Film: Salud - June 14

Film screening and discussion of:
¡Salud!
by Academy Award Nominee Connie Field

Thursday, June 14th, 6:30 - 9 pm

SOLIDARITY CENTER
55 West 17th St, 5th floor,
(bt 5th & 6th Aves)

Also meet one of the 1st U.S. graduates from the Cuban Medical School.
Find out about the week he just spent with PINCC (Prevention International: No Cervical Cancer) in El Salvador.

Filmed in Cuba , South Africa , The Gambia, Honduras and Venezuela .
Salud is a timely film about the competing values that mark the battle for global health.

DONATIONS ACCEPTED

March to End the War in Iraq

Troops Out Now!
Put the Antiwar Movement Back on the Streets

September 22 – 29 -- Anti-war encampment in Washington D.C.

September 29 – March on Washington D.C.
Assemble at the Capitol – March on the White House

Stop the War Abroad and at Home

All are invited to an Antiwar Strategy meeting in New York City on Saturday, June 16 where there will be more discussion of this proposal, as well as others.


In the spirit of unity, and for the purposes of taking the movement away from politicians and putting it back into the streets, the Troops Out Now Coalition submits this proposal to all antiwar forces:

Our proposal is for an Encampment to Stop the War at Home & Abroad, starting on Saturday, September 22 in Washington D.C., culminating in a mass march on Saturday, September 29.

This proposal is open to change. TONC welcomes and encourages discussion and suggestions for modifying and improving this proposal. Please endorse the proposal if you are in agreement.

Petition to free Kian Tajbakhsh

From our longtime friend and comrade Juliet Ucelli:

"Folks,


"I may have mentioned to some of you that one of the Iranian-U.S. dual citizens currently being detained and charged with espionage by the Iranian government is a good friend of mine for over 20 years, Kian Tajbakhsh.

"Kian left a professorship at the New School (in Urban Planning) to return to his country and work on public service projects like flood relief and social security administration, usually through contracts that the Open Society Institute had with the Iranian government. I've stayed in touch with Kian since we met, when he first came to NYC in the mid-80s and was working as an advocate for low-income housing. He is a principled, progressive person who of course is not a spy for the U.S. and is unfortunately caught in a game between the two governments.

"Some of Kian's friends at Columbia and the New School have initiated a petition to the Iranian government for his release, and I hope that people can sign it by going to http://www.FreeKian.org. The update below and of course the web site itself contain more information. Thanks."

Juliet


From: "Free Kian"

"Dear friend,

"Kian has been in Evin Prison for four weeks as of today. He has still not
seen a lawyer. This week, he was charged with espionage, which is a
capital crime in Iran. The charges are completely unfounded, and we call
for their dismissal and Kian’s immediate release from prison.

"Many academic and human rights organizations have released letters of
support for Kian, which can be seen at http://www.FreeKian.org under
“Statements of Support.” We have also added a new section to share your
comments, as well as more media coverage and some of Kian’s writing.

"Please continue to raise awareness about Kian and the other detainees, and
encourage others to visit the website and sign the petition. We are
deeply grateful for your support."

Thank you,


-The Free Kian Campaign

Protest Bush's latest outrage

From Human Rights Campaign Take Action

"Keep Bias Out of America's Health Decisions."

Bush's latest outrage is his appointment of homophobic Dr. James Holsinger, whose "record seems to demonstrate that he is uninterested in the best scientific information available; instead, he allows his anti-gay bias to inform his medical judgments. In past writings he has compared reproductive organs to plumbing parts and he seems to believe homosexuality is a 'lifestyle' choice that should be 'cured.'

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the Bush agenda that "This is the man Bush wants to make our next Surgeon General?"

"Voice your outrage today, by writing your Senators. Tell them to vote NO on Holsinger's nomination." See above link to take action.

