Tag Archives: ACLU

Caution

(Reprinted from the ACLU.)

What To Do If You’re Stopped By The Police

Think carefully about your words, movement, body language and emotions.

Don’t get into an argument with the police.

Remember, anything you say or do can be used against you.

Keep your hands where the police can see them.

Don’t run. Don’t touch any police officer.

Don’t resist even if you believe you are innocent.

Don’t complain on the scene or tell the police they’re wrong or that you’re going to file a complaint.

Do not make any statements regarding the incident.

Ask for a lawyer immediately upon your arrest.

Remember officers’ badge & patrol car numbers.

Write down everything you remember ASAP.

Try to find witnesses & their names & phone numbers.

If you are injured, take photographs of the injuries as soon as possible, but make sure you seek medical attention first.

If you feel your rights have been violated, file a written complaint with police department’s internal affairs division or civilian complaint board.

1. What you say to the police is always important. What you say can be used against you, and it can give the police an excuse to arrest you, especially if you bad-mouth a police officer.

2. You don’t have to answer a police officer’s questions, but you must show your driver’s license and registration when stopped in a car. In other situations, you can’t legally be arrested for refusing to identify yourself to a police officer.

3. You don’t have to consent to any search of yourself, your car or your house. If you DO consent to a search, it can affect your rights later in court. If the police say they have a search warrant, ASK TO SEE IT.

4. Do not interfere with, or obstruct the police – you can be arrested for it.

IF YOU ARE STOPPED FOR QUESTIONING
1. It’s not a crime to refuse to answer questions, but refusing to answer can make the police suspicious about you. You can’t be arrested merely for refusing to identify yourself on the street.

2. Police may “pat-down” your clothing if they suspect a concealed weapon. Don’t physically resist, but make it clear that you don’t consent to any further search.

3. Ask if you are under arrest. If you are, you have a right to know why.

4. Don’t bad-mouth the police officer or run away, even if you believe what is happening is unreasonable. That could lead to your arrest.

IF YOU’RE STOPPED IN YOUR CAR
1. Upon request, show them your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance. In certain cases, your car can be searched without a warrant as long as the police have probable cause. To protect yourself later, you should make it clear that you do not consent to a search. It is not lawful for police to arrest you simply for refusing to consent to a search.

2. If you’re given a ticket, you should sign it; otherwise you can be arrested. You can always fight the case in court later.

3. If you’re suspected of drunk driving (DWI) and refuse to take a blood, urine or breath test, your driver’s license may be suspended.

IF YOU’RE ARRESTED OR TAKEN TO A POLICE STATION
1. You have the right to remain silent and to talk to a lawyer before you talk to the police. Tell the police nothing except your name and address. Don’t give any explanations, excuses or stories. You can make your defense later, in court, based on what you and your lawyer decide is best.

2. Ask to see a lawyer immediately. If you can’t pay for a lawyer, you have a right to a free one, and should ask the police how the lawyer can be contacted.

Don’t say anything without a lawyer.

3. Within a reasonable time after your arrest, or booking, you have the right to make a local phone call: to a lawyer, bail bondsman, a relative or any other person. The police may not listen to the call to the lawyer.

4. Sometimes you can be released without bail, or have bail lowered. Have your lawyer ask the judge about this possibility. You must be taken before the judge on the next court day after arrest.

5. Do not make any decisions in your case until you have talked with a lawyer.

IN YOUR HOME
1. If the police knock and ask to enter your home, you don’t have to admit them unless they have a warrant signed by a judge.

2. However, in some emergency situations (like when a person is screaming for help inside, or when the police are chasing someone) officers are allowed to enter and search your home without a warrant.

3. If you are arrested, the police can search you and the area close by. If you are in a building, “close by” usually means just the room you are in.

We all recognize the need for effective law enforcement, but we should also understand our own rights and responsibilities – especially in our relationships with the police. Everyone, including minors, has the right to courteous and respectful police treatment. If your rights are violated, don’t try to deal with the situation at the scene. You can discuss the matter with an attorney afterwards, or file a complaint with the Internal Affairs or Civilian Complaint Board.

Mask Up

Reply

(Adapted from greenisthenewred.com, via crimethinc.com)

Why would someone want to cover their face at a protest?

0. Solidarity
The movement for the liberation of the planet and the fight against war, poverty, prejudice and injustice is a collective battle. Anonymity symbolizes collective action, not personal glory.

1. Spying
The FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Forces routinely spy on lawful, above-ground activists. For instance, the ACLU exposed FBI agents spying on animal rights activists who were leafleting outside of HoneyBaked Hams. And corporations have been tracking who activists are dating.

2. Blacklists
Government “watchlists” have millions of names. Recently in Maryland, it was exposed that law enforcement kept terrorist files on environmentalists, antiwar activists, and nuns.

3. Grand jury witch hunts
Vocal, public activists are routinely hauled before grand juries in political witch hunts, and forced to testify about their political beliefs and political associations. If they refuse, they face jail time.

4. Infiltration
The government has been using paid informants and provacateurs to keep tabs on lawful protest movements. The recent case of the RNC 8 is a good example, and even more disturbing is “Anna,” the FBI informant who befriended activists and entrapped them.

5. Legal attacks.
FBI agents have shown their incompetence in attempts to track down underground members of the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front. There have been arrests, but those crimes overwhelmingly remain unsolved. Instead, law enforcement has been cracking down on the public faces of those movements and labeling them “eco-terrorists.”

Fuck Los Angeles

HOUSING

There are several crash pads and communes that will put you up for a few nights. Call the Free Clinic at 938-9141. Floor space is available at the Sans Souce Temple on S. Ardmore. Women’s Emergency Lodge at 912 W. 9th St. (627-5571) will put up women without a place to stay or make referrals. Resistance (386-9645) and Green Power (HQ 9-5184) will be helpful if you have to crash. Sleeping on the beaches is out, but the roofs are cool. The Midnite Mission at 396 S. Los Angeles (624-9258) has room and board for some boarders. The parks and streets are certain bust material. The L.A. pigs are matched in brutality only by their fellow hoggers in Chicago and South Africa. Every L.A. cop is nine feet of solid chrome. Bite his toes and down he goes.

FOOD

Green Power Feeds Millions is a unique organization serving the nets of people. They provide food for festivals, cancers, demonstrations, be-ins, sit-ins and similar events for free. In addition they supply a number of communes and serve food every Sunday in Griffith Park, the central get-together spot in Los Angeles. Call them at HO 9-5184 or 938-9141 for information and also to offer your help.

Free vegetarian lunch can be found at the W. Hollywood Presbyterian Church at Sunset and Martel (874-1816). For supper, try the Midnite Mission, 396 S. Los Angeles Street; God Squas, 1412 N. Crescent Heights Blvd. (near Sunset), and His Place, Sunset and La Cienega.

The Half-Price Bakery at Third and Hill St. gives away free bakery goods late at night and you can always bum a meal in any Clifton’s Cafeteria with a good story.

The Watts Trojan House is a free store that provides not only food, both clothing and a variety of other items and service. They are located at 1822 E. 103rd St. The County Welfare Department at 2707 S. Grand (near Adams Street) has a liberal food stamp program (746-0522).

MEDICAL CARE

* The Free Clinic at 115 N. Fairfax Ave. (938-9141) is very popular and provides a number of services at various hours such as:
o Job Co-ops–Monday thru Friday, 10:00-4:00 PM.
o Medical–Monday thru Friday, 5:30-l0:00 PM. Saturday 12:30-5:00 PM.
o Dental–Monday thru Thursday, 7-10 PM.
o Counseling-Psychiatric, Monday thru Friday, 6-10 PM.
o Legal Monday thru Friday, 7-10 PM
o Draft-Monday thru Thursday, 7:30-10:00 PM.
o Pregnancy and Abortion–Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 7:30. Saturday 1:30 PM
o Birth Control-Monday thru Friday, 6-7 PM. Saturday 2-3 PM.

* The Foothill Clinic, 547 E. Union in Pasadena (795-8088) offers similar services free of charge. Call them for a schedule of hours. Venereal Diseases are treated in the evenings at a clinic maintained by the Committee to Eradicate Syphillis. They are found at 5205 Melrose Ave., Hollywood (870-2524).

* In Venice use the free Youth Clinic at 905 Venice Blvd. (near Lincoln). The services are varied and they are only open evenings. Call 399-7743 and they’ll help you.

* For specialized problems try:
o Drugs–Narcotics Anonymous (463-3123)
o Abortion-The Woman’s Center, 1027 S. Crenshaw (near Olympic Blvd.) Wednesdays at 7:30 PM.
o Mental–Central City Community Mental Health Center, 4272 S. Broadway (232-2441)
o Suicide Prevention Center, 2521 W. Pico (381-5111)

* District Health Centers provide many free services. For exact information, call the center or write to:
o County of Los Angeles Health Department, Public Health Education Division, 220 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, California 90012. Ask for a list and information about their health services.
+ EAST LOS ANGELES-670 S. Ferris Ave. 261-3191.
+ SUBCENTER–MARAVILLA – 915 N. Bonnie Beach Pl. 264-6910.
+ HOLLYWOOD-WILSHIRE-5202 Melrose Ave. 464-0121.
+ SUBCENTER-WEST HOLLYWOOD-621 N. San Vincente Blvd. 652-3090.
+ NORTH HOLLYWOOD-5300 Tujunga Ave. 766-3981.
+ SUBCENTERS-PACOIMA–13300 Van Nuys Blvd. 899-0231.
+ TUJUNGA–7747 Foothill Blvd. 352-1417.
+ SOUTH-1522 E. 102 St. 564-6801
+ SUBCENTER–FLORENCE-Firestone-8019 Compton Ave 583-6241.
+ SOUTHEAST – 4920 Avalon Blvd. 231-2161.
+ SOUTHWEST – 3834 S.Western Ave. 731-8541.

