Sunday, June 30, 2013

2013-06-29 "Six arrests during killer drone protest at CIA"

by "National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance" [www.PopularResistance.org], posted at [http://www.nukeresister.org/2013/06/29/activists-arrested-at-cia-protesting-killer-drones]:
Photo by Ted Majdosz

Fifty people protested killer drones at the main gate of the CIA on Saturday, June 29, and six individuals were arrested. The action was organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR], a group that has been active in challenging U.S. invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries, abolishing torture, closing Guantanamo, and bringing an end to drone warfare.
Members of NCNR previously sent a letter to CIA Director John Brennan requesting a meeting to discuss ending the drone program, and have received no response. Because the group is concerned about continuing deaths from drone strikes, they decided they must act, and they must personally go to the CIA and ask for a meeting. They were joined by Cindy Sheehan, Brian Terrell, and other activists from Code Pink, World Can’t Wait, Veterans for Peace, Answer, and many individuals affiliated with other groups to protest the illegal and immoral CIA killer drone program. Sheehan is the mother of Casey who was killed in 2004 in Iraq. Terrell was recently released from federal prison after serving a 6-month term for a peaceful protest against drones at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
The group walked up to the gates of the CIA with a copy of the letter they had sent to Brennan. When they were denied a meeting, six individuals crossed onto the base. After announcing a mock drone strike, five people lay down on the ground and were covered with pictures of drone victims. The sixth person keened and wailed over the bodies. After 20 minutes, the group rose up and began to walk further onto the base carrying pictures of drone victims. They were arrested, and cited and released on site.
Somewhere around 3500-4500 people have been killed by drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and other places around the globe with no due process. According to a study from Stanford and NYU only 2% of those killed are high-level targets. Over 200 children have been killed in Pakistan alone. According to Malachy Kilbride, NCNR, “These illegal drone strikes are not making people in the U.S. any safer and will only perpetuate the cycle of violence.”
NCNR citizen activists believe they have the right and a Nuremberg responsibility to highlight perceived illegal government operations. Moreover, the Nuremberg trials pointed out that citizens must act to prevent their government from further illegal activities. Ellen Barfield, Vets for Peace, commented on the arrests stating, “Because our government seems incapable of restricting drone weapons, these brave citizens are practicing their Nuremberg responsibilities.”
Those arrested were Joy First, Mt. Horeb, WI; Malachy Kilbride, Arlington, VA; Max Obuszewski, Baltimore, MD; Phil Runkel, Milwaukee, WI; Cindy Sheehan, Vacaville, CA; and Janice Sevre-Duszynska, Lexington, KY.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

War Tax Resistance!

Northern California War Tax Resistance [nowartax.org]
War Tax Resistance Publications [www.nwtrcc.org/publications.php]


