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TJR EVENT ARCHIVE

Additional Local Event Announcements at:

Rule 19 Action Calendar

Act-MA Greater Boston Activist Calendar

Justice with Peace Calendar

Radical Calendar Nationwide Events

American Friends Service Committee

Socialist Party Boston Current Events

Watertown Citizens Committee

THIS WEEK'S EVENTS

11AM: SHAHID BUTTAR
"New Threat to the Constitution: Domestic Intelligence Collection"
COMMUNITY CHURCH OF BOSTON
565 Boylston St. (Copley Square), Boston

Shahid Buttar is a civil rights lawyer, non-profit leader, independent columnist, community organizer, hip-hop m.c., singer and poet. He is the new executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, based in Northampton and dedicated to promoting, organizing & supporting a national grassroots movement to restore and protect civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights-especially those which have been compromised by "War on Terror" policies.

The recent massive rise in police surveillance is emerging as one of the biggest threats to civil liberties and human rights in our country. As local law-enforcement officers have been given the power to perform immigration law-enforcement functions, the number of federal officers surveilling our communities has in effect grown exponentially. Buttar will discuss the problem and offer suggestions for organizing against this expansion of federal powers.

---------- Sunday----------

1:30-5:00PM: ACTON GREEN ENERGY FAIR
RJ Grey Junior High School, Acton, Mass
FREE ADMISSION

Want to cut your energy bills? Shrink your carbon footprint? Find out how at the Acton Green Energy Fair. Meet a Greasecar that runs on french fry oil, a plug-in car, and an electric bicycle! Check out hands- on exhibits about solar power, wind power, LED lightbulbs, Kill-a-Watts, "smart" power strips, and much more. Talk with contractors about how to install solar panels, geothermal systems, wind power, and solar hot water. Learn how an infrared camera can detect energy leaks in your home, and how to fix them. Find out how to make biodiesel. Take a tour of the solar panel array at the Leary Field concession stand.

1:45pm Low Carbon Diet Workshop: inspired by the Low Carbon Diet workbook--learn how to reduce your energy bills.

2:30pm Keynote Presentation by Dr. Sajed Kamal: international expert in green energy who has led a variety of projects on 4 continents and at home in Massachusetts. (photovoltaics, wind turbines, solar cookers, solar thermal systems, biogas plants, hydroelectric generators). (Ages 10 through adult)

4:00pm NSTAR Energy Magic Show (limited seating for ages 5-9 with adult)

For more information, visit
www.greenacton.org
or
www.actonpip.org

---------- Sunday----------

4:30PM: Demo protesting AIPAC

Please stand out with us to protest AIPAC at its 10th Annual New England Leadership Dinner outside the Westin Copley Place
Hotel.10 Copley Place [the corner of Huntington Ave. and Dartmouth St.]

Signage should focus on AIPAC

suggested messages include:
AIPAC = ENDLESS WAR
AIPAC: BAD 4 PALESTINE-ISRAEL-U.S.
AIPAC: OBSTRUCTION TO PEACE
AMERICAN JEWS FOR A JUST PEACE-BOSTON
JUSTIC IS THE KEY

For more information:
contact Martin at 617-480-1961.

---------- Sunday----------

10AM: "Strike" at Magic Beans
312 Harvard St, Brookline

Members of Teamsters Local 25 have been fighting for a first contract at their warehouse. Unfortunately, Magic Beans, a high end toy company has not been responsive to the workers demands.

We are asking for volunteers to walk the picket line in front of the Brookline location.

(or be the first on the picket line! Meet at Teamsters Local 25, 544 Main St Charlestown at 5AM)

Thank you in advance for your support.

Questions?
Please contact Steve Sullivan
at 617-242-6113 or
(ssullivan@teamsterslocal25.com)

---------- Monday ----------

NOON: Rally to Stop the Cuts!
Mass State House, Room 437

SEIU, Neighbor-to-Neighbor, The GBLC, and other organizations will be rallying at the State House in advance of the Senate debate on the budget. Be there to support measures for higher revenues and fight cuts in local aid and state jobs and programs! The rally will be held on Monday, May 18th, at 12PM in State House Room 437.

For more information please contact Harris Gruman at SEIU State Council: 617-316-0443.

massjwj.net

---------- Monday ----------

Day of Action to Fight the Foreclosure Crisis
9:30AM: Rally: Back of the State House
10:30AM: Public Hearing in Room A-1
Mass State House

Speak Out! Demand our Government halt the Foreclosure Crisis! Support anti-eviction, tenant protection legislation. Rally! Come to Hearing! Call your legislators!

Unjust foreclosure and the following evictions are devastating paying tenants and homeowners, destabilizing neighborhoods and burdening communities with numerous vacant and unsupervised properties. Buildings left vacant for months are targets for catastrophes such as burst pipes, fire, vandalism, and disrepair due to neglect. Homelessness increases, neighborhoods are degraded; property values and tax revenues decline while crime rates rise.

Call your Representative and Senator, Ask them to support this important legislation:

HB 1232/SB 1609: Tenant Protections in Foreclosed Properties: Lead Sponsors: Rep. Malia, Sen. Chandler: This bill will enable paying tenants, including former owners, to stay in their homes when a lender takes back a property through foreclosure. The lender landlords will not be able to evict tenants who pay rent and abide by the standard rules of tenancies until they have a new owner-occupant buyer who requires units to be vacated as a condition of purchase.

To find your legislator and her/his contact info, go to: www.wheredoivotema. com

For more information, visit Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) at
maapl.info. Call 508-630-1686 or email maaplinfo@yahoo. com

maapl.info
massjwj.net

---------- Tuesday ----------

6:30PM Discussion: Collpase of Revolutionary Movement under Obama
Revolution Books
1158 Mass Ave, 2nd Floor, Cambridge

Revolution Books will be hosting a discussion around the substance of an article in Revolution newspaper, "In the era of Obama: the collapse of 'the movement' and the resistance and revolutionary movement we need."

