Tennesee to Host Bioregional Conference

For nearly 30 years bioregionalists have been gathering in congresses to envision and develop a realistic, restorative way of life in the bioregions of the Americas. We set our own agendas, operate by consensus and build a common commitment. Grand times and good friendships are only the first fruits. At bioregional congresses, we live in community, concern ourselves with the things that matter, and return home informed and inspired.

We earnestly invite the participation of all, especially those actively employing ecological precepts in the many movements and endeavors necessary for the human species to reinhabit the bioregions of the Americas and of the whole Earth.

The survival of humanity, and of the planet’s bioregions, depends on the advancement of ecologically designed economics and auditing, technology, agriculture and forestry; planning and industry; education, culture and art; philosophy, psychology, and metaphysics; law and justice; health and environmental defense; politics and land tenure. Any and all activists and practitioners in these fields are strongly urged to attend, to share their passions, lore, successes and learning experiences; to find new cohorts while participating in plenary discussions and spontaneous conversations.

If we are to avoid total ecological and social collapse followed by a brutal global monoculture, we need to begin to live by life, to listen to the planet, to learn our places. Home is the ground for honest hope. Only in our life-places can we begin anew, in the timeless way of Earth’s ecologies.

The Congress has served as an invaluable ceremonial village that links each to each across the artificial boundaries of state, province, and nation, sharing stories of place, helping us learn more from one another about how to live for the good of the earth and in the contours of our particular place on the earth.

Participants find vital and enduring transformations that ripple out from their lives into their communities. And the bioregional movement as a whole renews its sense of where it has been, where it is now, and where it needs to go to better address the many injustices happening all over the world, and to better forge strategies to restore and preserve the earth.

Join our online bioregional listserv:
Subscribe: bioreg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

A congress needs some fundamental level of consciousness and knowledge to exist in its participants even before it convenes, since it is a working body made up of fully-participating equals. Besides the obvious fact that a bioregional congress needs an ecological orientation, ecological consciousness brings the same amazing, self-organizing quality to political gatherings and organizations as it does to ecosystems in nature. This is the source of the unique power, spirit, and energy of bioregional congresses.

If you want everyone to come to an event who you can possibly reach through all your mailing lists, TV, radio, and newspaper spots, posters up on the street, with the purpose of educating them through pre-ordained schedules of special speakers and workshops, do a conference instead of a congress. If you have the time, energy, and resources, you may want to do an educative conference first as a fund-raiser and consciousness-raiser before you bring together the working body, the congress.

Following are some content suggestions for the invitation:

* Emphasize that this is a working congress (not a “conference”) requiring each person’s full participation for the full number of days the congress is in session, that those who come late or for one or two days probably won’t be able to figure out or get successfully integrated with what’s going on, and probably won’t get much out of being there.

* Suggest that a basic commitment to ecologically-based and ecologically-responsible solutions to the problems of human society may be necessary to each person’s understanding of and ability to fully and effectively participate in the congress.

* Include that “full participation” also means in food preparation, childcare, cleanup, and all the other basic functions of a temporary community (unless you the organizers intend to furnish all these services through non-participating volunteers or paid help, both of which practices, in my opinion, diminish a congress and usually markedly increase the cost).

* Include a list of organizations to which the invitation has been sent. Hopefully you will have a long and impressive one, broken down by categories indicating the type of organization. If you can get prior confirmation that the organization will be represented at the congress, indicate this by an asterisk or some other code. A good way to build credibility is to solicit congress co-sponsors (and ask for a co-sponsorship donation of money, resources, or help), and then list them in the invitation. All this is a form of “advertising” which also gives the invitee important information about the breadth and depth of what you are trying to bring together, giving strong reinforcement to the feeling that “this is an event that I really don’t want to miss.

http://www.bioregional-congress.org/

National Conference for Media Reform

Free Press Hosts 2008 National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis
More than 75 sessions on critical media and technology issues announced for June 6-8 event

MINNEAPOLIS -- On June 6-8, a broad array of policymakers, scholars, media producers, grassroots activists and concerned citizens will gather in Minneapolis for the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform. This landmark event -- hosted by Free Press at the Minneapolis Convention Center -- is the central destination for the growing movement to create a more accountable, democratic and diverse media.

