http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/ en Copyright 2008 2008-06-16T01:50:00-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/obamas_pick_for_economic_advisor_is_one_of_the_chicago_boyz/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/obamas_pick_for_economic_advisor_is_one_of_the_chicago_boyz/#When:01:50:00Z You know, the purveyors of Friedmanesque orthodoxy that has had genocidal consequences wherever it has been applied. Chile during the Pinochet regime’s rule would be one of the more notoriously brutal exemplars - those first years of the regime (1973-1976) merit its inclusion in Genocide Watch’s list of genocides since 1945 to the present. That said, the more insidious genocidal features of neoliberalism have largely been organizational and structural in nature: violent in their effects, but not as salient in public discourse as massacres. Subcomandante Marcos referred to NAFTA in a 1994 interview as a “death sentence” for the campesinos in his nation1. In fact, Marcos went on to say,“NAFTA sets up competition among farmers, but how can our campesinos - who are mostly illiterate - compete with US and Canadian farmers? And look at this rocky land we have here. How can we compete with the land in California, or in Canada? So the people of Chiapas, as well as the people of Oaxaca, Veracruz, Quintana Roo, Guerrero, and Sonora were the sacrificial lambs of NAFTA.” Indeed, the subsequent 14 years have borne out his concerns, as imported produce flooded the markets, forcing campesinos to abandon their plots and become among the mass numbers of displaced people (many of whom then risk life and limb attempting to cross the border into the US). Similarly, as I’ve noted, manufacturing laborers also took a severe hit as jobs were outsourced to China. Although the effects of neoliberal orthodoxy have been far less visible in the US, we can note its effects here in the land of milk and honey as well - increased poverty, homelessness, decreased quality of life for all but a relative few multimillionaires and billionaires. Although Obama talks a good game when it comes to “change” - given his choices in Congress and on the current campaign trail, it’s just talk. He’s certainly not about to change nearly three decades of neoliberal orthodoxy that has governed the US in its domestic programs and international relations. Rather, expect more of the same, merely with a happier facade. 1. Benjamin, Medea (1995). Interview: Subcomandante Marcos. In E. Katzenberger (Ed.), First World, Ha Ha Ha! The Zapatista Challenge. San Francisco: City Lights. Politics 2008-06-16T01:50:00-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/no_one_is_living_now_in_my_country/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/no_one_is_living_now_in_my_country/#When:03:20:00Z A poem by Juan Bañuelos For the tortured and assassinated Indios and campesinos Imprisoned country Turbulent Clamoring Grieving It’s not the light It’s the smoke that awakens with the viscera of dust in its hands It’s the rotten rust exhaled by the disappeared It’s the children who play with skeletons It’s the moon that can discern all the tortured by their own terror And on the edges of eyelids ulcers of hunger Suddenly our language spits out the gravedigger’s liquor assassins shout through the anus obsidian winds sweep away the saltpeter the haze the red vapor of the massacre the last second preceding enlightenment Let the sun set itself in motion Let the heavens never again fall upon the earth widows scream sheltering our foreheads with thin mouths and the dead eye of the moon The hummingbird’s egg: an aurora borealis There is a faraway country so turbulent so great And yet again so far Note: This poem was translated by Barbara Paschke, for the book First World, Ha Ha Ha! The Zapatista Challenge (1995). HumanRights 2008-06-14T03:20:00-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/anniversaries/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/anniversaries/#When:07:35:00Z Earlier this week marked the 19th anniversary of this famous Tiananmen Square moment: Props to Kai for the reminder, and for the above photo. She also offers up a few lines that I think are more than well-worth sharing: ...it symbolizes the courage to stand up to the power of the machine, everywhere in the world, but especially right in one’s own country. Whenever we speak out against imperialism, corporatism, militarism, we’re that guy standing in front of those tanks. But we’re not alone. By the time of the student protests taking place in China in 1989, the government had already abandoned Maoism, and could only be called “communist” in name only as its leadership had embraced neoliberal economics. What that ended up meaning was “freedom” only in the sense of commerce, rather than in the sense that was of interest to the Tiananmen Square protesters (i.e., freedom of