Call on law students and others to take a stand against torture. There is a battle raging right now over the future of the University of California. But the question is not only whether education will be affordable, but what kind of education it will be...
If, as is too common, our universities are merely providing new technicians for sustaining the status quo, the debate over private vs public might indeed be moot. But, if we use higher education to accomplish higher ideals, as in experiments for realizing a better and more equitable world, the public could be best convinced that student demands are justified.
The battle over higher education in California is really a battle over the shape of the future, not just in California, but the country.
In downtown Seattle , people taking their children to visit Santa and riding the carousel. Young people are shopping, looking for Black Friday deals for the upcoming holidays. All of a sudden out of nowhere, military soldiers come running out with their arms pointed like guns and yelling for people to get down on the ground. The soldiers grab people standing by and throw them on the ground. The people on the ground are screaming and crying as the soldiers keep screaming at them, "Shut the Fuck Up, you fucking hadjis. You are nothing. Get the hell down." All the while the people on the ground are saying, " We didn't do anything, we love America . What did we do?" People passing by stop and begin taking pictures on their cellphone and a group of skateboarders laugh out of nervousness. Children are asking their parents about what is going on...
Tuesday, December 1, 8:00pm East Coast Time, President Obama is speaking at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to announce a troop increase to Afghanistan and escalation of the unjust and immoral war there.
This surge can only be stopped by sustained, independent political protest.
An AUC Berkeley police officer instructs activist B. Johnson to move her sign, which he claims violates a law that allows only signs 30 square inches to be displayed on campus property. Johnson then moved her wheelchair with the sign attached to a public sidewalk nearby. Staff photo Phil Pasquini
Continuing to publicly call for the firing and prosecution of "torture memo" author Prof. John Yoo, members of the World Can't Wait protested Sept. 3 on the Berkeley campus of the University of California where the former Bush administration attorney teaches a class in civil procedures...
By Cal Colgan | JColgan@flagler.edu
Illustration by Hahau Yisrael
Last month, Barack Obama became the third U.S. president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee lauded Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
But unlike the countless followers of the lunatic Glenn Beck who think that our 44th president is turning our country into Stalinist Russia, there is a more rational argument to be made against Obama's recent award.
The Nobel Peace Prize was given to a man who, like a character in a George Orwell novel, kills in the name of peace. And as much as his doublespeak would like to drown out the cries of the victims of the sinister cadre of human rights abusers and war criminals that he supports, anyone with an elementary knowledge of current events knows that Obama's hands are muddied by the muck his allies have thrown on the peoples of the world...
Seemingly out of nowhere, a horribly ugly assault on women and reproductive rights is happening right now at UC Berkeley. A Christian fundamentalist and Christian fascist road show calling itself the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform CBRMidwest [at] cbrinfo.org arrived at Sproul Plaza early this morning (Monday) to stage what it calls its "Genocide Awareness Project (GAP)." They state their mission is to "create debate" and "our main purpose is to disciple others to save lives." They appear from their websites to be a well-funded national campaign that is going to be travelling to campuses across the country; they see historically progressive (and pro-choice) UC Berkeley as especially crucial ground to take.
All All day Monday this anti-abortion/anti-women group covered Sproul Plaza with (according to one outraged eyewitness) "...an elaborate huge huge display of bloody fetus pictures, targeting Obama, comparing abortion to Nazi genocide and lynching in the old south, and sporting a picture of Mario Savio as its "free speech" centerpiece." This horrendous display looks like it cost huge bucks, and they had a crew of dozens of anti-abortion "disciples" including their own "documentary" film crew and both speaker types but also plenty of them walking through the crowd dressed in pink or purple, mostly older but some younger, trying to engage students in conversations about the "horrors" of abortion. Scott Horton Interviews Debra Sweet
Debra Sweet, National Director of World Can't Wait, discusses the post-Obama antiwar movement collapse, the strange confluence of The Feminist Majority and the Bush administration in selling the War in Afghanistan, the laughable notion that the Pentagon can be used to secure human rights, Afghan warlords allied with the Karzai government whose human rights records are no better than the Taliban's and how activists can make their voices heard on antiwar issues.
