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The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) advances quality education and equal opportunity by promoting fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers and schools. They also work to prevent the misuses of testing practices that impede those goals. FairTest places special emphasis on eliminating the racial, class, gender & cultural barriers to equal opportunity posed by standardized tests and preventing their damage to the quality of education.
Jesse Mermell is executive director of FairTest and former executive director of the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus (MWPC), a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded to increase the number of women in elected and appointed position in Mass. It provides hands-on assistance to women who are at the forefront of Mass politics; during Mermell's tenure, MWPC-endorsed candidates for elective office enjoyed a win rate of over 90%! An activist in the Mass Democratic Party, she is a member the Brookline Board of Selectmen and the board of directors of the Planned Parenthood League of Mass Advocacy Fund.
On Sunday afternoon, BAZA will be protesting against the CJUI (Christians & Jews United for Israel) third annual Genesis Awards at Temple Emeth at Putterham Circle (South Brookline).
BAZA protested the first and second annual incarnations of this event. The protest was mentioned in the Jewish Advocate. CJUI is another one of Charles Jacobs' groups. Jacobs founded or heads many Zionist pro-war anti-Muslim groups including CAMERA, The David Project, the American Anti-Slavery Group, and the Sudan Campaign. Jacobs is also associated with Benador Associates and is on the board of advisors of the (Neocon thinktank) Foundation for Defense of Democracies. This year Jacobs and CJUI will be presenting an award to Alan Dershowitz. Please come protest.
Contact: David Rolde.
3% of the vote in Massachusetts will retain major party status for the Green-Rainbow Party.
“People were still in lines in Ohio even after the election had been called for Bush. And the people in these long lines were mostly African American. To me, it looked like Jim Crow, pure and simple.” David Earnhardt, filmmaker, Uncounted
UNCOUNTED is an explosive new documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 – and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election.
All of
the meetings will be free and open to the public.
Please also note that
boston.socialistalternative.org is new and
improved. You now can see all the back issues of the Boston Organizer. Also, the
site will be updated on a regular basis.
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
THE MIDDLE EAST FORUM:
Roger Owen and Sara Roy, Co-Chairs
38 Kirkland Street
First floor Reception Lounge
Cambridge , MA
Co-sponsored by the Middle East Initiative and the
Middle East Forum at the Center for Middle Eastern
Studies.
Refreshments.
For more information, please contact
Sara Roy.
Mes De Independencia? / Independence Month? Series: Discussion to follow film with members of Guatemala Solidarity Committee
Shot at the height of a heated battle between the heavily-armed Guatemalan Military and a nearly defenseless Mayan population, filmmakers Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel threw themselves into the center of a storm to capture live combat footage with a surprisingly robust passion and exhilarating flair. As the first film to depict this previously unreported war, it is firmly anchored by the firsthand accounts of Rigoberta Menchu Quiche ndian woman known around the world for her humanitarian efforts. Throughout the imminent chaos and danger, Menchu provides courage and optimism in a time where death squads kill without conscience and an oppressive dictator seizes power.
A film series on the Latin American immigration
experience
Film Screening and Conversation with the
Writer/Producer and Director.
Georgetown, Delaware is a small, traditionally white community evolving socially, politically, and economically in the midst of a large immigration wave. The struggles of two Guatemalan families in search of opportunity and employment shed light on the challenges facing millions of Latin Americans who have come to this country in search of the 'American Dream'.
Join us after the screening for a conversation with the film's Director and Senior Producer, Sharon Baker, and Writer/Producer, Dan Collins.
Sponsored by: the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies and the Tufts University Latino Studies Program
For more information contact Kit Barron.Mes de Independencia? / Independence Month? Series: 3 Short Films, Testimony and Discussion
BOSTON CISPES presents a series of short films to provide a panoramic view of El Salvador’s political situation, economy and social struggle as it stands today. Then we will tackle the question: Will El Salvador be the next Latin American country to go left???
