owencenli

olympics poll

2008-08-13T10:11:56Z

AP-Ipsos poll:

By 51 percent to 45 percent, more want the U.S. team to return with a huge haul of medals than are simply enjoying athletic accomplishments without keeping score by country.

That preference, though, is hardly uniform. Those focusing on American victories are likelier to be white, higher income, Republican and conservative, according to the AP-Ipsos poll. Those not primarily interested in the national race for medals have higher proportions of minorities, liberals, Democrats and independents.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080813/ap_on_re_us/oly_olympics_ap_poll

Angola 3 conviction overturned!

2008-07-10T00:45:12Z

July 8, 2008
Associated Press

Louisiana federal judge overturns 'Angola 3' conviction

The Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. A federal judge has overturned the conviction of a former Black Panther in the 1972 stabbing death of a Louisiana prison guard.

Albert Woodfox, who was held in solitary confinement for over 30 years, is one of three former Panthers known as the "Angola Three." He and two other black prisoners at the Louisiana State Penitentiary were convicted in the killing of guard Brent Miller on April 17, 1972.

U.S. District Judge James Brady issued a ruling late today approving a federal magistrate's decision that Woodfox's conviction should be overturned because his previous defense lawyer failed to object to a prosecutor's testimony about a witness' credibility.

Ex-Black Panther's murder conviction overturned - CNN.com*

http://edition. cnn.com/2008/ CRIME/07/ 09/black. panther.ap/ index.html

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) -- A federal judge on Tuesday overturned the conviction of a former Black Panther in the 1972 stabbing death of a Louisiana prison guard.

Albert Woodfox, who was held in solitary confinement for over 30 years, is one of three former Panthers known as the "Angola Three." He and two other black prisoners at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola were convicted in the killing of guard Brent Miller on April 17, 1972.

U.S. District Judge James Brady issued a ruling late Tuesday approving a federal magistrate's June recommendation that Woodfox's conviction be overturned because one of his former lawyers failed to object to a prosecutor's testimony about a witness' credibility. Brady also found that Woodfox's trial lawyer failed to object to testimony from a witness who had died after the trial.

Woodfox's decades in solitary confinement attracted worldwide attention from activists who called him a political prisoner.

Nick Trenticosta, the New Orleans-based defense lawyer who handled the appeal, said Woodfox's immediate future lies in the hands of prosecutors, who could request a new trial. Trenticosta said he hoped Woodfox to be released without another trial.

"The man was convicted on false evidence, and he's been held in solitary for almost 40 years. Let's release him," Trenticosta said.

A message left for prosecutors late Tuesday was not immediately returned.

Trenticosta said Woodfox had probably not yet heard about the ruling.

"I don't believe he knows," Trenticosta said. "But I'll talk to him in the morning and he'll probably find out about it in the newspaper."

Woodfox and Herman Wallace were kept in solitary confinement from 1972 until March, when they were moved to a maximum-security dormitory with other prisoners. Woodfox was serving 50 years for armed robbery when the 1972 killing occurred.

Wallace has been appealing his conviction based on arguments similar to Woodfox's.

The third member of the "Angola Three" spent 29 years in isolation before his conviction was overturned in 2001. Robert King, known as Robert King Wilkerson in the 1970s, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was freed.

Revolutionaries Hold City Council Lobby Day

2008-06-03T20:08:33Z

Revolutionaries Hold City Council Lobby Day: Radical Lobbying Tactics Lead to Electeds’ Commitment to “Review the Materials” and “Schedule Call"

I thought this wasy pretty funny:

http://readtheleftover.blogspot.com/2008/06/revolutionaries-hold-city-council-lobby.html

essay on jia zhangke

2008-05-29T11:16:44Z

pretty interesting article, ends before 'the world' was made

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/jia.html

what to get from itunes store?

2008-05-27T08:08:14Z

got a $10 certificate for itunes store- what should i get? something i'd watch repeatedly on my iphone. zoolander? 5 episodes of flight of the conchords? amandla?

police officer pressured to cover up killing of 92 year old

2008-05-15T06:30:24Z

full story here

Kathryn Johnston was shot 39 times as plainclothes narcotics officers busted into her house using a "no-knock" warrant on Nov. 26, 2006. During nearly eight hours of testimony, Arthur Tester said he was instructed by two other officers after the shooting to memorize a cover-up story that they had witnessed an informant buying drugs at Johnston's home.

Tester also told the jury in Fulton County Superior Court that he didn't know officer Jason R. Smith had lied to a judge to get the warrant and then planted drugs in Johnston's basement to back up the story. In his often tearful testimony, Tester said he eventually decided to cooperate with federal investigators because he "couldn't take it anymore."

"A woman was dead and they were trying to implicate me in their story," Tester said. "I didn't lay a hand on this woman. I wanted nothing to do with it."

Prosecutors say Tester had opportunities to tell the truth but decided to do so only when federal agents told him they knew he was lying.

jia zhang ke movie, immigrant detainee deaths

2008-05-05T07:19:27Z

Folks should look at this: deaths of immigrant detainees 2004-2007

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/ICE_FOIA.pdf

The accompanying article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/nyregion/05detain-list.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

---

I just watched "Still Life" at the SF Int'l Film Festival, the fourth Jia Zhang Ke movie I've ever seen (he has many others but none got enough distribution for them to be accessible). I have conflicted feelings about the film. I feel like the gaze in this film is more of a foreign one - although this can be said of pretty much any Chinese director that's gotten western distribution, I felt like his earlier films didn't have that kind of film festival audience appeal. He's also becoming more of an auteur and his films are becoming more intentionally allegorical - which I'm not sure how I feel about. Regardless, it's still a brilliant movie. It's playing one more time at the PFA tuesday night 8:45. It sounds like it's also going to come out on DVD, although the setting of the movie really makes it worth it to watch on a big screen.

top guantanamo prosecutor was told there could be no acquittals

2008-04-29T09:07:08Z

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042802982.html?hpid=topnews

Take Action: Help fight Ariz. bill to ban ethnic student groups like

2008-04-24T08:26:06Z

Take Action: Help fight Ariz. bill to ban ethnic student groups like
MEChA, Black Business Students Assoc.

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

Help fight Ariz. bill to ban ethnic student groups like MEChA, Black
Business Students Assoc.