MP3 here. (25:46)
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The most blatant show of military and police force left protesters tear-gassed, subject to piercing sound, shot with rubber bullets, and not allowed to assemble, while the population of Pittsburgh was kept off the streets and rounded up along with people there to deliver messages of opposition to the G-20 ministers.
The week after our big protest at Boalt Hall (UC Berkeley Law) where we had confronted Torture Professor John Yoo himself, August 27 was the second day of classes for the main UC campus and World Can't Wait had called for another action. This time, we took to the campus crossroads of Sproul Plaza during the noon hour to be out among the students there. This demonstration - again protesting John Yoo's continued tenure at UC - was a great success. In fact everyone thought the action was so successful that on the spot we agreed to do it again the following week, which we did.
On the 27th about twenty of us did this action together from World Can't Wait and some faith-based activist friends (Pax Christi, St. Joseph the Worker church, School of the Americas Watch). And a man who had come because as a Korean American he felt especially moved to speak out against John Yoo. Overall we got a good response from many students and others. A lot of people got our flyers and signed up, during many good conversations. This openness -- the fact that people weren't avoiding political leaflets and activists like so many often do at Sproul -- was partly because it was the first week, but also partly due to other factors. A lot of students were gravitating to the people wearing jumpsuits on the ground, coming up to us, taking pics, asking what this was all about. Many of them didn't know who John Yoo is; when they found out, they were upset that a lawyer who helped set up the whole torture state is actually on campus teaching at the law school, but they were literally learning about this for the first time from us, just now. Others came up to talk, who knew more - many of them said they can't believe Yoo is still teaching, they had thought that he would've been fired by now.
Our hooded "detainees" posed standing or kneeling as others talked to students and gave out leaflets around them. The "detainees" were mostly silent, but a couple of them shouted to the crowd: "I have been here five years without a lawyer...why are you torturing my son?" and "John Yoo is a murderer, as guilty of torture as if he had performed the act himself." In spite of the campus cops' prohibition of a bullhorn, we managed to keep people aroused and interested.
We passed out flyers, had many opportunities for conversation and many signed out contact sheets to receive more information. A few of us from World Can't Wait worked with other volunteers and activists to hand out flyers and talk with students and others. A Brazilian student wants to be involved and stated that he's very against torture and is very familiar with what the U.S. did in supporting torturers in Latin America. A Pilipino student also talked about what the U.S. did in supporting torture and disappearances in his country. One woman representing an Asian-American student magazine was interested in interviewing Stephanie about John Yoo. And a young woman who'd been in the recent "tree sit" came to join us.
Later, a man joined our crew with his own home made "FIRE JOHN YOO" signs. He works at the labs on campus. He told us he was upset about Attorney General Eric Holder only aiming to prosecute the low level people, not the people that gave the orders or the lawyers like John Yoo. A woman from Wisconsin who was helping her daughter move into a dorm stated she was outraged about Yoo being on campus and Obama's attitude that people should only "look forward not back."
The next Thursday, September 3, was another great success! With 5 orange jump suited detainees, draped in chains, we returned to Sproul Plaza again. We handed out hundreds of flyers, and signed up more new supporters, including a couple who are ready to get involved. As with the week before, the predominant response was curiosity, and often too amazement that someone like John Yoo would be teaching law at UCB.
One of our greatest challenges is to educate a population of students, many of whom seem largely ignorant of world affairs and how the United States promotes its "Dr. Evil"-like policies throughout the world. One of us said later: "Only one person I talked to argued that it is good to have people like John Yoo at the university because it shows that we value diversity of opinions. He quickly backtracked when I told him it isn't a question of John Yoo's opinions, but his actions as a member of the Bush administration -actions that directly facilitated the torture of thousands of people. Another person argued that 'interrogations' can be necessary to extract information that will protect Americans. This person really thought that American lives were more valuable than the lives of other people around the world."