"Decisions in the next few years will result in profound changes to the media landscape," said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press. "The National Conference for Media Reform takes these critical media policy debates out from behind closed doors in Washington -- and puts them into the public arena where they belong. This event highlights the movers and shakers in independent journalism, media accountability and the fight for Internet freedom."

The full preliminary schedule of events -- including more than 75 panels and workshops -- is available at http://www.freepress.net/conference/program.

Sessions will cover a diverse range of key media and technology policies including: media ownership, the future of the Internet, war coverage, public broadcasting, media and elections, copyright, the First Amendment, online activism, ethnic media, and dozens more.

More than 250 presenters are featured at the National Conference for Media Reform. Among them:

Legendary journalists like PBS broadcaster Bill Moyers, former CBS News anchor Dan Rather, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, and author Naomi Klein.
Political leaders and policymakers including Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.
Internet visionaries and new media innovators like Lawrence Lessig of Stanford Law, Tim Wu of Columbia Law, Arianna Huffington of HuffingtonPost.com, and Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake.
Civil rights leaders and social justice activists like Kim Gandy of the National Organization for Women, Van Jones from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Alex Nogales of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and Rev. Lennox Yearwood from the Hip Hop Caucus.
Music, film, and independent media makers like radio host Davey D, Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, Greg Watkins of AllHipHop.com and The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel.
Press credentials for the National Conference for Media Reform are available to members of the media who will be covering the event. Request press credentials by filling out the online application: http://free.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/NCMR08/NCMRPressApplication

Discounted hotel rates are available only through May 9th -- find out more at http://freepress.net/conference/lodging08

Many conference speakers, media policy experts and the event planners are also available for guest appearances in advance of the conference. To schedule an interview, contact Jen Howard at press@freepress.net.

Program updates, registration information and highlights from previous conferences can be found at www.freepress.net/conference.

TTPC Celebrates Mildred Loving

TTPC Celebrates the Contributions of Mildred Loving

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition honors the contribution of Mildred Loving, who passed away yesterday. Mildred and Richard Loving were the couple who successfully challenged anti-miscegenation statutes in the historic case, Loving v. Virginia in 1967.

The commitment of the Lovings to one another, and to their belief that no government should prevent two people the freedom to marry, has secured her place in this nation's history. She reiterated her belief in this fundamental right in her statement last year on the 40th Anniversary of the historic ruling by Supreme Court of the United States.

...Not a day goes by that I don't think of Richard and our love, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the 'wrong kind of person' for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry.

...I am proud that Richard's and my name are on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That's what Loving, and loving, are all about."

(Read Mrs. Loving's full statement here.)

One of those anti-miscegenation laws overturned by the Supreme Court was Article XI, Section 14, of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee. That language was finally removed in 1978. Then, in 2006, voters in Tennessee placed marriage discrimination back into the Constitution of the State banning marriage equality based on gender.

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition remains committed to continuing the Lovings' fight to end all forms of discrimination, including in the areas of marriage and relationship recognition.

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition extends our best wishes to the Loving family.


Marisa Richmond
President


The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC) is an organization designed to educate and advocate on behalf of transgender related legislation at the Federal, State and local levels. TTPC is dedicated to raising public awareness and building alliances with other organizations concerned with equal rights legislation.

For more information, or to make a donation, contact:

Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC)
P.O. Box 92335
Nashville, TN 37209
http://ttgpac.com
TTGPAC@aol.com
(615)293-6199
(615)353-1834 fax

US Spy Ball Deflated by Activists

On April 30 at 6:00 a.m. in the morning morning three Christian activists from "Ploughshares Aotearoa" entered the Waihopai Spy Base in New Zealand and used sickles to deflate one of the two 30 metre radomes covering satellite interception dishes. The members then built a shrine and prayed for the victims of the war with no end - the so-called 'War on Terror' led by the U. S. Empire which also controls the New Zealand taxpayer funded Waihopai spy base.

Samuel Peter Frederick Land, 24, of Hokianga, Adrian James Leason, 42, a teacher from Otaki and Peter Reginald Leo Murnane, 67, a Dominican friar from Auckland, were arrested by police who are considering charging the men with sabotage under the Crimes Act, an offence which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' jail.