Multiculturalism is a basic American concept. We value the beliefs,
traditions, customs, arts, history and folklore of the diverse
cultures reflected throughout our nation. All this is being put at
risk in Arizona, where last week the Appropriations Committee passed
an amendment to a routine homeland security bill, SB 1108 that would
prohibit students at the state's public universities and community
colleges from organizing groups based on race (ie: groups such as
MEChA, the Black Business Students Association, Native Americans
United, etc.)

Please take action today. This bill could reach the Arizona House
floor as early as this week.

According to newspaper reports, Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Scottsdale) , a
supporter of the measure called these campus organizations,
"'self-defeating' and 'self-destructive' for students."

Self-defeating? Multiculturalism doesn't limit students. It gives them
pride in who they are and enhances their being fuller people by
fostering the concept of America being the land of opportunity. As
Cesar Chavez said, "Preservation of ones' culture doesn't mean
contempt for others'."

These student groups are like any other school club or fraternity.
They bring students together so they can achieve academic success.
They offer a place to meet, make friends and support one another.
Their goal is to help students succeed. For example, the members of
the University of Arizona's MEChA chapter visit high schools to
encourage students to attend college. They hold events and fundraisers
to spread the message that education is the key to success.

The bill goes one step further. It also would ban public schools or
colleges from including race-based classes or school sponsored
activities. Officially the language says it would ban any activity
"deemed contradictory to the values of American democracy or Western
civilization. " However, the language is so broad, who knows what could
be prohibited? Certainly Chicano studies, African-American studies &
other ethnic studies programs would be put at risk.

Studies show that students who learn about their race and culture have
a lower-drop out rate. In truth, if this bill passes it could cause a
huge set back in our educational system.

Please take immediate action. If you live in Arizona, e-mail your
representatives immediately as well as the Speaker of the House. If
you live outside Arizona, please e-mail the Arizona Speaker of the
House today and let him know the eyes of the nation are on Arizona.

http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/sb1108?rk=51qN6mdqzpPrE

tibet article

2008-04-21T09:36:29Z

a longwinded polemical article about tibet- obviously skewed and not particularly good, but it's the only thing I've gotten emailed to me about the free tibet movement- this is the party behind ANSWER i think

China, Tibet and U.S.-sponsored counterrevolution
Tuesday, April 1, 2008

An objective look at the "Free Tibet" movement

The following is a statement from the Party for Socialism and
Liberation.

Many U.S. progressives and liberals are supporting the Dalai Lama and
the Tibetan opposition to the People's Republic of China. So are
George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh, the CIA and every pro-imperialist
government and media outlet. The vast majority of the peoples of
China, including many in Tibet, oppose the U.S.-supported separatist
movement.

"Peaceful" protesters killed 19 people and burned down numerous
buildings in Lhasa. How could progressive people be on the same side
as Bush, the CIA and the ultra-right? How do we explain the paradox
of progressive people supporting a movement that is financed and
supported by the proponents of the U.S. Empire, as well as by all of
the other old European colonial powers that had divided, humiliated
and looted China for a full century prior to the 1949 revolution?

This riddle is solved by appreciating the impact of the effective CIA
propaganda supporting the Dalai Lama and the old Tibetan ruling class
that lost its power, privileges, serfs and slaves because of the
Chinese Revolution. This propaganda is echoed in the western media
constantly and it has affected liberal public opinion.

The National Endowment for Democracy funds the Dalai Lama and the
Tibetan opposition. It also funds or funded the pro-U.S. opposition
to Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, the fascist opposition to former
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the opposition to the
Cuban Revolution. The NED also funded Ronald Reagan's contra war
against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

From 1995 to 2005, the NED gave $2,047,479 to opposition Tibetan
publications, radio stations, organizations and other institutes.

The Dalai Lama has a long, close history of working with the U.S.
government. In fact, he and his supporters have been on the CIA
payroll since the 1950s.

The International Campaign for Tibet, the Tibet Fund, the Tibet Voice
Project, the Tibet Information Network, the Tibetan Literary Society,
the Tibetan Review Trust Society and the Voice of Tibet all advance
the progressive- sounding call for a "Free Tibet." They are all
funded by the NED, which is itself funded by the U.S. State
Department and the CIA.

According to historian Allen Weinstein, "A lot of what [the NED does]
today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." Weinstein helped
draft the legislation that created the NED. (1)

Many progressives in the United States believe that Tibet is severely
oppressed by the government of the People's Republic of China. They
have been convinced that the Dalai Lama is a man of peace who has
been ruthlessly suppressed by China, and that he has the allegiance
of nearly all Tibetans. Most of these Dalai Lama supporters sincerely
believe in the right of self-determination and believe that the
People's Republic of China has violated this right.

Among this sector of liberal and progressive opinion, the reflex to
any struggle between China and what they perceive to be the Tibetan
people as a whole is to express profound solidarity with those they
consider to be the oppressed.

This view obscures the essential social and class dynamic in Tibet.
Influenced by this false conception, people who should know better
lose their critical faculties.

Knowing that George W. Bush is an imperialist criminal, one must
pause and ponder the question: Why did Bush award the Congressional
Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama in a highly publicized White House
ceremony in 2007? Bush would never conduct such a ceremony for a
genuinely progressive person. Bush views the Dalai Lama in much the
same way he viewed Ahmed Chalabi before the invasion of Iraq—as a
useful tool for the U.S. Empire.

Demonization campaign a prelude to imperialist intervention

The demonization of China is in full swing now. Demonization is the
imperialists' preferred tool to delegitimize their targets and
prepare the ground for a destabilization campaign and possible
military intervention.

The demonization tactic has been consistently applied preceding
regime changes, coups and invasions: the invasion of Panama in 1989,
Iraq in 1991 and 2003, Haiti in the first half of 1990s, the aerial
destruction of Yugoslavia in 1999, the military coup in Venezuela in
2002, and the new threats against Iran. The pattern is crystal clear.

Although our organization has profound political differences with
many of the policies of the Chinese Communist Party, especially its
promotion of capitalist-style market practices, we feel that it is
necessary to expose the hidden and not-so-hidden efforts of the Bush
administration, the CIA, the Democratic Party and other centers of
political power to destabilize and dismember the People's Republic of
China. Most Chinese people recognize that this effort, if successful,
would hurl both China and Tibet backward.

Some in the liberal camp might argue that, though U.S. motives may be
impure and even imperialist toward China and Tibet, this does not
diminish the legitimacy of Tibet's fight for independence.

