the Tigris river while searching for a soldier whose boat had capsized. The aircraft's two crew members and the soldier remained missing Monday.

Army Copter With 2 Pilots Crashes in Iraq --A U.S. military helicopter crashed Sunday in the Tigris River in the northern town of Mosul while searching for a soldier, and both crewmembers were missing, a spokeswoman said.

US soldier dies in Iraq; thousands protest in Tokyo against deployment --Another US soldier was killed in Iraq, the eighth American troop fatality in a 24-hour wave of violence, as thousands rallied in Tokyo against sending Japanese troops to the war-battered country.

BSE fears spread to Canadian Forces in Kabul --Canada has temporarily taken tonnes of U.S. beef off the menu at its main military base in Afghanistan because of concerns over mad cow disease.

The US is now in the hands of a group of extremists --Fundamentalism has spawned an ideology of American supremacy --by George Soros "The ideologues of American supremacy and President [sic] Bush personally never cease to remind us that September 11 changed the world. It is only as the untoward consequences of the invasion of Iraq become apparent that people are beginning to realise something has gone woefully wrong... When he stood for election in 2000, President [sic] Bush promised a humble foreign policy. I contend that the Bush administration has deliberately exploited September 11 to pursue policies that the American public would not have otherwise tolerated."

Venezuela Upbraids U.S. Over Terrorism Complaint --Venezuela Sunday rejected U.S. complaints that it was not doing enough to fight terrorism and said Washington should set an example by bringing to justice "terrorist" foes of President Hugo Chavez who are seeking U.S. asylum.

New federal air passenger screening program set to start this summer --Northwest Airlines and every other U.S. airline soon will be required to send the names and travel plans of all their customers to the federal government as part of a massive computerized screening program designed to identify potential 'terrorists' before they board an airplane.

Give 9/11 Panel More Time (Los Angeles Times) "The administration, which initially opposed the commission's creation but then endorsed it, has hampered its research and insists on shortening its life span from 24 months, as originally proposed by Congress, to 18 months. This timetable raises questions of cynical political calculation — whether the administration really wants to know what went awry in the past to fix it or whether it just wants to get any damaging revelations out well before the fall presidential campaign heats up... The commission only recently received copies of the 'president[sic]'s daily brief,' crafted by the CIA. These files could reveal whether President [sic] Bush had been warned before 9/11 of the possibility of terrorist attacks using commercial planes."

AWOL? Deserter? Bring It On! Either Way, Lt. George W. Bush Abandoned His Nation and Dishonored His Flight Suit. Either Way, This is a Fight Democrats Should Fight - and Win. --by Bob Fertik "Despite the evidence, George W. Bush insists that he did perform his required drills at a base in Alabama in the fall of 1972, and then performed additional drills back in Texas in the spring of 1973. But the documents show otherwise, and Bush's commanding officers in both Alabama and Texas say they never saw Bush during those two years, as Walter Robinson of the Boston Globe first reported on May 23, 2000." democrats.com/display.cfm

[Reichwing Puke] Dennis Miller to Give Bush a Free Pass [GOP whore] Dennis Miller has usually been happy to spray his acerbic wit across the political spectrum, but things will be different on his new CNBC talk program. President [sic] Bush is in a mock-free zone. "I like him," Miller explained. "I'm going to give him a pass. I take care of my friends." [Now *there's* a real journalist... NOT!]

Bush, Congress Face Historic Deficits --Federal deficits are setting records as Dictator Bush and Congress plunge into the election year's budget work and both parties wonder if the red ink will prove to be a campaign issue.

Clinton: Bush's economic plans threaten U.S. growth --The United States will not continue its leadership in the world unless it grows economically, former President Clinton said Sunday, adding that Dictator Bush's economic policies threaten expansion.

Dr. Bill Frist, Moral Monster: He'd Do Anything for Pussy --by Alexander Cockburn (December 31, 2002) "As for Bill Frist [the sick-o Senate Majority 'Leader'], the millionaire Tennessee sawbones, everything you need to know about this unpleasing man was contained in one short paragraph of a profile of Frist by Michael Kranish in the Boston Globe Sunday magazine for October 27, 2002, covering the years when Frist was in Boston, first at Harvard Medical School and then at Mass General. 'Frist is an animal lover who said his decision to become a doctor was clinched when he helped heal a friend's dog. But Frist now found himself forced to kill animals during medical research. And his new dilemma was finding enough animals to kill. Soon, he began lying to obtain more animals. He went to the animal shelters around Boston and promised he would care for the cats as pets. Then he killed them during experiments. 'It was a heinous and dishonest thing to do,' Frist wrote. 'I was going a little crazy.'' So now the US senate is going to be led by the cat world's answer to Dr Mengele!"

Bush Seeking to Limit Malpractice Awards --Dictator Bush is trying to resuscitate a measure to place nationwide caps on medical malpractice awards, a move he has made a centerpiece of his s-election-year focus on health care [?????]. Senate Democrats stalled the bill last year, arguing it would help the insurance industry [one of Bush's paymasters], not patients.