2013-05-31 "Tax resistance continues to be a controversial stance, which many are afraid to seriously consider"
end-of-the-month message by Chris from the Chico Peace & Justice Center [526 Broadway, Chico, CA 95928] [newsletter@chico-peace.org]:
Dear Friends,
I was moved and admittedly surprised by the number of responses that came in after we sent around my 2013 tax day letter to the IRS.  It was heartening to see that open war tax resistance struck a chord with so many CPJC friends and supporters. 
Tax resistance continues to be a controversial stance, which many are afraid to seriously consider.  Some would like to resist war taxes but are baffled at how to go about it.  Wherever you fall on the war tax resistance spectrum I encourage you to come to the Center to check out two new resources - if you haven't already.  The first is the inaugural issue of CPJC's Chico Viewspaper, which features six powerful and insightful commentaries on the conundrum of U.S. taxation.  The second is a series of 7 pamphlets from the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, which describes the meaning, purpose, and how-to of war tax resistance.
My own ongoing correspondence with the IRS continued this very day with the following letter.  I am unaware if any other war tax resisters feel led to this particular step, but it has become an integral part of my own resistance practice.  Curious what you'll think...
Brick by brick, [signed] Chris
---
May 31, 2013
Department of the Treasury
 Internal Revenue Service
 Fresno, CA 93888-0002
To Whom It May Concern at the IRS:
I have written to you several times in the past in order to explain my conscientious refusal to pay my "owed tax" because such a large percentage of it is destined to fund war and preparation for war.  My conscience also requires me to inform you, as I first did in March of 2006, that in order to resist my "owed tax" I have been reducing my federal taxes withheld to zero by inflating the number of my declared allowances on my W-4 form. 
The IRS W-4 form requires a signature under the statement that "to the best of my knowledge and belief, [the information entered on the form] is true, correct, and complete."  Given that adherence to truth is the foundation of Gandhian nonviolent resistance, this requirement places a war tax resister committed to Gandhian nonviolence in an interesting conundrum.  Given my current salary, to fill out the W-4 form truthfully would guarantee that I would contribute to war.  To fill out the W-4 form falsely and affix my signature would be to consciously compromise the truth.  In the face of this dilemma, I have found only one solution which fully honors the dictates of my conscience, which is to freely volunteer to you that I have deliberately inflated the declared allowances on my most recently signed W-4 form, as I did previously in 2006, as an act of open and transparent civil disobedience.  Again, the sole purpose of my doing so has been to avoid contributing to war and preparation for war.
Gandhi taught that transparency is essential to faithful nonviolent action, and I have reached out to you with deep faith in that understanding.
Respectfully, [signed] Chris Moore-Backman


Message from

If the Iraq War is over and Afghan War is winding down, why will we spend over $625 billion next year on "defense" while millions lack jobs, living wages, health care, affordable housing and education???
The jobs crisis is still severe.  The economy for working people is anemic at best.   But when Congress votes on the budget each year, it gives more than half to the Pentagon, while it slashes jobs and services and attacks our basic rights."
FY2014 Senate Armed Services Cmte. bill:
$526.6 billion for the Pentagon
$17.8 billion for nuclear arms
$80.7 billion for Afghan War
TOTAL = $625.1 billion
Military spending is no solution. Pentagon contractor profits grow, while the number of workers they employ declines.  We need our tax dollars to spend on good jobs, training and education, and programs that strengthen our communities.
In August, 2011, the AFL-CIO General Executive Council said [uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=24571], "The militarization of our foreign policy has proven to be a costly mistake. It is time to invest at home...."
To demilitarize our foreign policy, we need to break the stranglehold military contractors have on our economy and government.
In making major cuts to military spending to invest in our people and communities, workers and our unions must have a hand in reshaping the economy by participating in the process of planning economic conversion [salsa.net/peace/conv/conv2-6-4.html]. 

"Six arrests during killer drone protest at CIA"