** Confronting Empire: Hope, Fear, and US Intervention in El Salvador’s Presidential Elections. An exciting inside view of the 2004 electoral battle as told by participants in CISPES’ election observer delegation. This film lays out El Salvador today in 30 minutes!
** Medio Pasaje (Half Fare). Shocking documentary of July 2006 police invasion of the Salvadoran National University, created by the university students themselves. This film documents the brutal police response to peaceful student demonstrations for reduced bus fare.
** Energetic rally footage of Mauricio Funes, the widely-supported leftist presidential candidate, who is leading the polls! Hear what the alternative to the status quo has to say!
** PLUS First-hand testimony from a member of this summer's pre-elections delegation to El Salvador. Hear about electoral situation as it stands today—the right-wing set up for fraud, the miasma of political violence--and the social movement's response to these threats to democracy.
Translation will be available.
For more info, contact:
Boston CISPES (Committee In Solidarity with the People
of El Salvador)
2161 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140
YOU ARE INVITED TO WOMEN'S PEACE TABLES
Women strategizing together to prevent wars
EVERY WOMAN A PEACE WOMAN
Saturday, September 27, 2008
10:00am to 3:00pm
10:00: Continental Breakfast & Registration
***Program Begins promptly at 10:30***
At: Cathedral Church of St. Paul , 138 Tremont St. ,
Boston , MA
Sproat Hall (follow walkway to door at side of church
and then follow signs)
Please Bring your own lunch
Universal human rights can only be fully actualized in
a context of peace and security, and sustainable peace
and security can only be fully realized by the
establishment of a just society which, by definition,
protects individual human rights. Gender equality, as
a fundamental human right, is a core prerequisite for
a just and peaceful society
You are invited to join us in a facilitated peace
table discussion, where we will collectively envision
a bold set of policies for the role of women in
preventing future wars and in protecting human rights.
In the spirit of U.N. Security Council Resolution
1325, this national project seeks to expand and follow
through on the Platform for Action set forth at the
Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. The
Platform for Action calls for the enhancement and
empowerment of women in the social, economic and
political realms while promoting and protecting their
rights. Our goal is to develop a locally rooted and
nationally coordinated policy agenda reflecting the
concerns and hopes of women across the U.S. Women s
Peace Tables are taking place here and across the
country, where women can come together and hammer out
their own priorities and blueprints for governing our
country
No charge for the workshop. Donations will be
gratefully accepted to defray workshop costs.
Registration is due by September 20, 2008
Register by contacting Libby by e-mail: (deadline was 9/20)
ebg17e@msn.com or phone: 1-617-969-6384
Please give her your name, e-mail and/or phone number
and your Organization s name.
Sponsored by WILPF
For leaflets about this event:
elisabeth_leonard@verizon.net
FREEDOM FOR ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS AND PRISONERS OF
WAR!
ABOLISH THE RACIST PRISON SYSTEM!
JUSTICE IN OUR COMMUNITIES!
Featuring revolutionary music and words from:
BOJAH & THE INSURRECTION (revolutionary hip-
hop/funk/rock)
REFLECT & STRENGTHEN (young women's spoken-word
performance troupe)
BROADCAST LIVE (radical hip-hop / rock from albany)
TOXIC SOIL BUSTERS (youth justice group from
worcester)
AFRODZAK (local political hip-hop / jazz and more)
CATCH WRECK (local youth organizer and hip-hop artist)
ALICIA GREENE (of BAGLY, spoken word performance)
VCR (local conscious hip-hop)
EVAN GREERÂ (of the riot-folk! collective)
PLUS: speakers and tables of local groups fighting for
liberation!
$10 - $30 sliding scale suggested donation.
No one turned away for lack of funds.
FREE childcare is available. Please RSVP to
evangreer@gmail.com if you
need it.
For more info, call 978-852-6457
What is the 10/10 March?