Polls: Clark Has Slim Lead in Oklahoma --Several leading Democratic presidential candidates are fighting for the top position in Arizona, Oklahoma and South Carolina, according to polls done in those states with Feb. 3 primaries.

Comments, Discussion and Suggestions For the Dean Campaign: Results and Prospects. January 25, 2004 --by William H. Depperman "The following comments are made for Howard Dean and for all those millions of legitimate supporters of Howard Dean who want to see him beat George Bush and know that the only way to do that is to calmly to his previous positions and go back on the offensive." www.legitgov.org/essay_depperman_comments_for_dean_campaign_012504.html

Nixon's Fake Plot to Disrupt the 1972 Republican Convention With Lethal Force. Perjured Cop Testimony Blamed the Anti-War Movement. --by Mary Titus "As we approach the political conventions this summer, it may be useful to look to the past to study how the FBI and police engage provocateurs." www.legitgov.org/essay_titus_police_informants_1972_012604.html

Global warming will plunge Britain into new ice age 'within decades' Britain is likely to be plunged into an ice age within our lifetime by global warming, new research suggests.

[January 24 lead stories:] Powell: Possible Iraq Had No Banned Arms --Secretary of State Colin Powell held out the possibility Saturday that prewar Iraq may not have possessed weapons of mass destruction.

New WMD blow for Tony Blair --Britain 's opposition Conservatives called on Saturday for a public inquiry about the British decision to join the war on Iraq following the resignation of the top US official charged with tracking down Iraq 's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Blair's future at stake as judge reports Wednesday on Kelly suicide --Nothing less than the future of British Prime Minister Poodle Tony Blair hangs in the balance this week as a long-awaited report of the judicial inquiry into the suicide of weapons expert David Kelly is made public.

War crimes trial for Hussein could reveal details of past U.S. help --Saddam Hussein's loyalists may not be the only ones edgy about the prospect of a war crimes trial for the former Iraqi leader. Vexing questions also could surface about how much the United States helped Iraq during its eight-year war with Iran -- and whether it tried to stop Iraqi atrocities

Please contribute today, for January expenses!! We need donations to continue. Thank you.

Address to receive newsletter: clg_newsletter-subscribe (at) mlm.legitgov.org clg_newsletter-subscribe (at) mlm.legitgov.org>
Address to not receive newsletter: clg_newsletter-unsubscribe (at) mlm.legitgov.org clg_newsletter-unsubscribe (at) mlm.legitgov.org>
(or, pls. write to: signup (at) legitgov.org signup (at) legitgov.org>, and I can add your name to the roster) lrp/mdr/CLG

The CLG Newsletter is edited by Lori Price, General Manager, Citizens for Legitimate Government.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
15) DAVID ROVICS: 2/5 Grocery Workers Benefit With David Rovics

"Music To Light
The Fire"
David Rovics Solidarity Benefit Concert

Labor Troubadour Dave Rovics will perform for the locked out and striking S. Cal UFCW Grocery Workers




"Listen to David Rovics..."
Pete Seeger
"David Rovics is the musical version of Democracy Now!"
Amy Goodman, host, Democracy Now!
"If the great Phil Ochs were to come back from the dead tonight he'd probably be hailed as the new David Rovics."
Andy Kershaw, BBC Radio 3
"Rovics has his fist tight on the pulse of intervention through music."
Sing Out! Magazine
"...the Pete Seeger of his time."
The Hartford Advocate
"In that Wobbly tradition of sharp social commentary, David is a master."
The Industrial Worker
"Inspiring, and inspired... For anyone despairing of finding the next generation, worry no more!"
AK Press
"David Rovics' music gives life and hope in the struggle for peace and justice. He is an inspiration."
Reverend Roy Bourgeois, founder, SOA Watch
"If the key to building a mass movement is to make it 'irresistible,' David is opening the flood gates."
Medea Benjamin, Founding Director, Global Exchange

Thursday February 5, 2004 7:30 PM
777 Valencia St./19th St
San Francisco


It is a $10.00-$20.00 Sliding Scale Donation Requested

Initial Sponsors: LaborFest, New College Of California, Campaign Against Taft-Hartley, Repression & Privatization, Peace and Freedom Labor Committee

Contact number is (415)642-8066

www.davidrovics.com
www.laborfest.net
www.geocities.com/new_fightback/

------------------------------------------------------------------------
16) Iraq Labor Tour- 2 NYC Events

The Fight for Labor Rights From Iraq to the U.S.

Under U.S. war and occupation, Iraq is being looted by Bechtel and Haliburton – the same kinds of union-busting corporations that attack workers here at home.

As a result, Iraqi workers face mass unemployment, low pay, arrest, and the use of Saddam-era laws to suppress the right to organize and strike. Iraqi industries are being privatized and sold to American companies.