LEGAL AID

* The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles at 106 3rd St. (628-9126) provides help in civil matters.

* The ACLU of Southern California is located at 323 W. Fifth St. (MA 6-5156).

DRAFT COUNSELING

* AFSC – 980 N. Fair Oaks, Pasadena 91103 (791-1978)

* Black Community Draft Assistance-7228 S. Broadway, LA 90003 (778-0710)

* Catholic Peace Assn.–911 Malcolm Ave., Westwood 90024 (474-2683)

* Counterdraft-PO Box 74881, LA 90004

* East LA Peace Center-409 N. Soto, LA 90033 (261-2047)

* Episcopal Draft Counseling Center-514 W. Adams Blvd., LA 90004 (748-4662)

* Fellowship for Reconciliation 4356½ Melrose, LA 90029 (666-0145)

* First Unitarian Church-2936 W. Eighth St., LA 90005 (389-1356)

* Free Clinic-115 N. Fairfax, LA 90036 (938-9141)

* L.A. Comm. for Defense of Bill of Rights-(MA 5-2169)

* L.A. Draft Help-1018 S. Hill St., LA (RI 7-5461)

* Myra House-191 N. Sunkist, West Covina (338-9636)

* Northeast Peace Center-5682 York Blvd., LA 90042 (257-2004)

* Peace House-724 Morengo, Pasadena 91103 (449-8228)

* Resistance-507 N. Hoover, LA 90004

* The Resistance-11317 Santa Monica Blvd., Westwood 90024 (478-2374)

* SFVSC-Student Service Center, Admissions and Records Office, San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge (349-1200, ext. 1181)

* UCLA Draft Counseling Center–UCLA Law School, 405 Hilgard Ave., LA 90024 (746-6092)

* USC Counseling Center-Gould Law School, University Park, Student Union Bldg., Rm. 217 (746-6092)

* Valley Peace Center-7105 Hayvenhurst, Van Nuys 91406 (787-6925). Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

* Venice Draft Info Center–73 Market St., Venice 90291 (399-5812)

* War Resisters League-1046 N. Sweetzer, LA 90069 (654-4491)

* Westside Jewish Community Center-5870 W. Olympic Blvd., LA 90046 (938-2531)

* Women Strike for Peace-5899 W. Pico Blvd., LA 90019 (937-0236)

PLAY

Beaches

Los Angeles has 14 miles of beaches extending from north of Pacific Palisades to Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.

Will Rogers Beach State Park, 15100 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades, extends north three miles from the Santa Monica city limits to a point near Topanga Canyon. This beach has a large, popular surfing area.

Venice Beach, 2100 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, extends from the Santa Monica city limits south to Marina Del Rey. Six acres have been developed into a park with picnic areas, shuffleboard courts and the Venice Beach Pavilion. The huge Venice Fishing Pier is located here, and there is an area for surfing.

Isidore B. Dockweiler Beach State Park, 11401 Vista del Mar Ave. extends from Marina del Ray, south of the city of El Segundo. This beach has 700 fire pits and a surfing area.

Cabrillo Beach, 3720 Stephen White Drive, San Pedro, located at the northern end of Los Angeles Harbor, has picnic areas, fire pits and a section for surfing.

Royal Palms Beach, 1799 Paseo del Mar is equipped with picnic areas and fire pits.

Parks

Griffith Park is the largest park and the favorite gathering spot of the local hip community. It’s next to the Ventura and State Freeways.

Arroyo Seco Park is located along the Arroyo Seco and has picnic, recreational and bowling-on-the-green facilities. You’ll also find the Los Angeles Zoo at 5333 Zoo Drive in the park.

Brand Park and Memory Garden opposite the old Mission San Fernando is a real strange place to go.

Echo Park has the largest artificial lake in Los Angeles. Fishing programs for kids are conducted each summer and electric boats are available for rent.

Hancock Park, located on Wilshire Blvd, between Odgen and Curson, has the LaBrea Tar Pits with prehistoric animal and plant fossils all over the place.

The Exposition Park Rose Garden on Exposition Blvd. is a seven-acre sunken rose garden that smells great.

Founded by Hubert Eaton as “the first step up to heaven,” Forest Lawn Memorial Park, overlooking beautiful downtown Glendale has to be the wildest spot around. It is pure L.A. with the largest collection of reproduced statuary in the world. Jean Harlow, Sabu, Clark Gable and other loved ones are tucked away here. You can turn on in front of the Jean Hersholt Memorial, fuck in the Aisle of Benevolence located in the Great Mausoleum, and trip out on a stereo sermon emanating from the giant Mystery of Life sculpture. Far-fucking out!

Museums

There are over fifty free museums in the greater Los Angeles area. We are listing those of special interest.

California Museum of Science and Industry-Exposition Park, 749-0101.

Hollywood Wax Museum-6767 Hollywood Blvd. (near Grauman’s Chinese Theater).

Los Angeles County Museum of Art-5905 Wilshire Blvd. in Hancock Park, 937-2590.

Music

Every Sunday there are free music concerts in Griffith Park. Movies

U.C.L.A. has a free experimental film series every year. Call them at 825-4321 for a schedule.

INFORMATION

The Switchboard in Los Angeles has a 24-hour-a-day service called the Hot Line. It’s located at 4650 Sunset Blvd. (663-1015). Call them for the latest in what’s going down in the area. The L.A. Free Press at 7813 Beverly Blvd. 937-1970, is always a good source of information. The Black Panther Party Headquarters can be found at 4115 S. Central Ave., 235-4127, or at 9818 Anzac, in Watts, 567-8027. The Traveler’s Aid Society has offices in the Greyhound Bus Terminal and International Airport. They provide all kinds of services and information to lost souls or visitors. Generally

FREEBIES

Clothes

The following spots offer clothes,furniture and other household items at low prices:

Goodwill Industries-235 So. Broadway 228-1748; 5208 Whittier 264-1638

St. Vincent de Paul Society-727 N. Broadway 627-8147; 210 San Fernando Rd. 221-6151

The Volunteers of America maintain a number of thrift stores throughout the area. Try 8609 S. Broadway or call 750-9251 for the store near you.

The Salvation Army also has a chain of stores. The main store is at 801 E. 7th St. 620-1270. They can help you there or let you know where you can shop in your area.

Money

You can sell a pint of blood for $10.00 at the Red Cross Blood Bank, 1200 S. Vermont (384-5261).

Pets

All sorts of free pets are available at the ASPCA, 5026, W. Jefferson (731-2491).

Identification

Los Angeles has a curfew law but you can get a suitable I.D. with photo for $3.50 at Twelfth and Hill Streets.

Fuck Chicago

HOUSING

Contrary to rumors, none of us have ever been to Chicago. None-the-less, we have some friends who have visited the area. In Chicago, everyone 17 or under must be off the streets by 10:30 PM and by 11:30 PM on Fridays and Saturdays. Don’t sleep in Lincoln Park during political conventions, but other nights it’s O.K. Wasn’t it Hillel who asked, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” And wasn’t it Mayor Richard J. Daley who responded, “Cause I say get your ass out of the park!”

The Chicago Seed (929-0133) will give you the best advice on crashing and the local heat scene. Grace Lutheran Church, 555 W. Beldon St., and the Looking Glass at 1725 W. Wilson also have crashing places or know where you can find free room and board.

You won’t get hassled if you sack out in the Union Station on Adams Street just over the bridge. There are loads of folks crashing in abandoned buildings along LaSalle and other streets. Also the rooftops are cool. Stay off the streets though, unless you’ve got good identification.

FOOD

SCLC (Operation Breadbasket) has a free breakfast program every morning Monday through Friday from 7-10 AM at St. Anna Church, 55th St. and LaSalle St., and also at Christ the King Lutheran Church located at 3700 Lake Park.

You can get free samples of cheese, meat, and coffee everyday at the Stop and Shop food store located on Washington between Dearborn and State Streets. At the Treasure Island grocery store located on Broadway, two blocks north of Belmont, free coffee and cookies are offered for the people. Halloway House at 27 W. Randolph gives coupons good for coffee. Also at the Guild Bookstore at 25 W. Jackson Blvd., and from the machines at the 4th through 14th floors of the Playboy Building.

There are real cheap restaurants. One is a truck-stop in Skokie called Karl’s Cafe. It’s just north of Oakton on Skokie Highway. It’s open until 6:00. You get a whole lot of food for $1.00. Also, under the viaduct at Milwaukee and Damen is a small restaurant with Polish food. You can get a great meal for $1.35. It’s worth a visit. It closes early in the evening. Another cheap restaurant is Paul and Ernie’s on North Lincoln, just south of Wrightwood. You can have a beef dinner for about 70 cents.

A good place to pick up free vegetables and fruits is at the wholesale market on Randolph St. or S. Water St. on Friday afternoons. Many of the food factories such as Kraft Dairy Products give away free samples and cases for “charity.” Check them out.

It is possible to steal food from the 2nd floor Federal Building Cafeteria at Adams and Dearborn and the National Cafeteria at Clark and Van Buren. These cafeterias usually have long lines and you can eat while standing and just pay for the coffee.

If you have a place to cook and store food, there are a few places that have pretty cheap food. The east gate of International Harvester, located at 1015 W. 120th St. is unbelievable. Dig these bargains! 10 pounds of T-bone steaks (boxed) for $5.25 at midnight. at 4 PM, the produce man brings a different combination of goods. A typical bill of fare might include tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, etc. at $1.00 for 10 pounds of any item. The produce might vary from day to day, but the prices stay the same. On Thursdays at noon and 4 PM, the Lennell cookie man comes around. It’s $1.25 per box. At 7 PM, the sausage man arrives and the standard price is $2.00. The standard size is 3 to 5 pounds. He has salami, liver sausage, polish sausage, and usually odd lunchmeat such as bologna or summer sausage. All the food is sold out of trucks, and the prices might not be exact, but they’re pretty close.