Appreciate your comments related to this pressing issue.

Questions?
George at Revolution Books
617-492-5443
revbooks@netzero.net

---------- Tuesday ----------

2-4:30PM: Support Nurses at Tufts Medical
Outside Tufts Medical Center,
800 Washington St., Boston

Tufts Medical Center Nurses appeared before the Greater Boston Labor Council delegates earlier this month to tell us about their fight for a fair contract. Members of the Massachusetts Nurses' Association, these union sisters have asked us to join them on an informational picket line on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, from 2PM to 4:30PM.

Sponsors: Massachusetts Nurses' Association

massjwj.net

---------- Wednesday ----------

4PM: Meeting with Representative Ed Markey on "Medicare for All"
(some people call this Single Payer Health Care)
District office in Medford.
5 High Street, Suite 101, Medford, MA 02155
(781-396-2900)

In response to a request by more than fifty Seventh District constituents, Congressman Ed Markey's staff has agreed to a meeting to discuss Medicare for All and possibly co-sponsoring HR 676.

All proponents of Single Payer Health Care are invited to attend. Please RSVP as soon as possible by email to rand@mindspring.com or calling (617) 803-0799.

If Rep. Markey does not co-sponsor HR 676, we will have a vigil at his district office the following week on Wednesday, May 27 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM. Please plan on attending.

RSVP
Rand Wilson
(617) 803-0799
rand@mindspring.com

---------- Wednesday ----------

7PM: Radical Film Night: "Terra em Transe" (Anguished Land/Entranced Earth)
G. Rocha, Brasil 1967 (in Portuguese with English subtitles)
Lucy Parsons Center
549 Columbus Avenue
Boston's South End
Telephone: 617.267.6272

Eldorado, a fictitious country in Latin America, is sparkling with the internal struggle for political power. In the eye of this social convulsion, a jaded journalist opposes two equally corrupt political candidates: a pseudopopulist and a conservative. In this context, he is torn between the madness of the elite and the submission of the masses. But, in this complex reality, nothing really is what it seems to be.

---------- Wednesday ----------

National Media Day of Action on Afghanistan
organized by United for Peace and Justice

What's the first step for us to stop the war in Afghanistan? Shift American public opinion.

After all, we did it on Iraq -- through countless street protests, petitions, op-eds, blog pieces, bumper stickers and more. The progressive peace movement pushed (and continues to push) the majority of Americans to shift their values and demand change -- including an end to the Iraq war. President Obama made that a key campaign promise and it largely won him the election.

Resources you can use for action on May 21:

unitedforpeace.org

---------- Thursday ----------

6PM: Reading with Aviva Chomsky
Somerville Public Library, Main Branch,
79 Highland Avenue, Somerville

Centro Presente invites you to come to a public reading from the book "They Take Our Jobs - And Twenty Other Myths about Immigration" by the author, Salem State Professor Aviva Chomsky.

Co-Sponsored by: Immigrant Worker Center Collaborative (IWCC), Somerville Community Corporation (SCC), The Welcome Project and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice.

massjwj.net

---------- Thursday ----------

7PM-9:30PM: "Bordertown"
Revolution Books
Menard Gallery, 10 Arrow St. (Harvard Sq) Cambridge

Revolution Bookstore is showing "Bordertown"

A feature film based on the murders of female factory workers in Ciudad Juarez. This will take place at the Menard Gallery at 10 arrow st. Cambridge, behind the bookstore, and is a fundraiser.

Questions?
George at Revolution Books
617-492-5443
revbooks@netzero.net

---------- Thursday ----------

7PM: United for Justice with Peace invites you to a forum on:
BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS to end the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Speaker: Nancy Murray
Respondent: Martin Federman
Cambridge Friends Meeting House
5 Longfellow Park
Cambridge

In 2005, over 100 Palestinian civil society groups called for "international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era."

In response to this call, many groups around the country are engaged in boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) efforts, which are having an impact.

Come to a forum to learn more about BDS and the "Hang Up on Motorola" campaign and to discuss whether this campaign might be an effective tool to help bring peace to the Middle East.

Nancy Murray -- Founder and president of the Gaza Mental Health Foundation, Inc. is on the advisory board of US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and a member of various activist groups, including Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights. She has campaigned and written on civil liberties, civil rights, and human rights issues.

Martin Federman -- Member of American Jews for a Just Peace and United for Justice with Peace.

For more information: 617-491-4857
justicewithpeace.org

---------- Thursday ----------

The Eyes of Babylon
Award winning, critically acclaimed one man play based
on the Iraq war journey of gay U.S Marine Jeff Key
MAY 21 through JUNE 6, 2009
BOSTON PLAYWRIGHTS' THEATRE
949 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02215
8:00pm except Sundays (2:00pm)

4:30-5:30PM: Single Payer Demonstration to sway Senator Kerry

Demonstration for action by Kerry on Single Payer 4:30 to 5:30pm this Friday 5-22-09 and every Friday Kerry's Boston office (One Bowdoin Square, Boston) just two blocks from MGH on Cambridge Street

The Baucus 13 have provided a spark for single payer at the Baucus hearings (designed to keep the people out and to peddle Obama's health care "reform" ) . Now it is up to us everywhere.  Or else we  can simply give up and squander this opportunity..

The best target in MA seems to be Finance Committee member John Kerry, who has not signed onto the single payer bill that Sanders has put before the Senate.* 

Our source (jw) plans to demonstrate at Kerry's Boston office just two blcoks from the MGH on Cambridge St. - alone if need be - from 4:30 to 5:30 this Friday and every Friday - until that despicable narcissist signs onto the Sanders Senate single payer bill.  After the demonstration we can have coffee and plan our next steps if people wish.

Obama and Kerry - two peas in a pod, a crowded pod indeed, since the insurers are also bedded down in there.

flickr.com/photos/16992253@N06/3526172446
freshaircleanpolitics.net/
votersforpeace.us/
prosperityagenda.us/
globalclimatesecurity.org/

---------- Friday ----------

No events to post at this time.

