Leonard Peltier Clemency Campaign
Now that Mark Felt has revealed himself as "Deep Throat," is is time to renew interest in Peltier's case. During the 1970's, Felt was in charge of FBI activities directed against AIM. While Felt may have performed a minor public service in confirming information for Woodward and Bernstein, he should not be portrayed as a hero by any means. Felt did nothing to bring Nixon down; Nixon's own criminal activities were what brought him down. Leonard Peltier has been imprisoned for more than 25 years for the deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 26, 1975, despite the fact that the U.S. Government has admitted it does not know who really killed the agents. Write, call, fax or e-mail President Bush and ask that Peltier be granted executive clemency. Also, write or call Senator Arlen Specter, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, United States Senate, 224 Dirkson Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510. Phone: 202-224-5225 Fax; 202-224-9102. For extensive info on Peltier's case, visit the Peltier Defense Committee. And, as always, it is very important to contact your own congressional representatives.
President George W. Bush, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington DC 20050 Phone: 202-456-1111 Fax: 202-456-2461.
Vote to impeach President Bush!
The anti-war movement has now inaugurated a campaign to impeach George W. Bush and other senior U.S. government officials for their criminal conduct. The planned war against Iraq and the destruction of constitutionally protected rights at home are the grounds for impeachment.
The articles of impeachment, drafted by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, are the basis for a grassroots effort to remove Bush from office as we organize to stop the war. Please visit the site http://www.VoteToImpeach.org and cast your vote to Impeach Bush. Let your family members, friends and co-workers learn about the movement to impeach George Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Stop all U.S. financial and military aid to the brutal Israeli government!
By Jamie York
Imagine, if you can, the U.S. Army bulldozers coming into YOUR neighborhhood.
Imagine the horror on your children's faces as the bulldozers raze your house, then your neighbor's house. Imagine the entire neighborhood razed to the ground so that settlers from other nations may build their homes where yours used to be. Imagine the same thing happening in neighborhood after neighborhood, day after day, year after year.
Imagine your anger and resentment toward the government that would allow such violations of basic human rights to continue. Would you come to hate your oppressors so much that you, too, would strap on a bomb and walk into a crowded restaurant, killing as many oppressors as possible?
Imagine, then, that the U.S. Army begins systematically bombing the remaining cities and refugee camps located on areas of land that supposedly belong to you and your newly elected government. You have no tanks or jet fighters. Your only defense against the attackers are small arms, home-made bombs, and stones. What would YOU do? Give up? What if the Minutemen had given up in the Revolutionary War?
Those of us in the U.S. who count many people of the Jewish faith as our friends know that this is not about the Jewish people, but is about the Zionist leadership of Israel and their belief in Jewish purity. They have created a segregated social structure -- backed up by military rule, apartheid, and the ongoing construction of a massive "security fence" -- and have forced millions of Palestinians from their homes and into exile. This is what U.S. aid to Israel is supporting and it must be stopped. In the words of poet Mahmud Darweesh,
My father once said:
He who has no country
Has no grave on earth;
And asked me not to leave.
The U.S. government is doing everything possible to portray the Palestinians as fanatics and terrorists and the Israelis as innocent victims acting in self-defense, but terrorism is terrorism, whether it comes from a jetliner flown into a building, a bulldozer razing Palestinian homes to make room for Jewish settlers, a suicide bomber detonating her bomb in a crowded restaurant, a military occupation of Palestine, the targeting of Afghan civilians, or even by the stroke of a President's pen signing the reactionary USA Patriot Act into law. The only way to end terrorism is to create a world that functions on the principle of justice for all. Not a single U.S. dollar should be helping to fund Israel's terrorism against the nearly defenseless Palestinians. Israel and Palestine both have a right to exist, but there will be no peace in the region or anywhere in the world until the two sides can meet on equal terms and discuss the situation as rational human beings. U.S. military and financial aid to Israel tips the balance of power and directly supports the brutal Israeli military occupation and re-occupation of Palestine. If we want to end the violence in the Middle East and greatly reduce the threat of terrorism everywhere in the world, then we need to halt all financial aid and arms sales to Israel, get out of Afghanistan, and stop threatening Iraq.
Without economic and social justice everywhere, there will be no peace anywhere. After the criminal attacks on 9/11, President Bush declared war on some vague, undefined practice of "terrorism." Rather than trying to promote economic and social justice on our small planet, the President made it easy for other nations to justify the claim that they, too, are acting against terrorism in their own countries. The result of all of this is a cycle of violence that may never end.
Make your voice heard. Contact your congressional representatives; write letters to editors; organize teach-ins at your schools.
Farm Aid Action Alert: Mad Cow Disease Update: Why is the USDA blocking meat companies that want to test for mad cow disease?
The New York Times reported on April 10 that the USDA refused to allow a small Kansas-based beef processing plant to test all of its cattle for mad cow disease. The USDA also denied a request by another small company, Gateway Beef Cooperative of Missouri, to test its cattle for Mad Cow Disease.
Take Action today to save family farms and secure a safe food supply!
ACTION 1: Call or email USDA Secretary Mike Johanns today and demand that the USDA stop bullying small beef companies and ranchers who want to do what's best for consumers and the cattle industry. Tell him that you want the USDA to support efforts by meat packing companies who want to test its beef and open exports. Call him today: 202-720-3631 or send him an email at agsec@usda.gov.
ACTION 2: Please forward this alert to your colleagues and friends and ask them to take action to protect our food supply. If you are not on Farm Aid's email list, please go to www.farmaid.org and register today for future alerts.
Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, one of the smallest beef processors in the country, wanted to test all of its cattle as a way to re-open its beef exports to Japan. Japan, which stopped importing U.S. beef following the discovery of a cow that was slaughtered and tested positive for mad cow disease last December, has demanded testing as a condition to begin importing U.S. beef. The USDA also denied a request by another small company, Gateway Beef Cooperative of Missouri, to test its cattle for mad cow disease.
The closing down of beef exports is having a serious economic impact on family farm beef producers. The suspension of U.S. Beef exports to Japan is costing American beef producers $1.5 billion per year. Creekstone, a small company by comparison, is losing $200,000 per day. Why is the USDA blocking a company that wants to take the extra step of making sure its product is safe in response to consumer demand? Why would the USDA prevent a company from using agency-approved testing methods to open exports
Farm Aid Calls for Immediate Ban on Downed Animals and Enforcement
of Ruminant Feed Ban to Ensure Safety of Nation's Food Supply
Following the recent discovery of a cow infected with Mad Cow Disease in Washington state, Farm Aid is calling for an immediate ban on the acceptance of downed cattle at U.S. feedlots and slaughterhouses and firm enforcement of the current ban on ruminant feed. Mark Smith, Campaign Director of Farm Aid, the national family farm advocacy organization, issued the following statement: "The reported discovery of Mad Cow Disease in the United States is both a wake-up call and an opportunity to take positive steps to ensure that our food system is safe and secure. The government must act, and act quickly. We call on members of Congress, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Bush Administration to take immediate and effective actions to safeguard our food. First, Congress should act quickly to pass the Downed Animal Protection Act (S.1298) to ensure that sick and "downed" animals do not enter the food system. Second, as a minimum, the United States Department of Agriculture must ensure absolute compliance with the ban on ruminant feed in the livestock industry. Further, Congress should initiate legislation that bans the feeding of any animal by-products to other farm animals. "Family farmers and ranchers will bear the economic brunt of this latest development--exports already have been closed, and grain prices have tumbled. U.S. policy makers must act now to ensure the future of our farmers and the safety of consumers." For more information call Mark Smith at Farm Aid: 617-967-4578.