2013-06-29 by "National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance" [www.PopularResistance.org]:
Fifty people protested killer drones at the main gate of the CIA on Saturday, June 29, and six individuals were arrested. The action was organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR], a group that has been active in challenging U.S. invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries, abolishing torture, closing Guantanamo, and bringing an end to drone warfare.
Members of NCNR previously sent a letter to CIA Director John Brennan requesting a meeting to discuss ending the drone program, and have received no response. Because the group is concerned about continuing deaths from drone strikes, they decided they must act, and they must personally go to the CIA and ask for a meeting. They were joined by Cindy Sheehan, Brian Terrell, and other activists from Code Pink, World Can’t Wait, Veterans for Peace, Answer, and many individuals affiliated with other groups to protest the illegal and immoral CIA killer drone program. Sheehan is the mother of Casey who was killed in 2004 in Iraq. Terrell was recently released from federal prison after serving a 6-month term for a peaceful protest against drones at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
The group walked up to the gates of the CIA with a copy of the letter they had sent to Brennan. When they were denied a meeting, six individuals crossed onto the base. After announcing a mock drone strike, five people lay down on the ground and were covered with pictures of drone victims. The sixth person keened and wailed over the bodies. After 20 minutes, the group rose up and began to walk further onto the base carrying pictures of drone victims. They were arrested, and cited and released on site.
Somewhere around 3500-4500 people have been killed by drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and other places around the globe with no due process. According to a study from Stanford and NYU only 2% of those killed are high-level targets. Over 200 children have been killed in Pakistan alone. According to Malachy Kilbride, NCNR, “These illegal drone strikes are not making people in the U.S. any safer and will only perpetuate the cycle of violence.”
NCNR citizen activists believe they have the right and a Nuremberg responsibility to highlight perceived illegal government operations. Moreover, the Nuremberg trials pointed out that citizens must act to prevent their government from further illegal activities. Ellen Barfield, Vets for Peace, commented on the arrests stating, “Because our government seems incapable of restricting drone weapons, these brave citizens are practicing their Nuremberg responsibilities.”
Those arrested were Joy First, Mt. Horeb, WI; Malachy Kilbride, Arlington, VA; Max Obuszewski, Baltimore, MD; Phil Runkel, Milwaukee, WI; Cindy Sheehan, Vacaville, CA; and Janice Sevre-Duszynska, Lexington, KY.

Friday, June 28, 2013

August 9th: National Day of Action

SOA Watch is approaching the 30th anniversary of the first act of resistance against the training of repressive foreign militaries at Fort Benning, Georgia. The birth of the SOA Watch direct action campaign.
This summer, August 9th will mark the thirtieth year since Father Roy Bourgeois and two close friends first crossed the line. After fasting in protest at the entrance of Fort Benning, Roy, Linda Ventimiglia, and the late Father Larry Rosebaugh disguised themselves in the uniforms of high-ranking army officials and walked onto the grounds of base. Watch Roy describe the action here [www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhgBvG1SDzM&feature]. It was three years after the assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, and, with the arrival of 525 soldiers to Fort Benning from El Salvador for military training, Linda, Larry, and Roy had a special message to deliver. After the bugle was blown, and the lights turned out, the three made their way to the area near the Salvadoran barracks, remaining hidden within a small cluster of pine trees. Armed with a cassette player, and a tape of Bishop Romero's last homily, Roy climbed high into a tree and played the speech. "His voice boomed into the barracks," Roy recalls. As the speech thundered in the sky, dozens of Salvadoran troops ran from the barracks to figure out the source of the voice. Also arriving on the scene were several heavily armed officials ordering Roy to climb down from the tree. The three were arrested, charged with criminal trespassing and impersonating an army officer, and were sentenced to a year and a half in prison. One year later, the U.S. Army School of the Americas was opened in Fort Benning after being forced to leave Panama by President Jorge Illueca in 1984. The resistance to the school from within Panama was a part of that country's strides toward independence, and their rejection of U.S. imperialism.
The U.S. resistance to the SOA/WHINSEC and U.S. militarization in the Americas grew from this original act of resistance. SOA Watch was formally founded in 1990, and has continued to grow since then. In the past 23 years, the U.S. has continued to tighten its grasp on Latin America and the Caribbean. It does not always employ the guns and the tanks to oppress people: there are other means of "protecting democracy". This includes the World Bank checkbook, the free trade agreements, such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and the US-Colombia TPA, and deregulation of economic markets. But as empire has grown, so has the resistance. Much of this is due to the tireless work of social movements, who relentlessly identify attacks on community building, cultures of peace, and self-determination and try to thwart the tools of imperalism before they are set in motion. These social movements are strongest when they stand in solidarity with one another. The struggle to close the SOA is united to many different struggles: the struggle for immigrant rights, the right of communities to control their own destiny, the right of workers to unionize, the struggle against police brutality in our communities, and the work to end the attack on whistleblowers who promote democracy by revealing the truth behind the lies. This is why we are calling for a National Day of Action on August 9th.