---------- Saturday ----------

SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009

MAY 8th thru July 13th, 2009

DUNCAN CAMPBELL'S "BERNADETTE"
List Center, MIT
Wiesner Building, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
Open Tue., Wed., Fri., Sat., and Sun. 12-6PM. Open Thursdays 12-8PM. Closed on Mondays.

FROM THE FILM COLLECTION: DUNCAN CAMPBELL'S "BERNADETTE," a documentary (showing in the Bakalar Gallery) that examines media representations of historical figures through a portrait of Bernadette Devlin, the Irish Republican activist who was just 21 when she was elected to Parliament.

Duncan Campbell’s film Bernadette presents an unconventional yet insightful portrait of Irish dissident and political activist Bernadette Devlin. In 1969, at the age of 21, Devlin became the youngest member of the House of Parliament. Devlin’s brilliant oratory, her fierce political independence, and her efforts at promoting class solidarity beyond sectarian divisions made her a leading figure in the Irish Republican movement. Campbell’s film utilizes archival material, found footage, animation, and scripted voice-over to upend the formal conventions of documentary filmmaking. The film serves as an exploration of recent history and subversively critiques and questions the methods by which historical figures are represented by the media.

DONATE to SUPPORT 2 PALESTINIAN STUDENTS
at the Berkley School of Music

Please help the two Palestinians students attending Berklee College to finish their studies. No amount is too small. Details below. Every dollar you send will be matched by a generous donor.

In Fall 2007, Tawassul and the American Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee (ADC-MA), brought the Lebanese Arab composer, oud-master and UNESCO Artist for Peace, Marcel Khalife to perform at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston. The Student Music Initiative was created after the concert and with the proceeds we brought a Palestinian music student from the Edward Said National Conservatory in Ramallah to attend a 5-week course of study at the Berklee College of Music in the summer of 2008.

In the course of the year planning for this concert, we met with James McCoy Director, Community and Governmental Affairs, Jason Camelio, Associate Director of International Programs, and Greg Badolato, Assistant Vice President for International Programs, who offered the performance hall as a grant to Tawassul and who also pledged their support to bringing Palestinian students to the college. We were happy to hear that in the Fall of 2008, the Berklee College of Music admitted two students from Palestine to the four year degree program. They are the first Palestinians to attend the Berklee College of Music!

The two students are: Ali Amr, an accomplished Qanoon player, age 17, and a graduate of the Edward Said National Conservatory, and Tarek Rantissi, age 25, a brilliant percussion player who performed in international concerts with world famous musicians. We have had the fortune recently to listen to Tarek and Ali perform with the Berklee Middle East Ensemble, directed by Berklee professor Christiane Karam, and at the Palestinian Cultural Center for Peace in Boston.

We are really proud of the accomplishments of Ali and Tarek, touched by how they were received by our community, and by the support of the Berklee College of Music. Therefore, we decided to embark on a more ambitious program to raise funds to help Tarek and Ali continue their studies for the next three years.

The total tuition per student is $32,000. Berklee College has given each student a $12,000 annual scholarship. That leaves us to fund-raise for a total of $40,000 per year for the two students.

The good news is that we found a donor who is willing to match dollar for dollar and up to $20,000 for every cent that we can raise. Therefore, we have to raise $20,000 each year to keep Tareq and Ali in their program!

We are counting on your support to make this happen. Please be generous!

Please send a donation to support the Student Music Initiative. Checks can be made out and mailed to:
MECCS/ TAWASSUL
PO Box 382425
Cambridge, MA 02238

If you're a US taxpayer, your donation will be fully tax-deductible.

Please note Student Music Initiative in the memo of your check.

We request your pledge to help as soon as possible as the deadline for the matching funds has been set for June 1, 2009 so that the students can confirm their attendance at Berklee for next year on time.

Please contact with any questions you have on this initiative:

Hilary Rantisi Hilary_Rantisi@ksg.harvard.edu

Naila Jirmanus nailajirmanus@aol.com

Salma Abu Ayyash salmaandrea@comcast.net (Tawassul)

Omar Baddar omar_baddar@yahoo.com (Palestine Cultural Center for Peace)

Farrah Haydar (Center for Arabic Culture)

Merrie Nejimi (ADC-MA) and Marwan El-Masri marwanelmasri@yahoo.com (Palestinian House)

tawassul.org
adcma.org
palestinianculturalcenterforpeace.org
cacboston.org

____________

Support Special Prosecutor to Investigate US Torture

The big fuss this week was President Obama's total turnaround on releasing the new torture pictures. Despite stating that they were "not particularly sensational", in the next breath he argued that releasing them would put our troops at greater risk, two statements which when combined make no logical sense.

So we say give the pictures to a special prosecutor, who can then show them to a grand jury. That's who really needs to see them. Obama said long ago, "Make me do it." We don't need more pictures to do that, we KNOW what they did, we just need to keep speaking out about it.

We need to each of us continue to speak out for a special prosecutor once a week from now on, until Obama and Holder finally get the message that no matter how many people THEY don't torture, there is no accountability for the past, and no deterrent for the war criminals of the future, without prosecutions NOW.

The torture started long before they commissioned legally preposterous opinions to say the OLD torture was suddenly now new and OK, from sycophant lawyers one of whom (Bybee) was rewarded for his collaboration with an lifetime seat on the appeals court.

Which is why it is all so very interesting that Cheney has been all over the corporate media lately doing the equivalent of a Limbaugh torture teaching tour. Why is Dick Cheney now taking such a PERSONAL interest in trying to retroactively sell a policy of torture to the American people?

The answer of course is that torture was HIS program, it was his initiative. He was the driving force in charge of it, and he's the one who made it happen. Listen to Cheney's answer on Meet To Press to the question of whether Bush knew everything about the program that he did. Listen to Cheney mumble out of the side of this mouth that Bush "knew a great deal" and "basically authorized it", and you can picture Cheney doing everything but forge Bush's signature on it, not that the little decider is himself any less responsible.

