A judge in Baton Rouge has ordered the immediate release of Herman Wallace, a terminally ill member of the Angola 3 who spent more than four decades in solitary confinement in Louisiana’s prisons.
Because there were no women on the jury, District Judge Brian A. Jackson said in his ruling that the former Black Panther and New Orleans native did not receive a fair trial for the 1972
Economist Dean Baker and Dr. Margaret Flowers debate the merits of the Affordable Care Act
picture : Narendra Modi
Those who have observed Narendra Modi have some revealing – and chilling – things to say about him.
Social scientist Ashis Nandy had interviewed Narendra Modi in the early 1990s. He came out of the interview shaken. In his own words:
“More than a decade ago, when Narendra Modi was a nobody, a small-time RSS pracharak trying to make it as a small-time BJP
Petition received for circulation; background available here (TOI article). CONDEMN THE UNLAWFUL CASES AGAINST STUDENTS OF EFLU & EXPOSE THE HINDUTWA NATURE OF EFLU AUTHORITY The English and Foreign Languages University has filed a criminal case (dated: 11/09/13) against six students (four students from the SC/ST/OBC communities and two women students) with the Osmania Police […]
It happens every six years or so: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publishes its assessment of the current state of scientific understanding regarding human-caused climate change. That assessment is based on contributions from thousands of experts around the world through an exhaustive review of the peer-reviewed scientific literature and a rigorous, several-years-long review […]
It’s in the (Indian) Air, Smells like Semi-Fascism by Bernard D’Mello Public memory of how (the) fascists “use[d] and abuse[d] democratic freedoms in order to abolish them” (Hannah Arendt) was strong when, more than 60 years ago, India’s Constituent Assembly rejected the option of a presidential type of executive. But now, the coming general elections […]
Capitalist Offensive, Workers Struggle: The Experience in Maruti Suzuki and Beyond Date: 6th October 2013 (10am-6pm) Venue: Committee Room, SSS-1, JNU, Delhi Organised by: Krantikari Naujawan Sabha In the last two-three decades, capitalist offensive and state policies to protect the interests of the ruling class, particularly under the rubric of privatization-liberalisation-globalisation, have hit workers and […]
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Legalization For All (L4A) network
The Legalization For All (L4A) network is initiating an all-hands-on-deck, national push for Deferred Action to apply to all undocumented immigrants! Now.
This coming Thursday, October 3, 2013 we are calling on President Barack Obama to make an executive decision: Make Deferred Action apply to all 11 million undocumented immigrants!
June 27, 2013, L4A strongly condemned the inclusion of the Corker-Hoever amendment in the Senate 2013 Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) Bill. On that same day, the U.S. Senate passed the Corker-Hoever amendment by a 68 to 32 margin. The Corker-Hoever amendment would increase militarization on the border, expand the E-verify workplace enforcement, and try to track the more than one hundred and fifty million people who enter the United States each year. This same amendment called for an additional $46 billion to further militarize the border, including 20,000 more border patrol officers, hundreds of miles of new fencing, and mandates use of military technology. Attacks such as these would mainly be felt by Mexicans and Central Americans trying to cross the border, leading to even more deaths.
Friday, September 20, 2013 the mainstream media announced that the CIR 2013 would not be brought up in the House of Representatives. During the lead up to this announcement, efforts around the country were being made to pressure Republicans to act. L4A organized National Call-In days pressuring Representative John Boehner, Republican Representative Paul Ryan and Republican Senator Marco Rubio.
In Arizona, a group of young leaders took to the streets and stopped a Detention Center bus from deporting a bus-full of immigrants. They didn’t let it go anywhere. In Minneapolis, immigrant rights activists demanded a stop the deportations at the Hennepin County Jail. In Tampa, an immigrant rights caravan joined with the community and protested Marco Rubio. Los Angeles community members fought back against the use of neighborhood blockades by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE).
When President Barack Obama stated he had no intention of stopping the deportations of DACA (Deferred Action for Child Arrivals) recipient’s parents, Obama chose to take a stand against the people. All 11 million undocumented also need a Deferred Action or an executive decision by the President to stop the daily, deportations of immigrants. We cannot let our families continue to be torn apart. These attacks on our communities and the silent raids of our homes and work-places is not how we want to continue living. We will not sit back and let these attacks continue. Enough is enough.