Progressives should think this through. For more than a century,
Washington has sought to build a world empire. Its foreign and
military policies focus exclusively on achieving and maintaining its
global aspirations. It is not tenable for progressives to view the
issue of self-determination in the abstract; we must account for the
strategic designs of imperialism.

The historical analogy of Cuba's war for independence from the
Spanish Empire comes to mind. The U.S. military invaded Cuba in 1898
under the pretext of supporting Cuba's independence from Spain. Soon,
the U.S. government's own imperialist goals were revealed as it
turned Cuba into a protectorate, seized Puerto Rico from Spain and
invaded the Philippines.

Mark Twain and the other leaders of the Anti-Imperialist League in
the United States exposed the true nature of the U.S. project to
incorporate Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines into a new U.S.
sphere of influence. Progressives in the United States would be well
served by remembering this legacy and applying it to U.S.
imperialism' s unfolding struggle to "liberate" Tibet from China.

Mark Twain and his colleagues were deeply sympathetic to the cause of
Cuban independence from Spain but they still militantly opposed the
U.S. intervention. They understood it was a cruel and cynical U.S.
ploy to conquer Cuba. Unlike the current struggle by the Dalai Lama
and the Tibetan Youth Congress, Cuba's independence movement was led
by genuine revolutionaries like José Martí.

José Martí, the "Apostle of Cuban Independence, " represented the
slaves, ex-slaves, workers and peasants against their Cuban bosses
and tormentors, as well as the foreign colonizing power. The Dalai
Lama, on the other hand, is the voice and figurehead for the ruling
elites who lived off of the labor of serfs—modern- day land-slaves.
Martí fought the foreign occupier while the Dalai Lama was a well-
paid cog in Britain's colonial machine in Asia.

Myths and facts of pre-revolutionary Tibet and the Dalai Lama

The popular presentation of old Tibet is the Hollywood version of
reality. It is both Orientalist and racist. Old Tibet is viewed as a
nation founded on peace and spiritual harmony, populated by gentle
monks who lived humbly side-by-side with a rustic peasant population
at one with nature. In this mythical depiction, the brutal communist
government of China is cruelly occupying this idyllic Shangri-la.

There are more than 15,500
Tibetan-language teachers in the
Tibet Autonomous Region.
Tenzin Gyatso, known as the Dalai Lama, heads the Tibetan opposition
movement financed and cultivated for more than 50 years by
Washington. He is the religious leader of Tibetan Buddhism and former
ruler of Tibet—the "god-king" of the Tibetan feudal system until 1959.

Prior to 1959, 95 percent of the people lived in shocking, slave-like
conditions, while an extremely repressive aristocracy "lived in
opulent splendor. … Among the populace, a common appellation for the
rich was `ones whose lips are always moistened by tea.'" (2)

A 1940 survey showed that "38 percent of the households never got any
tea, but either collected herbs that grew wild or drank `white tea'—
boiled water. … 51 percent could not afford to use butter (tea and
yak butter were main staples), and 75 percent of the households were
forced at times to resort to eating grass cooked with cow bones and
mixed with oat or pea flour." (3)

Education was almost non-existent, and what existed was exclusive to
the nobility. Health conditions were abysmal, with an estimated 90
percent of the people suffering venereal disease and about 30 percent
infected with smallpox. (4) In 1959, infant mortality was 430 deaths
per 1,000 births and average life expectancy was 35.5 years. (5)

Of a serf's production, 50 to 70 percent was owed to his manorial
master, in addition to forced labor called "ulag." Dozens of taxes
had to be paid, including butter tax, meat tax, wool tax, woolen
cloth tax and a tax on tsampa—a staple food usually made from barley—
to support the monasteries. Prayer festival taxes, hay taxes, utensil
taxes, meat taxes, past-due taxes, corvée taxes in the form of labor,
military taxes and others had to be paid to the government. Many
additional taxes were paid to the feudal lord.

The extremely high number of manor estates and monks—who performed no
work but lived from others' labor—was an enormous drain on society.
Out of the 37,000 inhabitants in Lhasa, Tibet's capital, 16,000 were
monks. The Drepung monastery alone had "185 manors, 20,000 serfs, 300
pastures and 16,000 herdsmen." (6)

Profoundly superstitious beliefs, complete religious control by
Tibetan Buddhist lamas over the masses and severe punishment,
including death, for any type of disobedience effectively kept the
people from rebelling or questioning their condition.

It is no coincidence that the recent chain of events leading up to
the present turmoil began on March 10. On that day in 1959, the Dalai
Lama and the feudal nobility launched an armed rebellion in Tibet in
opposition to major social changes introduced shortly after the
triumph of the Chinese Revolution.

Tibet and China before the 1949 revolution

In present-day China, the Han nationality makes up 91 percent of the
population. The remaining 9 percent adds up to 105 million people of
55 different nationalities, including 16 million Zhuang, 10.6 million
Manchu, 8.3 million Uyghur, 8.9 million Miao, 8 million Tujia, 7.7
million Yi and 5.4 million Tibetan.

Roughly half of the Tibetan nationality lives within the borders of
the 470,000 square miles that make up the Tibetan Autonomous Region
of China. The remaining Tibetan population lives in the provinces of
Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai and Yunnan. There are also Tibetans in India,
Bhutan and Nepal.

Tibet has long been recognized as part of China. The relationship
goes back until at least the 13th century, in an arrangement whereby
the Tibetan rulers exercised local autonomy while the central Chinese
government conducted Tibet's foreign affairs and defense. In 1906,
Britain signed a formal recognition of China's sovereignty over Tibet.

During an exchange of diplomatic statements between Britain and the
United States in 1943, Washington stated: "For its part, the
Government of the United States has borne in mind the fact that the
Chinese constitution lists Tibet among areas constituting the
territory of the Republic of China. This Government has at no time
raised a question regarding either of these claims." (7)

Before the Chinese Revolution, Tibet's lamas and nobility accepted
the political arrangement with China's dynastic rulers—and later
British colonizers in the early 20th century—as long as the Tibetan
rulers could lord over the Tibetan masses unimpeded. Only when the
prospect of socialism threatened their privilege, which was founded
on the exploitation of the peasantry, did the Tibetan ruling class
decide to break ties with China.

In September 1949, fearful of the impending revolution and a
challenge to their power, the Tibetan leaders immediately expelled
China's mission in Lhasa on instructions of longtime British agent
Hugh Richardson.

Revolution brings change to Tibet

The aim of China's October 1, 1949, revolution was the emancipation
of all the people of China, including the 55 smaller nationalities
within Chinese territory.