Special Prosecutor Action Page: peaceteam.net/action/pnum984.php

____________

URGE US REPS TO JOIN CONGRESSMAN BAIRD's
DELEGATION TO ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

A plea from Cindy and David Corrie (parents of murdered human rights activist Rachel Corrie):

Urge Your Members of Congress to Join Congressman Baird's Second Delegation to Israel and Palestine

In February, Congressman Brian Baird, our representative from the WA - 3rd District, joined Congressman Keith Ellison from Minnesota, for a visit to Gaza and, also, Sderot in Israel. Since then, he has spoken out strongly about all that he witnessed.

Congressman Baird has planned and organized a late May Congressional delegation to Israel, the West Bank, and hopefully Gaza (with some focus on Israeli/Palestinian groups working together for peace).

In visiting with him this week, we learned that for reasons apparently related to schedule demands, not enough members of Congress have signed on to make the May trip viable. Unless there is a surge in interest, it appears that Congressman Baird will postpone this delegation until later in the year.

We all know how important it is for people to see for themselves what is happening in Israel/Palestine.

Please call and/or write to your Congressional members (Representatives and Senators) and urge them to join Congressman Brian Baird's delegation to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza--either in May or later in the year (should it be postponed). Tell your representatives in Congress that it is important to you that they go to the West Bank and Gaza (as well as Israel) to see the situation firsthand. Tell them that the financial investment we are making in this region and the relevance of Israel/Palestine to U.S. interests, require that they see the full picture. Tell them you want them to go.

Our source for this: activist Amy Hendrickson
amyh@texnology.com

____________

(1) IDENTIFYING RETAIL PRODUCTS MADE IN ISRAEL
Examine the UPC ("Universal Product Code") section of the product's label. (This is a bar code with 10-12 numeric digits at bottom.) If the FIRST THREE DIGITS are 729, the product is made in Israel. (The "7" will appear to left of the leftmost bar in the bar code.)
HTTP://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-israel.php

(2) LIST OF COMPANIES WITH CONNECTIONS TO ISRAEL:
26 prominent companies with links to info
http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-israel.html#list

(3) BRANDS & LABELS TO BOYCOTT:
123 prominent brands and labels with links to info
http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-brands.html

____________

Resist Frame Up of Councilor Chuck Turner

Tell the Obama Administration and Congress: End the Bush Administration's Frame Ups Designed to Politically Assassinate Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner and Other Progressive elected Leaders

Sign online petition at www.iacboston.org/chuckturnerpetition.html

View youtube video of Ramsey Clark press conference defending Chuck Turner at: www.youtube.com/user/IACBoston

For more info and to donate to Chuck's defense, go to www.supportchuckturner.com

____________

Support End the Occupation!

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation How You Can Sustain the US Campaign

To generate more momentum and bring us closer to our goal, we need sustained support. That's why we're asking you to join our Olive Branch Club and make a regular monthly tax-deductible contribution of $5-$200 per month.

____________

IMEMC (Internal Middle East Media Center) seeks urgent funding and/or logistical support to maintain its operations.

____________

Important BBC Video: "War on Terror is a Scam"
The Power of Nightmares Part 3: The Shadows in the Cave - by Adam Curtis

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. it is simply too painful to acknowledge ~ even to ourselves ~ that we've been so credulous: Carl Sagan

Here is a must see hour-long BBC film that effectively makes the case that the "war on terror" is a blatant scam to keep people fearful, politicians powerful and provide an effective smokescreen for the implementation of the New World Order. A must see video.

After watching this film you will always cringe when you hear the phrase "The War on Terror " and recognize it as both a bamboozle and scam perpetrated by the prince of darkness himself, Richard Perle, as well as Tony Blair and the Cheney/Bush crime syndicate in order to accomplish their global neocon objectives.

____________

Stop Modern Day Slavery in Florida

If you could help end modern-day slavery in Florida's fields with an email, would you?

Click here to take action today!

Even as we continue putting the pieces together for a major campaign calling on food service providers to take responsibility for farmworker exploitation, the latest case of slavery in Florida's fields - and Florida Governor Charlie Crist's deafening silence in response - compels us to take action in a different way today.

Please visit the SFA site (sfalliance.org) today and read the below message from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to find out more about this important action alert and to take action now.

____________

Support Single Payer Healthcare, HR 676 and S703

HR 676 currently has 75 Cosponsors. More cosponsors are needed to move this legislation forward in the House. A goal of 170 Cosponsors is cited by Dr Margaret Flowers, a supporter of single payer healthcare, and one of the activists arrested at the recent Senate Finance Committee hearings.

Please contact your Representative in the House to cosponsor HR 676. To see the current list of cosponsors, go to Thomas, and enter the bill number in the search window, and select search by bill number. The search produces a table of links, with a Cosponsor link in the second row of the second column.

____________

Ask Your State Senator to Support Fusion Center Oversight Bill

Do you know about the Fusion Center?

It knows about you.

Please take a moment to ask your state legislators to co-sponsor Senator Harriette Chandler's new bill -- An Act Regarding the Commonwealth Fusion Center and Other Intelligence Data Centers -- filed on behalf of the ACLU of Massachusetts.

So what is the Fusion Center anyway?

In the aftermath of 9/11, then-Governor Mitt Romney enlisted Massachusetts in a national plan to centralize and expand the government's ability to collect and retain detailed information on ordinary Americans, for the professed purpose of preventing terrorism.

Without public debate, Romney established the Commonwealth Fusion Center, a multi-agency data-mining hub which enables federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to comb through information about Massachusetts residents and engage in domestic intelligence collection beyond the bounds of ordinary criminal investigations.

Take action now! Find and contact your legislators. Urge them to support Senator Chandler's bill to provide oversight of the Commonwealth Fusion Center.

