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via: Derek Blackadder email:

74 entries from around the world are now being vetted by our panel of judges. Soon they will have their shortlist of finalists out and the final ranking will done by LabourStart’s readers using an online voting system.

Inevitably, some very fine videos won’t make it onto the list of finalists. Don’t miss any. You can see all the nominated videos here:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/lvoty/viewnominatedvideos.cgi


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Derek Blackadder
LabourStart Canada
www.LabourStart.org
www.UnionBook.org
blackadderonline.blogspot.com/
705-930-3724
Skype, Flickr and Twitter: dblackadder

State Rep. Al Pscholka introduced EFM bill -
let’s just come out with it: FOR WHIRLPOOL

The following is a very astute reader comment from the Michigan Messenger article.
http://michiganmessenger.com/48278/benton-harbor-emergency-manager-strips-power-from-all-elected-officials

No one seems to have noticed who introduced this bill. It was Rep Al Pscholka [517- 373-1403; represents St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, of course]

Please keep these dates in mind: April of 2010. Governor Granholm assigns an EFM to Benton Harbor. The EFM draws up a plan that if followed would have eliminated the City Manager and elected officials.

January 4, 2011. The City Commission of Benton Harbor votes to “take back the power given to them by the voters” and passes a resolution stripping the EFM of his authority.

January 5, 2011. Rep Al Pscholka sends a letter to now Governor Snyder requesting that the EFM be restored to Benton Harbor, saying the elected officials had no authority to do what they did. Apparently, it was realized that the regulations governing how and what an EFM can do were not sufficient, because on

February 8, 2011. Rep Al Pscholka introduced the new EFM legislation, which was passed and now signed by the governor, and which gives the EFM the authority to dissolve elected commissions.

Rich developers in St. Joseph have been itching to get their hands on the last bits of the Michigan lakefront belonging to the poor, majority black city of Benton Harbor. First they grabbed most of what used to be Jean Klock Park to build a Jack Nicklaus golf course. Now they want the rest of the park because a very valuable water system belonging to Benton Harbor is located there. Artesian wells, and all. I just wonder if the ink is already dry on that new EFM order for Benton Harbor?

2 more comments:
Wow- so this is all basically to facilitate a taking? Catering to the wealthy that want the lands for themselves? Will they squeeze the poorer land owners out? Pull one of the eminent domain kind of maneuvers?

What this means is that voters have ZERO representation in local government. The EFM answers to no-one but Snyder. A city government at least answers to it’s voters. This power grab is turning voter’s rights on their head and is most likely for the benefit of corporations who will reap lucrative contracts from the EFM at the expense of the mostly black Benton Harbor residents. Recall Snyder. He is toxic for the state of Michigan.

http://BHBANCO.org

The Bahraini regime has set up Facebook page in which it posts images of people its targeting, and it asks its loyalists to recognize by name the people joining in demonstrations.

Names are handed down to security forces at checkpoints in lists they carry. If your name is on that list, subsequent action is taken by the forces…

We are trying to make as many people as possible report these page as abusive, so these can be taken down by Facebook.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could report these pages, if you have an account, or if you could enlist others to help in this cause. These people do not deserve to be hunted down in such a manner. It is a shameful use of technology.

1) Go to the page: http://www.facebook.com/AL5wana
2) Click Report Page (on the left side of the page)
3) And Select Contains hate speech or attacks an individual , then select Targets a religious group (for the lack of a better option)

Syed.
Al-Quds Committee

I was on the mall that day
when this young man took the oath
with all the ladies ram rod straight
in their formal hats and coats.

My vote was for Cynthia
but I wanted to be
in a place where Black celebrated
its historic victory.

The crowd was impressive, a million strong
as it stood in silent hope
that a page had been turned and change had come
to a nation on a suicidal rope.

I waited like all the rest
for any indication
that this man and his team were more
than just another financial creation.

Now, I’m a white boy with
an Irish Catholic fixation
but this regime has been a train wreck
for my working class nation.

Yes, President Obama,
I pledge to be
as competitive as a Chinese slave
in a Hunan factory?

It’s true
The right can’t stand his colored face
and attack him daily
with Fox News setting the pace.

But his identity
Ain’t good enough for me
and I won’t stay silent
in the face of this travesty.

I knew you wanted to kill Afghans
to show you’re not George Bush;
but then you killed Pakistanis with predator drones
deep in the Hindu Kush.

Oh yes, the intelligent President
how comparatively wonderful you sound
as you bomb and strafe civilians
on yet another foreign ground.