The government's initial attitude toward Tibet was one of extreme
caution on the matter of reforms. The government was cognizant of the
profound control that Tibetan rulers wielded over the serf
population, as well as the historic resentment of the Tibetan
nationality towards the Han nationality.

The 1951 "Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet"
signed by the new revolutionary government and local Tibetan leaders
provided for economic development, education and health care
programs.

At first, the old, reactionary social relations were not disturbed.
The pact established that "the local government of Tibet shall carry
out reform voluntarily, and, when the people demand a reform, shall
settle it through consultation with the Tibetan leaders."

Public social projects were inaugurated immediately. The first two
roads ever built in Tibet began construction in 1950 and took almost
five years to complete. One crossed 14 mountain passes over 1,500
miles from Ya'an in Sichuan province to Lhasa. One truck could
transport in two days what it used to take 12 days for 60 yaks to
haul. Schools and hospitals were built. (8)

But by 1959, the ruling priesthood, still owners of virtually all the
country's wealth, strongly opposed any attempt to reform their
system. Counterrevolutionar y bands opposed to change waged
paramilitary attacks.

Despite the obstacles imposed by the Tibetan ruling circles, the
central government continued the development projects. It firmly
believed that the impoverished Tibetan masses, gaining from the
progress, would eventually take part in their own emancipation.
There were tremendous difficulties, as one directive from the Central
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party to the reformers showed in
the early 1950s:

"As yet, we don't have a material base for fully implementing the
Agreement, nor do we have a base for this purpose in terms of support
among the masses or in the upper stratum. To force its implementation
will do more harm than good. Since they are unwilling to put the
agreement into effect, well then we can leave it for the time being
and wait. ...

"Let them go on with their insensate atrocities against the people,
while we on our part concentrate on good deeds—production, trade,
road-building, medical services, and united front work (unity with
the majority and patient education) so as to win over the masses and
bide our time before taking up the question of the full
implementation of the Agreement. If they are not in favor of the
setting up of primary schools, that can stop too." (9)

After eight years of harsh opposition by the feudal lords, the new
Chinese revolutionary leadership took direct action in 1959 to
overturn the serf system.

The Dalai Lama set the date of March 10, 1959, for a reactionary
uprising. The Chinese People's Liberation Army stayed in the barracks
for ten days while the Dalai Lama's forces attacked, winning over the
people by revealing who the real aggressor was. Because the uprising
lacked popular support and was confined to the area around Lhasa, it
was quickly defeated.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet for exile in India, eventually landing in
Dharamsala. There, he developed a close and long relationship with
the CIA. His two brothers had already been working actively with the
CIA since the late 1950s.

The Dalai Lama's treasures preceded him out of the country, as well
as the wealth of the nobility who joined him in India. Smaller
numbers went to Bhutan and Nepal.

Tibetan progress since the 1949 revolution

The obstacles of poverty, illiteracy, isolation and deeply
superstitious beliefs made it difficult to bring even minimal
development to Tibet.

Farmer Nuosang in his newly-built
house. By 2010, new housing will
have been constructed for 80
percent of farmers' households.
The Chinese government, which has a long experience in handling the
issues confronting national minority peoples in a multi-national
state, has also dealt with the problem of chauvinism and racism
emanating from the Han population and the government itself.

Members of the Han nationality living or stationed in Tibet exhibited
chauvinism in their relations with the Tibetans at times. Ignorant of
the Tibetan language, culture and religion—the latter deeply
permeated into all facets of life—the cadre had to be intensively
trained at the initiative of the Communist Party leadership.

In "The Making of Modern Tibet," A. Tom Grunfeld writes: "They were
taught to respect local customs and etiquette, never to defile
temples and holy sites, and to never criticize the Dalai Lama or
religious practice. They were told not to bring up communism and
class struggle. They arrived carrying whatever provisions they could,
and paid for everything they purchased. They paid wages to the
Tibetans who worked for them and practiced egalitarianism among
themselves to set an example." (10)

Although not all statistics compare to those in the more developed
areas of China, progress made during the last 50 years has
revolutionized life for Tibetans.

Infant mortality has dropped from 430 deaths per 1,000 births, to a
range of 6.61 to 24.5 per 1,000 in 2002. Where only 2 percent of
school-age children in the 1950s were in school, today the figure is
85.8 percent; however, there is still a need to increase secondary-
level educational levels. The region's 6,348 hospital beds and 8,948
medical personnel exceed China's national per-capita average. (11)

Before the revolution, the masses had no elections or political life.
In 1965, the First People's Congress of Tibet was held, which led to
the founding of the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the Regional
People's Government. There are 70,000 elected representatives on all
levels of government in the TAR.

Beijing is intensifying its development programs in Tibet, with
substantial investments in housing, medical care, infrastructure and
restoration of cultural sites.

The Ninth People's Congress of the TAR put forth a housing plan for
farmers and herders—the backbone of Tibet's economy—that will build
52,000 housing units in 2008. By 2010, new housing will have been
constructed for 80 percent of farmers' households. (China Radio
International, March 22)

In 2006, the annual income of farmers and herders grew 13.1 percent,
the fourth double-digit growth in as many years.

Tourism has increased greatly, especially with the construction of
two main railroad lines from central China—the world's highest in
elevation. Four million tourists traveled to Tibet in 2007, up 60
percent from 2006, adding substantially to the region's income.

Tibetan exiles and the CIA

In the late 1950s and 1960s, the CIA trained hundreds of
counterrevolutionar y exiles in sabotage and terrorism. This took
place on bases from Saipan to Virginia, including the main center of
Tibetan operations: Camp Hale, in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

U.S. intelligence documents, which were released in the late 1990s,
document the close relationship between the CIA, the Tibetan exile
movement and the Dalai Lama personally: "[F]or much of the 1960s, the
CIA provided the Tibetan exile movement with $1.7 million a year for
operations against China, including an annual subsidy of $180,000 for
the Dalai Lama." (12)

Imperialist support for the Tibetan "independence" movement is
reminiscent of their support for Cuban counterrevolutionar y forces
that fled to exile in Miami after the island's 1959 liberation from
U.S. neo-colonial rule.

Soon after Fulgencio Batista's overthrow, the CIA trained several
thousand Cuban reactionaries in bombings, assassination and other
terror tactics in the name of "freedom" and "democracy." The
terrorist project, codenamed JM WAVE, became the largest operation in
the CIA's history.