Historically, unregulated database-driven policing has led to broad surveillance of completely lawful activities, including protected First Amendment activity -- and it's happening again in Massachusetts in 2009.

The Fusion Center operates today with virtually no independent oversight, without adequate privacy protections, and without necessary protections for constitutional rights. With your help, we can -- and must -- shine a light on the Fusion Center's operations and insist that any intelligence operations in Massachusetts be conducted in keeping with established civil liberties principles.

The ACLU of Massachusetts Legislative Team

____________

Sign Employee Free Choice Petition!

The Employee Free Choice Act is critical to our economic recovery. Good union jobs helped build America's middle class. This legislation will rekindle the American Dream by leveling the playing field and empowering workers to form unions and bargain for a better life.

That's why greedy CEOs are terrified of this bill. One top executive has called it "the demise of a civilization." And they're fighting with underhanded tactics, misleading ads, shady front groups and, of course, big budgets.

But we can win if enough of us get involved. Members of Congress have a weeklong break this month, and we've planned hundreds of lobby meetings at their home offices. Imagine those workers handing over our petition and being able to say, "Two million people support the Employee Free Choice Act."

a href=http://freechoiceact.org>Move us closer to 2 million signatures--it just takes one minute.

____________

Sign petition to release Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israeli Jails

Disgrace for Democracy, Israel is detaining right now 40% of the Palestinian MPs who represent the people

Disgrace for Democracy: 51 Palestinian MPs and Ministers are Detained in Israeli prisons along with 11.870 Palestinian citizens

A serious crime and new political slap in the face for democracy is committed by the Zionist system against representatives of the Palestinian people by the abduction of the Palestinian ministers and MPs. The latest of which was the arrest of MP Ahmed al-Haj from the city of Nablus on 16/12/2007. Al-Haj is over Seventy-years old.

Earlier on the 10th MP Dr. Maryiam Saleh Minister for Women in the Palestinian government has been abducted too. Dr Mariyam is a member in the Legislative Council from Ramallah governorate.

The Minister of Palestinian Prisoner is in prison since many years... for the fifth time.

There are more than 11,870 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, 117 of them are mothers. Some give birth while chained, and their children are forced to live in the cells where they do not live their childhood or play or go out.

I don't have to tell you about lack of healthy conditions, or medical negligence. Some prisoners are denied warm clothes sent to them by their families. They are held in 30 different prisons, and detention centers. 1189 prisoners are schools, collage, and universities students of both genders, 330 of the detained are children. Not only the students were detained, but their teachers too, there are 107 Palestinian teachers in Israeli prisons. 1150 Palestinian prisoners suffer acute illnesses.

A large number of the detained are denied visits by family members.

Thousands of Palestinian detainees in the Negev desert prison and other detention camps such as Ofer prison near the town of Ramallah, Hawara, Qadumim, Megiddo, Nafha, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon and other prisons are shivering from the cold under waves of rain and snowfall coming from northern regions of the world especially that some are detained inside tents made of cloth surrounded by walls open to the cruel cold of the desert, living in wet tents caused by snow falls and rain, sleeping on boards made of wood which gets soaked wet.

Soon, April 17th is the International day of prisoners. I hope you can join in denouncing what the Israeli government is doing to those prisoners, and demand their release to join their families.

Do not rely on journalism to get the news, journalists were the first to be attacked and harassed so that you do not know what was going on.

The records documented 1147 aggressive attacks on journalists by the Israelis. Only between 28th of September 2000, and 31st of March 2007.

Please sign the petition and buy those prisoners some happiness.

We are hoping to get at least 11.000 signitures, one for each prisoner, and present this petition to International Human Rights bodies like Amnesty International, and United Nations. Please Circulate this petition to all the people you can get the message through to them. It is about time we show solidarity for each other on human level.

Sponsored by:
Iqbal Tamimi Creator of Palestinian Mothers Network

____________

The Best Way To Light A Fire For Federal Prosecutions of Bush And Cheney Is To Get Collateral State Actions Going.

We have completed compiling a database of the current contact information for every state district attorney, for EVERY county in the country. And we have put it all together into an easy one click lookup function to help organize contacting your nearest state prosecutor, to call on THEM to step up to the plate, to stand up for justice and accountability, by prosecuting George Bush and Dick Cheney for their crimes.

In particular, renowned former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi has laid out a compelling case for charging both Bush and Cheney with the premediated murder of American service men and women, for starting a war with Iraq on patently false pretenses. By using this new lookup page you can instantly get the mailing address, phone, fax, and in many cases also the email of your local prosecutor. This action is SO critical we have dedicated our entire main site homepage to it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We are not asking anyone to file a formal criminal complaint yourself. Common sense tells us that state prosecutors will only act, in the exercise of their OWN discretion, if they believe there is a non-frivolous case to bring. But by speaking out, we can let them know there is community support for them to do so.

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Sign up to be a "Hang Up On Motorola" Organizer

Israel's recent war on the occupied Gaza Strip brought death and destruction to Palestinians, and a windfall for war profiteers. Around the world, people are standing up and saying "No more" by boycotting and divesting from corporations that profit from Israel's human rights abuses. The people of Stockholm have severed their contract with the transit/waste removal corporation Veolia due to Veolia's involvement with Israel's settlements, and British Telecom company FreedomCall has ceased their cooperation with Israeli counterpart MobileMax due to the war on Gaza.

Join this growing global movement for boycotting, divesting from and sanctioning (BDS) those who support Israel's military occupation of Palestinian territories by becoming an organizer for our Hang Up On Motorola campaign. Motorola makes a lot more than cell phones - they also make at least four products that directly support Israel's occupation of and assaults on Palestinians. This is why we've created a tool-kit for boycotting Motorola until its products are no longer used by Israel to abuse Palestinian human rights.

Why Motorola?.

Bomb Fuses: Motorola Israel sells fuses that the Israeli Air Force uses in its MK-80 series of bombs. On July 30, 2006, during its war on Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force dropped an MK-84 bomb on an apartment building in Qana, Lebanon, killing at least 28 civilians.