Eggs are about 3 dozen for $2.00 on Randolph west of Halsted. Orange juice is pretty cheap at the Del Farm on Broadway. Wonder Bread thrift store on Diversey; Butternut, 87th St. and Ridgeland and 1471 W. Wilson, and Silvercup, 55th and Federal, offer bread and rolls at big discounts. The Cicero Bottling Company at 31st St. and 48 Court sell a case of 12 quart bottles for $2.00. Mamas Cookies, 7400 S. Kastner give 5 pounds for $1.50. At Burhops, State and Grand, you can get cheap 5-pound boxes of steak. The Railroad Salvage around Madison and Halsted has dented cans (with stuff inside) for big discounts. It is also a good place for paper products. Campbell Soup, 2250 W. 55th St., open Tuesday and Thursday, will give you cases free or at discounts if you tell them it’s for charity or look straight. Two good spots for all around shopping are the Hi-Lo on Lincoln, north of Irving. There’s lots of stuff for 10 cents. Marathon Products at Randolph and Halsted is another good place.

If you can survive on just one meal a day, you’re set. The city has just opened 14 free lunch centers throughout the town. They are located at:

* Antgeld Urban Progress Center-967 E. 132nd St.

* Area II Multi-Service Center of DHR-1500 N. North Park

* Division Street Urban Progress Center-1940 W. Division

* DHR Woodlawn District Office-6317 S. Maryland

* Englewood District Office of DHR-6003 S. Halsted

* Garfeld Neighborhood Service Program-9 S. Kedzie

* Halsted Urban Progress Center-1935 S. Halsted

* Lawndale Urban Progress Center-3818 W. Roosevelt

* Madden Park Fieldhouse-500 E. 37th St.

* Martin Luther King Urban Progress Center-4741 S. King Drive

* Montrose Urban Progress Center-901 W. Montrose

* North Kenwood CCUO Office-4155 S. Lake Park

* South Chicago Urban Progress Center-9231 S. Houston

* Southern District DHR Office-2108 E. 71st St.

The free hot meals consist of meat, potatoes, a vegetable, dessert, fruit, and coffee or milk. You have to give them a name and an address.

MEDICAL CARE

All three major universities have excellent clinics that do most kinds of medical work for free. The University of Chicago maintains a clinic at 950 E. 59th St. The University of Illinois has one located at 840 S. Wood. In addition to good medical care, Northwestern University Clinic offers very cheap dental treatment. The clinic is at 303 E. Chicago. Call the main switchboard of the schools and ask for the clinics to check out services and hours.

A V.D. clinic is open every weekday and late on Wednesdays at 27 E. 26th St. and N. North Park. Chronic diseases are treated at 2974 N. Clybourn. Free chest X-rays are available at City Hall downtown, everyday. For mental health problems, try the clinic at 1900 N. Sedgwick (642-3531).

Drug education is offered by Earth Mother on Wednesdays at the Grace Church, 555 W. Belden. Information and help with bad trips can be obtained through Just Us, 61 N. Parkside (378-7618) or LSD Rescue Service, 7717 N. Sheridan (338-6750). Chicago has a number of good clinics maintained by movement and community groups spread throughout the city for the people that live in the area. The Black Panther Party runs the Spurgeon “Jake” Winters Free People’s Clinic at 3850 W. 16th St. (522-3220).

The Young Patriots Uptown Health Service located at 4408 N. Sheridan (334-8957) serves the people in that community. The Young Lords maintain the Dr. E. Betances Free People’s Health Center at Peoples Church, 834 W. Armitage (549-8505). The Latin American Defense Organization has a clinic on 2353 W. North Avenue, (276-0900). The growing Student Health Organization administers a number of small clinics in various communities. Call them at 493-2741 or drop into their office at 1613 E. 53rd St. At the Holy Covenant Church, on Wilton and Diversey, you can get medical assistance at the Free People’s Clinic as well as help with legal, housing, family planning and nutrition problems. Call 348-6842. All these clinics provide a variety of services and operate on different schedules. Call them first to be sure they are open.

LEGAL AID

Chicago has a number of good law schools and you can often get some assistance or referral by calling them and speaking to the editor of the law school paper. You can go to the bathroom for free in the Julius J. Hoffman Room at Northwestern University Law School.

The Law Student Commune, 357 E. Chicago, 649-8462, is a group of young radical lawyers and law students trying to bring legal assistance into the streets. The People’s Law Office 2156 N. Halsted, 929-1880 operates the same way. For community problems, call the Lincoln Park Rights Center, 525-9775, or the Community Legal Counsel, 726-0157. The ACLU maintains a large chapter in Chicago at 6 S. Clark, 236-5564, and handles cases where civil liberties are affected.

DRAFT COUNSELING

* American Friends Service Committee – 407 S. Dearborn St. 427-2533

* Austin Draft Counseling Center – 5903 Fulton 626-9385

* Chicago Area Draft Resisters (Cadre) – 519 W. North Ave. 664-6895

* Chicago Circle Draft Information Organization University of Illinois, 317 Chicago Circle Center 663-2557

* Hyde Park Draft Information Center – Quaker House, 5615 S. Woodlawn Ave. 363-1248

* Kennedy King Draft Counseling Center – 7047 S. Stewart – 488-0900, ext. 36

* Lawndale Draft Counseling – 4049 W. 28th St. 277-3140

* Loyola Draft Counseling Center 6525 N. Sheridan, 274-3000 ext. 378

* Mandel Legal Aid Clinic – 6020 S. University Ave. 324-5181

* Ravenswood Draft Counseling – Barry Memorial Methodist Church, 4754 N. Leavitt 784-3272

* Roosevelt Selective Service Counseling Organization – Roosevelt University Student Senate Office, Rm. 204, 430 S. Michigan Ave. 922-3580 ext. 334

* South Side Draft Information (Mt. Carmel Book Dist.) 2355 W. 63rd St. 925-3686

* Uptown Hull House Draft Information Service – 4520 N. Beacon St. 561-8033

* Wellington Avenue Congregational Church Draft Counseling Center – 615 W. Wellington Ave. 935-0642.

PLAY

Parks

Lincoln Park stretches along Lake Michigan in the Northern section of the city. It has a Conservatory and Zoo, opened 9 AM to 5 PM. Just south of the zoo is the gathering place for free rock concerts, be-ins, and the like. There is also a zoo in the Brookfield section at 8400 W. 31st St. The Morton Arboretium located on Route 53 in Lisle is open every day till sunset. The Shedd Aquarium is located at 1200 South Lake Shore Drive at Roosevelt.

Music

The Auditorium and Opera House sometimes offers free concerts on Sunday and weeknights. Hang around the lobby and claim there are tickets in your name at the box office. Even if it’s a pay concert you can generally bluff your way inside. The Center for New Music, 2263 N. Lincoln, usually has free concerts on Sunday and Monday at 8 PM. WGLD is the local underground station. The Universal Life Church Coffee House, 1049 W. Polk has free rock and folk music on the weekends. Free City Music sponsors free rock concerts during the spring and summer in Lincoln Park.
MUSEUMS

* The Art Institute – Adams and Michigan. Opens daily at 10 AM. Great art museum.

* Chicago Academy of Science-Lincoln Park at 2001 N. Clark. (LI 9-0606) Open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM.

* Field Museum of Natural History-Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive. Time of opening varies from day to day; call 922-9410. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday admission is free.

* Museum of Contemporary Art-237 E. Ontario (943-7755) Open daily.

* Museum of Science and Industry-57th St. in the Hyde Park area. (MU 4-1414) Open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM. Our all-time favorite museum.

* The Oriental Institute-University of Chicago campus, 1155 E. 58th St. (643-0800) Open daily, except Monday, from 10AM to 5 PM.

Poetry

The Other Door Coffee House, 3124 N. Broadway, features nightly poetry readings and music. Call 348-8552. Cafe Pergolesi, 3404 N. Halsted, features poetry readings, baroque music and an art gallery. There is no cover or minimum. Open 6 to 12 PM, and till 1:00 AM on Saturday.

Theater

The Playhouse North, 315 W. North Ave. features free theater. For $1.00, you can see various groups perform at the Harper Theater Coffee House at 5238 S. Harper. Second City, l616 N. Wells, has free improvisations after their evening performances every evening except Fridays. Free children’s theater can be seen at La Dolores, 1980 North Orchard, Mondays and Wednesdays at 1 PM. Call 664-2352.

Movies

* The Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. shows double bills for $1.25 and has a penny candy counter. John Dillinger got ambushed when he left the place. Free Newsreel films can be seen Wednesdays at 8 PM at the Neighborhood Commons, Wisconsin and Freemart. Newsreel, 2744 N. Lincoln (248-2018) provides movement films for free or law cost to groups.

* Alice’s Revisited, 950 N. Wrightwood, is a restaurant that shows free movies. On Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM they have free folk-rock-blues music. Saturdays they also have free children’s theater. Tuesdays they have psychodrama, also for free. Call 528-4250 for more info.

INFORMATION

* The Switchboard number is 281-7197.

Underground Papers

* Rising Up Angry – 2261 N. Lincoln 472-1791
* Second City – 2120 N. Halsted 549-8760
* The Chicago Seed – 950 W. Wrightwood 929-0133

The Seed features a column called “Making It,” which deals with survival in the Windy City. It is probably the best of its type in the country.

