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Recent
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July
29, 2003
Ray
McGovern
Cheney Chicanery
Website
of the Day
Julie Hilden Caught on Tape
July
26 / 28, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
NYT's Screws Up Again; Uday and
Qusay Deaths Bad for Bush; Gen. Hitchens at the Front
Gary
Leupp
Faith-Based Intelligence
Saul Landau
A Report from Syria
Stan
Goff
Bring 'Em On Home, Now!
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Book Cooking at Boeing
Andrew
Cockburn
The Sons Are Dead; Now the Blood Feud
Begins
Jason Leopold
CIA Points the Finger at the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans
Robert
Fisk
The Power of Death
Joanne
Mariner
Monsieur Moussaoui
Standard
Schaefer
Joblessness and the Invisible Hand
M. Shahid
Alam
The Global Economy Since 1800: a Short History
Harry
Browne
Northern Ireland: the Other Faltering Peace Process
Fidel Castro
Moncada, 50 Years Later
Lula
Democracy Requires Social Justice
Edward
S. Herman
Refuting Brad DeLong's Smear Job on Noam Chomsky
Ron Jacobs
Guided by a Great Feeling of Love: a Review of Gordon's The Company
You Keep
Julie
Hilden
A Photographer, an Offer and Cameron Diaz's Topless Photos
Adam Engel
Man Talk
Poets'
Basement
Keeney, Witherup, Short, Nimba, Guthrie and Albert
July
25, 2003
Francis
A. Boyle
Impeaching Bush
David
Krieger
15 Questions
Harvey
Wasserman
Pat Robertson's Supreme Fatwah
Steve Dunifer
Seize the Airwaves!
Dan
Bacher
Federal Judge Throws Out Bush Salmon Plan for Klamath River
Kurt Nimmo
Bread, Circuses, Uday and Qusay
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Weblog
Website
of the Day
Stop the Wall!
July
24, 2003
Elaine
Cassel
Ashcroft Loses...Again
Robert
Fisk
The Ugly Story of Camp Cropper: The
US Torture Camp in Iraq
David
Lindorff
Dumb and Dumber in Iraq
Christopher
Brauchli
Ashcroft Demands Death Penalty in
Puerto Rico
David
Vest
Dylan in Bend
Tom Turnipseed
Killing Saddam & His Family Won't Stop Killing of US Troops
Douglas
Valentine
A Nation of Assassins
Stew Albert
Contract Killing
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Weblog
Website
of the Day
Report on Palestinian Child Prisoners
July
23, 2003
Uri
Avnery
Caesar's Favor
David
Lindorff
Lynne Stewart's Big Win: Ashcroft
Rebuked
Mano
Singham
Iraq's Missing WMD Scientists
Steve
Perry
Better Late Than Never: the Press, the Dems, and Bush's Lies
John Stanton
Avoiding Plato's Republic in America: Is Anarchy the Only Hope?
Patrick
Bond
Bush and South Africa: a Petro-Military-Commerce Mission
Harry Browne
A Victory for a Disarming Irishwoman
Paul
Beaulieu
When the WTO Comes to Montreal
Robert
Fisk
The Sons are Dead, But the Resistance
Will Grow
William
Witherup
Georgie Porgie
Website
of the Day
Lieberman & Falwell:
True Love at Last
July
22, 2003
Diane
Christian
Bad Guy / Good Guy: War Forces;
Peace Frees
Jeremy
Brecher
Solidarity and Student Protests in Iran
Steve
Kretzmann
and Jim Vallette
Plugging Iraq into Globalization
Sam
Smith
Greening the Golden Triangle
James
Plummer
Smile, You're on Federal Camera
Lucretia
Stewart
This Day Shall Not Define My Life:
January 18, 2003
Website
of the Day
Iraq Coalition Casualties
July
21, 2003
Edward
Said
Imperial Arrogance and the Vile Stereotyping
of Arabs
Ron
Jacobs
Shut Up and Shoot
Allan J.
Lichtman
Why is George Bush President?
Elaine
Cassel
How's the Occupation Going? Ask the People of Iraq
Christopher
Brauchli
History Recapitulates: Guantanamo and the Japanese Internment
Camps
Bruce
Jackson
Third and Arizona, Santa Monica
Website
of the Day
John Dean: Taking Apart Bush's State of the Union Speech, Claim
by Claim
July
19 / 20, 2003
Arthur
Mitzman
Will the Pax Americana be More Sustainable
Than the Dot.com Bubble?
