Events

US Torture Protester to Appear in Court
While George Bush remains free after violating the Geneva Conventions with torture, murder and kidnapping, the United States continues to prosecute torture protesters
By Jack & Felice Cohen-Joppa | Censored News

Ft. Huachuca protester Joshua Harris, from Santa Barbara, California, will appear on Friday, April 23 at 9:30 a.m. in U.S. District Court, Tucson, Arizona. He intends to enter a change of plea and expects to be sentenced that day.

Josh was one of five protesters who entered Fort Huachuca (home of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center where interrogators are trained) on November 15, 2009 with a message for military personnel and civilian employees. They carried a statement (see below) opposing the cruel treatment and abuse of detainees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and calling for the civilian oversight of all military interrogation practices. The statement also condemned the used of armed drones in warfare.

All five protesters were given a formal letter barring them from entering the base for a year. Because Josh initially refused to identify himself, instead saying he was there representing a victim of torture, he was also charged with trespass and refusing to provide a truthful name.

GLOBAL NETWORK MEMBERSHIP MEETING

THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF THE ACCLAIMED SERIES WILL FEATURE PANELISTS RON SUSKIND, VALERIE PLAME WILSON, LT. GENERAL RICARDO SANCHEZ, VINCE WARREN, DR. ALLEN KELLER, JEREMY SCAHILL, ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. AND ROSE STYRON

March 23, 2010, New York, NY – Culture Project has announced that “Blueprint for Accountability,” a groundbreaking theater/film/journalism series launched at The Times Center in May 2009, will take center stage at Washington, D.C.’s Newseum on April 22nd at 7:30PM.

From TheaterMania.com

TheatreThree Collaborative has announced a talkback series for its production of Karen Malpede's Prophecy, to play the East Fourth Street Theater, May 27 - June 20, with an opening on June 4. Playwright Malpede will direct the production.

As previously announced, the cast will feature Kathleen Chalfant, André De Shields, George Bartenieff, Najla Said, and Brendan Donaldson.

The drama is both the story of a marriage and the personal legacy of the wars in Iraq and Vietnam and centers on a group of people whose lives are surprisingly intertwined.

Participants in the post-performance talkbacks will include internationally-renowned scholar and political activist Noam Chomsky on June 8; author and activist David Swanson on June 2; journalist and host of GRIT-TV Laura Flanders on June 3, and journalist and former New York Times foreign correspondent Chris Hedges on June 4.

For further information, visit: www.theaterthreecollaborative.org.

Ann Wright, Ret. Colonel and diplomat who served in Somalia, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia; tireless advocate for Palestinians in Gaza, and for military sexual trauma survivors, and Citizen of the Year in Atlanta, 2009...will join us for an afternoon in Tacoma!

Her talk will focus on the costs of wars, and relationships among wars in the Middle East. We’ll discuss what these costs are, in ways that everyone shares concerns: Dwindling jobs, health care and education, globally. And of course, what people are doing and planning in response to economic changes. Community building seems to be on the agenda.

When: 04/24/2010 - 2:00 - 4:00 pm

Where: King's Books, 218 St. Helen's Ave., Tacoma, WA 98402 - (253-272-8801)

Wednesday, April 14

Book Signing 6:00 p.m. at Azar's

Movie at 7:30 p.m. at Naro Cinema

Movie Premier: THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers A high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist, Ellsberg concluded in 1971 that the war was based on decades of lies, and leaked 7,000 pages of top secret documents to The NY Times-a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, Nixon's resignation, and the end of the Vietnam War. A riveting story of how this one man's profound change of heart created a landmark struggle involving America's newspapers, its president and the Supreme Court. Narrated by Ellsberg. (94 mins)

Speaker: Charlottesville and DC-based author and activist David Swanson has just recently conducted a 50-city nationwide book tour promoting "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union". He will draw parallels between the Ellsberg era and current U.S. foreign policy.