Communication Devices for Occupation: Motorola's $100 million "Mountain Rose" communication system enhances the efficiency of Israeli occupying forces. Patterns of human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories include, but are not limited to, the killing and injuring of civilians, torture, extra-judicial assassinations, deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, acts of collective punishment, and economic warfare.

Surveillance Devices for Israel's Illegal Wall: Motorola supplies the "Wide Area Surveillance System" (WAAS) to monitor and maintain Israel's illegal wall, constructed in violation of the July 2004 International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion. This wall is perhaps the strongest symbol of Israeli Apartheid, carving the West Bank into Bantustans. Surveillance Devices for Israel's Illegal

Settlements: Motorola has made $93 million providing radar detection devices and thermal cameras for 47 illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Israel's confiscation of Palestinian land, its illegal settlements, illegal wall, and continued occupation would not be possible without Motorola's compliance.

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Film: "Occupation 101"
A "Must See" That Untangles the Web of Lies

The truth is buried about Israel's occupation of Palestine through sophisticated repetition of irrelevant rhetoric, distorted shuffling of time and placement of people's histories and other devious ways of keeping many afraid to form an opinion or act on outrage.

Well, here's a good cure for that - pick up a copy of Occupation 101 and you won't have to worry about being on any fences in regards to this issue. This highly informative video documentary will keep your mind attentive and clear all cobwebs in the brain by getting to the root cause of violence from the occupier and resistance from the occupied, all embellished with current examples and very pertinent comparisons to Apartheid South Africa.

A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict - 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.

The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets.

The film covers a wide range of topics -- which include -- the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880's, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy.

Tripoli Productions, DVD, NTSC all regions, 1.5 hour plus bonus features.
leftbooks.com

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Write to prisoners, AIUSA

From our activist friend Sandy Coy, who runs a weekly vigil Thursday afternoons in Wayland:

I am writing to ask activists, as well as my family and others who are not political activists, to join me in a simple action to launch what the whole world hopes will be a fresh start in a better direction. I feel I must write after reading a book today that one of my children gave me for Christmas, "Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak."

Most of the detainees do not know these poems were saved, declassified (much of their writing still has not been), translated and published. But it has happened, through the persistent work of many volunteer legal advocates. In these poems, the goodness of many souls and their hope in God and their fellow men for justice comes through. Some of the poems moved me to tears of both sorrow and shame.

But tears for them or anyone unjustly imprisoned will do no good. Doing something as simple as writing a brief card can actually help people who are being unjustly imprisoned.

How? When prisoners receive volumes of international mail, their jailers know they have lost the cover of anonymity. This leads to better treatment for the prisoner and ultimately their release, just to get the public spotlight to go away.

So, here's what I am asking of myself, my family and of you, which shouldn't take more than a few minutes:

Write out one or more cards for selected prisoners of conscience from any of 12 countries (one is a Guantanamo detainee) identified by Amnesty International.

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25 actions you can do for justice in Gaza

From the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People (via our correspondent Mazin Qumsiyeh):

So far hundreds of civilians have been killed in Gaza. Five sisters in one family, four other children in another home, two children on a cart drawn by a donkey. Universities, colleges, police stations, roads, apartment buildings were all targeted. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian areas issued a statement that "The Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip represent s evere and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions, both in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war."

Twenty-five things to do to bring peace with justice:

1) First get the facts and then disseminate them.
Here are some basic background information

• Israei Information Center for Human Rights
• PNGO Condemnation of Gaza Attack
• Middle East Peace
• United for Peace
• Electronic Intifada on Gaza Attack

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The Lucy Parsons Center is proud to demonstrate that an all-volunteer, collectively-run radical bookstore and community center can survive in the capitalist United States, but the majority of our income comes from book sales and most of that goes straight to pay our landlord and bills.

That's why we need you! Without support from our community, we could not continue to function.

As the year draws to a close we are asking you to pledge to support the Lucy Parsons Center in 2009. We want 100 new monthly supporters kicking in $5 a month to help ensure our ability to offer radical books, talks, workshops, movies, meeting spaces, and whatever else you want to see happen as we work to build the better world.

100 supporters sounds like a lot and we are challenging ourselves to meet this goal. On the other hand, $5 a month isn't that much. It's the price of a beer with tip, less than a falafel, and come January less than the priority mail postage you'd have to pay to order the books you can ONLY find at the LPC over the internet.

Lucy Parsons Center
549 Columbus Avenue
Boston's South End
Telephone: (617) 267-6272
Email: lucyparsons@tao.ca

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Opportunities to Assist Cuba!

Contacts:
• IFCO
  418 W. 145th Street, New York, NY 10031
  212-926-5757
• seattlecuba.net
• disarm.org
• opusa.org
• medicc.org
• crs.org/Cuba

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The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) in Jerusalem has been informed that its request for re-funding has been rejected, in high probability because of pressure brought to bear by right-wing Israeli neo-cons who have campaigned obsessively against our funding while threatening publicly to close us down.

Tax-deductible donations needed.

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We have quietly been working away at TecsChange in Roxbury to refurbish computers. We recently sent one of our bigger shipments of 15 computers to a series of radio stations in Oaxaca, Mexico.

We work most Thurday evenings and Saturday afternoons
(1pm to at least 4 PM, usually longer)

We have one day a week where daytime volunteers come in. Presently it's Mondays but it might change soon.

Please call if you are interested.
TecsChange Office
617-442-4456

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Help Support Pro Bono Attorneys for Guantanamo Prisoners

Doris Tennant and Ellen Lubell (of Newton) are representing a Guantanamo prisoner pro bono, so they are providing their time at no charge. However, their costs, including their own travel and that of a translator, translator fees, and Freedom of Information Act requests, are running at least $20,000 for this year, and will likely continue at that same pace or more. Most of the other attorneys who are representing Guantanamo detainees are members of large law firms that can cover these types of expenses, but in their case the two of them are the firm.