On October 10, 2008 there will be a national mobilization in New York City calling for amnesty and freedom for all US-held political prisoners and prisoners of war. 10/10 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Jericho '98 march in Washington, DC. Like Jericho '98, the aim of 10/10 is not just to get people out to the march, but to gather folks together to build a lasting relationship and strategize on how to dismantle the prison system, get our political prisoners and prisoners of war free, and to continue our struggle for justice and freedom. !Libertad para todos los presos poli'ticos! Free all Political Prisoners!
A quick note about why Cuba turned down US aid offer: US aid was conditioned on accepting an inspection by a USAID team. Spain, Brazil, and many other countries have offered aid without any conditions; only the US plays politics with human suffering. And all the aid that the US had to offer is $100,000 (initially) when much smaller countries like Timor Leste have offered $500,000 and without any conditions. The Cuban government rejected the aid as hypocritical and asked that Cuba is allowed to buy food and construction materials using credits offered by private business willing to do so, like any other country does (The Bush administration introduced a legislation that requires that Cuba buys from US business only with cash).
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.
This is an update on the charges against Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Sharif and Nicole were violently arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Amy was arrested requesting their release.
The Ramsey County Attorney has issued the following statement:
“Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar were arrested for probable cause riot and later released pending further investigation. The St. Paul Police Department has stated those cases will not be presented to the County Attorney’s Office for consideration of possible felony charges. Instead, the Police Department will submit the cases to the St. Paul City Attorney’s Office for consideration of possible non-felony charges.”
While the felony charges have been dropped, Sharif and Nicole still face misdemeanor charges. Sharif and Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films were also issued a citation for unlawful assembly after being arrested for covering a separate protest on the final day of the RNC.
The St. Paul police have issued a citation to Amy Goodman charging her with misdemeanor obstruction of a legal process and interference with a peace officer. She was arrested while questioning police about the unlawful detention of Sharif and Nicole on the first day of the convention.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has hired two former Republican federal prosecutors – former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger and former assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Luger – to review the city’s security plan for the RNC. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, “the independent review will not be a fact-finding mission to explore allegations of police wrongdoing or violations of people’s rights, Heffelfinger said.”
Contact St. Paul City Attorney and Mayor by all means possible to demand that all charges be dismissed immediately.
St. Paul City Attorney John Choi
(cc: dropthecharges at democracynow.org) (651) 266-8710
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman
(cc: dropthecharges at democracynow.org)
(651) 266-8510
During the demonstration in which the Democracy Now! team was arrested, law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force against protesters and journalists. Several dozen demonstrators were also arrested during this action, as was a photographer for the Associated Press.
In early August, 10 senators (five Democrats and five Republicans) released a “compromise” energy plan to allow for some offshore oil drilling. The group has been dubbed the Gang of 10. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has indicated he is likely to allow a vote on an energy bill in September. However, the Gang of 10 have not yet put their compromise into legislative form, so there is no bill number or exact language. While the Gang of 10’s plan has been widely reported on, few have noticed that their plan includes $80+ to $160+ Billion in new subsidies for the nuclear power industry.
In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated she too is likely to allow a vote on some sort of energy bill in September. Again, no specific bill language has yet been announced. However, a group of predominately Republican House members have introduced what they call the “All of the Above” energy bill (HR 6384) which would include about $120 billion in new nuclear subsidies.
NIRS has suggested citizen lobbying to stop this
horrible nonsense.
Email contact: nirsnet@nirs.org
phone: 301-270-6477
Also sign on to a Simple Statement On Nuclear Power and Climate Change .
From our friends at Jobs With Justice...
Healthcare plan? Hand sanitizer.
Employee benefits package? Soda in the break room.
Welcome to a workplace that's seriously out of-whack.
Watch this video then sign our petition!
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/711dbOp1OuH4/
Let's face it. Something's out of whack when CEOs rake
in hundreds of times what their employees earn, while
workers get the boot just for talking about unions.
It could almost be a bad joke if it weren't such a
serious problem. That's why we teamed up with the
award-winning producers at Brave New Films to make
this video, hope you take a minute to sign our
petition after you watch.