Working people in the U.S. are paying for all this with the lives of our loved ones and with the waste of $150 billion of our tax money that is badly-needed for human services.

Monday, Feb. 2, 2004, 6 p.m.

1199SEIU, 310 W. 43 Street (8/9 Aves.)

Come hear eyewitness reports from:

Clarence Thomas (Executive Board, ILWU Local 10) and

David Bacon (labor journalist and Newspaper Guild member)

about their recent visit with Iraqi trade unionists who are fighting back.

Michael McPhearson, former Army officer and Gulf War veteran,

about his recent visit with military families to find the truth for themselves.

Sponsored by (list in formation): 1199ers for Peace and Justice, AFSCME Local 2627, Center for Study of Working Class Life, Cornell-ILR’s Union Leadership Program, CWA Local 1180, Labor Notes, National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981), New Jersey Labor Against the War, New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW), Organization of Staff Analysts, PSC-CUNY/AFT Local 2334, Queens College-CUNY Labor Resource Center, U.S. Labor Against the War, Veterans For Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War

Info: nyclaw (at) comcast.net nyclaw (at) comcast.net>, 917.282.0139


READ NEXT PAGE FOR EVENT ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD

THE FIGHT FOR LABOR RIGHTS FROM IRAQ

TO THE U.S.

A Queens College Worker Education Program and Labor Resource Center Speaker’s Forum

Iraqi workers face mass unemployment, low pay, arrest, and the use of Saddam-era laws to suppress the right to organize and strike. Iraqi industries are being privatized and sold to American companies. Who is paying for all this and how?

What is happening to Iraqi workers and the Iraqi labor movement under U.S. war and occupation?

How are U.S. corporations, like Bechtel and Haliburton, dealing with Iraqi workers and Iraqi unions?

Hear eyewitness reports from Journalist, David Bacon, and International Longshoremen’s Union member, Clarence Thomas, recently returned from Iraq

Tuesday, February 3, 2004 6:00-7:30

Queens College Worker Education Program and Labor Resource Center

25 West 43rd Street, between 5th and 6th avenues, 19th floor


Students, faculty and friends of the Labor Resource Center Welcome

------------------------------------------------------------------------

17) The Waco Massacre: A Tribute ot Bill Clinton's Janet Reno

Indeed. What DID it take to kill 82 men, women, and children at WACO? Well, for starters:

Here is the list of US military personnel and equipment that the US Justice Department admits were used at Mt. Carmel: "Military Personnel and Equipment:

- Active Duty Personnel - 15

- Texas National Guard Personnel - 13

- Track vehicles Bradley fighting vehicle (OMZ) - 9

- Combat Engineer Vehicle (M728) - 5

- Tank Retrieval vehicle (M88) - 1

- Abrams Tanks (M1A1) - 2

Source: Department of the Treasury, Report of the Department of the Treasury on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Investigation of Vernon Wayne Howell also known as David Koresh, U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1993

“The operation required mustering approximately a hundred agents (flown in from sites around the country), and who ***received military training*** at Ft. Hood. They traveled in a convoy of sixty vehicles and were supported by three National Guard helicopters and one fixed-wing aircraft, ***with armored vehicles in reserve***."(Archived) www.indirect.com/www/dhardy/waco.html”

Where did the US military personnel and equipment used at WACO come from?

Fort Hood, Texas

Who was in command at Fort Hood?

General Wesley Clark


So the question to be asked General Clark is: what exactly was your role, General, in the planning and training for the military attack upon the 82 men, women and children at WACO which resulted in their horrible deaths as the complex went up in flames after being under siege for over 50 days?

Before we vote to determine whether you should be President of the United States, we want to hear a complete answer to this question!

This is a most serious question - one that IS NOT being asked – and it must be!

The massacre at WACO was one of the worst atrocities that has ever occurred in our country. It was followed by a massive coverup and a phony investigation, but many of us have clear memories of what transpired there. Justice must be served.

Please read the following material carefully and forward it to others.

Don Stacey



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


disc.server.com/discussion.cgi

Kelly Patricia O Meara
SIR. WESLEY CLARK: Upon the sword of His Imperial Majesty
Thu Jan 22 13:42:10 2004
64.140.158.144

Knighthood
www.apfn.org/apfn/clark.htm
Swearing the Oath:

Crown: Upon which sword do you wish to swear your Oath?

Candidate:
Upon the sword of His Imperial Majesty.

Wesley Clark, U.S. General and NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe made Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire March 28, 2000.

General Wesley K. Clark,


US Army
www.nato.int/cv/saceur/clark.htm

Foreign Honors and Awards
www.jaymarlowe.com/clark.htm
===================================================

ELECTION 2004
Clark tanks used in Waco siege
Democrat candidate's role in attack on Branch Davidians questioned
Posted: October 16, 2003 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp

Editor's note: WorldNetDaily is pleased to have a content-sharing agreement with Insight magazine, the bold Washington publicati