Who can participate?
Anyone who stands on the side of justice, of liberation, is encouraged to organize an action on August 9th in solidarity with those who are victims of U.S. militarization. For Ebed Yanes, from Honduras, the unarmed 15 year old who was murdered by a military unit which then covered up the involvement of SOA-graduate Josue Sierra [www.soaw.org/about-us/equipo-sur/263-stories-from-honduras/4118-ebedupdate]. For Johnny Silva, who was shot in the back at a peaceful protest by riot police at the Univeristy of Valle in Cali, Colombia. For the 11 million undocumented residents living in the United States, many of whom have been forced to leave their homes after their economies were ruined by US imperialism, or are victims of US-sponsored political violence, and who now struggle simply for their right to live free [org.salsalabs.com/o/727/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=13017]. For Kimani Gray, Trayvon Martin, and Ramarley Graham, all unarmed teenagers killed by the unchecked force of police vigilance, or self-appointed vigilance in the last two years. Stand up because to be silent is to be complicit.

What can we do?
To resist in any capacity is to commemorate those who can not as easily speak out. Hold a vigil, or a one-day, water-only fast to recognize those who suffer as a result of U.S. militarization. Host an event in your community, such as a teach-in or a screening of the SOA Watch movie, Somos Una America, which is now available for free online [www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PR9qltmbQM]. Stand in support of an organization or group in your community who is standing up for their rights. Hit the streets! For more tips on organizing across communities, visit: Anti-Oppression Resources [http://www.soaw.org/resources/anti-opp-resources].
Share your action with us! We want to see your community engaging in protest, civil disobedience, or acts of solidarity and resistance. Please share your ideas with us! This is also an opportunity to mobilize your gente for the November Vigil [https://org.salsalabs.com/o/727/t/10656/shop/item.jsp?storefront_KEY=777&t=&store_item_KEY=3430].
Get in touch with Dominique by responding to this email with questions or to plan a local event on August 9th, 2013, our National Day of Action!
¡Venceremos!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously adopts resolution Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Military Spending to Domestic Needs


[www.mayorsforpeace.org]              
[www.2020visioncampaign.org]
Contact: Jackie Cabasso, Mayors for Peace North American Coordinator [510-306-0119] [jackie@2020visioncampaign.org]