movement, of imagination, of choice). At the time, I was a 20-something anarchist who found much to admire in what these protesters where doing. A year later, I would stumble upon a book of poetry by Bei Dao, The August Sleepwalker (an anthology published by New Directions, 1990), that can perhaps be thought of as Chinese Existentialist literature. It seemed serendipitous to find the book right around that anniversary, and there was so much to treasure in that one slender volume. To give you an idea, here’s an English translation of a poem he wrote after the 1976 Tiananmen Square protests, “The Answer” (p. 33): Debasement is the password of the base. Nobility is the epitaph of the noble. See how the gilded sky is covered With the drifting twisted shadows of the dead. The Ice Age is over now. Why is there ice everywhere? The Cape of Good Hope has been discovered. Why do a thousand sails contest the Dead Sea? I came into this world Bringing only paper, rope, a shadow, To proclaim before the judgement The voice that has been judged: Let me tell you world, I - do - not - believe! If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet, Count me as number one thousand and one. I don’t believe the sky is blue; I don’t believe in thunder’s echoes; I don’t believe that dreams are false; I don’t believe that death has no revenge. If the sea is destined to breach the dikes Let all the brackish water pour into my heart; If the land is destined to rise Let humanity choose a peak for existence again. A new conjunction and glimmering stars Adorn the unobstructed sky now; They are the pictographs from five thousand years. They are the watchful eyes of future generations. I come back to this moment in history nearly two decades older, perhaps more steeped in Situationist and Zapatista thought than anarchy per se. In that photo, I see the sort of action that would inspire the Zapatista uprising in 1994 (which has met with a far better fate thus far), which in turn would spawn various other anti-globalism and anti-authoritarian actions. That moment has had something of a ripple effect - one which we’ll be watching and hopefully participating in for some time to come. Food for thought. Cross-posted from The Mahatma X Files. 2008-06-07T07:35:00-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/will_alexander_benefit_in_sf/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/will_alexander_benefit_in_sf/#When:20:44:01Z 2007-11-29T20:44:01-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/bravery/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/bravery/#When:04:32:00Z There may be 10 to 20,000 of them, instead of one - but they are still standing in front of a tank.  , Myanmar police, soldiers deployed to pagodas and monasteries Agence France-Presse Last updated 10:34am (Mla time) 09/26/2007 YANGON—Military-ruled Myanmar deployed armed soldiers and riot police to key pagodas and monasteries around Yangon on Wednesday, in a bid to prevent Buddhist monks from staging anti-junta protests, witnesses said. Also during the night, Myanmar’s most famous comedian Zaganar, who had publicly thrown his support behind the monks, was arrested at his home, a friend told AFP. “Zaganar was arrested around 1:30 am at his home,” because he brought food and water to the monks to support the protests, a friend told AFP. Zaganar, along with other prominent movie stars and artists, had vocally urged the public to support the monks leading the most serious protests against the military regime in nearly two decades. On Monday and Tuesday, he delivered food and water to monks as they prepared for their protests that drew 100,000 people into the streets. Protesters defy junta (The Hindu) The barefoot art of war (Salon) Not my area of expertise, but I would say this is shaping up to be an unstoppable event - my hopes are with it having a good outcome. [update: 9/26 4;30pm] Police Clash With Monks in Myanmar collection of links from Kai Marisacat also has an excellent pulling together of news reports and events.  Burma, Activism, Area, Burma, Myanmar, HumanRights, IntheNews, Buddhist Monks 2007-09-26T04:32:00-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/whoa_and_i_bet_you_thought_your_boss_was_bad/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/whoa_and_i_bet_you_thought_your_boss_was_bad/#When:01:26:01Z Might be time to count your blessings.  Boss Killed Employees After They Asked For Raise FULTON COUNTY, Ga.—Police say a business owner who was having financial problems shot and killed two of his employees after they asked him for a raise. The suspect in the murders, 38-year-old Rolandas Milinavicius, turned himself in to East Point authorities Saturday. Officials said Milinavicius was the victims’ boss. East Point police said Milinavicius confessed to the killings. Officials said he told them he was under a lot of stress because of heavy debts with his business. Milinavicius told authorities conversations in recent weeks with his only two employees about pay raises pushed him over the edge. [...] A 28-year-old man and 25-year-old woman had been shot to death. Jeebus.  