Also, tell Congress to Stop the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
On Nov. 4th, you will be asked to vote on eliminating the state income tax ("Question One"). In light of that, we are asking you to choose what should be cut in the case that this reckless initiative passes. Please take a moment to give us your opinion!
I would cut….
Vaccinations for children (they are too healthy already!)
Meals for the elderly (can't they cook for themselves?!)
Wage and hour enforcement (Let's trust bosses to obey the law!)
Water purification (I like to drink my water leaded!)
Road maintenance (pothole avoidance and bridge collapses make the commute interesting!)
School funding (We is learning our kids too good now!)
Caring for the developmentally disabled (Survival of the fittest!)
EMTs (cut down on hospital waiting times!)
Public Universities (All our kids should be going to Harvard anyways!)
Snow Removal, (car sledding is fun for the whole family!)
None of the Above- Cutting our Income Tax is going to make a bad situation worse!
Fact sheet downloadable from votenowquestionone.com
A universal single-payer health plan has again been introduced in Congress by Rep. Conyers (D-MI), this time with the support of 90 other members, numerous unions, and independent groups.
HR676.org, PO Box 882122, Port Saint Lucie FL 34988
800-680-9310
info@HR676.org
We all know Cindy Sheehancan win, but how do we prove it to the rest of the world?
With the general election a mere two months off, two things are clear in the Congressional race in San Francisco, where Cindy Sheehan is bravely challenging Nancy Pelosi there.
1) Sheehan has very broad support in the district, otherwise she would not have achieved the amazing feat already of collecting and getting verified over 10,000 nominating signatures from her S.F. constituents to put her on the ballot as an independent, and
2) The corporate media will go out of its way to ignore the race unless we put it right in their face.
USALONE believes what Cindy really needs now is a serious POLL in her district, which we believe would show how strong she is running, even winning, right now. Please make a donation if you can to help finance engaging a major polling company to do this.
In one month, the Free Gaza Movement will sail on a mission of civil resistance: breaking into the prison that is Gaza.
We are students and teachers, human rights observers and aid workers, lawyers, medics, activists - parents and grandparents. We are Americans and Europeans, Israelis and Palestinians, Australians, South Africans, and more. We are of all ages and backgrounds. Collectively, we have years of experience volunteering in Gaza and the West Bank. Because of our human rights work, the state of Israel has banned many of us from re-entering Palestinian areas. Because of the ongoing blockade, the rest of us find it almost impossible to enter Gaza at all. Despite deteriorating conditions, the great need for international assistance, and the invitations of our Palestinian partners - the Israeli Government will not allow us into Gaza to help. Will you help?
We must break the siege of Gaza. Conditions there are already catastrophic. We have to raise international awareness about the prison-like closure of Gaza and deeply pressure Israel and the international community to lift the blockade and end the Occupation. As people of conscience our actions must be commensurate with the crisis.
We've tried to enter Palestine by land. We've tried to arrive by air. Now we're getting serious. We're taking a ship. Please look into your hearts and ask yourselves if the collective punishment and virtual imprisonment of one and a half million human beings can ever be justified. If your answer’s “no,” then we want your help this August when we break into Gaza and try to break out of this siege.
If you’d like more information, or if you can donate money or medical supplies (such as hearing aids), please visit their website at FreeGaza.org.
Boston Palestine Film Festival
Asking for contributions now.
Festival is October 4 thru 12, 2008.
2007: With over 40 films, BPFF brought authentic
Palestinian perspectives, experiences and culture to
venues as prestigious and diverse as the Museum of
Fine Arts, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Kendall Square
Cinema, Harvard Film Archive, Harvard University and
Boston College. BPFF featured several US premieres
and included appearances by many noted international
filmmakers. Please visit BPFF online to view the
substantial coverage we received in the Boston Globe,
the Boston Phoenix and on WBUR, a local affiliate of
National Public Radio—to name just a few media
outlets.