Damage to the radome is estimated at more than $1 million.

The three have been granted bail and released and have a June 9 pre-depositions hearing.

Supporters rallied outside the courtroom in Blenheim on May 5 and yelled "What do we want? Waihopai Closed''.

The action has brought worldwide attention to the fact that the U.S. spy satellite base in based in New Zealand and should be a positive boost to the long standing campaign against the base by
the Anti-Bases Campaign in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet@mindspring.com
http://space4peace.blogspot.com (Blog)

Death Row Inmate Speaks in Knoxville

Exonerated Death Row Inmate Speaks in Knoxville

Curtis McCarty spent 17 years on Oklahoma's death row for a crime that he did not commit. On Thursday, April 24, Curtis shared this powerful story at the University of Tennessee Law School. The audience of 70 was comprised of undergraduates, law students, law professors, attorneys, and Knoxville community members. On Friday, April 25, Mr. McCarty spoke to students at Knoxville Catholic High School. After two assemblies and a class, Curtis spoke to a combined total of nearly 400 individuals.


Curtis begins his story by acknowledging how his bad choices--his juvenile history of drugs and crime-- led him to associate with the murdered individual, leading to death row. To Curtis, his poor choices prior to his incarceration played a large role in his ending up in prison.


Yet, the state of Oklahoma is ultimately responsible for sending an innocent man to death row. The case of Curtis McCarty is riddled with problems that suggest he was wrongfully convicted in the murder of Pam Willis: suppressed evidence, destroyed evidence, and perjured testimony.

The death penalty system is broken. 129 individuals have been released from death rows nationwide when evidence of their innocence emerged. Curtis knows this better than anyone, but he also knows that a life of crime made it easier for the state to convict him. It is a rare sight to witness someone so gracefully admit his shortcomings. He replied, "I was angry, in fact I was very angry. I soon realized though that bitterness is unproductive. I wanted to be productive, and I wanted to seek justice. In order to do this, I had to stop being angry and instead tell my story." The story of Curtis McCarty is a story that needs to be told, over and over and over again.

JwJ Marches for Economic Justice

National Jobs with Justice conference participants joined RI
Jobs with Justice and allies in holding the line in Rhode
Island. While the country teeters on the brink of recession,
Rhode Island is already in economic crisis. RI's anti-worker,
anti-immigrant governor is making this crisis worse by trying to
balance the state's financial troubles on the backs of working
families by cutting programs, cutting pensions, promoting massive
layoffs and attacking immigrants.

They told Governor Carcieri that we won't stand for balancing
the budget on the backs of RI's working class. We stood up for a
vision of the future that protects and promotes the dignity of
all residents and honors and respects hard work. We will demand
tax and budget reform, funding for the programs and staffing
that make RI work for workers, and immigrant justice!

Check out video from the action on youtube and stay tuned in the
next few weeks to find out more about what happened at the
conference.

http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/JdqDxgp1uPRi/

House Holds Hearing on Workplace Safety

U.S. House of Representatives Holds Hearing on Need for Increased Workplace Safety Enforcement

Testimony Given By Emmanuel Torres, Son of Worker Killed at Cintas Plant; U.S. Representative "Appalled" at Cintas' Lack of Responsibility

On April 23rd, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing on workplace safety seeking stronger OSHA enforcement for large, multi-site employers. Members of the subcommittee named Cintas as a prime example of the need for stronger OSHA enforcement. The hearing was prompted by the death last year of Eleazar Torres Gomez, a worker who was killed at a Cintas plant in Tulsa, OK after he was trapped inside an industrial-sized dryer. Emmanuel Torres, Mr. Torres Gomez' son, testified at the hearing, stating that Cintas failed to do everything it was required to do to protect his father. At the hearing, citing internal company memos made public that morning, members of the committee strongly admonished Cintas's top corporate leadership for failing to fix the lethal dangers it knew about that ultimately led to the death of Eleazar Torres Gomez.

"An internal memo dated April 30, 2004 notifies company officials - including regional health and safety coordinators - of 'an incident that could have resulted in serious injury and possible death,'" said Subcommittee Chairwoman Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.). Although the memo outlined changes needed to remedy dangerous conditions, "[n]one of these promises were acted upon at the Tulsa facility," according to the chairwoman.