If you have any doubts about Holsinger's homophobia, check out "Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality"

June 18: Solidarity Tour-Voices of Iraqi Workers

June 18, 2007, 6:30-8:30pm

Solidarity Tour-Voices of Iraqi Workers

Transit Workers Union Local 100
80 West End Avenue
Manhattan

Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, President of Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union, the first woman to lead a national union in Iraq.
Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary of Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, which has been leading the struggle to prevent the take over of Iraq’s oil by multinational corporations.

Come to hear about:
• What conditions for working people are like in Iraq?
• How the occupation has affected families and children?
• Why unions oppose the proposed oil investment law?
• What will happen if the occupation continues?
• What will happen if it rapidly ends?
• What do Iraqi working people want to happen?
• How is a peaceful, stable, non-sectarian Iraq possible?

Contribution: $5-10 sliding scale as a donation to support Iraqi unions

Sponsored by: United for Peace and Justice/NYC, US Labor Against the War, CODEPINK NYC For more Info: (212) 868-5545

In LA people like Paris are untouchable

Photo by: Peter Kramer / Getty;
Thos Robinson / Getty

I don't know if Paris Hilton should have been sentenced to jail in the first place. I'm not sure that if her name were Shirley Smith she would have been. But once she was she obviously should have been treated like any other jailbird.

But it is even more surprising that anyone - least of all someone as politically sophisticated as Rev. Al Sharpton - is surprised that a white, rich celebrity would be given preferential treatment in Los Angeles. According to People online, after her premature release Sharpton said:

"This early release gives all the appearances of economic and racial favoritism that is constantly cited by poor people and people of color," the civil-rights leader and president of National Action Network said Thursday, according to the Drudge Report. "There are any number of cases of people who handle being incarcerated badly and even have health conditions that are not released."

"I have served several sentences for civil rights and civil disobedience actions and I even fasted, which caused health concerns to prison authorities who paid for a doctor to come see me daily rather than release me," Sharpton said. "This act smacks of the double standards that many of us raise."

One of the problems with all this brouhaha over her incarceration, release and possible return to finish her sentence is that as usual she is being used as a distraction from the issues about which people should be concerned. As the war in Iraq tanks and Bush makes an ass of himself at the G8 meeting and the Democratic Congress uncovers more and more administration disasters the clowns will be brought out to entertain the populace. I would much prefer that Sharpton urge people to ignore these distractions and focus on what's important.

But I doubt that that will happen.

Rape is a hate crime

Last Friday the New York Post reported that Sacha Baron Cohen (no relation) the creator of Ali G on HBO (Da Ali G Show) and more recently the smash hit film Borat is expanding to write a book. Publisher Suzanne Herz told the Post:

"This is Borat, so it's hysterical, very funny. He's become an iconic figure ... It'll be like nothing like you've ever read." The Post also said "that readers should expect Borat to tell tourists [to Kazakhstan] about the 'sports' his country has to offer -- which according to him, include archery, rape, pingpong and dog hunting."

This is not, of course, the first time recently that weak attempts at humor have been used to cover up verbal attacks on women. Remember how shlock jocks Opie & Anthony laughed as "Homeless Charlie," a character on their show talked about how he would like to "fuck that bitch." Opie and Anthony laughed and said, "I just imagine the horror in Condoleezza Rice's face ... as she realizes what's going on ... as you were just holding her down and fucking her." They continued to laugh as "Charlie" talked about punching Rice in the face and raping Laura Bush "to death ."

The extraordinary brutality of all this can't be ignored. It's seems to be part and parcel of a broader right-wing attempt regain control over women; to turn women back into chattel.

That's, after all, what the fight over women's bodies is all about. Women can't be free and liberated unless they can control their own sexuality and their own bodies.

The pseudo-humorous use of rape - the classical weapon of male dominance - needs to be counteracted, not through censorship, but by constantly challenging this use of rape in the guise of humor to attack women.

One Note Rudy echoes W and the boys

If you have enjoyed the last nearly eight years of U.S. politics, you'll certainly appreciate "One Note Rudy":

"It’s unthinkable that you would leave Saddam Hussein in charge of Iraq and be able to fight the war on terror. And the problem is that we see Iraq in a vacuum. Iraq should not be seen in a vacuum. Iraq is part of the overall terrorist war against the United States."