2008: This year’s festival is every bit as exciting
and compelling as last year’s. We are now finalizing
our 2008 program for this coming fall, October 4th-
12th. We hope that we can count on your support to
build on the achievements of last year,
Carlos Arredondo has traveled thousands of miles with his pick up truck decorated as a memorial to his son Alex who died in Iraq . I remember when I first heard about his action as a distraught father who set himself on fire when he heard the news of his son's death. An article about Carlos appears in the Nation. Since then, as a member of Military Families Speak Out, I have come to know and love Carlos and his wife Melida as two dedicated activists for peace. You can read about Carlos' actions for peace on Democracy Now!.
Carlos and Melida would have certainly had every right to sit back and mourn the death of their son. Instead they have taken every opportunity and often at great personal expense to remind people of the true cost of war. They have traveled to every demonstration, vigil, poltiical rally, memorial and meeting with politicians to tell their story of loss, and the deep concern they feel for others who have suffered or daily face the possible loss of a family member to this endless occupation of Iraq.
Many of you have met Carlos or heard of him. You have seen his hopefulness in the face of grief. Now it's time for all of us to help put his (OUR) truck back on the road where it belongs. $20 collected from one hundred people should do it! If the travel weary truck cannot be repaired one more time, the money will go to the down payment on a new or newer truck.
Please make out checks to Carlos Arredondo and send them to me so I can present them in a lump sum
Sarah Fuhro, 8 Abbott Road Natick, Ma 01760
Sign petition against US missile offense in Poland
In a few days, the US government will likely sign an agreement with the Czech Republic government allowing the US to place a radar satellite system in that country. The satellite system is part of the US "missile defense" installations designed to be placed in Poland.
We can join our voices in support of the Czech people to say "no" to a US radar system in their country.
Please add your voice to support this effort by signing the petition.
Understanding that this empire-building strategy by the US could lead to a new arms race which threatens the Czech people, the majority of whom oppose this project. The opposition which began with a few activist voices now includes over 70 percent of the population who oppose any US military presence in the Czech Republic.
Even thought the Czech President may sign the agreement, it has to be ratified by the Czech Parliament. And the situation is far from clear, because the government has a very small mandate - not even have a majority. They were only able to pass a confidence vote after seven months of negotiations, and thanks to some two members of parliament that didn't vote against them. So they have a very weak mandate, and it is far from clear how the vote will go.
The Czech people have asked for support from around the world to bolster their campaign. They are looking for a million signatures on their petition to take to the parliament to defeat the agreement.
Sign petition on McCain/Obama statements to AIPAC
FROM Jewish Voice for Peace...
We are deeply concerned by statements that both Senator McCain and Senator Obama made at the AIPAC Conference. Please sign our petition calling on Senators Obama and McCain to moderate their stances in the interests of a peaceful future:
In particular:
1) Senator Obama declared that Jerusalem "must remain undivided." We believe the future status of Jerusalem must be negotiated.
2) Both Senators McCain and Obama promised enormous sums of unconditional military aid to Israel. We believe the U.S. must hold Israel accountable for using U.S. weapons against civilians.
3) Both Senators McCain and Obama continued to demand the exclusion of Hamas from the negotiating table. We believe peace agreement cannot be achieved without Hamas at the table.
Global Exchange Delegations to Venezuela. Here are planned events in 2008:
Democracy, Development, and Regional Integration- A New Vision for the Americas
August 09 - 19, 2008
Labor, Land Reform, and Agriculture
September 06 - 16, 2008
Health and Healing
October 04 - 14, 2008
Popular Democracy : Observing the 2008 Regional Elections
November 15 - 25, 2008
Democracy, Development, and Regional Integration- A New Vision for the Americas
December 05 - 15, 2008
To everyone in the Boston area progressive community, After months of development and testing by a few dozen folks, Open Media Boston, the new progressive news, views and arts web portal, has just launched and is now ready for your participation.
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
Mass. House Bill #4477, if passed, would finally make it illegal for drivers of motor vehicles in Massachusetts to use hand-held phones while driving (as in NY and elsewhere). This bill recently passed the House and now is languishing in the Senate and may not come to the floor for a vote unless you phone or send a message to your friends in various towns and cities to have them urge their state senators (617-722- 5551) to vote for this bill.