Cuban extremist exiles in Miami claim to speak for Cubans who live in
Cuba as they work to destroy the social gains that the vast majority
of Cubans support. Similarly, the Tibetan reactionary opposition
exiled in Dharamsala fights to overturn the social gains of Tibetans
living in Tibet.

This time, the U.S. imperialists would dominate Tibet instead of the
British. China has made it clear that it will defend its territorial
integrity.

Tibetan right-wing groups could not exist without U.S. and European
financing or the support of organizations such as Reporters Without
Borders and Human Rights Watch. Actor Richard Gere, chair of the
International Campaign for Tibet, has given a high profile to the
issue.

Today's Tibetan "independence" movement

In 1989, a U.S.-influenced public campaign to elevate the Dalai Lama
as leader of a Tibetan government-in- exile began to accelerate and
continues to the present. The Dalai Lama was granted the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1989. As a prelude to the present unfolding events, George
W. Bush awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal in October 2007
despite protests from China.

The Dalai Lama claims to seek dialogue with China for discussions on
autonomy, but that would only be the first step toward an eventual
breaking away from China.

Tibetan counterrevolutionar y forces lay claim not only to the
470,000-square- mile territory of the TAR, but also to much of four
surrounding provinces that would triple the TAR's political territory
to 1.5 million square miles.

There are new formations in the Tibetan right-wing opposition
movement, such as the Tibetan Youth Congress. These younger activists
demand immediate separation from China, while the Dalai Lama claims
to be only for autonomy. These are only minor tactical differences in
what amounts to an internationally financed and coordinated
counterrevolutionar y campaign.
The method of operation, financing and putsch-style mobilizations are
very similar to other U.S. plots targeting governments for overthrow.

The recent riots in Tibet, reminiscent of the "color revolutions"
that took place in former socialist states like Yugoslavia (2000),
Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004) and Kyrgyzstan (2005), bear the
markings of a CIA-directed offensive.

Attacks on 17 Chinese embassies and consulates—as well as on the
Olympics ceremonies in Greece—is more evidence of a high level of
central coordination and planning.

Tibetan "self-determination " under the present circumstances

In the current epoch, it is not possible to speak of independence in
an abstract sense. Since the triumph of the first socialist
revolution in Russia in 1917 and the subsequent development of a
socialist camp—including China—imperialist influence has not
permitted any state or nationality to remain neutral.

Every national struggle today contains within itself a class
struggle. Tibet is not simply a nationality united by religion,
culture and history. There are two classes deep in struggle.
One of these classes is the former ruling landlord class, which never
gave up its dream to reconquer its privilege. It is backed by U.S.
imperialism, whose ultimate objective is breaking up China.

The other is the vast majority of Tibetans, who—despite the
shortcomings and mistakes of the central government—have greatly
benefited from the Chinese Revolution, which ended feudalism not only
for Tibetans but for all of China's peoples.

If the Tibetan separatists succeed, Tibet will become a vassal state
under the control of the United States. Washington will have dealt a
major blow to China and taken one more step toward the full overturn
of the Chinese Revolution. For Tibet, this would not
be "independence" at all, but a return to feudal and neocolonial
servitude.

It might seem hard to stand up in the United States against the
maturing campaign against China. The media blitz, disinformation and
well-crafted propaganda that is being pumped by the corporate-owned
media is designed to delegitimize China while building credibility
and sympathy for those favored by imperialism. This is all the more
reason for progressive people and opponents of imperialism not to
buckle under the pressure.

Bush, the Pentagon and the Democratic Party leadership would prefer
nothing more than U.S. students forming "Free Tibet" committees and
protesting against China's fictitious "cultural genocide" in Tibet
while Washington continues its very real war and occupation of Iraq.
The death of one million Iraqis does qualify as real genocide.

The people of China, including those in Tibet, cannot be assisted by
imperialist sanctions, covert operations and military intervention.

Notes:

1. Washington Post, September 22, 1991. Cited in William Blum, Rogue
State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower (2000), 180.
2. A. Tom Grunfeld, The Making of Modern Tibet (Armonk, New York;
London, England: M.E. Sharep, Inc., 1996), 16.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid, 21.
5. "Tibet's March Toward Modernization, " Information Office of the
State Council of the People's Republic of China, November 2001,
Beijing.
6. Ibid.
7. Grunfeld, 258.
8. Ibid, 121.
9. Anna Louise Strong, When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet (Peking: New
World Press, 1965), 45. Cited in Grunfeld, 112.
10. Grunfeld, 61.
11. "Tibet's March Toward Modernization. "
12. J. Mann, "CIA Funded Covert Tibet Exile Campaign in 1960s," The
Age (Melbourne, September 16, 1998). Cited in "`Democratic
Imperialism: ' Tibet, China, and the National Endowment for
Democracy," Michael Barker (Global Research, August 13, 2007).

the irony of the food crisis

2008-04-18T07:44:59Z

it's not getting much attention in the u.s. and when it does, the most important cause is ignored. articles talk about how poor countries need to boost their agricultural production, but it was free trade that destroyed it in the first place!!! am i crazy or has anyone else noticed this?

ICE halloween party - employee wears blackface and wins best costume

2008-04-16T19:49:25Z

Citing Agency Officials' Actions After Party, Panel Asks for Probes

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 10, 2008; A21

A House panel is calling for independent investigations of whether senior U.S. immigration enforcement officials violated federal laws after they honored a white agency employee dressed as an escaped black prisoner at an office Halloween party.

Julie L. Myers, head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), last fall acknowledged ordering the destruction of photographs of the worker, who was given a "most original costume award" at an ICE charity event Oct. 31 by a three-judge panel that included Myers.

In a report released Tuesday, the House Homeland Security Committee, chaired by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), concluded that Myers also ordered the relocation of the worker from ICE headquarters in Washington.

The steps "appeared to be an attempt to conceal her actions from the public disclosure," which might have harmed Myers's chances for confirmation by the Senate, the committee said. Myers was approved in December.

Myers apologized to ICE workers in an e-mail Nov. 2. She said she learned only the day after the party that the man was wearing makeup, but acknowledged the costume could convey disrespect toward immigrants whom ICE detains. The agency runs a 32,000-bed detention system.

ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said the worker was detailed to Washington on a short-term assignment, then placed on administrative leave and returned to his field office post "because it was felt he was not using good judgment in the costume he chose to wear."