A book signing and reception for David Swanson will be held at 6:00 pm at Azar's on Colley Ave prior to the film event.

Join us for a unique & enlightening evening!

Naro Cinema
1507 Colley Ave
Norfolk VA, 23517
757-625-6276

http://narocinema.com

Jill Stein for Governor

Peter White, Independent for Congress website

The regional and national leadership of Progressive Democrats of America will be in Pennsylvania this week for a series of events to support a state improved-Medicare-for-all, single-payer healthcare system.

"The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which recently became law, will not solve the healthcare crisis in this country," said Tim Carpenter, PDA national director. "The Medicare system proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that government can do some things much better than the private sector," Carpenter explained. "Healthcare corporations exist only to deliver profits for their stockholders--they do not actually provide healthcare."

Congressman Bill Delahunt hosts a forum on Afghanistan policy, honoring a commitment he made to Cape Codders for Peace and Justice

THE PUBLIC IS ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND

When: Sunday, April 11, 2010, 3:30 pm, Rally at 2:30 pm
Where: Morse Pond School • 323 Jones Road • Falmouth • Massachusetts

An Intimate Evening w/ Ann Wright!

A special dinner is featured, with a report from Seth Manzel, Executive Director of Coffee Strong.

When: April 23, 2010, 6:30 - 9:00 pm

Where: AFSC, 814 NE 40th St., Seattle, WA 98105-6416. Directions to this location? Please RSVP to mollygibbs3@gmail.com

Details on attached flyer.

Empire, Veterans and the Road Home to Peace

Col. Ann Wright, Michael Parenti, and Marjorie Cohn Join Forces for Vets and Families

VENTURA, CA. - March 17, 2010 - On Saturday, April 17th at 7 PM the California Conference of Veterans and Military Families are welcoming the community to join them in a special event to be held at the beautiful Pierpont Inn located at 550 San Jon Road, Ventura, CA.

The event will feature Dr. Michael Parenti speaking on “Empire vs Veterans, Who Pays and Who Benefits from Global Wars,” Col. Ann Wright speaking on “Sexual Abuse in the Military,” and Marjorie Cohn on “Rules of Disengagement.” Each of the three speakers are internationally recognized and accomplished individuals.

Print postcard: PDF.

"WE THE CORPORATIONS?" Life & Law in the U.S.A. after Citizens United v. FEC

When: Friday, April 16th, 2010
Where: University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison, Wisconsin

On January 21st, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. An avalanche of criticism from grassroots organizations, members of Congress, and the President of the United States followed. Hundreds of thousands of Americans signed motions calling for action to overrule the Court -- including amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

"We the Corporations?" Life & Law in the U.S.A. after Citizens United v. FEC is a one day conference addressing that historic decision, and featuring reactions to it from some of the nation's leading democracy campaigners and experts on the doctrine of corporate constitutional rights.

Hosted by the UW-Madison National Lawyers Guild ~ Sponsored by the Liberty Tree Foundation, Center for Media and Democracy, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign ~ Cosponsored by the A.E. Havens Center for the Study of Social Structure and Social Change, Madison Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, with more to be invited.

Register Now.

Agenda "below the fold;" click "Read more."

By Curt Wechsler, The World Can't Wait, FireJohnYoo.

March 25 10:00 a.m.
Courtroom 1, 3rd Floor
James R. Browning US Courthouse
United States Court of Appeals - 9th Circuit
95 Seventh St, San Francisco

05-50170 United States v. Aguila-Montes De Oca

"Torture Judge" Should be Impeached and Prosecuted

Jay Bybee, the former head of the Office of Legal Counsel, justified and authorized clear acts of torture by the CIA during the Bush Era. Bybee was confirmed as a federal judge to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in March 2003, well before his now infamous torture memos came to light. A lifetime appointment, he sits in a deciding position on the bench when there is clear evidence that his judgment is tainted...