The memo was issued by Cintas Health and Safety Director Rick Gerlach and addressed to top-level managers around the country. Accompanying this memo was an attachment from then Cintas President Scott Farmer, currently CEO of the company, describing two other incidents in 2000 where employees had climbed onto working laundry conveyors to clear jams and fell into a running washer. The 2004 memo was first made public in a Wall Street Journal article published in the April 23rd edition of the paper. To read the article, visit:
http://webreprints.djreprints.com/1938250823306.html

Illinois Representative Phil Hare said, "I was appalled. . .by the total lack of responsibility that Cintas took for this accident and the way the company treated the Torres Gomez family." A company statement released by Cintas in the aftermath of the death was described as blaming the victim for his own death.

"The fact that Cintas blamed my father for what truly is a company wide problem is wrong," said Emmanuel Torres.

Four current and one former Cintas workers attended the hearing and spoke at the press conference that preceded the hearing. They complained of mounting production pressures, repetitive stress injuries, and lack of training at their jobs.

"Even after the death in Tulsa, Cintas was still not safe. By the time OSHA was done, there still was not enough training and staffing," said Errol Ingram, a former maintenance supervisor from Mobile, Alabama, after the hearing. OSHA has proposed nearly $200,000 in violations in Mobile for the same kinds of hazards that led to Mr. Torres Gomez's death.

Eleazar Torres Gomez was killed in March 2007 after he was pulled by an unguarded, automated conveyor into an industrial drier. He was trapped for 20 minutes in 300 degree heat. Shortly after this tragedy, the Workforce Protections Subcommittee made its first of multiple requests for a company-wide OSHA investigation.

In addition to the $2.78 million dollar proposed fine for the violations in Tulsa, federal and state safety inspectors have issued citations for the same deadly dangers at Cintas laundries in Ohio, Alabama, California, and Washington, where a worker's arm was nearly ripped off, since August 2007. OSHA inspectors are investigating workers' allegations that similar hazards exist in the company's Bedford Park, Illinois facility.

Cintas workers throughout North America are standing with UNITE HERE and the Teamsters to gain better, safer jobs. Currently, both unions represent roughly 400 Cintas workers. For more information about Cintas workers' efforts, visit www.uniformjustice.org and www.makeCINTASsafe.info.

Adoption Bill Sent to Summer Study

Late yesterday afternoon, Senator Paul Stanley (R-Germantown) requested that his bill to ban unmarried, cohabiting couples from adopting children, SB3910, be referred to a summer study. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved this request. It will be joined by another adoption bill, SB2908 by Beverly Marrero (D-Memphis).

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition was one of several groups which mobilized thousands of responsible Tennesseans against this discriminatory, moralizing legislation which would limit the rights of responsible adults from adopting children. We are pleased that this bill is now apparently dead for the remainder of the current legislative session, since the Senate Judiciary Committee completed its business yesterday and is now closed subject to the call of the chair.

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition will continue to monitor any attempt to revive this or any other legislation which will discriminate against any segment of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender community.

Marisa Richmond
President

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC) is an organization designed to educate and advocate on behalf of transgender related legislation at the Federal, State and local levels. TTPC is dedicated to raising public awareness and building alliances with other organizations concerned with equal rights legislation.

For more information, or to make a donation, contact:

Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC)
P.O. Box 92335
Nashville, TN 37209
http://ttgpac.com
TTGPAC@aol.com
(615)293-6199
(615)353-1834 fax

Immigration Raids Hit Tennessee

Immigration Raids Continue to Separate Families in South

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids took place at six Pilgrim's Pride poultry processing plants across the country on April 16th, including a devastating raid in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Most detainees from the Chattanooga raid are being held in Chattanooga and Lumpkin, GA. Five female detainees are being held in Nashville at the Harding Detention Facility.

As many of you know, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) performed major raids across the country on April 16th, including one in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The raid in Tennessee—at a "Pilgrim's Pride" Poultry Processing plant—resulted in the arrest of 156 immigrants.

The raids have devastated Chattanooga's immigrant community, and have sent shock waves across the region.

