Thursday, August 21, 2008

THIS JUST IN! HE JUST CAN'T CONNECT!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
 
TODAY IN MARTINSVILLE, VA., THEY UNVEILED THE LATEST BORG MAKEOVER FOR SENATOR 'SWEETIE' BARACK OBAMA.  IN A WOODEN DELIVERY, THE HIGHLY PROGRAMMED BARACK TRIED TO REASSURE AVERAGE AMERICANS THAT HE KNEW WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE THEM.  IT DID NOT GO OVER WELL.
 
NOR WOULD IT WHEN HIS VANITY INSISTED HE PLAY KNOW-IT-ALL.
 
 
AS TEAM BAMBI ATTEMPTED TO FIGURE OUT WHY THE SPEECH FLOPPED -- BARACK'S MOST SERIOUS ATTEMPT TO PROVE HE IS LIKE THE AVERAGE AMERICAN -- IT WAS POINTED OUT THAT BILL CLINTON FELT YOUR PAIN, HE DIDN'T TRY TO DIAGNOSIS IT.
 
SAID ONE SPECTATOR, "WHY WAS HE SPEAKING DOWN TO ME?  I DON'T TRUST HIM.  HE'S TOO SNOOTY AND STUCK UP.  HE SEEMS TO THINK HE'S DOING US A FAVOR BY MAKING TIME TO ASK FOR OUR VOTES."
 
 
Starting with war resistance. US war resister Tim Richard could not take part in the illegal war in Iraq for legal and ethical reasons so he went to Canada.  At the London War Resisters Support Campaign, he notes J.M. Branum's response to the ridiculous Rondi Adams. James Branum, a member of the National Lawyers Guild and co-chair of their Military Law Task Force, is representing US war resister Robin Long expected to face a court-martial shortly after being extradited from Canada last month. 
 
Online: http://couragetoresist.org/robinlong        
By mail: Make checks out to "Courage to Resist / IHC" and note "Robin Long" in the memo field. Mail to:   
Courage to Resist      
484 Lake Park Ave #41    
Oakland CA 94610 
Courage to Resist is committed to covering Robin's legal and related defense expenses. Thank you for helping make that possible.     
Also: You are also welcome to contribute directly to Robin's legal expenses via his civilian lawyer James Branum. Visit girightslawyer.com, select "Pay Online via PayPal" (lower left), and in the comments field note "Robin Long". Note that this type of donation is not tax-deductible.    

2. Send letters of support to Robin     

Robin Long, CJC       
2739 East Las Vegas           
Colorado Springs, CO 80906     
 
Robin's pre-trial confinement has been outsourced by Fort Carson  military authorities to the local county jail.        
Robin is allowed to receive hand-written or typed letters only. Do NOT include postage stamps, drawings, stickers, copied photos or print articles. Robin cannot receive packages of any type (with the book exception as described below).       

3. Send Robin a money order for commissary items         

Anything Robin gets (postage stamps, toothbrush, shirts, paper, snacks, supplements, etc.) must be ordered through the commissary. Each inmate has an account to which friends may make deposits. To do so, a money order in U.S. funds must be sent to the address above made out to "Robin Long, EPSO". The sender's name must be written on the money order.      

4. Send Robin a book          

Robin is allowed to receive books which are ordered online and sent directly to him at the county jail from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. These two companies know the procedure to follow for delivering books for inmates.
 
Robin Long was extradited.  It was done under the cloak of deportation because Judge Anne Mactavish knew that if she openly instituted extradition proceedings, there would be higher checks on her actions which could have prevented Robin from being forced out of Canada.  It is not a minor point and it's one that's all the important as US war resister Jeremy Hinzman has been informed he has until September 23rd to leave Canada.  In Robin's case, Mactavish was willing to ignore the law as well as guidelines covering refugees and immigrants (most obvious in her decision to extradite Robin and break up a family -- Robin is the father of a Canadian child) and willing to oversee the handover of Robin Long to US authorities (that's what makes it extradition and not deportation).  Hopefully, Jeremy's expulsion from Canada will be stopped.  But people need to pay attention to what happens if it is not.  Robin was locked away for weeks and kept from contact with those who could have advised and offered support.  He went from a Canadian jail to being handed over to US authorities.  Judge Mactavish argued that Robin had to be imprisoned because he was a "flight risk."  A "flight risk"?  If someone you are debating expelling is a "flight risk," you don't lock them away.  You hope they decide to leave on their own to avoid your government paying the costs of a hearing.  Mactavish got a way with a lot.  If Jeremy is expelled, all eyes should be watching to ensure that laws are not broken.  Jeremy is being highly pro-active and has already taped a video, which you can find at the  War Resisters Support Campaign, where he speaks directly to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:
 
Jeremy Hinzman: Hello, Mr. Harper.  This is my family Nga, Liam and Meghan.  We've been in Canada for the last four and a 1/2 years.  I was a specialist in the 82nd Air borne division of the United States Army and served honorably in Afghanistan.  In 2004, my family and I came to Canada because we would not participate in the Iraqi War, a war which Canada also refused to participate in because it was condemned by the international community.  One of your predecessors, Pierre Trudeau, once said that Canada should be have from militarism and we took him at this word.  On June 3, 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion saying that United States war resisters should be able to remain in Canada.  We're asking you to abide by this motion and allow us to stay in Canada.  Thank you.
 
Title Card: On September 23rd, the Harper government plans to deport the Hinzman family back to the United States.
 
Title Card: Hinzman faces a court martial and up to 5 years in military prison for opposing the Iraq war and coming to Canada.
 
Title Card: War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada): www.resisters.ca
 
 
Courage to Resist alerts, "Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00 pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action (September 13th) where
"[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take place in cities and towns all across Canada."
 
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Daniel Baker, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
 
[. . .]
 
Turning to the US presidential race.  Cynthia McKinney, Green Party presidential nominee, continues her campaign stops in Tennessee.  Tomorrow she starts the day in Dickson and moves on to Nashville where she will hold a press converence at Legislative Plaza (11:00 a.m., open to the public) and then  and she has upcoming appearances this week (tomorrow and Thursday) followed by a public Q&A.
 
Indpendent presidential candidate Ralph Nader continues his campaign for ballot access.  Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez' independent presidential bid has set the goal of appearing on 45 states' ballots and Ryan J. Foley (AP) reports that the Nader campaign in Wisconsin is 100 signatures away from the required number of signatures to gain access to the state's ballot and that they expect to more than exceed the required number by the September 2nd deadline.  In other news, Team Nader notes:
 
As late as yesterday, we didn't think we had a chance.
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Ralph will be joined by his running mate Matt Gonzalez.
And -- breaking news -- a star studded line-up will join Ralph and Matt in a call to open up the Presidential debates.
Featuring -- Val Kilmer, Cindy Sheehan and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, Jello Biafra, Nellie McKay, and Ike Reilly.
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Donate $10 now -- or whatever you can afford -- and send a student to raise the banner in Denver -- Open the Presidential Debates, More Voices, More Choices.

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