It is also important to remember that while DA is our best option given that CIR 2013 is stalled, it is up to us, the people to demand what is most beneficial to us. This includes and is not limited to our L4A pillars:
1. Legalization Now! The current Senate bill has a ten-year wait for undocumented to become legal permanent residents. This and other barriers will exclude many from legalization.
2. No more militarization of the border! No drones! Right now hundreds of immigrants are dying trying to cross the border because the militarization of the border drives people to harsh desert areas. The current Senate bill will lead to military drones flying over millions of Americans who live within 100 miles of the border, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With the U.S. government already tracking our phone calls and emails, we do not want drones watching us around the clock.
3. Stop the Deportations! Under the Obama administration, there are record numbers of deportations. There should be a moratorium on deportations while the legalization process is starting. Why should the government deport more people and tear apart families who will become legal residents?
Join us. Invite your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/671834526162295/
Chicago, IL – 200 people marched against Boeing Company on Sept 28. Many participants and organizers from that march met for a conference the following day to share skills, experiences and knowledge that will help strengthen the movement against drone warfare.
50 of the protesters came from other states around the Midwest, from groups like the Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars, the Minnesota-based groups Anti-War Committee, Women Against Military Madness and the Brainerd Area Coalition for Peace as well as others from Michigan, Indiana and Missouri. The Anti-War Committee-Chicago (AWC) had called for the march and the groups were joined by the ANSWER Coalition, the Syrian American Forum, U.S. Palestinian Community Network and other Chicago organizations.
The Boeing headquarters was the destination for the marchers. Boeing has been targeted by the AWC because they are vying for a Pentagon contract to build a new combat drone. Boeing is the second largest arms manufacturer in the U.S.
Combat drones have become controversial in the past two years in part because the Obama administration has sent drones to assassinate American citizens in Yemen. According to Medea Benjamin, founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, the majority of drone victims in Pakistan are not ‘high level Al Qaeda’ leaders but civilians, including many children. Benjamin, who has organized delegations to Pakistan and Yemen, was the keynote speaker at the conference and protest.
Thousands of people watched and dozens took videos as the march, complete with a band, puppets and several banners, went through a park and a shopping district on its way to Boeing headquarters. Upon reaching its destination, the group placed child-sized coffins on Boeing’s property. Kait McIntyre, an organizer with Anti-War Committee-Chicago, explained, “The child-sized coffins we placed at Boeing’s doorstep represent over 178 children that have been killed as a result of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and the countless more whose blood will be on Boeing’s hands if it wins this military drone contract.”
San José, CA — On Sept. 29, the House Republicans passed a temporary spending bill for ten weeks, starting Oct. 1 if the Affordable Care Act (often called Obamacare) is delayed for a year. With the Democrat-controlled Senate already having turned down similar measures and a veto promise from President Obama, the federal government is headed for its first shut down since 1996.
This so-called shutdown would not actually shut down the federal government. Social Security checks would continue to go out, mail will be delivered, and other “essential” services would continue. Ironically, this includes most of the funding for the Affordable Care Act, which like Medicare and Medicaid, is considered an essential service.
But without any spending authorization for Fiscal Year 2014, which starts Oct. 1, “non-essential” federal services will shut down. This would include the closing of about 400 National Parks, monuments and museums. Social Security applications, the passport office, Small Business Administration loans, mortgage guarantees from the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), could all be stopped in their tracks. Up to 800,000 federal workers, or 40% of the federal government workforce, could be furloughed without pay.
There could be a larger economic impact of a loss of up to 1.4% of Gross Domestic Product, which measures the output of goods and services in the U.S. With the U.S. economy only growing at a 1.8% rate in the first half of this past year, this could put the economy close to tipping into another recession.
Even worse, the House Republicans are vowing to repeat this later in October when the federal government hits its borrowing limit. If the House Republicans refuse to raise the debt limit, the federal government will not have enough cash to make good on its promises to pay. If the federal government does not pay interest on the federal debt or pay for its bonds that come due, this would be a debt default that would echo through the entire world economy, as the rest of the world holds more than $5 trillion of U.S. government bonds, which could drop in price, sending interest rates up.