The Black Panther Party office is located at 2350 W. Madison (243-8276).

COMMUNITY PRINTING

* Agitprop – no office; phone 929-0133
* Chicago Print Co-op. – 6710 N. Clark
* J. S. Jordan Memorial Printing Co-op. – 6710 N. Clark
* Omega Posters – 711 S. Dearborn
* Red Star Press – 180 N. Wacher

SCHOOLS

The People’s School, 4409 N. Sheridan (561-6737), offers free courses in many areas of survival and radical politics. The White Panther Party, 787-1962, offers courses in street fighting, history of American radicalism, and dialectic sexism.

FREEBIES

Clothes

The Concerned Citizens Survival Front, 2512 N. Lincoln Ave. has clothes. Try the dry cleaners on Armitage east of Halsted along the south side of the street. They give away unclaimed stuff. Also Brazil Cleaners at 3943 Indiana. The Eugene Blue Jean Store at 7017 Paulina has jeans, old army shirts and other items for less than a dollar.

Furniture

The Lake Shore Drive area on collection days has furniture. Call the bureau of Streets and Sanitation for a collection schedule.

Free Store

At 727 S. Laflin, you’ll find a genuine free store that gives away everything you can imagine. It has a tendency to be a floating free store though.

Money

Pick up some underground papers at any of the offices listed and hawk them on the streets. You can pull in $6-$10 an hour if you work at it.

Lawyers Groups

National Lawyers Guild

The “Guild” provides various free legal services especially for political prisoners. If you have any legal hassles, call and see if they’ll help you. You can call the one nearest you and get the name of a good lawyer in your area.

* BOSTON – 70 Charles St.

* DETROIT – 5705 N. Woodward St.

* LOS ANGELES – c/o Haymarket, 507 N. Hoover St.

* NEW YORK – 1 Hudson St.

* SAN FRANCISCO – 197 Steiner St.

Outside of these areas, there are no offices, but people to contact in the following cities are:

* FLINT, MICH., Carl Bekofske, 1003 Church St.

* PHILADELPHIA, PA. – A. Harry Levitan, 1412 Fox Building

* WASHINGTON, D.C. – S. David Levy, 2812 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

American Civil Liberties Union

The ACLU is not as radical as the Guild, but will in rare instances provide good lawyers for a variety of civil liberty cases such as censorship, denial of permits to demonstrations, and the like. But beware of their tendency to win the legal point while losing the case. Here is a list of some of their larger offices.

* ALABAMA – Box 1972, University, Alabama 35486

* CALIFORNIA – ACLU of Northern California, 503 Market St.,

* SAN FRANCISCO, CA – 94105 (EX 2-4692)

* COLORADO – 1452 Pennsylvania St., Denver, Colorado 80203 (303-TA5-2930)

* GEORGIA – 5 Forsyth St. N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404-523-5398)

* ILLINOIS – 6 S. Clark, Chicago, Illinois 60603 (312-236-5564)

* MICHIGAN – 234 State St., Detroit, Mich. 48226 (313-961-4662)

* MONTANA – 2707 Glenwood Land, Billings, Montana 59102 (406-651-2328)

* NEW MEXICO – 131 La Vega S.W., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87105 (505-877-5286)

* NEW YORK – 156 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010 (212-WA9-6076)

* NORTH DAKOTA – Ward County (Minot), Box 1000, Minot, North Dakota 58701 (702-838-0381)

* OHIO – Suite 200, 203 E. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio 43215

* WASHINGTON, DC – (NCACLU) 1424 16th St. NW, Suite 501,

* WASHINGTON, DC – 20036 (202-483-3830) (202-483-3830)

* WEST VIRGINIA – 1228 Seventh St., Huntington, West Virginia 25701

* WISCONSIN – 1840 N. Farwell Ave., Rm. 303, Milwaukee, Wisc. 53202 (414-272-4032)

To obtain a complete list of all the ACLU chapters, write: American Civil Liberties Union, 156 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, or call them at (212) WA 9-6076.

High School Papers

The usual high school paper is run by puppet lackeys of the administration. It avoids controversy, naughty language, and a host of other things foreign to the 4-H Club members the school is determined to mass produce. The only thing the staff is good at is kissing the principal’s ass. Let’s face it, the aim of a good high school newspaper should be to destroy the high school. Publishing and distributing a heavy paper isn’t going to earn you the Junior Chamber of Commerce good citizenship award. You might have to be a little mysterious about who the staff is until you understand the ground rules and who controls the ballpark¾the people or the principal.

Many schools do not allow papers to be handed out on the school premises. These cases are generally won by the newspapers that take the school to court. You can challenge the rule and make the administration look like the dinosaurs they are by distributing sheets of paper with only your logo and the school rule printed. By gaining outside publicity for the first distribution of the paper, you might put the administration up tight about clamping down on you. It might be difficult to explain in civics class when they get to the freedom of the press stuff. Your paper should have one purpose in mind¾to piss off the principal and radicalize the students. If you run into problems, seek out a sympathetic lawyer. You can get a helpful pamphlet from the ACLU, 156 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010, called Academic Freedom in the Secondary Schools” for 25¢.

Tell your lawyer about the most recent (July 10, 1970) decision of the United States District Court in Connecticut which ruled that the high school students of Rippowan High School in Stanford can publish independent newspapers without having the contents screened in advance by school officials.

The same info for underground papers applies to high school rags, only the price should be much less if not free. To begin with, you might just mimeograph the first few issues before trying photo-offset printing. It is very important to get the readers behind you in case you have to go to war with the administration in order to survive. Maintain friendships with above ground reporters, the local underground paper and radical community groups for alliances.

Private Funding to close down the Concentration Camp?

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gitmo-new-rules-of-warThis is a question for the Legal Eagles…
 
Since the only real issue left in getting rid of this huge albatross around our collective national neck… (the one that’s tied to the even larger Boat Anchor)… Is one of funding the venture…

What would block President Obama and his supporters such as us from attempting to secure private funding for dismantling Guantanamo Torture Center?

Solicit donations in small or large amounts, doesn’t matter much about the amounts because it’s Not Campaign Funding…

Nor would the funding have to come only from U.S. citizens nor only from people the State Department considers “friendly” which is a polite term for “compliant to the point of subservience”.

If the fund is maintained with a certain amount of glaznost (up to the point of “short of announcing names of individual donors”) by the International Red (religious symbol of choice here) People for the American Way and the ACLU…

I’m going to put this question to the local ACLU in an open letter on a local website and in the Colorado Springs Independent, also Same in the Ft Worth Independent and the Dallas Observer.

Since the opposition comes from so-called “fiscal conservatives”, that $80 million should be hanged around THEIR collective neck as a sign of Shame.

There’s a 4-mile stretch of road-to-nowhere proposed here in Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs which begins and ends at Public Bus Stops.

At a cost of $260,000,000 (TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY MILLION) USD.

Then there’s the much higher cost of keeping Guantanamo OPEN. A cost which is classified so we’ll never know the true amount.

But it’s in the range of more than a Billion per annum.

Let’s see, $80 Million to close out the account permanently, or 12x (TWELVE TIMES) the amount Annually to keep the sucker running.

Waiting for the Next Dictator in Chief to replace Democracy and President Obama with Bush Regime, Part II and re-start the whole cycle of state-sponsored Terrorism over again. (I constructed that sentence awkwardly deliberately and on purpose because triple repetition is more effective than mere redundancy.)

And the cost incurred by giving REAL Terrorists an(other) actual issue to use against not only the Socially Retarded Animated Sphincters but against EVERY American by association.

Note to the S.R.A.S.s: Shock and Awe has failed Miserably. so has the policy of “Let them hate as long as they fear … Oderint dum Metuant and here I’ll point out that was the motto of Gaius Julius Caesar II (Caligula)

The overwhelming evidence is that policy has given them a very legitimate reason to hate and obviously, they don’t actually Fear along with it.

In the case of “Shock and Awe” there’s two synonyms for “Fear” explicitly included, and using Fear as a weapon of war fits the classic definition of Terrorism.

2 turncoat Democrats are our senators!

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Freshly minted US Senator Michael Bennett just voted against the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, siding with the usurious banks. Do we give him a pass? It’s not Bennett’s first snub of the November 2008 progressive mandate. What’s it going to take before Colorado constituents shout down the Washington insider for being a fraud? Bennett is speaking at CC’s commencement on May 18. Is he or is he not accountable?

I don’t dare, actually. Some of my friends still think he shows promise. But I had a chance when Governor Ritter first paraded him to Colorado Springs, to look into his averted eyes. I saw the face of a weasel. Bennett spoke too, committing to absolutely nothing. Did I mention he was a Zionist? I’m hoping someone will consider his grace period expired.

As well today on HB 1274, Colorado Senator and proven shit John Morse took “repeal the death penalty” out of the Repeal The Death Penalty Bill. Morse also sponsored SB 241 the DNA Sampling of Felony Arrestees which would mandate that DNA records be kept of all those accused of a felony.

No word yet on John Morse’s next visit to Colorado Springs. He didn’t join Representative Lamborn at the Tax Day Tea Party, but you know he wanted to.