"And during the debate the other night, the Democrats seemed to be back in the 1990s. They don’t seem to have gotten beyond the Cold War. Iran is a threat, a nuclear threat, not just because they can deliver a nuclear warhead with missiles. They’re a nuclear threat because they are the biggest state sponsor of terrorism and they can hand nuclear materials to terrorists. And we saw just last week in New York an attempt by Islamic terrorists to attack JFK Airport; three weeks ago, an attempt to attack Fort Dix."

Does this remind you of anyone else? How about George W. Bush just before last November's election:

"The stakes in this war are high and so are the stakes this November. Americans face a choice between two parties with different attitudes on this War on Terror."

"Five years after 9/11, the worst attack on the American homeland in history, the Democrats offer nothing but criticism and obstruction and endless second-guessing. The party of FDR, the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run."

Or perhaps you prefer Dick Cheney's version:

"That [the 1972 Nixon/McGovern election] was the last time the national Democratic Party took a hard left turn," Cheney told a conference hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation. "But in 2007, it looks like history is repeating itself. Today, on some of the most critical issues facing the country, the new Democratic majority resembles nothing so much as that old party of the early 1970s."

Or Karl Rove's warning before the last election:

"Republicans have a post-9/11 worldview—and many Democrats have a pre-9/11 worldview," Rove told Republican activists. "That doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong—deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong."

It's interesting how directly "One Note" Rudy echoes the current White House axis of evil.

This should be a really good event!

Left Forum and The Nation Present:

CAN PROGRESSIVES MOVE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO THE LEFT?
A debate between Stanley Aronowitz and Laura Flanders

Monday June 18 , 7pm

CUNY Graduate Center
Elebash Recital Hall
365 5th Avenue at 34th St.

$5 to $10 admission, ticketing at the door (no advance sales)


Stanley Aronowitz is author of Left Turn: Forging a New Political Future (Paradigm Publishers, 2006), and Laura Flanders is author of Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians (The Penguin Press, 2007), will discuss and debate the possibilities and limitations of working within the Democratic party.
Gary Younge, correspondent for The Guardian and contributor to The Nation will moderate.

Stanley Aronowitz and Laura Flanders will be signing their books after the discussion.

Information: 212-817-2003 or leftforum@leftforum.org

STANLEY ARONOWITZ is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at CUNY Graduate Center, where he is Director of The Center for the Study of Culture, Technology and Work. He is Founding Editor of Social Text and Situations, was Book Review Editor of Social Policy, and serves on the Editorial Board of Ethnography; Cultural Critique. He has authored and edited 24 books, the most recent being Left Turn: Forging a New Political Future (2006).

LAURA FLANDERS is the host of "RadioNation" heard on Air America Radio and syndicated to non-commercial affiliates nationwide. She is the author most recently of Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians (The Penguin Press, 2007) and also BUSHWOMEN: Tales of a Cynical Species (Verso, 2004), an investigation into the women in George W. Bush's Cabinet.

GARY YOUNGE is a columnist and correspondent for The Guardian and the Alfred Knobler fellow for The Nation. He has written extensively from Southern Africa and throughout Europe, and is author of No Place Like Home: A Black Briton's Journey Through the Deep South (1999), and, most recently, of Stranger in a Strange Land: Encounters in the Disunited States (2006).

Michael Moore on Oprah Tues. 6/5

Michael Moore on Oprah Tuesday

Michael Moore will appear on Oprah tomorrow, Tuesday, June 5, and will present, for the first time on television, scenes from his new film, Sicko. Oprah will interview Michael about the movie and the attention it's receiving before its release (opening day everywhere is June 29).
The theme of Oprah's show is the one film you must see this summer -- Sicko -- and the one book you must read (Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"). Oprah loved Michael's film and wants to make health care for all one of her main missions this year.

So set your recorders for Oprah tomorrow, Tuesday!

