Web / Press / Offsite Media Updates: April 18th - Apr 25th

by johnx Sun Apr 18, 2004 00:27

"Songs for Mahmud" - new David Rovics CD, freely stream or download online.

by . Sun Apr 18, 2004 19:19

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=45&ItemID=5354

by Anthony Mon Apr 19, 2004 03:09

One year ago demonstrators rallied and picketed peacefully at the docks of the Port of Oakland in opposition to the war machine intent on pressing ahead with the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The protestors were demonstrating outside the premises of two companies who were profiteering from the war on Iraq from shipping military cargo and other activities. The picket was succesful in persuading the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) to send many of its dock-workers home for the day.

However the Oakland police saw things seomewhat differently. They decided to use "less-lethal" weapons such as tear gas and other weapons such as concussion grenades, beanbags, and wooden and rubber bullets to attack the demonstrators. This seemed to be the standard response from US police when dealing with the wave of antiwar demonstrations that were ocurringin the US at the time. After all the wooden bullets, metal shot-filled beanbags, and concussion grenades were fired, over 35 people - including 9 longshore workers - had been arrested, with many sustaining nasty injuries. Nevertheless, the docks stayed shut for most of the day due to anti-war sentiment from thelongshoremen combined with disgust at the police brutality.

On Wed April 7th a year later, Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW), People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO), and community and ILWU members returned to the docks to "demand that the U.S. government respect human rights from Oakland to Iraq and that SSA halt its profiteering from the illegal occupation of Iraq."

by jaz Mon Apr 19, 2004 10:49

14 days before WA29 (WEF/Mayday Warsaw, 28-30 Apr, 1 May), the "new Berlin wall" of fortress Europe has been used to block a German activist because of his political opinions

by Verity Spark Mon Apr 19, 2004 12:00

War Crimes Prosecution re USUK WMD via Shannon
"How do you propose to defend yourself in the ICC prosecution for your part in the war crimes of allowing US WMD, DU, cluster bombs and other military materiel used against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Iraq to pass through Shannon airport ?"
You can put your questions to Bertie Ahern on the BBC global phone-in programme Talking Point on Wednesday 21 April. According to Trident Ploughshares , "It was the opinion of the majority of the lawyers concerned with International Law, that the War on Iraq was illegal."

by redjade Mon Apr 19, 2004 14:19

the 2005 defense budget has, tucked away in various unlit corners, weapon systems which go beyond the mere protection of space assets. It is becoming clear that the United States intends to fund research and development for programs which, in the words of Air Force Space Command Master Plan for 2006, could eventually allow it to fight war "in, from, and through space."

[.....]

The problem here is not the numbers themselves - it is waht they represent. These funds indicate that - public comments to the contrary - the United States is gearing up for putting weapons in space. If the U.S. military isn't forced to justify this titanic shift in its planning, then a few years down the road we will wake up to discover that the decision to weaponize space has been made. Americans' opportunity to insist on accountability will have come and gone.

info and commentary at
http://www.motherjones.com/news/blog/2004/04/MB_2004_15.html#11

Full article (above) at
http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2175&from_page=../index.cfm

by redjade Mon Apr 19, 2004 14:49

When the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001, among the thousands killed was the one man who may have known more about Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda than any other person in America: John O'Neill.

The former head of the FBI's flagship antiterrorism unit in New York City, O'Neill had investigated the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa and the USS Cole in Yemen. For six years, he led the fight to track down and prosecute Al Qaeda operatives throughout the world. But his flamboyant, James Bond style and obsession with Osama bin Laden made him a controversial figure inside the buttoned-down world of the FBI. Just two weeks before Sept. 11, O'Neill left the bureau for a job in the private sector -- as head of security at the World Trade Center. He died there after rushing back into the burning towers to aid in the rescue efforts.

Online Videos
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/view/

Full Web Page and Info....

by Phuq Hedd Mon Apr 19, 2004 20:22

Genetic analysis suggests that the destruction of pine forests in Italy may have been caused by a fungus that was inadvertently imported by US troops during WW2. Wonder what they'll bring through Shannon?

by hmmvvvvv Mon Apr 19, 2004 20:31

It seems that some American patriots are monitoring our press for examples of Anti-Americanism

by zapata Mon Apr 19, 2004 21:26

download PDF file:

by george tenet - district of Colombia Tue Apr 20, 2004 17:15

you won't get far without it.
can you dig for the truth?
goodbye ruby tuesday.

by difficult to get round to showing them all. - V for victory & MJ12 Wed Apr 21, 2004 13:29 "sol 3"

this man just told the truth.
He has now walked from his dark valley and raised as is customary two fingers up and three fingers down.
V for victory.
Thank you my darling sephard.
frigging for world peace.
Also thanks for the japanese and canadians and british out of the Arabic zone.

So whilst you consider how to pay the rent, you will start releasing all those prisoners.
We made it clear.
as clear as you couldn't rationalise.
BASTA now.

by redjade Wed Apr 21, 2004 17:40

IRAQ
The $700 Million Question

Desperate to tamp down outrage from Congress, the White House and its allies yesterday spun out various responses to Bob Woodward's allegation that the administration secretly took $700 million from the hunt for al Qaeda in Afghanistan and diverted it into Iraq war planning in 2002. Yet no one provided any proof that Woodward's charges were inaccurate. As a new American Progress backgrounder (http://www.americanprogress.org/site/lookup.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=46962) shows, if Woodward's charges are true, the administration's actions not only raise constitutional questions, they also raise statutory questions; federal law required the president to notify Congress before moving any money. While the administration sent two documents to Congress outlining some spending, both the 8/9/02 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/erfreports/erf4_2002.pdf) and 10/17/02 White House notifications in question said nothing about Iraq, instead only mentioning deliberately vague things lik!
e " increased situational awareness (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/erfreports/erf4_2002.pdf) " and " increased worldwide posture (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/erfreports/erf6_2002.pdf) ."

by R. Isible Wed Apr 21, 2004 23:40

Counterpunch, Bill Christison:

"The following truths should be branded into the brain of every U.S. elected or appointed official possessing any influence over future U.S. foreign and military policies: a majority of the world's people believe that the chief culprit in the world today--that is, the chief pursuer of unjust, aggressive foreign and military policies--is the United states itself, and particularly the Bush administration. Beyond the very near future (no more than one or two years from now), this situation will almost certainly make the present U.S. position in the world untenable."

by weekly wor Thu Apr 22, 2004 00:10

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2004/04/110846.shtml

by vblog Fri Apr 23, 2004 02:11

.