Colorado Springs Calendar MAY 2009

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MAY 2009
1- May Day: International Workers Day
4- Tobias Wolff, Reading at CC, Armstrong Theatre, 7pm
9- UFCW Local 7 contract expires with Safeway workers
15- NAKBA commemoration
17- CFP Protest of PRO-ISRAEL RALLY, City Auditorium, 3pm-6pm
18- Senator Michael Bennet, CC commencement, Quad, 8am
18- Governor Bill Ritter, City Hall, Fountain, 6pm
23- Uncle Wilbur Fountain, annual opening, Acacia Park, 11am-1pm
25- High Country Earth First! EF! ROADSHOW, Cheesman Park 2pm
26- High Country Earth First! EF! ROADSHOW, Gypsy House 7pm
27- Colorado Springs ACLU annual meeting, G&L Foundation
27-6/3 Feral Futures, to be disclosed shortly
30- UFCW solidarity action, TBA

Colorado Springs government and police continue to lie about their raids on the Homeless

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liars myersHOMELAND INSECURITY REPORT- The CS police, under the direction of Police Cap Ricky ‘Liars’ Myers, are continuing to fudge and pretend their innocence about their raids and harassment against the Homeless population in the city, on behalf of the Business Community which simply hates these unfortunate people. They want them all gone but can’t find a way to get it done without attracting public attention. So they have to play all sorts of mind games using the local press as conduit for their song and dance.

‘The cleanups first received negative publicity last fall after homeless advocates charged the monthly sweeps include improper searches and that personal belongings are routinely tossed out. The ACLU contends the cleanups violate the Fourth Amendment and the Colorado Constitution. ….. In bullet-point fashion, ACLU staff attorney Taylor Pendergrass describes its findings after it “interviewed dozens of persons who claimed to have had private property seized and destroyed by CSPD and KCSB.” Among them is that the cleanups were typically unannounced and conducted when homeless people were away from their camps and couldn’t protect their belongings. “Numerous different CSPD officers have been involved in seizing and destroying property, but many interviewees consistently identified CSPD Officer’s Olav Chaney and Tracey (sic) Fox,” Pendergrass wrote in the letter.’

Taken from ACLU: Cops look into sweeps at camps

Obama to close Gitmo year from now

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aclu obama close gitmo
Yesterday Barack Obama suspended the GWOT military tribunals and announced the closing of Guantanamo Prison Camp, eventually. Care to explain to those still being detained without charges, why it’s going to take a year?

Many progressives are applauding Obama’s bold moves, and today Obama proclaimed that the US does not torture. Are the Gitmo prisoners still maintaining a hunger strike? Are their jailers responding by feeding them against their will, using gastric tubes? That’s torture. If Obama hesitates to roll back the policies which sustained Guantanamo, the responsibility is going to be his own.

Paging Lucy Shoup aka Lucy McDonald

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Who was the Maryland State Trooper infiltrating Silver Springs area peace groups? Unmasked by an ACLU case which represented several dozen activists labeled by “Lucy” as terrorists, even the LA Times article would not reveal her true identity. But certainly there should remain photographs of the undercover officer participating in actions from 2005-2007…

The agent’s cover name “Lucy Shoup” was accidentally left un-redacted from records made public by the Maryland State Police. An activist at Red Emma’s bookstore suspected that an “Ann Shoup” on their email list might be the agent in question. Now 32 activist groups in the area have confirmed that “Lucy,” going by “Shoup” or “McDonald,” pretended to participate in their activities in order to keep tabs on their members.

She used the email addresses ann_378@hotmail.com and shoupy_shoup@yahoo.com. The ACLU of Maryland is asking other activist groups to check their records for traces of this agent, and urging all to file FOIA requests to disclose the breadth of this eavesdropping.

Among the major groups targeted: the ACLU, the American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, the International Socialist Organization, the NAACP, and United Catholic Charities.

Among the 57 individuals labeled as “terrorists” by this agent are the Dominican sisters who perpetrated the Colorado nuclear missile silo Plowshare action, Ardeth Platte and Carol Gilbert.

Here is a sample of one of the infiltrator’s email:

July 28, 2005

Due to a change in marital status, my name and e-mail have changed and I will no longer be using or checking my old address.

Please send anything to me (pledge, Save Vernon Evans, etc) at shoupy_shoup@yahoo.com.

Whoops, forgot to tell you my name is Lucy Shoup, has a nice ring, doesn’t it?

Thanks, I will see you soon.

She used the same pretext to avoid giving a physical address:

August 2, 2005

That would be great to be on the list serve for progressive news, alerts, etc., as well as the Baltimore activists’ alert.

I’m in the process of moving, so I will give you my snail mail soon.

I may just get a p.o. box to make life easier.

See you soon, Lucy.

Following Obama out of La La Land

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Rita and her GRANDMOTHERS FOR PEACE found change.gov and gave them an earful. (change.gov is the President-Elect’s change.org)

FOLLOWING OBAMA OUT OF LA LA LAND

I was afraid. The 2/26/08 e-mail from Bob Nemanich, Obama El Paso County Co-Coordinator, had come in minutes earlier. It read in part:

“Now this is important. Jay Ferguson, the vice chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party and I have been receiving numerous reports of curious and even worse descriptions of attempts, by some volunteers managing the entrance doors last Saturday morning, attempting to turn rightfully elected delegates away from the convention. This is serious stuff. If any of you witnessed or experienced an attempt by someone telling delegates who were in line Saturday morning and told to go home because: “the crowds were too big,” “no more room inside,” “they had enough delegates,” “the fire marshal was going to close us down,” or were told “their name was not on their lists” or other intimidations…You need to contact us immediately! We will need the description of th e person who was at the door making these or other statements or intimidating anyone, which line you were in, the time, and other circumstances which might further identify this person and activity of attempting to suppress the vote.”

I’d read the words and shuddered. What should I do?

I stood and walked away from the computer, passing the side-by-side pictures of my brother and son – both very precious to me and both very disabled. What could happen to them if I spoke out and told what I knew and had seen?

More than a decade ago, my “Rainman” duplicate son was working at his part-time job in the laundry of a local hotel. Suddenly a C.S.P.D. cop appeared and began roughing my boy up as he arrested him. The hotel maid who witnessed the arrest later told me she had begged the cop not to scare or hurt him, that he was autistic and retarded and didn’t understand what was happening. The cop ignored her as he threw my son against the wall, handcuffed him, and roughly led him to the waiting squad car and onto jail.

My boy’s “crime” was a false accusation beyond the belief of all who know my son and understand his limitations. Eventually the deputy district attorney dismissed all charges against him, but only after the nearly unsurmountable fear and suffering of my son and all who love him. His “crime” could have possibly have been based on his coming from a well-to-do family, thereby designating him and us as a target for monetary awards from fraudulent civil actions. And just as likely was the possibility that his being so brutalized, charged and arrested was a result of my political activism and stands against discrimination and intimidation. I’ll most likely go to my grave not knowing which was the case. One thing for certain – from now on I’ll be on guard against dirty political retaliation, particularly against those I love.

Months before my son’s false arrest, I had taken on an infamous Colorado Republican state senator who had publicly and to the press referred to all women of color as ‘promiscuous.” Following her nationally publicized remark, at a Colorado Springs “Cure Rally,” I had jokingly awarded her the “Jackass of the Year Award.” A few months later, at the urging of a retired judge and former colleague of mine, I had filed a criminal charge of harassment against the senator’s son, who had spear-headed the anti-gay Colorado Amendment Two, an amendment approved by the voters and later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Representing the Colorado Springs Minority Coalition, I had appeared on a local t.v. talk show with the senator’s son and responded to phone calls from viewers regarding the Minority Coalition’s stands on Amendment Two and other issues. Following the show, the senator’s son had invited me, along with a man from the N.A.A.C.P., into a studio back room where he had attempted to intimidate me by stating that it looked like we were going to fight. He then knuckle punched me in the arm. I followed the advice of my judicial friend, and reported the incident. Shortly thereafter, others came forward, citing similar attempts at intimidation by the senator’s son.

The same week my son was brutalized and falsely arrested, it was announced that the senator’s son was being removed from his job as head of “Colorado for Family Values,” the organization behind Amendment Two. A longtime observer of partisan politics in this one-party town of Colorado Springs observed that the senator’s son’s political career had been nipped the bud due to what had happened following the t.v. show.

I will always wonder if my son’s being charged and arrested for a crime he could never have committed was in reality an attack on me for standing up to blatant bigotry and an attempt at intimidation. And now I was being asked by an official of the Obama campaign to come forward once again, and stand up to undemocratic manipulation and outrageous intimidation. What should I do?

Torn by indecision, my view switched from the photo of my beautiful, autistic son, to the photo taken years earlier of my beloved brother, a mentally ill, fully disabled vet. And I was jolted into the present. Weeks earlier, my brother had gone into a local fast food restaurant, and had been questioned by the police for his part in a fist fight that had occurred in the restaurant.

My brother had watched and listened to a man in the restaurant as the man loudly and angrily berated the “stupid nigger” Barack Obama. My brother, a gently and caring person, had gone up to the man and told him he disagreed with him about Sen. Obama, and was offended at what the man was saying, and how he was saying it.

The man then swung at my brother twice, causing my brother to punch the man in defense, knocking the man to the floor and bloodying the man’s nose. The man ceased his hate filled outrage, and the police were called in. A restaurant employee explained to the police that it was not brother who had instigated the attack, but rather it was my brother who was defending himself. The man was arrested, and my brother, feeling very guilty for having struck someone, returned home to tell me the story. I consoled him, and complimented him for his bravery in speaking out against such hatred and bigotry.

And now, remembering my brother’s courage and glancing at my deceased uncle and god father’s purple heart from World War II, I made my decision. Courage is vital if heaven is to be gained and democracy is to be maintained. Scared as I was, I returned to the computer and began typing my affidavit, the soon to be sworn to statement of what I had witnessed at the El Paso County Democratic Assembly days earlier.

The story was not a pretty one. Elected Obama delegates and alternates had stood outside for hours in the frigid cold, only to be kept from entering the high school where the assembly was held. They were turned away in number at the door by none other than the then head of the Colorado Springs ACLU, a former NSA man. This former NSAer reportedly later stated he was merely following the directions of the local Democratic party chairman.