Julian
Bond
We Shall be Heard
Cynthia
McKinney
Bush's Racial Politics at Home and Abroad
Mel
Goodman
What is to be Done with the CIA?
Jason Leopold
Tenet Blames Wolfowitz
Mickey
Z.
History Forgave Churchill
Doug Giebel
Impeachment as the Message
Jon
Brown
Whipping the Post
Mano Singham
Cheney's Oil Maps
Steven
Sherman
Nickle, Dimed and Slimed at UNC
Robin Philpot
Liberia: History Doesn't Repeat Itself, It Stutters
Khaldoun
Khelil
Capturing Friedman
Jeffrey
St. Clair
You Must Leave Home, Again: Gilad Atzmon's A Guide to the Perplexed
Lenni
Brenner
Sitting in with Mingus
Vanessa
Jones
Three Dog Night
Adam
Engel
Video Judas Video
Poets'
Basement
Foley, Smith and Curtis
Website
of the Weekend
Illegal Art
July
18, 2003
David
Vest
Drowning in Deep Doo-Doo
Rahul
Mahajan
Deceit Runs Deep
John Chuckman
Enron-style Management in a Dangerous World
Harold
A. Gould
The Bush-Musharraf Conclave
Alvaro
Angarita
In the Eye of the Storm: Colombia's War on Journalists
David
Grenier
Sovereignty and Solidarity in Indian Country...Rhode Island
Dave Lindorff
Bush and Hitler: a Response to the Wall Street Journal
Website
of the Day
Murder of a Whistleblower? Timeline in David Kelly Affair
Hot Stories
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Elaine
Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
Michel
Guerrin
Embedded Photographer Says: "I
Saw Marines Kill Civilians"
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click Here
for More Stories.
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July
29, 2003
Sacramento's
War on Free Speech
Protecting
Biotech; Gagging Activists
By DAN BACHER
The Sacramento City Council appears to be doing
John Ashcroft's dirty work by passing two unconstitutional ordinances,
2003-026 and 2003-028, that suppress freedom of speech. The Council
unanimously voted for the secretive resolutions on June 17, just
prior to the USDA Conference on Biotech and Agriculture on June
23 to 25.
Supposedly fearing "another Seattle,"
the Council set chilling restrictions on the size and construction
of protest signs. Ordinance 2003-026 stated, "It shall be
unlawful for any person to carry or possess any sign, poster,
plaque or notice" unless it "is constructed solely
of a cloth, paper or cardboard material no greater than one-quarter
inch in thickness."
The ordinance also prohibited the carrying
or possession of "any length of lumber, wood or wood lath
unless it is one-fourth inch or less in thickness and two inches
or less in width or if not generally rectangular in shape, such
object shall not exceed three-quarters inch in its thickest dimension."
It specified that "both ends of the length of lumber, wood
or wood lath shall be blunt and shall not be pointed."
The same ordinance outlawed possession
of glass bottles, jars or containers (making it illegal to drink
a bottle of mineral water!) It also outlawed the carrying and
possession of golf balls, ball bearings and marbles.
Furthermore the odious ordinance deemed
unlawful "for any person to carry, possess or wear any gas
mask or similar device to filter all air breathed and that would
protect the respiratory tract and face against irritating, noxious
or poisonous gases."
Although the organizers of the protest
had been meeting with the Police Department for months about
the protest plans and had gone out of their way to get the necessary
permits, they were never informed of the ordinance being on the
city council agenda. And the agenda item was not put onto the
agenda until the last possible minute to avoid public scrutiny.
The ordinance was moved by Council Member
Sheedy and seconded by Lauren Hammond. The Council members, including
Steve Cohn, Hammond, Dave Jones, Bonnie Pannell, Sandy Sheedy,
Ray Tretheway, Jimmy Yee and Mayor Heather Fargo, voted for the
ordinance. Councilman Robbie Waters wasn't present.
The repressive ordinance was buttressed
by an unprecedented presence of thousands of "Robo-cop"
attired police from the city, CHP, state police and other jurisdictions.