Men in Georgia—women in Nashville. While it should be noted that 32 women who were identified as mothers were released on Thursday, families have still been torn apart and are struggling to reconnect. Immigrant rights groups across the region are attempting to assimilate a complete list of the workers detained. However, many workers are still missing and their locations remain unknown.

"The raids in the poultry processing plants in the southeast are disheartening and immoral. Even worse is the breaking up of families. We will pray for these women and their families."

Rev. Jeannie Hunter, Associate Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church.

"All workers and their families deserve being treated with dignity. The workers who are detained are victims of the employers and the broken immigration system. It is the federal immigration system that needs to be held accountable. The workers need their rights protected. "

Megan Macaraeg with Jobs with Justice

Community Action:
The immigrant community and its many allies—in Chattanooga, Nashville, Atlanta, Dalton, and beyond—have responded quickly and effectively to the raids.


Hotline: La Paz de Dios, La Coalicion de Lideres and TIRRC have opened up phone lines for family and friends to call to try and locate loved ones. 423-320-3636, 865-406-3297, 706-217-8696

Radio: Organizers continue to speak on Hispanic radio stations, announcing names of located workers, documenting people still missing, and explaining to the community about what might happen next to their family and community members.

Family Services: Churches, neighbors, and organizers have set up places for families to come for food, counseling, and other necessities. Many families were dependent on the income of those detained, and churches and community centers have been set up to help care for those families who might not yet be prepared to support themselves.

Legal Advice: TIRRC and other organizations have been able to visit located detainees in the detention centers to make sure they receive legal advice and can communicate with their families.

Deep Green Teaser from Brother Martin

BELL’S
BEND BATTLE CONTINUES TO CONTINUE

I was witness to and participant in another heated community
meeting in Scottsboro last month. Without Tony Giantarra and his
suited cohorts present, the ladies of the Planning Department had to
bear the community’s wrath all by themselves. They stood up nobly
under the barrage, but I suspect that afterwards there may have been
a few good stiff drinks poured in the privacy of home. The people
were not happy, and with good reason.
more

La Riva Speaks on Police Acquittal

Statement from PSL's La Riva/Puryear presidential campaign

When the police arrested a man in New York City for pickpocketing $22, Justice Arthur Cooperman sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison. When three New York City police murdered Sean Bell and wounded two others in an unprovoked 50-shot assault against the unarmed men, Justice Arthur Cooperman acquitted the police officers and let them walk free.

New York’s Black community and all who believe in justice are up in arms today. Anger, disbelief, outrage: these words do not come close to conveying the sentiments of millions of New Yorkers.

Once again the courts have sent out the message that police have a license to kill young Black people. The racist NYPD is the ultimate expression of an organized crime ring. They arrogate to themselves the role of judge, jury and executioner.

Judge Cooperman is simply their cheerleader and defender. This is not a problem of a single bad judge. Cooperman is a symptom. The disease is institutionalized racism and the epidemic of police brutality directed against Black and Latino communities and especially young people.

Killer cops walk free again today just as they did when they killed Amadou Diallo in a hail of 41 shots. Again, the armed thugs of corporate capitalism, the defenders of the rich and mighty, walk away without even a slapped wrist, while the prisons and jails of this country overflow with more than 2.3 million working class young people.

The actual ethnicity or national or “racial” identity of the killer cops is immaterial. The NYPD is an army of racism. It occupies and murders inside the Black and Latino community. Its principal function is to defend the property of Wall Street corporations and the property of the billionaires and multi-millionaires who are the dominant power in NYC. Mayor Bloomberg went out of his way to call striking transit workers “thugs,” but no similar language is used by him to describe the cold-blooded killers in blue.

Today, in the face of this colossal injustice John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as yet have not a word to condemn this travesty. The Democratic party seeks the vote of the Black community to win office, but turns its back on the community in its confrontation with the forces of racist police violence. It could not be otherwise. The Republican and Democratic parties, and the respective candidates, vie with each other to be the voice of the status quo and the police power which functions as its armed guarantor. The armies of police and military power exist to protect the ultra rich and the status quo, from the people who are suffering from unemployment, foreclosures, hunger, galloping poverty, and union-busting. The candidates of both the Republican and Democratic parties are ardent defenders of this system.