The highlight of the day was when a big group of Latino high school kids from San Jose walked up. They were touring the campus with their teachers. Right at that moment, one of our people was being harassed by the campus police because the cops claimed that her sign was larger than UCPD regulations. Our friend wasn't about to lay down her sign, and said she did not mind being charged with a ticket, but then the cops threatened to confiscate the sign to be used as evidence against her. She still said she would not give up her sign. An attorney with the National Lawyers Guild stood by to protect the rights of the protestor should she get arrested. Eventually she decided to go to the public area in front of the plaza with her oversized "super picket" and one of the "detainees."
A teacher with the Latino students asked for an explanation of what was going on. They gathered around Rafael from World Can't Wait for a quick orientation about what our protest was about. They listened and learned who John Yoo is, what he had done and why the police were trying to stop our message from getting out. One young woman student called out, "Let's start a chant, what should we say?" "No torture," was suggested which they all started chanting, with another student also yelling out "Fire John Yoo! Fire John Yoo!" Finally as the police started to leave, we all started chanting "Police go home!" Not surprisingly the high school students all got really into that one.
Serious protests and a climate and culture of resistance are what's required now, bold and frequent and growing. Whether protest takes the form of marching or holding speakouts and press conferences, going among students with challenging information and calls to action, or organizing debates and programs, more and more people have to take part in challenging the entire university community over the presence of this war criminal. John Yoo must be fired, disbarred, and prosecuted for war crimes. The world can't wait.
> Warped Tour is the only summer concert > tour of its kind > around, not only in terms of punk rock music, but in terms > of being a > concentration point of a certain rural/suburban demographic > that the military > has its eyes on and in the many cases already has its hands > on. Warped tour is also a > concentration of a lot > of what is good about the culture today - the > rebelliousness, including against > religion, as expressed by bands like Bad Religion, NOFX, > and Anti-flag - and also a lot of > what is bad, and even downright dangerous. > There is the huge following that conservative > Christian bands like Under > Oath have. There is the > omnipresent > macho bullshit and the total lack of standards when it > comes to the treatment > of women. There is a growing > contingent > of youth who spew Fox News talking points as if they were > facts. And there is an overall > ignorance, including > among those who dislike military recruiters, about the > causes and effects of U.S. wars in Iraq > and Afghanistan . > > > > With all that in mind, we hit two > stops on the Warped tour, San Francisco and Mountain > View . Here are > some of the highlights from each. > > > > San Francisco > > > > Even though our booth was right next > to the communists from > Revolution Books, we attracted more controversy by > far. In fact we spent a good > portion of the day in > debates with pro-military people. > There > was one older white guy, who claimed he was there with his > kids, who spent the > entire day next to our booth trying to egg people on > against us. This was both good > and bad. On the one hand, we > were able to draw forward > a lot of the spectators to sign up with us by exposing how > full of shit the > reactionaries were, including the fact that some of them > were also Christian > fascists who thought these were holy wars against > Islam. And we were sometimes > able to sow divisions > among them, like when two military guys approached us and > by the time they left > the one who was about to deploy to Iraq was thinking about > being a > conscientious objector and the other one was trying to grab > the GI rights > hotline card out of his hand. > On the > other hand, we often weren't able to pay the kind of > attention we needed to the > people who agreed with us. > > > > The pro-military people, some of whom > were vets/active-duty > and some of whom were just right wing youth, would come at > us with all the > typical arguments: Iraq is harboring terrorists... we're > there to keep you safe... > we're there so you can have the freedom to have this > booth... we're building > schools and hospitals... I didn't support the war, but > you have to support the > troops... yeah, murder, rape, and torture are happening, > but that's war... yeah > there's rape in the military, and that's why women > shouldn't be in the > military... you don't know the situation, you don't > know what happened before > that picture, that person's probably a terrorist > (pointing at the pictures from > Abu-Ghraib that we had displayed)... you must be an Obama > supporter and watch > CNN... what about all the Americans they've > beheaded...what if your buddy was > beheaded... > > > > That's some of the flavor of > it. A lot of their arguments > about the horrors of > what the "terrorists" have done to Americans I would > just answer with the > simple, "who invaded who?" > I also kept > returning to the basic points about both of these wars > being based on lies and > being wars of aggression waged for imperialist > domination. Some of the military > people who came up to > the table were more curious than hostile, but because of > the reactionaries > hanging out by the table egging them on (you know they hate > the troops), things > got heated right away. I found > myself > repeating over and over again, "just because you join the > military doesn't mean > you lose your ability to think critically." > A couple of different active duty Coast Guard folks > came up to the table > at different times and talked about how they were against > the war and just > wanted to do search and rescue missions. > We talked about how the Coast Guard also specializes > in anti-immigrant > operations and, as a part of the U.S. > military, can be called on to do anything they want, > including wage war (which > is what happened during Vietnam ). > A number of veterans signed up with us, > including one Native American veteran who attends Stanford > now, considers > himself a socialist, and wants to be part of the We are not > your soldiers > tour. > > > > One other really positive factor was > the fact that we had > two students from Hayward > High School in our > crew. When they called on other > high > school students in the crowd to join the youth movement to > get recruiters out > of our schools, it had a powerful effect. > There were also a number of other friends of theirs > who were at the > concert who hung around the booth most of the day, creating > a lively scene and > the feeling of a movement. > > > > Mountain View > > > > We didn't stir up as much > controversy on this stop as the > last one. For one thing, it was > on a > weekday (instead of a Saturday) and so the crowd was > younger, with far fewer > people with articulated right wing arguments. > Also, a lot of the bands that attract more > radical-minded youth, like > Anti-flag and Bad Religion, were not playing. > Another negative factor was the fact that our booth > was right across > from a very loud (they had a DJ and an amplified setup) and > obnoxious "Truth" > booth - the anti-smoking people. > Nonetheless, we managed to get out hundreds of > flyers and sign up dozens > of people. > > > > The most common response of those > coming up to sign up at > the table was, "Is this against military recruiters? I fucking hate the > recruiters!" The challenge was > trying to turn that into > organization for October 6, the national day of resistance > to military > recruiters (also the 8th anniversary of war in > Afghanistan ). One high school > student from Fremont said that he and his friend were > already planning an antiwar protest sometime soon. As it turns out, his friend's > brother just > came back from Iraq > and committed suicide. Two > young women > who came up to the booth told us that military guys are > always coming into the > store where they work and arguing with them about the war, > bragging about how > they get to blow things up. > Another > young woman came up to the booth and thanked us for being > here and wants to > hook up with the We are not your soldiers tour; her cousin > died last year in Iraq . A young > guy who is doing Warped tour with > PETA, got a We are not your soldiers bandana and told us > about how he helped > get the recruiters off his college campus in Illinois last > year. One woman from a small > town near Sacramento came up to us > and took a picture of our sign that says "Shut down the > military recruiters!" and > sent it by text to her brother in the Army. > Her brother texted back, "Then they can leave this > country." She took some flyers > so she could have more > ideological ammo to use against her "brainwashed" > brother. Her other friends that > came with her are into > straight edge vegan hardcore. > When they > want to have fun they play "anarchist capture the > flag," - in other words, > going around and ripping off as many flags as they can find > and burning > them. At the end, the young > woman with > the hardcore friends told me she's a Jehova's Witness, > and encouraged me to > read the Bible. This was all > part of the > (very contradictory) scene at Warped tour. > > > > > Overall, I think we did some > good. We found the youth who > hate the recruiters, gave > them some more (and better) reasons to hate them, and gave > them a vehicle to > act (hopefully) on October 6. We were > able to draw out the better sentiments of the average > concertgoer who didn't > know much about the war and didn't really have an opinion > about the recruiters, > but after talking with us was pretty sure that they > weren't going to join. Only a > couple people tried to argue that Afghanistan is > the "good war," but didn't have any substance to back > it up. There was very little > pro-Obama sentiment.