Within days of my submitting my signed and sworn to affidavit to the Obama and party official who had requested information, with copies to state and national party officials and ACLU officials, my house and grounds and the neighbor’s house was broken into in the middle of the night. According to both my neighbor and my brother who resides with me, the intruder appeared to be eager to be both heard and seen, and did not attempt to run and hide when spotted. This is the first break-in we have experienced since living here.

I went to the police station and added my brother’s citing of the intruder onto the neighbor’s report to the police the neighbor had made at the time of the incident. The police officer asked me if, to the best of my knowledge, anyone was attempting to intimidate me, my brother, or my neighbor. I gave the officer a copy of my affidavit, and told him an attempt to intimidate me had been made by the ACLU chairman immediately prior to my submission of my affidavit.

The officer then advised me to go as public as possible with the information I had. The officer state that his grandmother had been among those at the the Democratic assembly and, along with so many others, had wondered just what was going on.

Shortly thereafter, a representative from the local Democratic party notified me that the platform committee, to which I had been elected at the recent assembly, had been disbanded. It was hardly a surprise when three months later, two peace demonstrators were arrested at the Democratic state convention, which was held in Colorado Springs. The demonstrators were standing outside an area which was taped off by police, and were being cheered on and waved at by Obama delegates and alternates who were entering the World Arena building where the convention was being held.

The demonstrators were arrested, handcuffed, and transported first to a nearby station, then transported and left miles away from where the convention was being held. The support poles of the banner they displayed (“Dems – please stop funding the war in Iraq”) were destroyed by police. Significant rooftop audio surveillance occurred prior to and during the arrest, but was denied and not produced during the motions for discovery at time of preliminary hearings. Prior to going to trial, charges were dropped by the city, just as charges were eventually dropped by the city after the first trial against peace demonstrators (google Colorado Springs St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2007, n.b. “Police Brutality”) resulted in a hung jury.

This is not one person’s story – this is a city’s story, a state’s story, an entire country’s story. The coup d’etat of which President Eisenhower warned us during a radio address on his last day in office is well established and is going to be extremely difficult to undo. The undoing of the military/industrial/corporate coup will require courage and persistence of the highest order.

Forty fusion centers nationwide, and super fusion centers such as Colorado Springs, will continue to strip away basic civil rights by means of surveillance, and infiltration of peace, justice, and political organizations. These centers will not go away easily. The return of a free and non-spin press will not just happen. Improvement in education nationwide is essential if democracy is to return and survive. We must discontinue simply educating to enable every child to eventually get a bigger and better paying job so as to produce a bigger and better consumer, but rather we must provide truly meaningful education that turns out perpetually self-educating, critical thinkers who are impervious to spin and manipulation.

The need for change list goes on and one, and as long as President elect Obama hangs tough and maintains the heart, brains, and courage that are so necessary to oversee the change, hope we indeed survive. Then he can and will indeed lead us our of La La Land, and forward to the top of the mountain of all our dreams.

God bless and protect Barack Obama and his oh so wonderful and brave and bright family. And, please God, bless and protect not just America, but the entire world and all our sisters and brothers in it. Peace and love be with you and with us all.

Rita Walpole Ague

ACLU: Police provoked first DNC arrests

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den-mon-ua-masks
The ACLU has uncovered a police report which reveals that the first gassing of protesters at the DNC was in response to actions by an undercover provocateur. The police explain their ruse was to extract the infiltrator from the crowd without blowing his cover, but those who were there saw the maneuver’s real purpose. The Denver Post wrote DNC police staged confrontation that prompted pepper spray

After two trouble free marches that day, this incident began when a group organized by Unconventional Denver stepped off the curb at Civic Center Park. Police who had been encircling the group on the grass, formed a phalanx to block their passage and immediately donned gas masks.

The demonstrators were confronted from the North and West, to keep them from leaving the park area. At any time members of the crowd could opt to step back unto the grass. This fact challenges how the Denver Police are attempting to explain their actions with the protest infiltrator.

Because the report brought to light by the ACLU revealed that the first target of the pepper spray was an undercover officer, DPD offered this story. They were trying to extract their officer without arousing suspicion. When another officer misinterpreted the scuffle, he unleashed the pepper spray. Protestations and more spraying ensued. That’s the official story.

Witnesses can attest that there were plenty of other undercover agents in the crowd, the rest of whom were able to melt away. Why the special treatment for this one?

Well, there’s another hypothesis for the police actions. It’s textbook crowd management. I’d say “riot control,” but it means inciting a riot in order to control it. Police use infiltrators to start fights in order to justify their use of violence to intervene. Often this can be as simple as an infiltrator to play stool pigeon while the police jump in to make the arrest. The crowd moves to protect what it thinks is a member unfairly targeted by the officers, and this reaction gives the police justification to crack down.

It that what happened at the DNC on Monday? Not even. While the undercover officer struggled against being “arrested,” before there might have been a reaction from the crowd, another officer “mistook” the event for a protester resisting arrest. His assault with pepper spray led to the crowd reaction which prompted indiscriminate spraying.

I can attest to two details which reinforce the likelihood of this latter scenario. Number one, all protest participants were always free to retreat from the street. It’s the path I chose in fact. My photographs illustrate my vantage point from curbside. Two, DNC activists were always savvy to the police infiltrators. We gave them as wide a berth as possible at all times. It’s likely the crowd never fell for the one who provoked the escalation of violence at Civic Center Park. In fact by the DPD’s own admission, the step up was a “mistake” on the part of one of their men.

Here’s raw surveillance footage which shows the chronology of the spraying.

Who’s a Constitution Voter?

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marie-constitution-voterVisit the ACLU website to add your mugshot to the I’m a Constitution Voter drive. You’ll be standing up for civil liberties and the Police State can Photoshop your inevitable booking info unto the card you’re already holding. Perhaps “Constitution Voter” will constitute the charge against you.

eric-constitution-voterMe tu, Brute.

RNC marchers charged with felony riot

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RNC arrests Monday
SAINT PAUL- These people have been herded from the streets to a park by the river. As riot troops close in, people were told to place their hands on their heads and that they are being arrested. Watch as some are tear gassed as others, credentialed journalist embeds, are issued gas masks. Elsewhere, Amy Goodman is arrested and later released. Two of her producers are being detained on FELONY RIOT charges.

This follows the arrest of an ABC reporter in Denver. Not a legal precedent hopefully if the ACLU can help it:

DENVER – Following news reports and a video showing Denver law enforcement agents ordering a reporter off a public sidewalk and pushing him into the street and later arresting him, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Colorado called for renewed protection of the First Amendment guarantees of free speech and a free press.

The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union:

“The physical removal of ABC reporter Asa Eslocker from public property and his subsequent arrest are a blatant assault on the First Amendment. Arresting a reporter for simply doing his job is both unconstitutional and un-American. That free speech is curtailed during the Democratic Convention underscores the need for continued protection of civil liberties, regardless of the party in power.”

The following can be attributed to Mark Silverstein, Legal Director of the ACLU of Colorado:

“The arrest of Asa Eslocker is the latest of several troubling incidents in which law enforcement has mistreated dissenters or others exercising their right to free speech dissent during the Democratic National Convention. On Monday hundreds of people were rounded up by police, detained without access to attorneys and denied the most basic due process protections. Arrestees were flexi-cuffed together so that they couldn’t even use the bathroom alone, and in at least one case a woman was forced to walk barefoot and in leg shackles into a courtroom. The First Amendment is supposed to be the cornerstone of democracy, but some law enforcement agents in Denver have shown a complete disregard for the right to free speech.”

NMT coverage of DNC 2008 protests

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R68 STORM iN THE QUEEN CITYAt right is R68’s CMYK guide to DNC protests, STORM IN THE CITY, colored mischievously enough to read STORM’N.
 
Below is a guide to the NotMyTribe posts on the Denver DNC. We covered preparations, betrayals, security, the Saturday training, Sunday rallies, Monday actions, Tuesday marches, Wednesday escalation, Thursday Invesco, and Friday exit.
 
We’ve linked the posts so they can be perused in chronological order, as well as by specific focus.

PREPARATIONS:
Public debate
R68 planning
ACLU court case
Arguments
Judgment
Blogger role

TROUBLE MAKING
Unconventional Action
Publicity
Looting
Planning meetings

DOUBLE-CROSS
UFPJ
ARD
Tent State
Green Party
McKinney rebuttal
People Call For Change
Nonviolence
Dividing movement
Disrupting R68

SECURITY ANTICIPATION
Tent State no go
Detention plans
Recent DPD undercover brutality
Police Liaisons

DNC -2, SATURDAY: TRAINING
Training
Family day trip
fodor guide
videotaping
Instructions
Call out

DNC -1, SUNDAY
Rally
Fox disruption
Antiwar march
UA downtown action
Plain-clothed surveillance
UA park disruption
Plain-clothed surveillance
Provocateurs
Recap
Photos

MONDAY: DNC DAY 1
Freedom cage
March to courthouse
Levitating Denver mint
UA tries to leave park
Arbitrary arrest
Containment downtown
Standoff
Provocateurs
Recap
Photos

TUESDAY: DNC DAY 2
Early arrests
Anarchists
Puppet parade
Evening unrest

WEDNESDAY: DNC DAY 3
Lost park
Hassling street kids
IVAW march
Self-policing the protest
Pepsi Center
Marie
Photos

THURSDAY: DNC DAY 4
Immigrant rights march
March to Invesco Field

FRIDAY
Aftermath
RNC plans

DPD DNC provocateurs shy from camera

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DENVER- Monday PM, DNC Day 1. Undercover Agent Provocateurs.
Undercover copsCirculating among protesters with video cameras is one thing, walking around like you want to start trouble is another. Can you spot the faux troublemaker? This image doesn’t show his professional ass-kicker boots. The two Unconventional Action participants facing him saw I wore an ACLU t-shirt and urged me to document this provocateur‘s actions.