The VotePSL La Riva/Puryear 2008 campaign will be in the streets today and every day to demand justice for Sean Bell. Killer cops and all those who commit acts of brutality against our communities will be the focus of the wrath and mobilization of the people.

Jail Killer Cops! Money for Jobs, Schools, Housing and Health care.

To contact the La Riva/Puryear campaign, call Ben Becker at 410-371-7203 or visit the website at http://www.votepsl.org/.

Larry Hale Exonerated

On Wed., April 23 all charges were dropped against Denver activist Larry Hales. Hales had been assaulted by ten Denver cops this past Nov. 30. The cops had busted into Larry's home without permission at 10:30 p.m., handcuffed his partner to a chair, ripped out some of Hales’ hair, ripped his clothes, and charged him with interfering with the police.

Hales, a leading activist against police brutality and war, is also organizing for protests at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August, and is well known to the Denver police. Hales had been providing housing for a parolee who had been a police brutality victim. A parole visit had been the pretext of the cops’ raid on Hales' home, but the parolee was not at home at the time and the cops did not have permission to enter or search the home when the parolee was not present.

A widespread support campaign grew up around the case, demanding that all charges be dropped against Hales. The National Justice for Larry Hales campaign launched an online petition which generated over 160,000 email messages to the members of the Denver legislature, the mayor, city attorney and the judge in the case, the Colorado congressional delegation, congressional leaders, President Bush, Attorney General Mukasey, and members of the media. Letters were faxed from public officials such as Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner, from unions like USW 8751 Boston School Bus Union and many rank and file union leaders, religious leaders like Bishop Filipe Teixeira OFSJC, lawyers and other public figures.

Larry Hales’ message to supporters: ‘Mass campaign made the difference’

Larry Hales wrote the following statement on this victory: The city attorney's office decided to drop the charges against me because of the attack and the violation of mine and Melissa Kleinman’s fourth amendment rights. But, if there was no campaign and the case not made public, I believe they would have gone forward, wasting time, resources and possibly sending me to jail for an extended period of time, up to a year.

I do not believe in luck or chance, but Melissa and myself did escape great bodily injury or death, and so our case was never as bad as many others. What happened to us is more indicative of what many people who try and house parolees and the parolees themselves face. Their homes are ransacked and the parolees are goaded into a response and if they respond are violated and sent back to prison.

However, in our case there were a great many cops and parole officers and to some it may seem surreal, but what happened on Nov. 30th, is just more of the same, of the state using its forces to harass and intimidate. They were held off and defeated by a mass campaign of support and this is what made the difference.

Melissa and I would like to thank the International Action Center, Troops Out Now, the Recreate ‘68 Alliance, USW 8751, Bishop Teixeira, City Council Person Chuck Turner, the Partisan Defense Committee, the Pan-African Newswire and all organizations and individuals that came to our assistance.

In struggle and solidarity,

Larry Hales

http://troopsoutnow.org/larryhales

Stratcom Conference Takes Issue Global

By Tim Rinne & Bruce Gagnon

Admittedly, “StratCom: The Most Dangerous Place on the Face of the Earth” sounded a bit over the top for the title of a conference. But by the time the participants caught their flight home from Omaha, Nebraska last month, there wasn’t anybody disputing whether U.S. Strategic Command deserved the label.

Two hundred people from 12 countries and 28 states gathered April 11-13 at the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space 16th Annual Space Organizing Conference to learn about this remote command in America’s heartland. And the local sponsor, Nebraskans for Peace, who for years had been fretting about what was going on in its own backyard, couldn’t have been more excited. There’d never before been an international conference specifically addressing the transformation that’s taken place at StratCom. But then, until just recently, StratCom had never before represented the threat to the world that it does now.

From the moment George W. Bush was rushed to StratCom’s underground headquarters at Offutt A.F.B. on 9/11, the U.S.’s nuclear command began to undergo what StratCom Commander General Kevin Chilton described as “not a sea-state change, but a tsunami of change” in its role and mission. In the years since 9/11, the command has seen its traditional and sole responsibility of maintaining America’s nuclear deterrent proliferate to include missions for space, cyberspace, intelligence/reconnaissance/surveillance, missile defense, full spectrum global strike, information operations and combating weapons of mass destruction.