Mar 24 Wednesday noon-1:15pm, Irvine: Protest Torture Lawyer John Yoo War crime charge(s): * Complicity in the commission of a war crime - torture, ill-treatment of detainees. * Drafted legal memos saying President Bush could waive the Geneva Conventions regarding the invasion of Afghanistan by labeling it a failed state and that prisoners seized during that operation would not be covered by the Geneva Convention protections. * Issued other legal memos arguing that the commander in chief was justified in ordering torture during wartime.

"The History of Executive War Power - Libertarian/Conservative Throwdown!" Debate and discussion based on John Yoo's just released book "Crisis and Command" Debate between John Yoo and Bob Barr
11:30am (Registration); 11:45am (Lunch); 12:00-1:15 (Debate between John Yoo and Bob Barr)
The Sports Club LA/OC. 1980 Main Street, Irvine, CA 92614. (949) 975-8400.

by Linda Milazzo

(This article is based on one that will appear in the upcoming May/June 2010 issue of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs: http://www.wrmea.com)

Sunday, March 14, 2010, ushered in two welcome events to Southern California: the inauguration of the headquarters of the bustling Winograd For Congress primary campaign, and an extra hour of daylight to help Marcy Winograd’s swarm of supporters evict Jane Harman, the wealthiest Democrat in Congress, from her eight-term seat in the House.

Photo by Linda Milazzo

SPECIAL EVENT! SINGER/SONGWRITER PEACE ACTIVISTS ANNE FEENEY: MARCH 19, 2010

Anne Feeney sings songs about what she believes in/ PEACE AND JUSTICE FOR ALL! She has said of her music: "It comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable." Come and enjoy this inspiring musician as she introduces her new CD and performs on the Sacred Lands Dolphin Stage, 1700 Park Street North, St. Petersburg, Florida. Opening for Anne: Louise "Goody Haines" and Tom Scadero.

$15.00 for the concert/ Dinner is $8.00. Dinner reservations and advance tickets advised.

Contact Sacred Lands for details and direction 727 374 0354

or Jay Alexander 727 525 8769

Iraq war Coalition Deaths 4,696

Injured 30,000

Iraqi civilian deaths and injured, 1,366,650

Afghanistan coalition Deaths 1,659

"SEVEN YEARS TOO MANY," NEW YORK PEACE GROUPS TO PROCLAIM AS EIGHTH YEAR IN IRAQ BEGINS

On March 20, 2003, the U.S. illegally and immorally invaded Iraq.

To mark the seven years since our occupation began, a compendium of New York peace groups will take to the streets March 19 and 20 and demand that all troops, including those in Afghanistan, be brought home NOW.

DATE: Friday, March 19, 2010
TIME: noon - 3 p.m. (march to the WTC site to begin at 1 P.M.)
PLACE: Chambers St. Recruiting center, 143 Chambers St. & West Broadway

DATE: Saturday, March 20, 2010
TIME: 1 - 2 p.m.
PLACE: Military Recruiting Center, 7th Ave. at 44th St.

Ten anti-war groups, united for the occasion as "The Seven Years Too Many" Coalition, will rally on Friday, March 19, at noon at the Chambers St. Army recruiting center at 143 Chambers & West Broadway, then march to the nearby Marine Corps recruiting office, on to the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and finishing at the Vesey St. PATH entrance at the World Trade Center site for leafletting with signs and banners.

The next day, Saturday, March 20, the protesters will hold a rally at the Times Square Army recruiting center, 44th St. at 7th Ave, from 1 to 2 p.m. A Question & Answer format will be employed with signs showing the human (soldiers, civilians, journalists) and monetary costs of war in response to chanted questions.

Kucinich Press Conference on Health Care Reform

Washington, Mar 16 -

Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Time: 10:00 a.m. ET

Location: Capitol Building H-321

Washington D.C. (March 16, 2010) – Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) will announce his vote on health care reform at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, March 17, in room H-321 of the U.S. Capitol Building.