If you would like to make a contribution to help them defray costs, it would be much appreciated. Please make your check payable to "Tennant Lubell Detainee Fund." Your contribution will NOT be tax-deductible, but they promise to put it to good use to help provide fundamental legal rights to a man who remains in indefinite detention.

Doris Tennant, Esq.
Tennant Lubell, LLC
288 Walnut Street, Suite 500
Newton, MA 02460
617-969-9610, X 101
Fax: 617-969-9611

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EXTRA-VIRGIN FAIR TRADE OLIVE OIL FROM PALESTINE

We now ship anywhere in the continental US; please see our website for details . Olive Branch Olive Oil comes directly from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), a non-profit, non-governmental organization in the West Bank. PARC is a member of the International Fair Trade Association, and is the only Palestinian organization that has received the Palestine Standards Institution certification for its olive oil.

Olive oil is the backbone of the Palestinian agricultural economy. Eighty percent of cultivated land in Palestine is planted with olive trees, and the olive harvest provides between 25 to 50 percent of a farming family's annual income. As the political and economic situation in Palestine worsens, olive oil has become a matter of basic survival for many Palestinian families. Buying this oil is a constructive and tangible way to help alleviate poverty and build peace.

Olive Branch Olive Oil is extra-virgin and comes in 750 ml (25 ounce) green glass bottles. Produced from the first pressing of the olives, extra- virgin olive oil contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste. There can be no refined oil in extra-virgin olive oil. Unopened bottles of olive oil are generally good for up to two years, and should be kept in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight. Palestinian farmers traditionally care for their trees without the use of pesticides or sprays.

Olive Branch Olive Oil is an outgrowth of a 2003 effort by Middle East peace activists in the Boston area to support Palestinian farmers. Since then, it has evolved into an ongoing volunteer project to create a U.S. market for Palestinian olive oil. Our goal is to make a tangible difference in the lives of the farmers and their families.

Any funds that are raised above and beyond the cost of the oil, importing fees and administrative and marketing costs are re-invested in purchasing more oil. Out of that amount, 15% is donated directly to worthy projects in Palestine. Past donation recipients include:

Gush Shalom Emergency Relief Convoy
Badil
Palestinian Children's Relief Fund
Gaza Community Mental Health Program
Zochrot
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Birthright Unplugged
American Friends Svc. Comm. Middle East Crisis Fund
American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)
Olive Harvest Coalition
Union of Palestinian Women's Committees
Ibdaa Cultural Center
Grassroots International
Taayoush

How to Order
On our website with PAYPAL
or send a check to P.O. Box 1064, Arlington, MA 02474.

Each case contains twelve (12) 750ml bottles.

Prices for local pick-up in Arlington or Cambridge:
Case price $170/case
Bulk price for 7+ cases: $150/case
Bulk price for 10+ cases: $145/case

Case price shipped within continental US: $195/case
3 Bottles shipped within continental US: $65/3 bottles

For more information.

CONTINUING EVENTS

EVERY SUNDAY

10-11:30 AM: "Radio with a View"
WMBR 88.1 Cambridge

---------- Every Sunday----------

12-1pm Amherst Peace Vigil

Town Common, Amherst
For more, contact Mark Watkins

---------- Every Sunday----------

1:30pm Cambridge Peace Vigil

Mass. Ave., and Garden St., next to Cambridge Common.

---------- Every Monday ----------

11:45AM-12:15PM: Vigil for Gaza

Memorial Church in Harvard Yard

Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee will be holding a vigil for Gaza from 11:45 am to 12:15 pm on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. All who care for Palestine are invited to attend. Please wear black and spread the word widely.

---------- Every Monday ----------

6:30PM: Stop The Wars Coalition meetings

Encuentro 5
33 Harrison Ave, Chinatown, MA 02111
info@encuentro5.org or call 617-482-6300

These are the meetings where we decide on events and discuss strategies to end the war. Anyone is welcome -- from seasoned activists to beginners and we look forward to building a dialogue with anyone opposed to the war. Our main tenent is that we are independent of both the Democratic and the Republican Party, such that we can build an anti-war movement that survives elections and continues to oppose the war, regardless of which candidate is in office.

---------- Every Tuesday----------

Tuesday Weekly Anti-War Vigil 5:30-6:30pm Copley Square

---------- Every Wednesday----------

NOON-12:30 PM: Harvard-Cambridge Walk for Peace

Starts at John Harvard Statue, Harvard Yard.
Every Wednesday. All are welcome.

Meet briefly at the statue to exchange thoughts,
then walk silently around the Yard and nearby streets,
returning to the statue by 12:30pm.

---------- Every Thursday----------

5-6 PM: Antiwar Vigil in Newton
Corner of Beacon and Center Streets, Newton Center
Organizer: Newton Dialogues on Peace and War

---------- Every Thursday----------

5:30-6PM: Wayland Anti-War Vigil (weekly)

Southeast corner of Rt 27 and 30 (nearest to Brooks Pharmacy).
Come for all or part. Bring a candle, lantern, or flashlight.
Organizer: Sandy Coy.

---------- Every Thursday----------

5-6 PM: Veterans for Peace vigil
West Side Rotary, Augusta, Maine

---------- Every Thursday ----------

9 PM: 911 Researchers Conference Call

Join the Boston Tea Party Conference call,
Participant call in: 402-756-9100; Access code: 680903#

---------- Every Friday----------

7-9 AM: Socialist Alternative Radio in Boston

Socialist Alternative Radio, 91.5 FM Boston listen anytime on the Web at WMFO.org. A democratic socialist, working-class view of politics and culture, including solidarity announcements, interviews, music, and more.
Write to us at BostonSAradio@aol.com.

---------- Every Friday----------

Noon-1PM in front of JFK Federal Building, Boston.