IntheNews 2007-07-31T01:26:01-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/send_a_net_save_a_life/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/send_a_net_save_a_life/#When:16:12:00Z An emergency appeal from Nothing But Nets, a grassroots organization that sends insecticide treated bed nets to affected areas in Africa. Here is part of an overview of the crisis: Armed movements, including fighting spreading from the Darfur region of Sudan (neighboring Chad to the East), have forced over 200,000 Chadians from their homes in recent months, and send them flooding into refugee camps on the Chad-Sudan border, particularly around Goz Beida, a major refugee host area. Displaced from their homes, these Chadians face a growing threat…from a tiny mosquito. In June the rainy season arrived – with malaria following right behind. As the climate gets wetter, disease transmission will rise sharply and continue on through November. The sudden influx of Chadians into refugee camps has left tens of thousands of people highly vulnerable to malaria. [...] The challenge is urgent—without outside assistance, officials estimate 25% of these internally displaced people will die from malaria. To save lives, we need to send 40,000 nets in the next six weeks. Go here to see how you can help. via UN Dispatch ActionItems, Activism, DisasterRelief 2007-07-25T16:12:00-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/my_heart_goes_out_to_the_family_of_david_ritcheson/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/my_heart_goes_out_to_the_family_of_david_ritcheson/#When:06:18:00Z i had posted this on my own blog, but as my readers consist of me...and, well, me, i thought i’d post it over here as well.  during a time when the immigration issue is flying around like yesterday’s “GAY MARRIAGE causes FLAG BURNING which leads to ABORTION and ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS” (i’m sure i’ve forgotten something) issues and hate groups are increasing in number spawning more hate crimes… i’m SO deeply saddened by this story… ...I had to face the fact that I had been targeted for violence in a brutal crime because of my ethnicity.  This crime took place in middle-class America in the year 2006. The reality that hate is alive, strong, and thriving in the cities, towns, and cul-de-sacs of Suburbia, America was a surprise to me.  America is the country I love and call home.  However, the hate crime committed against me illustrates that we are still, in some aspects, a house divided. i almost don’t know what to say.  this is the type of story that just hurts to read.  it brought matthew shepard to mind immediately, though i held out hope for this victim.  he’d survived. on april 23, 2006, two skinheads, david tuck, 19, and keith turner, 18, brutally attacked a 16 year old hispanic boy.  he’d once been the running back for the football team, the freshman homecoming prince, had a girlfriend.  sent to an alternative school for fighting, he said he’d never really fit in there.  on the night of april 22, he and gus sons, a boy he’d met in the alternative school, met up with david tuck and keith turner and returned to gus sons’ house.  “partying”, they drank vodka, smoked pot, did some coke, took xanax.  while it is believed that the crime was premeditated, they (tuck and turner) used the pretext that they believed the boy had stolen some drugs and tried to kiss gus sons’ 12 year old sister to initiate what would be an hour long, vicious attack. they dragged the boy outside.  punched him.  kicked him repeatedly in the head with steel toed boots.  stripped him.  burned him 17 times with cigarettes.  tried to carve a swastika into his chest.  poured bleach on his face and body.  yelling ethnic slurs, david tuck kicked an outdoor umbrella pole up into the boy’s rectum, severely damaging his internal organs.  gus sons never stopped the attack, nor did he call an ambulance.  the boy lay naked, broken and bleeding, in the backyard, until gus sons’ mother called the police hours later.  (gus sons would later apologize, during his testimony against both attackers.) the boy would spend the next three months and eight days in the hospital, mostly in critical care.  he’d endure 30 surgeries, with even more to come. he returned to school in the fall of 2006.  at first, he looked forward to being with his friends and returning to a “normal” life, yet he felt overwhelmed by the realization that everyone knew who he was.  he was “the kid”.  in an april 2007 interview with the houston chronicle, he talks about how it was “degrading”, how he can’t say the “s word” (sodomy), and how he’s trying to deal with it “by not thinking about it”.  