2013-06-26 "U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously adopts resolution Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Military Spending to Domestic Needs":
Mayors for Peace congratulates the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) for its unanimous adoption of a bold resolution “Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Military Spending to Domestic Needs.” The resolution, passed by the Conference on June 24 at its 81st Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, calls for constructive U.S. engagement in new international disarmament forums and reorientation of U.S. national priorities by reducing military spending and redirecting those funds to meet the needs of cities.
The USCM is the nonpartisan association of American cities with populations over 30,000. As explained by its outgoing President, Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, who chaired the final plenary: “Resolutions, if passed, become the official policy of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.”
The resolution was adopted on the heels of President Obama's June 19 Berlin speech in which he declared, “so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe,” and announced his intention to seek further bilateral nuclear weapons reductions with Russia. The resolution was introduced by Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic, a former USCM President and Vice President of Mayors for Peace, and had 29 additional sponsors. It highlights several important new multilateral disarmament initiatives not mentioned by Obama in Berlin, and calls on the President and the U.S. government to demonstrate good faith by constructive participation in those initiatives:
* The first ever High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Nuclear Disarmament, to be held on September 26, 2013 at UN headquarters in New York;
* A UN working group open to all member states “to develop proposals to take forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations for the achievement and maintenance of a world without nuclear weapons;” and
* A follow-on conference to the February 2013 Oslo Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, to be hosted by Mexico in early 2014.
The resolution expresses the USCM 's “deep concern” that both the May session of the new UN disarmament working group and the Oslo Conference took place without the participation of the United States or the other four nuclear-armed Permanent Members of the UN Security Council.
As set forth in the resolution, nearly a quarter of a century past the end of the Cold War, an estimated 17,300 nuclear weapons, 94% of them in the possession of the United States and Russia, continue to pose an intolerable threat to humanity. Massive spending is underway on programs to modernize U.S. nuclear weapons systems.
As the resolution notes, nuclear weapons spending is emblematic of Pentagon spending. In 2012, during a time of continuing domestic financial hardship, the U.S. spent $682 billion on its military, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the world total.
Further, the budget sequester enacted in March is impeding the economic recovery in cities by making deep cuts to vital federal programs that help fund essential services. In contrast, Pentagon spending has grown by 50% in real dollars in the last 12 years, not including war spending, and nearly all of the “cuts” up for debate are, in reality, reductions in the spending growth rate.
The resolution concludes that our nation's deep economic crisis can only be addressed by adopting new priorities to create a sustainable economy for the 21st century. To that end, the resolution calls on the President and Congress to reduce nuclear weapons spending to the minimum necessary to assure the safety and security of the existing weapons as they await disablement and dismantlement; to redirect those funds to meet the urgent needs of cities;
 and to reduce military spending to reinvest in programs to provide basic human services, create jobs, rebuild infrastructure and meet the needs of America's cities.
The full text of the resolution is available at wslfweb.org/docs/uscmres2013.pdf. (Official version at usmayors.org/81stAnnualMeeting/media/resolutions-adopted.pdf)
Mayors for Peace, an international organization, founded in 1982 and led by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is working through its 2020 Vision Campaign for the global elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020. Mayors for Peace membership has grown by more than ten fold since 2003, as of June 1, 2013 counting 5,645 cities in 156 countries and regions, with nearly 200 U.S. members – in all, representing some one billion people.

The USCM resolution was sponsored by Mayors Donald L. Plusquellic of Akron, OH; Ed Pawlowski of Allentown, PA; John Hieftje of Ann Arbor, MI; Tom Bates of Berkeley, CA; Matthew T. Ryan, Binghmton, NY; Henrietta Davis of Cambridge, MA; Mark Kleinschmidt of Chapel Hill. NC; Satyendra Singh Huja of Charlottesville, VA; Franklin T. Cownieof Des Moines, IA; Michael A. Tautznik of Easthampton, MA; Kitty Piercy of Eugene, OR; Ed Malloy of Fairfield, IA; Joy Cooper of Hallandale Beach, FL; Alex Morse of Holyoke, MA; Mark Stodola of Little Rock, AR; Paul Soglin of Madison, WI; John Stefano of New Haven, CT; David J. Narkewicz of Northampton, MA; Chris Koos of Normal. IL; Frank Ortis of Pembroke Pines, FL; Michael Brennan of Portland, ME; Gayle McLaughlin of Richmond, CA; Ardell Brede of Rochester. MN; Stephen Cassidy of San Leandro, CA; Helene Schneider of Santa Barbara, CA; Bruce R Williams of Takoma Park, MD; Neal King of Taos Ski Valley, NM; Richard D. Schneider of South Pasadena, CA; Laurel Lunt Prussing of Urbana, IL; and Geraldine Muoio of West Palm Beach, FL.