HEALTHCARE NOT WARFARE VIGILS IN 82 DISTRICTS ON MARCH 17 | Press Release

Labor and advocacy groups organized "brown bag" lunch vigils against war funding in 22 congressional districts in January and 67 in February. Currently 82 are planned for March 17th, with more being added. Organizations participating include: Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), AfterDowningStreet, the Backbone Campaign, Democrats.com, the California Nurses Association / National Nurses Organizing Committee, Healthcare Now, CodePINK, and United for Peace and Justice.

On March 10th, 65 members of Congress voted to end the occupation of Afghanistan. Yet only 14 have publicly committed to voting No on funding the same war. A $33 billion supplemental spending bill for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is expected to be voted on in April or May. 
Brownbaggers are asking members of the House to publicly commit to voting No on any bills that fund wars, and to publicly urge their colleagues and the House leadership to make the same commitment. As lesser steps in the same direction, the Brown Bag Vigils are encouraging congress members to cosponsor HR 2454, calling for an exit strategy from Afghanistan, and HR 3699, prohibiting any increase in the number of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan. Congress members' commitments are tracked at http://defundwar.org.

Vigil participants, who support a shift in resources from warfare to healthcare, are also asking their representatives to join the growing movement calling for "Medicare for All" by demanding passage of the Kucinich amendment facilitating state-level single-payer healthcare and by offering their support to single-payer efforts moving forward in state legislatures, including in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Kimber Heinz of the War Resisters League wrote:

Join us as we lead up to WRL actions at the NPT Review Conference this May!

Join the War Resisters League in NYC April 30-May 3 for four days of creative nonviolent protest and support a call for unilateral U.S. disarmament at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the UN Headquarters.

In 1982, the War Resisters League initiated "Blockade the Bombmakers," organizing mass actions at the Missions to the United Nations of each of the five nuclear powers on the first day of the United Nations Special Session on Disarmament. In total, nearly 1,700 people were arrested in the blockades, which followed a march involving an estimated one million people.

Today, there are nine nuclear powers and the dangers of nuclear proliferation are even more acute than 28 years ago. Despite the White House's pledge to seek a world without nuclear weapons, the 2011 federal budget for nuclear weapons research and development is likely to be more than $7 billion and could (if the Obama administration has its way) reach $8 billion per year by the end of this decade. This steady and growing investment stands in stark contrast to the promising U.S. rhetoric of disarmament.

The 2010 NPT Review Conference represents a key juncture in the work for nuclear disarmament and a vital opportunity to put pressure on the U.S. government and kick-start the anti-nuclear movement. The War Resisters League is organizing a Monday, May 3rd action to deliver a strong message to the United Nations delegates. We are also organizing a WRL contingent and panel discussion for the Disarm Now! international march and alternative conference happening that weekend as WRL joins with thousands of anti-nuclear activists from around the world in resistance to nuclear build-up and global militarism.

Join us to demand complete and unilateral nuclear disarmament and to insist that action for disarmament, not more talking, is needed. We will be meeting in-person and by phone to shape and finalize the action over the next month and will offer nonviolence training on Sunday, May 2nd. To find out more and to sign up or get involved, please email WRL Organizing Coordinator Kimber Heinz at kimber@warresisters.org.

Days before torture memo architect John Yoo speaks at University of Virginia (protest plans), two New York artists are to present a new composition in Charlottesville built around excerpts of poetry written by prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Composer Annea Lockwood and new music baritone Thomas Buckner will perform their latest collaboration, In Our Name, in a concert at The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative on Saturday March 13, 8pm.

In Our Name draws upon poetry by three prisoners, Jumah Al Dossari, Emad Abdullah Hassan and Osama Abu Kabir, whose work first came to prominence through the publication of 2007 anthology, Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak, edited by Marc Falkoff, University of Iowa Press.