Myers "communicated with ICE employees days before the incident was reported in the media or before there was a congressional inquiry, and to suggest there was some sort of a cover-up is completely without merit," Nantel said. "We operated with 100 percent transparency."

Laura Keehner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, said that "we will review Chairman Thompson's recommendations, but note that the report is fundamentally flawed and highly partisan."

The worker, whom officials have declined to identify citing his "personal privacy," wore dreadlocks and dark makeup and described himself as a detainee from ICE's facility in Miami, the report said.

"I'm a Jamaican detainee from Krome -- obviously, I've escaped," he told the judges, who responded with laughter, the report stated.

Myers told lawmakers last fall that within minutes of leaving the party, she recognized that she had made "an error in judgment." She said she told her chief of staff to direct the event photographer to delete all photographs of the employee so they would not be inadvertently published. The images were recovered after a news organization filed a Freedom of Information Act request.

Thompson's report recommended that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigate whether the costume award contributed to "a hostile work environment" at ICE; that the Office of Special Counsel examine whether ICE disciplinary actions broke federal personnel rules; and that an independent official determine whether ordering the destruction of photographs was illegal.

Nantel said it was not ICE's place to respond to those recommendations, but she noted that the agency cooperated fully with an internal Homeland Security Department review. She said that under Myers's leadership, the number of EEO complaints alleging retaliation fell from 105 in 2006 to 29 last year.

The House panel cited the Office of Personnel Management's Web site in reporting that, as of March 2007, none of ICE's 28 Senior Executive Service employees were African Americans. Nantel said the actual number was two, or 4 percent.

Myers has been supported by Homeland Security's National Association of African-Americans and the American Federation of Government Employees, Nantel said.

The state must monopolize violence, says Iraqi general

2008-04-07T02:22:33Z

it doesn't get more blatant than this:

Mr. Maliki has issued a series of seemingly inconsistent decrees in recent days about his willingness to take on militias. General Abud said that the Iraqi operations in Sadr City were not aimed at any specific political movement, a statement that seemed intended to reassure Mr. Sadr’s followers, but he insisted that Iraqi security forces would take action against any militia brandishing arms.

“The main thing is that arms should be in the hands of the state. And we will never allow any armed group to carry arms as an alternative to the state to provide security to the citizens,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/world/middleeast/06cnd-iraq.html?hp

Black churches, labor activists form underground railroad for Indian guest workers subjected to secr

2008-03-28T04:47:05Z

*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***

Black churches, labor activists form underground railroad for Indian guest workers subjected to secret surveillance operation by immigration agents

ATLANTA, Georgia – Outraged by immigration authorities' covert surveillance and intimidation of exploited guest workers they call "the new slaves," a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Atlanta and labor allies have formed an underground railroad for 64 Indian workers making a "journey for justice" to Washington, DC.

"Make no mistake about it: these workers are victims of a system of modern-day slavery," said Rev. Timothy McDonald III, chief pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta. "I granted refuge to these brave runaway slaves on Easter Sunday and will help protect them on their way to seek justice in Washington, DC."

The workers, who broke a human trafficking chain by Northrop Grumman subcontractor Signal International and US and Indian recruiters earlier this month, have faced surveillance and harassment by immigration officials since their departure on foot from New Orleans last Tuesday—including as they left the Civil Rights Memorial museum in Montgomery, AL, on Friday.

"Alabama ICE's attempt to intimidate human trafficking survivors as they walk in the footsteps of US freedom fighters is unconscionable," said New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice director Saket Soni, referring to the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "We expect Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen to demand that US immigration authorities call off secret surveillance and other actions that have an obviously terrifying impact on survivors of trafficking."

On Friday, the workers witnessed a suspicious man photographing them as they left the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery. When workers' advocates confronted the man, he turned aggressive and repeatedly refused to identify himself, though another member of an ICE surveillance team later identified the man as an ICE agent. A third agent, who identified himself as head of Alabama ICE Mickey Pledger, arrived and suggested that the workers had been under covert surveillance from the launch of their journey in New Orleans last Tuesday through their stop in Jackson, MS, on Thursday, saying: "Just because you don't see us doesn't mean we haven't been there."

The workers refused to be intimidated on Friday, marching through Montgomery for several hours after the encounter.

"We are walking to Washington, DC, to put an end to this system of modern-day slavery, and we won't let ICE frighten us into hiding," said Sabulal Vijayan, a former Signal worker and organizer from the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity.

Vijayan is one of over 500 Indian welders and pipe fitters who paid approximately $20,000 apiece to US and Indian recruiters for false promises of permanent residency in the US, and instead were forced to work for Signal on ten-month temporary H2B guest workers visas in Gulf Coast shipyards under deplorable conditions.

The ranks of the workers' allies and supporters have grown during the 8-day journey that they call a satyagraha in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi. Their allies include legendary civil rights leader Hollis Watkins, the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Jobs With Justice, the National Immigrant Law Center, the Low-Wage Migrant Worker Coalition, the Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights, the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, and numerous other groups.

On Tuesday, March 25, the workers will hold a press event with Rev. McDonald, then walk through Atlanta with the support of Rev. McDonald and other religious and civil rights leaders before traveling by bus to the next point of refuge: a Black Baptist church in Greensboro, NC. They will arrive in Washington, DC on March 26, hold a mass meeting with Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen on March 27, and demand high-level talks between the US and Indian governments on a bilateral labor agreement that will end abuses of the guest worker program.

The workers' experiences during their journey to DC are being detailed in a text and photo blog at www.neworleansworkerjustice.org.

WHAT: Announcement of the creation of an underground railroad for Indian guest workers on journey to DC, worker march through Atlanta

WHEN: 12 p.m., March 25, 2008

WHERE: First Iconium Baptist Church, 542 Moreland Ave. SE, Atlanta, GA

CONTACT: Stephen Boykewich – Media Director, NOWCRJ

504-655-0876; email: spboykewich@gmail.com

www.neworleansworkerjustice.org

uprising in iraq

2008-03-27T21:38:30Z

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080327/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

wow

richardson endorses obama - do i smell a VP?