In the blink of a strategic eye, the command has gone from being something that was ‘never supposed to be used’ (i.e. the doomsday machine) to ‘being used for everything.’ It’s gone from being putatively ‘defensive’ to overtly ‘offensive’ to become, in the words of Nebraska activists, “Dr. Strangelove on steroids.”

With now eight missions under its belt, StratCom’s fingerprints are seemingly everywhere. Though it’s almost never mentioned by name, you can hardly open a newspaper anymore without reading about one of its various machinations. Here’s a rundown:

Now charged with actively waging the White House’s “War on Terror,” StratCom is authorized to attack any place on the planet in one hour—using either conventional or nuclear weapons—on the mere perception of a threat to America’s ‘national interests.’

Through its National Security Agency “component command,” StratCom is regularly conducting the now-infamous ‘warrantless wiretaps’ on unsuspecting American citizens.

The proposed “missile defense” bases in Poland and the Czech Republic that are reviving Cold War tensions with Russia are StratCom installations under StratCom’s command.

Having conducted what it touts as “the first space war” with its “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign on Iraq, the command is now actively executing the Bush/Cheney Administration’s expressed goal of the weaponization and “domination” of space.
StratCom’s recent shoot-down of a falling satellite using its Missile Defense system, just after the U.S. had repudiated a Russian proposal banning space weapons, demonstrated the anti-satellite capability of this allegedly ‘defensive’ program and is certain to jump-start an arms race in space.

In actively promoting the development of new generations of nuclear weapons (the so-called ‘bunker-buster’ tactical nukes and the Reliable Replacement Warhead), StratCom is seeking to ensure America will wield offensive nuclear capability for the remainder of the 21st century.

Under the White House’s “Unified Command Plan,” StratCom commands access to the hundreds of military bases around the globe and all four military service branches, while working hand-in-glove with the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.

Operating like some executive branch vigilante and scofflaw, StratCom is now poised to routinely violate international law with preemptive attacks and to usurp Congress’ constitutional authority to declare war under the “War Powers Act.”

StratCom, in the words of Commander Chilton, is today “the most responsive combatant command in the U.S. arsenal”—and the next war the White House gets us into (be it against Iran or geo-political rival like China) will be planned, launched and coordinated from StratCom. In fact, Chilton recently told Congress, he believes the name actually ought to be changed to “Global Command,” to better reflect the “global” nature of its new role and mission.

This is the “New StratCom” that Nebraskans for Peace has watched materialize before its eyes. This is the enhanced threat, which the world community has no notion of whatsoever, because the changes at StratCom have occurred with the speed and power of a “tsunami.” This is the global menace the Global Network sought to expose to the international public at its conference in Omaha this past month.

And while the media coverage of the conference was minimal, the word is neverthess starting to get out nationally and internationally. Most of the people in attendance were activists, organizers and academics from all across the country and around the world. Picking up on the comment that StratCom is now a global problem, Jackie Cabasso of the Western States Legal Foundation stressed that addressing it will in turn require a global response. Americans, she said, can no more be expected to halt this threat than we can expect Nebraskans to do it: “It’s going to take the efforts of the world community.”

That sort of international commitment was already strongly in evidence. While the speaker from Poland was prohibited from entering the U.S. by Homeland Security, Jan Tamas of the “No To Bases Initiative” in the Czech Republic tied the proposed Star Wars radar in his country directly to StratCom. From the title of his talk alone, “StratCom is the Main Threat to Peace in the Korean Peninsula,” Ko Young-Dae, the representative from Solidarity for Peace and Reunification in Korea (SPARK), made it clear that he understood the connection to the Omaha command center. British activist Lindis Percy of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases, who regularly contends with StratCom’s presence in her homeland, sized it up perfectly with the expression, “horrid StratCom.” Similar sentiments were expressed by the German, Swedish, Indian, Japanese, Filipino, Mauritian, Italian, Romanian and Canadian participants. In country after country, an understanding the StratCom menace is starting to take hold.