Forbidden access to pen or paper, some of the Guantanamo prisoners wrote poetry using toothpaste or by scratching onto styrophone cups with pebbles. The US military has declared that poetry coming from Guantanamo "presents a special risk", and that allegorical imagery might convey coded messages to outside militants. But speaking to the Independent, Falkoff argued that the poems' real potency lies in the "power of words to make people outside realize that these are human beings who have not had their day in court."

Annea Lockwood is a composer and sound artist known for her use of environmental sound and life narratives, from her infamous piano burnings of the 60s and 70s to her recordings of volcanoes, earthquakes and the Hudson and Danube rivers. In 2000 Lockwood was included in the Whitney Museum's major sound art retrospective, I Am Sitting in a Room: Sound Works by American Artists 1950-2000. Her numerous compositions include Jitterbug, commissioned by Merce Cunningham Dance Company for the dance eyeSpace.

Thomas Buckner, a former student of legendary Metropolitan Opera baritone Martial Singher, and trained in the classical tradition, has for the last forty years dedicated himself to the world of new and improvised music. Along the way, Buckner has performed with many of the world's top musicians, including Roscoe Mitchell, Phill Niblock, Gerald Oshita, Borah Bergman, Wu Man and Earl Howard. More than 70 composers have created works for him, including Robert Ashley, Morton Subotnick, Annea Lockwood and Alvin Lucier.

To request more information or arrange interviews, please contact Raymond Beegle at booking@thomasbuckner.com.

SATURDAY, MARCH 20th
Rally 11 AM
Music by -- HAYMARKET SQUARES

Meet - Corner of Central & Roosevelt at the
“Release the Fear”(melted weapons sculpture)
Park in garage behind Fair Trade Café, 1020 N. 1st Ave.
or TAKE THE LIGHT RAIL
March to Teach-in with signs & banners!

Teach-in - 12 Noon - 2 PM
at A. E. England Auditorium, 424 N. Central,
The first building north of Main Transit Terminal (north of Polk Street -west side of Central)
across from the Walter Cronkite School of Communication.
Parking at Central and Filmore - $4.00 All Day

AFGHANISTAN Teach-In Panel:

Click "Read more" for flyer and to order tickets.

Bush League Justice in Judge Manfred Delong's Calgary Court

Anthony J. Hall, Professor of Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge, wrote today, March 10th:

Judge Manfred Delong shut down the trial of Splitting The Sky versus George W. Bush on the second day of proceedings. The court denied STS his frequently emphasized request to have two witnesses give evidence in his defense. Those witnesses were myself and Cynthia McKinney. The trial came to an end just as Ms. McKinney arrived in Calgary from London. The US-based oil conglomerates active throughout Alberta form the core business constituency of the Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who represents a Calgary riding in Parliament.

The court accepted two documents as evidence for the defense. On is Gail Davidson's widely disseminated legal opinion for Lawyer's Against the War. STS and I studied this document closely in the days leading up to my friend being arrested for his arrest attempt. LAW's legal opinion highlighted some of the evidence, statutes and treaties to brand Bush as a "credibly accused war criminal" that should not be allowed into Canada. Prior to Bush's touching down in Calgary to address an audience of oil executives, Davidson's documemtation was distributed widely to officials of the Harper government and Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The other exhibit for the defense was my own paper that I originally presented at an invited academic venue at the University of Winnipeg. It has been published under a variety of titles on the Internet, including at Global Research.ca, 911 Blogger.com, 9/11 Truth.org and Voltairenet in both French and English. My initial title for it is "Bush League Justice: Should George W. Bush Be Arrested in Calgary Alberta and Tried for International Crimes."

Delong will deliver his ruling on June 7. The case for the prosecution both revealed and obscured much about the new police strategies being employed throughout North America to monitor, manage, divide and spin doctor demonstrators seeking to call attention to their political dissent. In my opinion the Crown's chief agent of prosecution, Tracy Davis, acted more as an advocate and defender of the police rather than as a representative of the Canadian people through Her Majesty as she is required to do according the constitutional tradition of the British Commonwealth.