A total of 77 people were arrested, 3 in Davis and rest in Sacramento,
during the agricultural ministerial that brought thousands of
people from California and internationally to protest the promotion
of genetically engineered food.
Apparently only 6 of those have been
charged by the District Attorney, including three under the ordinance,
according to Amy Sprowles, who worked on the legal team during
the mobilization. The legal team lawyers are working to substantiate
that claim.
In fact, two of those arrested were local
pranksters holding "Save naboo!' and "Stop the Imperial
Senate!" signs to make fun of the protesters. However, the
joke backfired on them when they were arrested for violating
the draconian protest sign regulations under the provisions of
the unpublicized ordinance.
The Sacramento Police Department said
in a press release on June 22 that said, "Prior to the march,
officers confiscated a bag in front of the Capitol which contained
cans of spray paint and several dangerous weapons. The items
included: light bulbs filled with flammable liquid, a wrist rocket,
sharpened sticks, and wooden shields."
The press release was accompanied with
photos, including one captioned, "Anarchist literature and
light bulbs filled with flammable liquid" and another captioned,
"Sling portion of the wrist rocket and sharpened sticks."
Reports from sources within the Department
indicate that the mobilization was successfully infiltrated by
police agents- and that agent provocateurs may have been employed.
Local activists are speculating that these supposed "weapons"
may have been part of COINTELPRO-like set up.
Interestingly enough, the legal team
has received no information on anybody being charged with possession
of these "weapons" - except for one individual who
was arrested for wearing a "shield."
Outraged about the large number of arrests
during the bio-tech conference, many under the controversial
ordinance, over 30 members of the Sacramento Coalition for Sustainable
Agriculture and supporting groups, including the Gray Panthers,
Peace Action and Veterans for Peace, held a press conference
before the July 17th City Council Meeting. During the public
comment of the council meeting, they passionately blasted the
ordinance and the massive, almost comical police presence during
the public comment section of the meeting.
Heidi McLean, spokesperson for the Coalition,
presented the coalition's list of demands during the press conference
and council meeting: o The Council must rescind the Biotech Ordinances
o The City must drop all charges against those arrested in relation
to the Biotech Conference. o An independent evaluation of the
use of city resources and law enforcement in relation to the
ministerial must be performed.
Julia Harumi Mass of the ACLU reported
that she had received many disturbing reports, include problems
that mobilization organizers had with getting access to parks
and excessive fee requirements in the weeks before the mobilization.
In response to a comment by Mayor Heather
Fargo (in response to my testimony) that the ordinance wasn't
secretive and was voted for unanimously in a council meeting,
Mass noted that the process appeared designed to avoid public
scrutiny.
"The agenda item was not on the
agenda on Wednesday, but was typed in Saturday," she explained.
"And the people engaged in the mobilization activities were
not informed of it before or after the council meeting. As a
result, many people with no intent of civil disobedience were
arrested."
She said the "overbroad" ordinance
was a "constitutional loss," and supported SCSA's
call for an independent review of police misconduct during the
conference and a repeal of the ordinance.
Other participants in the mobilization
said the huge police presence deterred many members of the public
from coming to the event to exercise their right to freedom of
speech out of fear. Although the police were prepared for 10,000
demonstrators, only several thousand showed up for the rally
and march and other actions.
"I thought it was the right of everybody
to show opposition to the city's closing of our sustainable community
garden," said Rita Gonzalez, a member of the Mandella Community
Garden Board who was arrested during the ministerial. "But
I chose to keep my seven year old daughter at home for her own
safety during the ministerial because of the heavy police presence."
She was also very disturbed that the
horse stables for thousands of cops were put in Cesar Chavez
Park, showing immense disrespect to "a park dedicated to
a man who fought industrial agriculture." "It's becoming
more and more illegal to do what I consider my patriotic duty
to do - to bring to light what our policy makers are doing. I'm
saddened by the fact that the city doesn't help things out, but
makes things worse," she stated.
Dr. David Walker blasted the city for
the squandering of over $1,000,000 in tax dollars for an overwhelming
- and unneeded - police presence. He also criticized the city
council for providing subsidized rent to the conference (50 percent),
even though there was a sum loss of revenue to downtown businesses
because of the heavy police presence.