Actually, in the image above there are two undercover cops in the foreground, moving past the two onlookers facing us. Everyone’s dressed the same, with some unsubtle differences. The cops are dressed EXACTLY the same, like best friend tweens at the mall. These two wore black backwards baseball caps, black hoodies, black bandanas, with spare bandanas worn at the knees as flair, substantial black backpacks, dark glasses, jeans, and heavy black boots. And of course, they have way above average muscles compared to the rest of the people drawn to a political protest.

Getting suited up
So I kept taking pictures of this cop and his partner. Their stereotypical getup caught my eye, but the fact that I interrupted them suiting up to cover every further inch of their faces is what made me nervous. I wanted to keep using my flash hoping they’d feel detected and would go away. But I didn’t want to push it so far that they’d instigate a pushing match with me to have me arrested.

Watching
As tension grew at this standoff with the police, the line of riot police kept closing in. At the same time, these two started obscuring their faces and stepping in closer behind the first line of protesters. The job of agent provocateurs in these situations has been documented at the WTO and the FTAA etc. They push people into the line of policemen, initiating an “attack.” (And LO it happened this night.)

Ready for anonymous action
I kept taking picture after picture to deter them. Even if it they didn’t shove me, the riot police would begin clubbing everyone on their cue.

Leaving camera flash
Finally they wandered off, either chased by the camera, or called off by their commander. If the DPD indeed wanted no riot, what were these undercover cops doing? I suppose their chief role might be to be recognized as police muscle, frightening everyone more.

You can tell by the fascist riot uniforms that the DPD has no qualms being feared. Police can terrorize even more effectively when people come to understand you follow sinister scruples.

UPDATE: Here’s what began that afternoon.

Green Party-pooper insubordination more embarrassing than imaginable

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And I thought I hade a vivid imagination. Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney has issued a press release detailing her explicit intention to participate in the Sunday DNC rally. The letter is very diplomatic but it spells out the ultimatum she was given by the Colorado Greens to desist. Cynthia McKinney for President Compelling reading. On a related note. Cindy Sheehan will also be joining the lineup. This represents a significant divergence from her close allies Medea Benjamin and UFPJ’s Leslie Cagan. It shouldn’t be that way.

If you’re not inclined to read McKinney’s letter, and I’ll add it’s as direct as her speeches, I can summarize the threats made and actions taken. Spoiler alert. For agreeing to speak at a rally organized by R-68: Resignation threatened. Fundraiser, place to stay, withdrawn. All scheduled engagements canceled. Assistance to get on Wyoming ballot, withdrawn. Every effort to remove her from Colorado ballot, threatened. McKinney was also informed she had been last choice candidate of Colorado delegation. So there.

Are we witnessing someone’s hissy-fit nervous self-immolation? Could be, but it packs the wallop of a suicide bomber. Local party gutted; bystanders, fellow Greens, burned; vital preparations annulled just months from the election. Third parties probably attract people who have difficulty with authority. In this case with irreparable consequence.

Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente Announce Their Participation in Anti-war, Anti-human rights Abuse Events Before the DNC
August 14, 2008

As the United States activated Navy ships and the Air Force to begin an airlift of non-specified goods into the former Soviet state of Georgia, and military exercises began in the Persian Gulf near Iran, I received communications from certain individuals among the Colorado Greens who were organizing campaign support events there, suggesting that I not participate in an anti-war program being organized by other individuals in Colorado.

Perplexed, I began to do my research to understand the nature of the fissure that I seemed to be placing myself in the middle of. The communications to me about not participating in one of the scheduled events became more and more shrill. The events ran through August 26th. When the lineup of speakers, including Rosa and me, was announced for the events in question, I received multiple communications stating in various ways that the sender from the Green Party of Colorado, was on the verge of desperation over the matter. Within a few hours, I was reading messages stating that the Green Party of Colorado would be ruined if I participated in the End the Occupations/End the War march and rally slated to take place on the morning of August 24th on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol, or if Rosa participated in a Freedom March and Rally for Human Rights and Political Prisoners at Civic Center Park the following day.

An article appeared in a local Colorado newspaper stating that Rosa and I would not appear at the events for which we had been scheduled. Rosa responded to our Colorado Green Party contact that yes, indeed, we were appearing at the two events. Both Rosa and I then received messages demanding to know by a time certain what our plans were, and asserting that the Green Party of Colorado would be totally ruined if we associated with the group sponsoring the events. In addition, we were told that at least one resignation and sustaining membership would be tendered to the Party, and that Rosa and I could expect no support on the ground in Denver from the Green Party of Colorado, including a planned fundraiser and a place to stay.

Without receiving any additional response or information from either Rosa or I, the correspondent sent a message informing us that all Green Party of Colorado events previously scheduled for us had been canceled. Further, the message stated that ballot access petitioning by Green Party of Colorado would cease in neighboring Wyoming and that all efforts would be made to remove Rosa’s and my names from the ballot in Colorado. The message also noted that the Colorado delegation overwhelmingly supported Elaine Brown at the Green Party Convention.

With the e-mail messages flying “fast and furious,” I hope I have mentioned the highlights of this episode in somewhat chronological order. What Rosa and I would like to address now, is the ideological and rational order that produced this outcome. At the very first Green Party debate held in San Francisco earlier this year, I pleaded for unity of action and purpose as we face the challenges that confront us as a country. Rosa and I are proud to join with others who are sick and tired of war, occupation, human rights abuses, and the continued incarceration of our political prisoners. We are proud to join with others who are willing to do something about it. In the context of activities in Denver, that means cooperating with some organizations new to us and others with which Rosa and I have had a long-standing relationship. Let me explain some of those relationships.

I am proud to have received a Backbone Award from the Backbone Campaign, one of the co-participants of the anti-war, anti-occupation events in question, according to the organizers.

Rosa and I are pleased to have received the endorsement of M-1 of Dead Prez, who put out a video of endorsement and is rallying other conscious Hip Hop, Generation X voters to the Green Party with Rosa and I as its nominees. Rebel Diaz was on the stage with Rosa as she accepted her Green Party nomination for Vice President. Both Dead Prez and Rebel Diaz are participating in the events in question, according to the organizers.

Fred Hampton, Jr.’s mother, a victim of COINTELPRO, came to Georgia in the mid-1990s to help me gain reelection after a malicious redistricting case that went all the way up to the Supreme Court. Ward Churchill has traveled to my Congressional district to educate my former constituents on the COINTELPRO of yesterday and the COINTELPRO of today. Natsu Saito introduced me to other victims of COINTELPRO. I asked Kathleen Cleaver to co-author a report that was submitted to Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the time of the World Conference Against Racism, on the unsolved murders of Black Panther Party members who were victims of COINTELPRO. Fred Hampton, Jr., Ward Churchill, Natsu Saito, and Kathleen Cleaver are all participating in the events in question, according to the organizers.

As a Member of Congress, I supported the release of all political prisoners and welcomed information from the American Indian Movement about Leonard Peltier. I have at many times in my political career been allied with the ACLU, and have always supported Pam and Ramona Africa and the MOVE Organization. The American Indian Movement of Colorado, King Downing of the ACLU, and Pam and Ramona Africa of MOVE are all participating in the events in question, according to the organizers.

Mumia Abu Jamal has endorsed the Power to the People Campaign and my Green Party candidacy. According to the organizers, Mumia will transmit a message to all of us participating in the events in question.

Finally, I have appeared on various stages with many Palestinians; I have proudly spoken at rallies organized by Larry Holmes. Debra Sweet with World Can’t Wait was among the very first to my knowledge to organize around impeachment as an imperative and I support hers and all other impeachment groups in their efforts. And finally, I have known Ben Manski for a long time as a socially conscious activist who is also a member of the Green Party. According to the organizers, a Palestinian refugee is slated to speak at the events in question, as well as Larry Holmes, Debra Sweet, and Ben Manski.

Rosa and I have not been given any rational, ideological, or strategically-acceptable reason by the Green Party of Colorado to dissociate ourselves from the movement that this country so desperately needs and that these individuals and organizations participating represent, as we all attempt to hold the Democratic Party accountable for its complicity in all of the crimes of the Bush Administration. Therefore Rosa and I will keep our appointments in Denver and we hope that the members of the Green Party of Colorado will attend our sessions and listen to what we have to say. I have faith that by taking principled stands against war and occupation, human rights abuse, the prison-industrial complex, and in support of freedom for political prisoners, the Green party will emerge stronger.

Cynthia McKinney
Green Party Nominee for President of the United States

Rosa Clemente
Green Party Nominee for Vice President of the United States

R68 announces speakers to counter DNC

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DENVER- The Recreate 68 Alliance has announced its lineup of speakers for the DNC rallies. Among them: Pamela Africa (MOVE), Kathleen Cleaver, Rosa Clemente, Ward Churchill, Jenny Esquiveo (spokesperson for Eric McDavid), Fred Hampton Jr., a recording from Mumia Abu Jamal, Cha Cha Jimenez, Ron Kovic, Cynthia McKinney, Ricardo Romero, Natsu Saito, and a spokesperson for the Cuban Five.

Sunday, August 24:
End the Occupations/End the War March & Rally 9am – 2pm
West Steps of the State Capitol Building to the Pepsi Center
This will be Denver’s largest anti-war, anti-illegal occupations march and rally.