Ask your Mayor to co-sponsor a bold new resolution, Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Military Spending to Domestic Needs”!
The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), the nonpartisan association of U.S. cities with populations over 30,000, will be considering this resolution at its June 21 – 22 annual meeting in Las Vegas. The resolution’s lead sponsor is Mayor Donald Plusquellic of Akron, Ohio, a past President of the USCM. Mayor Plusquellic is also a Vice-President of Mayors for Peace, an international association lead by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with over 5,600 members in 156 countries - 197 in the U.S. To see the growing list of co-sponsors on the resolution, click here [wslfweb.org/docs/uscmres2013.pdf].
The USCM has regularly adopted resolutions since 2004 calling for the commencement of comprehensive nuclear disarmament negotiations to be concluded and implemented by 2020, as proposed by Mayors for Peace. For the past three years, the USCM has also called for deep cuts in nuclear weapons spending and redirection of those funds to meet the needs of cities, and in 2011 adopted an additional resolution, “Calling on Congress to Redirect Military Spending to Domestic Needs.”
This year’s resolution breaks new ground by combining all of these elements in a comprehensive package. The resolution is a fact-filled educational resource that can be used at the local level as an excellent organizing tool! Read the resolution here [wslfweb.org/docs/uscmres2013.pdf].
Help us get as many co-sponsoring mayors as possible! Your mayor does not have to be a member of Mayors for Peace to be a sponsor, but this is a great opportunity to ask her/him to join.
Ask your mayor to endorse the resolution! You can download a terrific “Dear Colleague” letter from Mayor Plusquellic here [wslfweb.org/docs/plusqcoverletter.pdf].  Please have your mayor send an e-mail message stating her/his desire endorse to both Akron Deputy Mayor Rick Merolla at [RMerolla@akronohio.gov] AND to me at [jackie@2020visioncampaign.org] by COB June 20.
To find out if your mayor is a member of Mayors for Peace and see what year the city joined, click here [www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/membercity/northamerica/united_states_of_america.html].
If your mayor is not a member of Mayors for Peace, ask her/him to join! It’s easy. For instructions, click here [www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/outlines/join.html].
For more information about Mayors for Peace, see [www.mayorsforpeace.org] and [www.2020visioncampaign.org]. For more information about the USCM see [www.usmayors.org].
Still have questions? Need help? Contact me! - Jackie Cabasso [jackie@2020visioncampaign.org] [510-839-5877], Mayors for Peace North American Coordinator; Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation;  Convener, UFPJ Nuclear Disarmament/Redefining Security Working Group

Friday, June 21, 2013

Solidarity with Labor Rights



2013-06-21 "Lochnerized: Corporations have Constitutional Rights. Unions? Not So Much"
by Roman Collins and Laura Bonham from "Move To Amend Coalition" [www.movetoamend.org] [707-269-0984], posted at [www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/21-4]:
When judicial rulings create law, it’s commonly known as judicial activism."Lochnerizing" is when the courts invalidate democratically enacted laws while granting corporations constitutional rights [definitions.uslegal.com/l/lochnerization]. In a 1905 Supreme Court case, Lochner v. New York, the Court struck down a New York state law that limited the amount of hours a baker could work in a day. The Court decided the law was a violation of the constitutional liberty of contract between two “persons:” the baker and the corporation for which he worked. In so doing, the Justices assumed they knew better what was good for New York than New Yorkers did, while granting corporations constitutional rights, thus Lochnerizing the law.
For the next thirty years, corporate lawyers successfully worked to undermine laws and regulations passed to protect workers through a reinterpretation of the 14th and 5th amendments, arguing that corporations are people with constitutional rights. This period is known as the Lochner era, and its history is one of the specific reasons we have a modern labor movement today. It also demonstrates the very reason why just overturning Citizens United--as opposed to abolishing all corporate constitutional rights--is clearly not enough to reinvigorate democracy. Corporations should be subordinate and accountable to the people--not the other way around.
On May 7th, the New York Times reported [www.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/business/court-bars-notice-to-workers-on-right-to-unionize.html] that a Federal Appeals Court struck down a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule that required most corporations to post a poster with information informing workers of their right to form or join a union, to strike, to bargain collectively and to organize to improve working conditions. The court referenced previous First Amendment rulings, which prohibited government from telling people what they can and cannot say. In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the Court correctly held that the First Amendment’s free speech clause protected students from being forced to salute the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance in school. And, in Pacific Gas and Electric Co. v. the Public Utilities Commission, the Court decided PG&E, a utility corporation, was not required to use space on their billing envelope in order to encourage consumers to use less energy. Citing these and other cases, the court decided that the NLRB rule violated the free speech right of the corporation not to speak and that the rule also violated a federal law that prevents the board from “punishing” a corporation for “expressing its views,” so long as the statements are not threats of retaliation or force against workers. A corporation’s failure to post the notice would have been considered an unfair labor practice had that court not decided that the NLRB would be acting illegally by “punishing” (issuing fines) a corporation for “making a statement,” in this case, for refusing to post the NLRB poster.
Gleeful about the court’s corporate friendly ruling the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) called the ruling “an important victory in the fight against an activist NLRB and its aggressive agenda.” NAM pronounced to the New York Times, “The poster rule is a prime example of a government agency that seeks to fundamentally change the way employers and employees communicate. The ultimate result of the NLRB’s intrusion would be to create hostile work environments where none exist”
In other words, corporations have constitutional rights, unions do not.
Richard L. Trumka of the AFL-CIO responded saying, “The Republican judges of the D.C. Circuit continue to wreak havoc on workers’ rights.”
The solution to the problem is simple; we need to amend the US Constitution. Corporations are not people and crony courts across the U.S. have been wrong about that fact for over 127 years. The real judicial activism here, is in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, when the Supreme Court decided that corporations are people entitled to constitutional rights. Since then, corporate lawyers have been using the people’s courts to invalidate democracy. We at Move To Amend say, enough!
We call on our brothers and sisters in the labor movement to join us and support the We the People Amendment to the US Constitution. Until we amend the US Constitution to clearly state corporations are not people, the courts will continue to protect corporations and ignore the rights of real people. The fact that real people are mortal--that we live and we die--demands that basic labor protections be enacted in order to protect worker and public safety.
Corporate Personhood is a farce, a facade conceived to subvert the rights of real people, a fictional idea imagined to ignore democracy in the name of enriching plutocrats, and it’s a legal fiction that destroys what it means to be a human being. It must end now!