"The form of training the police
underwent the weeks before the conference was highly inappropriate,"
said Walker. "It created a paramilitary atmosphere of fear
and confrontation." Bill Duran of the Grey Panthers said
the police presence on the streets amounted to "terrorism"
against the populace.
"The Robo Guys arrested people even
though they did everything they were instructed to do by the
police," said Duran. "One guy was stopped because he
had a bandanna, while another was stopped for having goggles,
although he had no idea it was illegal."
Local activist Cory Fulton said he was
"saddened and frustrated by the police conduct during the
expo. It was reminiscent of a fascist state. The people who were
police liaisons were not told about the ordinance, creating a
breech of trust with the community. There were many programs
that the $1,000,000 could have been spent on - instead of pepper
balls and tazers - and it discouraged public attendance."
George McAdow, a teacher in the Sacramento
Unified School District who attended the demonstration on June
23, said that "Sacramento looked like a police state."
"Some of my students participated
in the rally and march," he explained. "The City of
Sacramento taught them a message loud and clear - that it was
alright in Sacramento to end our civil liberties."
Heidi McLean asked the council to put
the group's demands on the agenda for the next meeting of the
city Council. "We will present a detailed report of police
misconduct," she said. "We on the police liason committee
met with the police chief prior to the passing of the ordinance.
We never got a phone call about the ordinance - this creates
no trust in the process."
Bob Thomas, city manager, responded to
the activists' comments by saying the city would be release its
report on the conference "4 to 6 weeks" after the date
of the council meeting.
"Our goal during the ministerial
was to (1) protect first amendment rights and (2) make sure that
no violence, property damage or personal injuries took place,"
he stated. "There were activities of a violent nature and
material to promote violence during the protests."
"We were pleased with the conduct
of the police because they protected human rights," he added.
"There was no property damage, in comparison to Seattle
where there was $3 million damage. The loss of revenue was minimal,
whereas in Seattle is was $17 million."
He contended, "A few wrecked it
for the 90 percent who were peaceful. We will present to you
the facts and how we need to plan for future events."
However, many protesters thought the
comparison to Seattle in 1999 and Sacramento, a specific agricultural
expo in contrast with a WTO meeting, was absurd. Several thousand
came to the demonstrations in Sacramento, in comparison to the
50,000 people that went to the WTO meeting in Seattle.
Council Member Lauren Hammond asked the
City Manager to give early notice regarding the release of the
staff report on the ministerial to the coalition.
The bottom line? None of the city council
members could successfully explain why none of the organizers
- nor the public - were informed about a ridiculous, secretive
ordinance that thwarted freedom of speech and expression. At
press time, this draconian ordinance remained on the books.
(Sacramento city residents are urged
to call, email and write their City Council representative and
the Mayor to express their support of the three demands made
by SCSA. Go to http://www.sacto.org/council/map.htm
to find council members' contact information).
Dan Bacher
can be reached at: danielbacher@hotmail.com
Weekend Edition Features for July 19 / 20, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
NYT's Screws Up Again; Uday and
Qusay Deaths Bad for Bush; Gen. Hitchens at the Front
Gary
Leupp
Faith-Based Intelligence
Saul Landau
A Report from Syria
Stan
Goff
Bring 'Em On Home, Now!
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Book Cooking at Boeing
Andrew
Cockburn
The Sons Are Dead; Now the Blood Feud
Begins
Jason Leopold
CIA Points the Finger at the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans
Robert
Fisk
The Power of Death
Joanne
Mariner
Monsieur Moussaoui
Standard
Schaefer
Joblessness and the Invisible Hand
M. Shahid
Alam
The Global Economy Since 1800: a Short History
Harry
Browne
Northern Ireland: the Other Faltering Peace Process
Fidel Castro
Moncada, 50 Years Later
Lula
Democracy Requires Social Justice
Edward
S. Herman
Refuting Brad DeLong's Smear Job on Noam Chomsky
Ron Jacobs
Guided by a Great Feeling of Love: a Review of Gordon's The Company
You Keep
Julie
Hilden
A Photographer, an Offer and Cameron Diaz's Topless Photos
Adam Engel
Man Talk
Poets'
Basement
Keeney, Witherup, Short, Nimba, Guthrie and Albert
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