The final keynote of the conference was delivered by Bishop Emeritus Thomas Gumbleton, who back in the mid-‘80s had committed civil disobedience at Offutt A.F.B. when it was still the “Strategic Air Command.” Back then, all we had to fear—and it was plenty—was nuclear holocaust. Today, the Bishop said, because of our greed for wealth and power, we now have to fear StratCom’s nuclear prowess and much more.

That greed for ever-more wealth and power had been the message of the conference’s first speaker, national Indian activist and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska member, Frank LaMere. The city of Omaha, LaMere noted, was named after the Indian Tribe of the same name that had inhabited this area for centuries and still has a reservation about an hour north of the city. The Omaha, he said, had a covenant with Mother Earth, that in return for the corn and buffalo she so generously provided them to live, they would in turn honor her by living in a good way. Never, LaMere said, when the Omaha deeded their lands to the U.S. government—without once going to war—had they ever imagined that an instrument of destruction like StratCom, capable of destroying the Earth multiple times over, would rest on their ancestral homeland, on that sacred ground.

The Omaha, he said, cannot stop what is happening today by themselves. Nor for that matter can the people of Nebraska, nor even the people of the United States. To stop what is happening at StratCom—indeed to save ourselves from our own greed and self-destruction—Americans will need, LaMere said, the help of all their relations around the world. So he was cheered, he said, to see all these relations from around the world here in Omaha, willing to help. That was good, he said. But we need to act fast. Time is getting short.

A five-minute introductory video about StratCom created by Global Network chairperson Dave Webb, who is also the Vice-Chair of Britain's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), can be viewed by clicking on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkOeUHHV1eU

- Written by Tim Rinne (Coordinator of Nebraskans for Peace) and Bruce Gagnon (Coordinator of Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space

TBR Adopts Non-Discrimination Policy

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition is pleased to announce that the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) adopted a non-discrimination and anti-harassment policy that covers both sexual orientation and gender identity. The TBR system covers 6 Universities, 13 Community Colleges, and 28 Tennessee Technology Centers across the state. This policy, adopted on February 13, 2008, immediately affects thousands of students, staff, and faculty.

http://www.tbr.state.tn.us/policies_guidelines/personnel_guidelines/P-080.htm


The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition encourages each of the TBR member institutions to follow up with their own specific guidelines to enforce this new policy.

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition also encourages the University of Tennessee system to follow the TBR lead and adopt a fully inclusive, non-discrimination policy as well. Until this move by TBR, not one single institution of higher learning in Tennessee, public or private, had a non-discrimination or anti-harassment policy covering all gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender students, staff, or faculty.

We applaud TBR for adopting this policy banning discrimination and harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people on all 47 of the campuses under its jurisdiction.

Marisa Richmond
President

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC) is an organization designed to educate and advocate on behalf of transgender related legislation at the Federal, State and local levels. TTPC is dedicated to raising public awareness and building alliances with other organizations concerned with equal rights legislation.

For more information, or to make a donation, contact:

Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC)
P.O. Box 92335
Nashville, TN 37209
http://ttgpac.com
TTGPAC@aol.com
(615)293-6199
(615)353-1834 fax

Turnip Truck to Host New Farmers Market

East Nashville's certified organic market The Turnip Truck, 970 Woodland St. (at the corner of Woodland and 10th), will be hosting the latest addition to East Nashville's growing list of retail choices. The new East Nashville Market will kick off on Wed., May 21 from 4 to 7 PM in the surrounding parking and green area around the store. The opening day will include local music, giveaways, contests and store discounts.

Turnip Truck owner John Dyke says, “ "We're really excited to be part of building another extension to our local East Nashville community. Once a week the market will give our customers an opportunity to purchase directly from local organic farmers and get them one step closer in the relationship to the farmer and local foods."

The market will be an all organic, producers only market and include vegetables, flowers, milk, meats, herbs, plants, cheeses, mushrooms and eggs. In addition to Dyke, organizers of the new market include Hank Delvin Jr of Delvin Farms and Peggy Marchetti from Madison Creek Farms. Local farm advocate Jennifer Barrie has been hired as the market manager.

The East Nashville Market's website, www.eastnashvillemarket.com, is online and will include market updates, a calendar of events, list of products and farmer profiles and links to participating farmer's websites.