Nixon redux: Bush martial law

From a friend:

"Listening to WNYC today, someone called in about a Presidential Directive that was issued in mid-May that has received no coverage and, according to the caller, gives the President virtual dictatoral powers in the event of an "emergency". I googled it, and found about five pages of commentary, but they were ALL ONE COMMENTARY, from clearly anti-Bush blogs. I tried to find a reputable news source that dealt with it, but as the caller stated, NO ONE SEEMS TO BE WRITING ABOUT THIS. So I went to the source:The White House, and downloaded the actual directive. I'm sending it out for you to look over and see if you can decipher it's meaning. If the bloggers are correct, we must not let this go under the radar. In fact, if the bloggers are correct, we are really in grave danger."

O'Reilly in wonderland

Reading a Bill O'Reilly column is like entering another dimension. A dimension that might be called "O'Reilly's Wonderland." A wonderland characterized by two things: O'Reilly and his cohorts are always the victims. Who can forget his brave struggle against the infidels who wanted to violate the purity of Christmas by trying to include everyone in the holiday spirit by wishing people Seasons Greetings instead of the Christian-only narrower Merry Christmas.

The other is that any mistakes - no matter how deadly - made by O'Reilly and his cohorts are always someone else's fault. "... President Bush had no plan 'B' when the Iraqi people decided not to fight for their freedom after Saddam fell. That is the crux of the mess in Iraq" (NYP, 5/25/07) Heavens, we uninvited invaded a sovereign country to change regimes and the people of Iraq "...embraced ancient hatreds and corruption, and some even cooperated with al Qaeda. The ensuing chaos and death is heartbreaking to those of us who believe Iraq could be a free nation, if only the people had the will."

In other words, our crusade to turn the Middle East into a carbon copy of the U.S. was foiled by Iraqi's desire to be Iraqis.

Yesterday Bush claimed, "I'm credible because I read the intelligence."

But, according to the WP, "Months before the invasion of Iraq, U.S. intelligence agencies predicted that it would be likely to spark violent sectarian divides and provide al-Qaeda with new opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report released yesterday by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence."

O'Reilly asks: "...is there a rational person on earth who believes Bush, Blair ... lied to the world in order to remove Saddam Hussein." Well Bill, some of us believe - without claiming to be rational - that the removal of Saddam Hussein was the first necessary step toward taking control of Iraq's vast oil wealth. It's interesting that the word "oil" never appears in your column.

Iraq Veterans Against the War Memorial Day action

Rally to support Iraq Veterans Against the War

Sunday, May 27th, 2007
12 Noon,
Union Square, South steps


"In an effort to illuminate the true reality of the conflict in Iraq, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will engage in a series of street theater actions around the New York City area on Sunday, May 27.

This day coincides with our national remembrance of Memorial Day on Monday, May 28, which bears particular significance this year as we are in the midst of the fifth year of a war that has claimed the lives of over 3,300 American service members and over 655,000 Iraqis."

Congressional Democrats capitulate and abandon the American people, the troops and the Iraqi people

I don't claim to understand why the Democrats have aligned themselves with Bush on Iraq. Except to realize once again that there is really only one corporate party.

On Nov. 9th - electorally victorious - the Democrats marched into Washington promising to respond to the voters and end the occupation of Iraq. Today they capitulated and proved that they couldn't stand up to Bush and agreed to continue to finance his immoral war. It's clear that they did not have the votes to overturn a Bush veto of a real bill that would end the occupation and bring the troops home. But that's not the point of the Nov. 8th election. The voters were demanding that the Democrats stand up and be counted. It seems that they can't.

Bush, as usual, has been playing politics with the troops. He vetoed (rejected) the bill to finance the occupation. And then blamed the Democrats for not supporting the troops. This is what magicians call misdirection. It's how they fool their audience. It seems that he fooled the Democratic leadership even if he couldn't distract the American people from their determination to end the occupation and bring the troops home.