Speakers (Alphabetical):
Ida Audeh – Palestinian Refugee
Kathleen Cleaver – Black Panthers
Ward Churchill – Long-time Author, Activist, and Scholar
Mark Cohen – Re-create 68 Alliance
Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. – Prisoners of Conscience Committee
Larry Hales – World Worker’s Party and Re-create 68 Alliance
Larry Holmes – Troops Out Now Coalition
Ron Kovic – anti-war activist, veteran and author of Born On The Fourth of July
Cynthia Mckinney – Green Party United States Presidential Candidate
Glenn Spagnuolo – Re-create 68 Alliance

Bands:
David Rovic – State Capitol Steps, kicking of the rally
M1 and Stic Man from Dead Prez – State Capitol Steps, prior to the march
Blue Scholars – Concert at State Capitol, after the march
Jim Page – State Capitol Steps, during the rally

Monday, August 25:
Freedom March and Rally for Human Rights and Political Prisoners,
10am – 2pm Civic Center Park to the Federal Court House

Speakers (Alphabetical):
Pamela Africa – MOVE Organization
American Indian Movement Spokes Person- Leonard Peltier Defense
Rosa Clemente – United States Vice Presidential Candidate for the Green Party
Kathleen Cleaver – The Panther Nine from San Francisco
King Downing – National Coordinator of the ACLU’s Campaign Against Racial Profiling
Jenny Esquiveo- Spokesperson for Eric McDavid (Political Prisoner)
Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. – Prisoners of Conscience Committee
Mumia Abu Jamal – Current Political Prisoner (Recorded from Death Row)
Cha Cha Jimenez- Founder of the Young Lords (Puerto Rican Resistance Prisoners)
Ricardo Romero – National Coordinator for the Mexican Liberation Organization
Natsu Saito – Author, Activist, and Human Rights Scholar (Guantanamo Inmates)
Spokesperson for the Cuban Five

Bands:
** Special Guest Band To Be Announced **

Monday, August 25:
Festival of Democracy, entertainment start time – 3pm
Civic Center Park (free concerts)

Bands:
Savage Family – From Illegally Occupied U.S.
Dinigunim – San Diego
DJ Cavem – Five Points, CO
Moetavation – Five Points, CO
DJ Asar Heru – Brooklyn
Karma – Barbados
Whiskey Blanket – Boulder
Midstate Music – Chicago
Dario Rosa – Boulder

Special Guest Speakers and Poets Between Acts

Tuesday, August 26:
Festival of Democracy, entertainment start time – 3pm
Civic Center Park (free concerts)

Bands:
Debajo Del Agua – Denver
DKO-Electric Horns – Denver
Melanie Susuras Band – Denver
Rebel Diaz – Bronx
The Night Kitchen – Boulder
From The Depths – North Carolina
Black Sheep Brigade – Boulder

Special Guest Speakers and Poets Between Acts

Poets for Monday and Tuesday:
Isis, Ladyspeech, Bianca, Lucifury, Allende, Bobby LeFebre (members from Nationally Ranked Slam Nuba Team 2008)

Additional Speakers Throughout the Week:
Deb Sweet – World Can’t Wait
Mason Tyert – SAFER
Timothy Tipton – Rocky Mountain Caregiver’s Cooperative
Ben Manski – Bring the Guard Home
CHOIR – ‘Acapella Choir with a conscience’ from Oakland/San Francisco
Ramona Africa – MOVE Organization

Tuesday, August 26:
Liberation Soirée at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln St. – 8pm Start Time
A benefit concert and party for the Festival of Democracy. A “No More Politics as Usual” Party.

Bands:
Rhythm Vision – Denver
Rebel Diaz – Bronx
DeeJay SD & K DJ Above

Tuesday, August 26:
Phoenician Kabob Restaurant on Colfax and Ivy, 7pm:

Larry Everest – Author of “Oil, Power and Empire”, speaking on “What’s Behind the US Threats on Iran, and How Can We Stop Them”

This is a list of bands and speakers. Protest activities will be going on every day, all week. For more information and scheduled activities go to www.recreate68.org.

Bush leaves US a half-trillion more debt

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Bushco not only exhausted the treasury, but a half-trillion dollars more Americans don’t have. Is that someone you’re comfortable having a beer with? Someone who commits more spending to himself and friends, and leaves the debt to the next addressee? Credit card companies call that fraud. So long suckers! It’s graft plain and simple. Especially since the money wasn’t burnt up in a war, or blown to the winds by Katrina. No, this money was funneled, by the supertanker load, to Bush and Cheney cronies in oil, weapons and banking.
 
Think there’s not more damage Bush can do? Think the Kucinich impeachment call is after spilled milk? The ACLU can think of five barn doors we need to block immediately while Bush’s burglary is still in progress! Mukasey’s declaration of universal war for one!

El Paso County Democrats fight against local party leadership to UNDO THE COUP

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Undo the CoupRita’s form response to the MOVEON.ORG FORM LETTER “Thanks so much for going to a Platform Meeting to urge that Al Gore’s energy challenge be part of the Democratic Party’s issue platform!”

Hi Noah:
Please note a correction. I did not go to a “Platform Meeting”, rather I am having one on Tuesday night, July 29. At that meeting, we will allow attendees to list and prioritize issues, and we’ll send results to both the DNC and directly to Obama Headquarters in Chicago.

One of the main reasons for this approach is that a group of us (I was one of a group of eight or nine) was elected as a Platform Committee at the El Paso County Democratic Assembly. The entire assembly elected us, choosing from a number of nominees. Open nominations occurred.

Within days, the local party had unseated and disbanded us, refusing even to allow those of us publicly elected to even know the names and contact information of the others elected. That same day, elected delegates and alternates had stood in the cold for hours, waiting to be allowed into the assembly, only (as I witnessed and signed an affidavit regarding) to be intimidated and turned away at the door by a former NSA man and recent head of the ACLU in this fair, fascist city of ours.

Soooo… such is life in our no longer a democracy city, county, state and nation. Goggle “Colorado Springs St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2007 police brutality” for an eyeful.

I am in the process of documenting numerous instances of violations of civil rights by elected and appointed officials and so called supporters of the progressive movement here in the last couple of years, including the arrest of two peace demonstrators at the recent Colorado State Democratic Convention, and the attempted arrest eight days ago of four people of peace as we (yes, I was among them) were leaving from a brief meeting on a public easement in front of the building that houses Pikes Peak Justice and Peace, an organization with a new chair of the board who asked the police to cite us for trespass.

So yes, we will certainly be considering Al G ore’s excellent proposals. One planned attendee has already stated to me that he considers renewable energy sources vital, and wants to end reliance on coal and new strip and other types of coal mining.

But our emphasis may well turn first in priorities to ways and means of “Undoing the Coup” in what was once a democratic nation, i.e. supporting and cooperating in Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s proposed congressional investigation into the activities/surveillance/infiltration of police and others. We will also be considering various ways and means of insuring that the vote be legitimately counted and recorded, etc.

Hope MoveOn can and will continue its great work and support all the vital “UNDO THE COUP” efforts that are needed so desperately. Thanks many times over for all you do and have done.

-Rita Ague

$6.55 an hour? Oh, whoopee…

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BonusNotice how all the big guys look out after themselves. They got themselves a ‘bailout’ of several tens of billions of dollars over at Fannie Mae’s and Freddie’s houses, and it will be paid to them from much of the work of all those who, today, will get a big boost up to $6.55 an hour! More than that would be socialism they say. Federal Minimum Wage to Increase to $6.55 on July 24

What cons these business men are, because people believe them with their idiotic nonsense justifying their own largess at others expense, too. Their looting of the National Treasury is never called socialism at all. And it’s not. It’s just pure thievery and real socialism is not thievery at all, like what the American business community practices daily. Real socialism is nothing more than helping out the less fortunate in society, instead of helping out the more fortunate in their robberies of the rest of us.

ACLU added to the terrorist watch list

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ACLU calls for probe of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff (an Israeli citizen) over ‘terrorist’ watch list. Chertoff responds that the ACLU has been added to the terrorist watch list…

Hope for liberty, prepare for theocratic dictatorship?

The filthy-rich are just like us, except they don’t pay taxes.

Radical Islamists denouncing terrorism? This is one you’ll never read about in the American Military Industrial Complex controlled “news” media!

Bush’s “appeasement” of Iran continues…

Excerpts from Thomas McCullock’s notes July 17, thomasmc.com.

I want more change in the White House than just skin color!

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Barack Obama is proving himself to be little more than Joe Lieberman in blackface. Oy gevalt. Cowardly Dems in the Senate (Led by Obama the Coward) passed FISA, out of fear that big meanie Bush might say something bad about them if they didn’t. As if he won’t, anyway. Duh! [detail]

As much as I dislike Hillary Clinton, at least she had the decency to vote against it.

John W. McCain didn’t even bother to show up for the vote…

The ACLU has announced it will fight the unconstitutional law in court.

Civil Liberties? WHAT civil liberties??? Bush kills Civil Liberties Board.

Time to put on your jack boots and Seig Hiel! US military to monitor internet to quell dissent.

Standing up for the truth. SC state employee quits rather than lower flag for toxic Senator Jesse Helms.

Ted Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, surprised the Senate by showing up to vote on the Medicaid bill yesterday.

The screwing of America. Food manufactures quietly shrinking product sizes, while keeping same packaging and prices.

Marriage equality. MA Senate to consider repealing law that prevents gays from other states from marrying there.

Phil Graham has a mental slowdown, and calls USA a nation of whiners for caring that the GOP has destroyed the economy. If only we’d just focus on how much better off the filthy-rich are, and forget about everyone else.

Life imitates art. Paradise, CA — subject of the Eagles song The LastResort, and inspiration for the Showtime series Weeds — evacuated for wildfire. “Somebody laid the mountains low, while the town got high.”

Excerpts from Thomas McCullock’s notes July 10, thomasmc.com.