Join a Friday fast and/or protest in solidarity with illegal detentions. The fast began in 2005 when Nobel Peace Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Adolpho Esquivel, (Argentina), along with others around the world, chose this method to seek the release of our unjustly detained and tortured brothers and sisters.

In Boston, local activists Susan McLucas and Phoebe Knopf have joined the Friday fast and will protest every Friday in front of the JFK Building from noon to one. The action, which is rooted in nonviolence, includes speakers, music, hand-outs and petitions to create public pressure to stop all illegal detentions and to try those responsible for the illegal treatment of thousands of detainees, most of whom are Arab and Muslim men. Susan and Phoebe will be wearing orange jumpsuits.

---------- Every Friday----------

12:30 PM: Women in Black Vigil
Lithgow Library, Augusta, Maine

---------- Every Friday----------

4:30-6 PM: Protest AIPAC - every Friday

Kennedy Sch of Govnt
79 JFK St, Harvard Sq, Cambridge
Organized by AntiWar League

---------- Every Friday----------

6-8PM: *Chillin Against the Villins*
DeMilitarized Zone*
Corner of Mass ave and Boylston st!!!

On this day, Friday and from there on!, we hereby declare the establishment of a new DeMilitarized Zone where all those who wish can congregate to denigrate and repudiate the war machine and celebrate the growth of the new movement from coast to coast willing to oppose the war and opression in this country and around the world. Bring your signs, and minds, let's chalk, talk, play music, paint art with caring and sharing and declaring that we are "chilling *against* the villins" in this zone to show our independence!!!!!

We declare our solidarity with the people of the Middle East who share the misfortune of living on top of the largest oil reserves on the planet which is the reason behind the current war on Iraq. We declare our condemnation of those who support this criminal war commanded by criminals who promote a criminal ideology with criminal intent and crimes against humanity. We repudiate with prejudice the general assault on our rights: abuses, excuses, jailings, raids, lies, spies, xenophobia, torture, extraordinary rendition, and the general police state system that says we must stand together and support this generalized oppression. We are no longer the silent generation but are now willing to Stand Apart and against the mass murdering villins who are doin the real killin. Join us in the DMZ!!


Chillin against the villin's!!!

Our *DMZ* and our Independence.

Web Links
• http://www.dailyradical.org
• http://www.binaryfreedom.info
• http://www.spboston.org
• rek2@binaryfreedom.info

---------- Every Saturday----------

11am-1pm on WZBC: Sounds of Dissent with John Grebe

Saturday Anti-War Vigils

11-11:30am Weston, Old Boston Post Rd at School St
Traffic island with flowerpot, Contact person: Mary Shaw




11-11:45am Quincy City Hall




Noon-1pm Natick Center (Rt 27 & 135)




Noon-1pm Sudbury Town Hall




Noon-1pm Coolidge Corner, Brookline Peace Works




12:30 PM Needham Center on the Green




1-2pm Park Street T station

---------- 1st & 3rd Saturday----------

11A-NOON:
1st Saturday of Month
Corner of Main & Moody Streets, by the Common.
Parking: On-street or the lot on Center St.

3rd Saturday of Month
Corner of Moody and Pine Streets, by Watch City Brewery.
Parking: On-street or Embassy Theatre lot on Pine Street

9/11 Truth, National

9/11 Truth, Boston

911 Truth, Los Angeles

Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth

9/11 Cover-Up

9/11 Information

Oil, Smoke & Mirrors

9/11 Research

9/11 Mysteries

NYcan.org

Flyby News

Religious Leaders for 9/11 Truth

Political Leaders for 9/11/ Truth

Vermonts for a Real 9/11 Investigation

Radio 4 All 9/11/ Program

Act-MA Greater Boston Activist Calendar

American Friends Service Committee

Anti-War League

Bush Guilty of 9/11

Boston Bolivarianos

Boston Vegetarian Society

Cease Fire Campaign

Common Dreams

Exxpose Exxon

Grass Roots Concord

Greater Lowell Peace

Hands Off Venezuela

Impeach PAC

Information Clearing House

"Iraq for Sale" (film)

United for Justice with Peace, Cambridge

Left in Lowell

Citzens for Legitimate Government

Lexington Global Warming Coalition

Lexington Justice with Peace

Lucy Parsons

Lunenburg Progressives

Mad as Hell Network

Mass Peace Action

Merrimack Valley People for Peace

Nashua for Peace

Newton Dialogues

New York Activists Calendar

Next New Deal

Open Media Boston

Palestinians for Peace and Democracy

Pakistan Earthquake

Peaceful Tomorrows (NYC)

The Peace Abbey, Sherborn

Peace is Patriotic

Save the Internet.org

Stop the War Now

Think out Loud

United for Peace and Justice (NYC)

TruthOut.org, a national progressive news feed.

Venezuala Analysis

Venezualan Solidarity

Virtual Citizens

WZBC Radio

dial up, then ask for a particular Senator or Representative
• 800-426-8073
• 888-355-3588
• 800-828-0498
• 866-340-9281
• 866-340-9279

Radio and TV Connections

On WZBC 90.3 (OUR STATION)
• "Truth & Justice Radio" (Sundays 6-10am)
• "Democracy Now!" (Mon-Fri noon-1pm, Amy Goodman)
• "Sounds of Dissent" (Saturdays 11am-1pm, John Grebe)

On sister station WMFO 91.5 (Tufts University Radio)
• "No-U-Turn Radio" (Tuesdays 8-10am, Dean Wallace)
• "Free of Form" (Fridays 8-10PM)

On sister station WMBR 88.1 Cambridge...
• "Radio with a View" (Sun 10-11:30am, Dave Goodman & Marc Stern)
• "What’s Left" (Sundays 11:30am-1pm, Linda Pinkow & Will Taggart)

On TV Channels 2 and 44
• "Bill Moyers Journal"
  (Fridays 9pm Ch 2+44, Saturdays 2am and 4am Ch 44)

Contact the webmaster with comments and/or questions.