According to Senate Assistant Majority Leader Marian Walsh, what needs to happen is for senators to get many phone calls from their constituents in favor of this bill. Passing House #4477 is a matter of public safety. Please call your senator and what would make a significant difference is for you to contact your friends throughout Massachusetts so House Bill #4477 becomes law.
U.S. war provocation against Iran: Another Tonkin
Gulf? Take Action NOW to Stop War on Iran!
The Bush Administration has initiated an extremely dangerous war provocation just off Iran's coast, in the Strait of Hormuz. With Bush on his way to the Middle East to mobilize a collection of oil-rich U.S. client states against Iran, the U.S. government is working overtime to create a phony public-relations incident to heighten tensions in the region and threaten a new war.
S 1959 "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" must be stopped at all costs. (It's already been approved by the House of Representatives by a HUGE majority.)
Pick up your phone and contact our US Senators' offices to instruct them to vote "NO" on S.1959, titled "To establish the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism, and for other purposes".
If this bill is passed, and becomes law, your words and actions could be considered terrorism. S 1959 EVISCERATES FREE SPEECH, and empowers the govt. to declare ANYTHING they deem an "extremist belief system", instantly make you a terrorist, resulting in stripping of US citizenship, torture, and/or execution, with no habeas corpus rights, no ability to challenge even in the US Supreme Court.
And what greater hero do we have than Dennis Kucinich, still standing strong as ever on every issue that matters. Here is his own leadership statement opposing telecom immunity.
And yet, even now, powerful corporations are pouring money into Dennis's district, to try to buy his seat out from under him by threatening him in his own primary. They are running malicious attack ads in heavy rotation. Please consider making a donation to Dennis now, to help him fight back.
Comcast has given us a glimpse of a world without Net
Neutrality, and it's a chilling sight.
An investigation by the Associated Press caught the
cable giant secretly inspecting online communications
and crippling users' ability to share information with
one another.
On 11-1-07, Free Press filed a legal complaint
demanding that the FCC take action to protect the free
flow of information on the Internet. By joining our
complaint, you can help stop Comcast and other
gatekeepers.
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
Action Alert: The Alliance for Democracy warns us to oppose Holt bill (HR 811). We call for a ban on the use of Direct Recording Electronic voting equipment (DREs) and to require the use of paper ballots.
AFD urgently calls upon all citizens to call their Representatives to demand amendments to rectify the defects in HR 811, specifically to ban the use of DRE voting machines and require the use of paper ballots in all elections in the United States.
1. DRE systems must be banned.
2. All voting must be by voter marks on a paper ballot.
3. All recounts must be by hand counting of paper ballots.
4. All elections must have a statistically significant verification.
5. All recounts at every level of government must be by hand counting.
6. All software must be subject to public disclosure.
7. No connections to the Internet should be allowed.
8. All election records should be available to the public.
Go to for on-line information and a link to a printable flier.
A call for all people of conscience
to donate to its Lebanon Palestine Emergency Relief Fund.
All donations will be used to help Palestinian and
Lebanese victims of the latest Israeli aggression.
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail link
This oil comes directly from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), a non-profit, non-governmental organization in the West Bank. PARC works with 15 different small farming cooperatives. 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. PARC recently received the top BIOL award for excellence in olive oil in a competition in Puglia, Italy which included 300 participants from Italy and abroad.
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 continues to deteriorate, 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.
We hope that you will continue to support us in this endeavor, as it is more important than ever to help sustain the Palestinian economy. On our most recent trip to the region in June 2008, we found that conditions are worse than ever, with unrelenting, tightening restrictions on movement making life incredibly difficult.
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.
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.
Meet briefly at the statue to exchange thoughts,
then walk silently around the Yard and nearby streets,
returning to the statue by 12:30pm.
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.
Join the Boston Tea Party Conference call,
Participant call in: 402-756-9100; Access code: 680903#
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.
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.
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.