2013-06-21 "How Being Disabled Means Your Boss can Suppress Your Wages; An outdated law is allowing employers to pay disabled workers far below minimum wage"
by Sarah Lazare from "Common Dreams" [http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/06/21-6]:
Prominent U.S. charities, businesses, and even high schools, are paying disabled workers far below minimum wage—in some cases a fraction of a dollar per hour—thanks to a long-standing law that says employers can suppress wages because of disability.
In an ironic twist, some of the the employers who take advantage of this law—such as Goodwill Industries—have built their reputations on helping the 'needy.'
The 1938 law allows employers to petition the U.S. Department of Labor to pay disabled workers below minimum wage if the employer claims the worker's 'productive capacity is impaired' by disability [http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs39.pdf].
The petition declares that employers can pay 'special minimum wages' to people with disabilities that include 'blindness, mental illness, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, alcoholism and drug addiction' [http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs39.pdf].
There is no set minimum for this 'special minimum wage': if the petition is granted, employers can pay as little as they want.
A majority of those who petition for low wages are nonprofit organizations [http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/21/19062348-disabled-workers-paid-just-pennies-an-hour-and-its-legal]. However, a public list shows that the number of for-profit businesses that pay disabled people below minimum wage is not small and includes big names such as Ramada Inn, Holiday Inn, McDonald's, and 7 Eleven [http://www.dol.gov/whd/specialemployment/BusinessCertList.htm]. High Schools and universities are also numbered among institutions that petition to suppress wages for disabled people
The result? Some disabled workers make as little as 22, 38, and 41 cents per hour [http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/21/19062348-disabled-workers-paid-just-pennies-an-hour-and-its-legal].
NBC reports that disabled Goodwill employees are outraged at what they call a civil rights disaster at the hands of an employer that is not short on money [http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/21/19062348-disabled-workers-paid-just-pennies-an-hour-and-its-legal]:
"If they really do pay the CEO of Goodwill three-quarters of a million dollars, they certainly can pay me more than they're paying," said Harold Leigland, who is legally blind and hangs clothes at a Goodwill in Great Falls, Montana for less than minimum wage.
"It's a question of civil rights," added his wife, Sheila, blind from birth, who quit her job at the same Goodwill store when her already low wage was cut further. "I feel like a second-class citizen. And I hate it."