he’d declined psychological counseling. on april 17, 2007, david ritcheson, the victim of this brutal hate crime, testified before congress in support of the “local law enforcement hate crimes prevention act”.  under current law, the fbi had no grounds to investigate the attack, because it occurred in a private yard.  to be a “hate crime”, it had to occur in a place of public access.  this is what david wanted changed.  “I appear before you as a survivor...I am here before you today asking that our government take the lead in deterring individuals like those who attacked me from committing unthinkable and violent crimes against others because of where they are from, the color of their skin, the God they worship, the person they love, or the way they look, talk or act.” on may 3, 2007, the house voted 237 to 180 in favor of the ”local law enforcement hate crimes prevention act”, also known as ”the matthew shepard act”.  it will now go on to be voted on by the senate, though president gw bush has indicated that he may veto the bill. on july 1, 2007, david ritcheson jumped to his death from a carnival cruise ship headed to cozumel. there are no words to express how saddened i am by david’s death.  may his parents, friends, and community someday find peace. below, read david ritcheson’s testimony before congress… IntheNews, Politics 2007-07-02T06:18:00-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/us_citizen_deported_by_the_us_for_looking_foreign/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/us_citizen_deported_by_the_us_for_looking_foreign/#When:01:46:00Z Via Steven D at the Booman Tribune comes this ridiculous (and possibly tragic) story. And, as belledame points out, it’s almost a case of fact imitating fiction.  Reuters: ACLU spokesman Michael Soller said 29-year-old Pedro Guzman was serving a 120-day sentence in a Los Angeles jail for trespassing when he was deported to Tijuana, Mexico, on May 10 or May 11 for an alleged immigration violation. The group’s suit filed in U.S. District Court seeks to have the deportation order suspended and for the U.S. government to help locate Guzman. Guzman, who was born in Los Angeles and lived about 70 miles north in Lancaster with his mother, could barely read and write, Soller said. He did not know his phone number and kept his brother’s telephone number on a piece of paper. But the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in a written statement denied Guzman’s deportation, which followed immigration checks at the jail, was improper. “ICE only processes persons for removal when all available credible evidence suggests the person is an alien,” ICE officials said. “That process was followed here and ICE has no reason to believe that it improperly removed Pedro Guzman.” [....] The only telephone call Guzman made came shortly after his deportation, on May 11 and was received by his sister in law, Soller said. “The last thing she heard him do was ask someone nearby ‘Where am I?’ and then the line went dead,” Soller said. Guzman has not been heard from since and is assumed lost in Mexico. DepartmentofOddThings, HumanRights, IntheNews 2007-06-13T01:46:00-08:00 http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/kennedy_families_pay_the_price_for_failed_system/ http://www.humanbeams.com/index.php/hbcommunity/comments/kennedy_families_pay_the_price_for_failed_system/#When:03:12:00Z They apparently name this mess “Operation Return to Sender”. How… cute.  Boston Herald All over New Bedford on Tuesday, hundreds of women and men woke up, kissed their children goodbye and left for another day of work at Michael Bianco Inc. They knew it would be a grueling day because there was no other kind of day in the sweatshop-like conditions of the factory. But they were willing to work hard and without complaint because they believed in the American Dream, in which hard work creates a hope for a better life - if not for them, then for their children. What happened next was a tragic example of the desperate state of our current immigration policy. Hundreds of armed police and immigration officers raided the factory, creating panic among the workers. They handcuffed unarmed men and women in the same factory where the workers had already known nothing but indignity at the hands of their employer. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was ready with hundreds of officers to subdue a group of frightened workers, they were woefully unprepared to deal with the aftermath of their own raid. The DHS knew that it would be detaining young parents, and yet had no effective plan to identify and help the children who would be left alone. The photographs of bewildered, crying children told with eloquence the story of a government operation distinguished by its callousness. HumanRights, Law, IntheNews, Politics, sillyfolks, Women 2007-03-12T03:12:00-08:00