2008-03-21T08:56:13Z

bill richardson has endorsed obama. hmmm helps with latino vote, lots of foreign policy experience. he endorsed obama despite his deep ties to the clintons. did obama promise him the vp spot (or maybe he sees obama as inevitable winner)? you can't help but speculate

A Letter From A Mother In Gaza

2008-03-15T09:07:12Z

A Letter From A Mother In Gaza
To A Mother In Sderot
By Najwa Sheikh writing from occupied Gaza Strip
14 March, 2008
Electronic Intifada
I spoke with him a little, but when he sees me he begins to cry ... the situation in Sderot in general is very difficult, and I do not know how we can continue, how we can stay in the city.
- Sderot resident Rima Haimov, whose ten-year-old son Yossi was wounded by a Qassam rocket. ("Doctors save hand of Sderot boy hurt by Qassam; 4 Palestinians killed in Gaza," Haaretz, 26 February 2008)
Dear Rima Haimov,
When I read your words the only thing I can say is that I feel sorry for your son, and that I can understand you as a mother and the traumatic events that your child is experiencing. I cannot deny the fact that life becomes very difficult in such circumstances when you realize that you and your family are in danger at any moment; I fully understand your worries, your feelings and concerns. I am addressing this letter to you with the hope that you will understand my pain too.
Like I feel sorry for your son, I feel sorry for my Palestinian children who are born and will die in Gaza, unable to have the chance of seeing other worlds, and who have to face F-16s, Apache helicopters and the Israeli army's brutal invasions into Gaza. However, my children are not fortunate enough to have the excellent medical care that your son has. My children do not have the chance to run to a shelter and there is no alarm to tell them that there is a strike coming. My children cannot be guaranteed the love and care that your son found because all of their family might be killed in one strike, they might witness the death of their parents, or any of their dear family members as the Palestinians are targeted everywhere, even in their homes and among their children.
My children cannot find the counseling that your child will have to help him deal with his appalling experience. They have to keep their pain inside them, and recall it day after day. Even in their dreams they suffer from remembering the things they have witnessed.
My children are not children anymore; they lost their innocence and are forced to act like adults so they can protect themselves. They no longer cry to their parents because they realize that even adults are scared and also need comfort and security. Instead they swallow their pain and deal with it on their own.
When your child is sick or injured he has the chance to go to the best hospitals to receive treatment while my children have to live with their pain and injuries because they cannot go to a good hospital like you have in Israel. In Gaza, they can only wait for the pain to pass or count the days waiting for the end. They have learned how to face death fearlessly, because they hope to find justice and a better life in heaven.
While your child enjoys his new schoolbooks, my children have to use old, disreputable books because the borders are closed and even schoolbooks cannot be brought in.
My children have to face the extreme temperatures because of the electricity cuts. They cannot enjoy sitting in front of the electric heater in winter or the fan in summer. While you as a mother can plan for your child's future, I cannot because my child is locked in a prison called Gaza, and he cannot dream of having the chance to receive a better education and work outside of Gaza.
While you as a mother can give your child all the promises of a better life, I can not give my child these guarantees, simply because we are both eligible to die in any moment by an Israeli strike, without any plans, dreams, nothing.
After all of this do you think that my children deserve their pain only because they are born to Palestinian parents? Do you think it is fair that they are treated in this way? Is it fair to be subjected to the sanctions that your government has imposed on us? I hope you can understand my pain too.
Sincerely,
Najwa Sheikh
Najwa Sheikh is a Palestinian refugee from al-Majdal located just north of the Gaza Strip. Shiekh has lived in refugee camps in Gaza her entire life where she is married and has three children.

neighborhood activism, de-stressing, obsession with work

2008-03-14T11:17:58Z

I am obsessed with work - part of it has to do with juggling a number of tight deadlines, part of it is having a lot of energy right now and feeling really engaged.

I went and watched a movie tonight - it's the first time in a long time that I was able to truly decompress for any period of time.

I've gotten into neighborhood activism this week. After going into motion on Monday, we got the approval of yet another fast food chain store in the neighborhood off the planning commission agenda for 4/2, and are figuring out how to block it altogether - and I'm cautiously optimistic.

thoughts on the 'union organizing project' in fairfield county, CT

2008-03-10T07:19:07Z

"the whole worker movement" by jane mcalevey.

some basics from the article:

the project is a cross-union collaboration with support from the afl-cio targeting a particular area of connecticut. they start with already unionized workers, do focus groups and research to power map the county, figure out that black churches are the best place to build relationships, and have members of different congregations talk to their ministers to build alliances. i don't think this is that different than what lots of groups do, maybe except that they start with focus groups and have union members who are members of the targeted congregation lead the outreach to their minister. this was made possible by a survey, which also demonstrated that housing was the number one concern. again, this tactic (and the findings) are not unique, except that a cross-union group is the one doing it, rather than a community org. researchers were able to figure out some messed up stuff was going to happen to public housing, and the project, along with member-leaders in public housing, started organizing tenants. the whole thing blew up and folks stopped the demolition. the project also did serious engagement in local election battles. the relationships built with ministers and the housing organizing enabled new organizing and contract wins, and also changed the whole political landscape of the county. a lot of this is stuff groups like LAANE and EBASE does, but mcalevey argues that having those types of groups do this work makes it seem like non-workplace issues are "add-on" and not "core," and it also does not change how people (incl. members) view the purpose of the union. i suppose this is true, except it seems to me that the differences between the union organizing project in CT and ebase or laane do not seem overwhelming, i'd be curious as to what differences mcalevey believes are important ones. what if ebase or laane were given a name that had "union" in it and was explicitly union-led? i'd guess that the sharing of member information/lists by all unions involved would be an important difference. the decision to invest heavily in a power structure analysis up front which is widely presented to rank and file leaders (who can shape analysis and solutions) may be a unique, but i think most community groups do some version of this. i'm sure there are more important differences, but i'm curious as to what those are. the article is about 20 pages so i'm sure there are details that make the work substantially different than what's done elsewhere.

overall, i liked the article and thought it was useful to read. i also agree with the general thrust of bringing together workplace and non-workplace issues. i'm not sure how i feel about having a union project take the lead though. the article talks a lot about how difficult it was to convince some unions and organizers to go along with doing housing work or investing in an overall power-mapping process rather than jumping into a contract fight. while unions can and should seriously support work on issues like housing, i don't know if it's ideal for this work to be actually led by the union. won't the project always be more accountable to union members (tenants or not) than non-union tenants?