Among the current Democratic candidates Joe Biden and John Edwards basically agree with Conn. Senator Christopher Dodd who said:

"Half-measures and equivocations are not going to change our course in Iraq,"
"If we are serious about ending the war, Congress must stand up to this president's failed policy now -- with clarity and conviction. ..."

As of this writing Sens. Clinton and Obama haven't said how they will vote. I guess they are waiting for word from the weatherman as to which way the political wind is blowing.

Labor Chorus Benefit concert

Photo by Dan Cohen
8th GALA BENEFIT CONCERT
New York City Labor Chorus

Saturday June 16th - 7:30pm

Ethical Culture Society
2 West 64th Street (off Central Park West)


Celebrate the great tradition of labor and folk music through song.

TICKETS: $25
Seniors, Students, & Unemployed: $15
ORDER TICKETS NOW ONLINE!

Soap Opera humor:

"Renee Elise Goldsberry exits 'OLTL' ['One Life to Live'] May 21, when Evangeline slips into a contract-induced coma.

(from Soap Dish by Carolyn Hinsey in N.Y. Daily News)

May 8th second anniversary of Chelsea Stands Up Against the War

Tuesday, May 8Th, 6-7 p.m.
is the 104th consecutive week of the Stand Up against the war in Iraq.
Join with your fellow anti-war neighbors at the northwest corner of 8th Ave and 24th St to Stand Up Against The War in Iraq.
If you live in Chelsea (or not) and are against the war - be there!

With George Tenant for better or worse you get what you pay for

Tenant with his one time-White House
masters
One thing you have to say about former CIA director George Tenant is that he's consistant. Whoever pays him gets what they need.

When he worked for the current axis of evil in the white House (Cheney, Bush and Rove) he gave them whatever they needed to market a very lucrative war. Although it seems as if yesterday's "slam dunk" has turned into today's "air ball."

Now that he is working for HarperCollins he is providing them what they need to market his reportedly $4 million tome. I suspect that this shot may also turn into an air ball.

Evolution and the right wing: theater of the absurd

Many Americans wonder why a great nation has become the world's laughing stock. After last Thursday evening's Republican party presidential debate it should be fairly obvious.

Three contenders for the Republican presidential nomination - Kansas's senator sam Brownback, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Colorado House member Tom Tancredo - actually said they did not believe in evolution.

I can only assume that they also believe that if they sail far enough they will fall off the end of the earth. Wait a minute. Maybe that's not such a bad idea.

Not only do these people make the U.S. look bad, but they also demean whichever religion they espouse. No religion demands that you be an idiot.

Are we once again back to the imperial presidency?

Why is the U.S. the only democratic nation that treats its leaders as untouchable? Shouldn't the current events in Israel tell us something?

"[A] report, by an Israeli government commission, set off a furious debate in Israel on whether [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert should remain in office.

"The commission accused him of having decided hastily to go to war, neglecting to ask for a detailed military plan, refusing to consult outside the army and setting “over-ambitious and unobtainable goals.

"One result, the commission said, was that Mr. Olmert had been responsible for 'a severe failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence.'" (N.Y. Times)

Doesn't all this sound familiar? Shouldn't the Bush administration be subjected to the same questions, only more so. The Bush administration has proven over and over again its historic self-indulgence and incompetence.

I don't know who is actually responsible for the disasters in New Orleans, Iraq, Walter Reade, for the politicization of every aspect of this administration, Justice, science, etc. Only history will tell us whether the real culprit is named Bush, Cheney, Rove, the ridiculous neo-cons, or maybe all of the co-conspirators, but since Bush claims to be the "decider," let's take him at his word. And investigate him for "a severe failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence."

In the past it's been a two-bit robbery and cover-up (Nixon) and lying about blow jobs (Clinton) that has been grounds for impeachment (even if neither was ever convicted), these are penny ante "crimes and misdemeanors" compared to the behavior of Bush and his gang of war criminals.

Even arguments against challenging the Commander-in-chief in time of war pale before the Israeli situation. There they investigate the prime minister here we take impeachment off the table. The question is what's wrong with us? And what are we going to do about it?