Defend the whistleblowers! Heroes of the People!

United National Anti-War Coalition Statement on NSA spying:
DEFEND OUR HEROES -- THE WHISTLEBLOWERS -- AND OUR FREEDOMS UNDER THE BILL OF RIGHTS! END THE SURVEILLANCE STATE!
Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning are unlikely heroes.  They didn’t come from the left.  They were young men who believed the propaganda that this country was based on a system of laws designed to protect freedom and democracy at home and abroad.  Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning both voluntarily and idealistically joined the military/security state ‘to protect us’ and ‘to promote a better world’.
The disconnect between their illusions and the harsh reality that the U.S. is run by a corporate, financial, military elite (the 1%) that aims to dominate the world for profit and power shook them to the core. They saw that their democracy rhetoric is just that – talk designed to pacify us to carry out their rule -- and they had the moral courage to let the world know the truth.
Spying on lawful citizens is not new but it has escalated with new Orwellian technology, especially since 9/11 and under the Obama regime.  Today, the government has the tools to gather and analyze private information on literally everyone.  Tracking the entire global population gives them an unprecedented ability for control, repression, and disruption.
Some use “I have nothing to hide” as a rationale for passivity.  This is what many people living under totalitarian regimes thought as they allowed the police state apparatus to be built.  That is until they or their families became the targets.  We have seen in the past that the government does not just look for criminals or ‘terrorists’.  They monitor activists, critics and minorities.  They go beyond electronic surveillance to entrap, defame, and jail dissidents and to disrupt and diminish organizations and movements that threaten them.
What is new is the extent of privatization and lack of any oversight.  The funding and scope of the intelligence apparatus is totally secret and there are severe penalties for exposing these details.  70 % of the mammoth and secret intelligence budget goes to private contractors, unaccountable to the public.  Private corporations play a huge role in waging war and intelligence gathering and they make giant profits from the taxpayers’ treasury.  These recent revelations show how the government and unelected private warmakers work in concert, and in practice, are interchangeable.
While we hail Snowden, Manning, Assange and other truth tellers as heroes, the government vilifies and persecutes them.  The government says they are criminals who aid U.S. enemies and put us in danger.  In fact, massive secret and illegal government spying concurrent with unfettered warfare endangers us all.
What gives us hope is that in spite of the harsh vengeance the government metes out to whistleblowers, they still come forward to protect our right to know and to decide. Edward Snowden said “Citizens with a conscience are not going to ignore wrong-doing simply because they'll be destroyed for it: the conscience forbids it. Instead, these draconian responses simply build better whistleblowers”.
Without whistleblowers who are willing to risk everything to expose the lies and criminal actions of the powers that be, we would be an uninformed and easily enslaved population.  But simply exposing government wrongdoing is not enough.  We, the people, must defend our brave heroes and fight back on all levels – with publicity, lawsuits, demands that Congress and the President end the Surveillance State, legislation to curb them, marching in the streets, and requiring that those engaging in criminal actions against the public interest are exposed and punished.

TAKE ACTION
Our demands:
Stop the persecution of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange and free Bradley Manning and other jailed whistleblowers and political prisoners!
Support the ACLU lawsuit to stop the NSA surveillance and purge all records!
Rescind the Patriot Act, indefinite detention and other laws and orders that violate the Bill of Rights!
End the secrecy and shut down the FISA Court!
Prosecute government officials, including President Obama, that engage in illegal acts to curtail our freedoms!
Communication companies must protect the privacy of their consumers and stop giving data to the government!
Support legislation to end secret spying and to declassify the documents and laws used to create the surveillance state and maintain secrecy!
Hold public hearings to reveal the true extent of government surveillance!