some of the suggestions in the article are no-brainers i think. concrete things like always providing child care and more theoretical things like throwing unions behind non-workplace issues. members are indeed whole people, it does change negative perceptions of unions and messaging overall, and (not mentioned in the article) staff organizers not drawn from the rank and file are often folks who care about a range of social justice issues already. the way i think about this is more that unions need to be pushed to express more solidarity backed by real support, not just on the issues which mostly obviously impact members (e.g. ICE raids) but based on a broader concern for social justice - and to do so in a way that supports other groups/motions/movements without necessarily leading those efforts. this is why, actually, i think the work that groups like the union organizing project, laane, ebase, etc. do is exciting and interesting - because they bring different sectors together and can create a space for more effective coordinating, stronger connections and deeper solidarity (and to wield this power more effectively in the political game).

garfield cartoons

2008-03-09T11:51:20Z

http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

thanks to mingerspice.livejournal.com for posting this-

--

jiawei's wedding is tomorrow- gonna be fun

stuff white people like / "the wire"

2008-03-06T23:17:53Z

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

I've been getting this link forwarded to me. Some of the entries are kinda funny (the idea of soccer), some are really messed up (yellow fever) and some seem to have reactionary politics (hating corporations). this blog is actually written by a white dude, and after visiting the site a few times, I can only see it as a perverse celebration of whiteness.

---

watched the series finale of "the wire" last night. no spoilers, but it was a good finale. http://illogic82.livejournal.com/ forwarded this article by the series' writers, advocating for jury resistance in all non-violent drug cases - http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1719872,00.html

obama and palestine

2008-03-01T10:19:11Z

there was that whole farrakhan dust-up last week, interesting to note:

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6619.shtml

obama's basically done an about-face re: his views on Palestine. will he ever go back? doubtful...

1 in 100 people in u.s. behind bars

2008-02-29T00:39:40Z

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080228/ap_on_re_us/prison_population

as predicted in books like 'drug war heresies,' the decades-long criminalization drive in the u.s. has begun to reverse due to cost

obama

2008-02-24T14:14:37Z

i've turned into kind of an election junkie. a few thoughts about the race:

obama has a tight organization- his ground operation seems to be the main reason why he won iowa, despite all the advantages clinton had and the fact that edwards never really stopped campaigning there. he's also got almost a million people donating to his campaign, mostly online - something no one thought possible

pundits keep imagining that he changes his message in response to criticism (adding more substance, etc.) but his stump speech has been exactly the same for at least a month- the truth is that he has as much substance as any other candidate, but he also creates a space for people to project whatever they want onto him- his policy proposals are actually extremely mundane- axelrod et al have also proven especially prescient in messaging and strategy- they talked about delegate count long before the media started talking about it etc. and started inoculating against criticisms much more effectively than clinton, whose lack of adaptability makes her seem schizophrenic- axelrod anticipated the counter-messages long before the campaign took off-

the results of new hampshire are still unexplained. the discrepancy in polling and returns was incredible, and not a fluke. it could have been the bradley effect, but if so, why has it disappeared? could it really have been clinton's last minute "how hard it's been" schtick?

also, although some of obama's speechs' appeal have to do with cadence and pacing (he makes other candidates sound like robots), I'm convinced that a lot of it has to do with his deep baritone voice

guest workers courageous struggle in new orleans

2008-02-22T09:25:16Z

Letter from African American activists in solidarity with Mexican guest workers organizing against slave-like conditions

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Dear Friends,

We are writing to ask you to contribute to a strike fund for thirty Mexican "guest workers" who are courageously organizing against the slave-like conditions in the strawberry fields of Amite, Louisiana. Their boss has seized their passports, is paying them sometimes as little as $2 an hour, and has threatened them with deportation if they stretch or use the bathroom.
On Valentine's Day, workers walked off the fields to reclaim their dignity. In solidarity, a delegation of African Americans attempted to conduct a citizen's arrest of their boss, Charles "Bimbo" Relan, because he is violating the federal laws that define slavery, peonage, human trafficking, and servitude in the United States. We read him his rights, and told him he was violating the laws our ancestors fought for. Bimbo struck back: he was forced to return the passports but fired the workers and illegally evicted them. The workers are continuing their fight. And they need our support.

The workers are members of the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity, a Gulf-Coast wide organization led by guest workers who have arrived to work in horrific conditions after Hurricane Katrina.

For coverage of the unfolding drama in Amite on Valentine's Day go to: http://www.wwltv.com/video/news-index.html?nvid=218183&she=1

The thirty men come from the indigenous community of San Luis Potosin, in Mexico, to work for Bimbo's Best Produce, Inc. US trade agreements have destroyed their economy and forced these men to become cheap, exploitable workers. Recruiters in Mexico promised them the American dream, with one catch: they'd have to pay almost a thousand dollars in recruitement fees. They paid, and were brought to Amite, Louisiana on H2A visas in a bus that dropped them off at a Walmart in the middle of the night last winter. Then they found out that all the promises recruiters had made them were false: steady jobs, decent wages, good conditions - none of it was true. They realized they had been trafficked to the fields of Amite.
Relan confiscated their passports to hold them in his fields. He forced them to work for sometimes as little as $2 an hour. Strawberries are back-breaking work - they men were bent down over bushes for hours. When they stopped to stretch, Bimbo yelled that he would deport them back to Mexico. They weren't given water, or allowed to use the bathroom. Under US law, these men can only work for Bimbo. Guest workers can only work for one employer. So they had a choice: work under slave-like conditions, or go back to Mexico to joblessness and poverty.

So they decided to organize. The workers invited us to a meeting and described their conditions. We told them: as African Americans we recognize what you're describing, and we are with you. The next day the workers walked off the plantation to demand their dignity. We charged their boss with federal crimes. He returned their passports, but told them he would not change the working conditons. Just before midnight on Valentine's Day, the workers went on strike, refusing to return to the degrading treatment in his fields.
The workers now need your support to continue in their struggle. In the coming days, they will pressure the FBI, the Department of Justice, and governments of the US and Mexico to take action. Bimbo, meanwhile, has fired them, evicted them, and intimidated them. The workers are now in hiding, in New Orleans.

Please make a contribution to the strike fund we are organizing for these workers. You can make checks out to: National Immigration Law Center and can be mailed to: National Immigration Law Center, 3535 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 2850 Los Angeles, CA, 90010.
The Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity is a project of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice. For more information about the campaign you can contact Saket Soni, Director, New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, at 504 881 6610.

Thank you,

Ted Quant, labor activist and teacher, New Orleans
Damien Ramos, organizer in the homeless community, New Orleans
Gerald Lenoir, Coordinator, Black Alliance for Just Immigration