With Summers and Geithner
you signaled your economic stance
as the rest of us lost our homes and jobs
thanks to the bankers you finance.

We know you love the Arabs.
It’s just that their land is an exception.
If Israel wants to settle it,
you veto its protection.

Then there are the Saudis
a friend most fundamental
who occupy Bahrain
cuz with our 5th fleet, it’s elemental.

Now Japan is all radiated
with the type of nukes you back
are you really fucking serious?
you pathetic GE hack.

You made us all nervous
when you renewed indefinite detention,
but Guantanamo’s promised closure,
egads, you forgot to even mention.

But, all your hope, all your change quotations
evaporated for me
when you stripped Private Bradley Manning
of his humanity.

You cited the Pentagon’s “basic standards”
to dismiss P.J. Crowley’s claim
but you failed to mention their origin
where Abu Ghraib made its name.

I want you to resign
like LBJ did that day
when he told Americans sick of war
the political game he wouldn’t play.

There were a hundred thousand
in Madison just the other day
and even though you ignored it
they ain’t going away.

You’re too young to remember
why capital made a pact
there was industrial warfare
and labor was on the attack.

Now your Republican allies
are reversing all state protection
but these short sighted losers
don’t even see the connection.

It wasn’t for labor
that capital made the deal
many of these protections were aimed to calm
the working class’ zeal.

Now, there are new leaders out there
and they will make us proud
when we tell them to step up and lead
our newly politicized crowd.

There is no doubt about it
the right wing will eat itself
but you are no alternative
just a never-been on the shelf.

Dan Leahy

3/16/11

Israel bombs Gaza
for twenty-four days
Inaugurating Obama’s silence
as a policy phase.

Tunisians rebel
Who Cares for that state?
Ben Ali lives well in
his Saudi estate.

Egyptians rebel
Mubarak kills hundreds, yet silence is golden
Can’t we get back to what’s normal?
After all, we’re beholden.

Libyans rebel
Gadaffi on the slaughter but now silence is broken
Violence, says Obama, the Afghan assassin,
is an unacceptable notion.

Aircraft carrier with 400 marines
War ships through the Suez
No fly assault is on the table
The military machine’s oil
is now unstable!

Freeze Gadaffi’s assets.
What about Goldman Sachs?
At least the Egyptians
Knew who to attack.

Americans resist
as Obama dismantles our past
with JP Morgan in Chief
this nation won’t last.

Bill Gates wants our pensions
Governor Walker our rights
Bankers take our homes,
As Obama takes the mic.

The Ds and Rs
both beyond repair
There even less relevant
than the Wafd over there.

Collective Giving won’t work
They want it all, don’t you know.
A little bit each time
It’s the Liberals’ mojo.

Congress gives bankers our funds
David Koch our fresh air.
They want us to live
quiet lives of despair.

“Game Over” is the sign
It’s true even here.
There is no bargain to be made
Let’s have regime change, no fear.

Can we imagine
A democratic state.
One where the people
Get what they make.

We keep conferencing
with workshops, panels and speakers
a dead-end technology
with the people in bleachers.

There’s no way around it
The space must be open
With all the uncertainty
of a circle unbroken.

Sometimes I wonder
If that was Tahrir
The youth opened a space
Where people lost fear.

They formed a community
Where free thought could take place
where demands were formed
and solidarity embraced.

It was stronger than violence
It shocked even those
who tortured and beat
those kids they opposed.

I remember Seattle
where kids saw a space
that opened a door
to the Ministerial race.

It got slammed shut
by cops, the state and its gas
but the neo-liberal agenda
began to breath its last gasp.

The institutions are closed
the relief valves shut tight
but that makes it easy
to see the space that’s in sight.

I wonder how many Tahrirs
we could construct over time
to expose the bankruptcy
of the bankers’ last crime.

We all know they took it
But we do want it back
A future with meaning
for our kids and their pack.

Dan Leahy

03/03/11

Monday, Jan. 24, 2011, at 2:00 p.m.
U.S. District Court
110 Michigan Street NW
Grand Rapids, MI

for more info, call 313-680-5508

Please join MECAWI and other social justice/anti-war activists to show support for Ahlam Mohsen and Max Kantar as they are arraigned on Monday, Jan. 24, 2011, at 2:00 p.m., in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Mich., 110 Michigan Street NW, in the courtroom of Magistrate Judge Joseph G. Scoville. Help pack the court to show the U.S. government that these young activists are not alone. (Bring a state-issued ID; no cell phones are allowed in the court.)

Mohsen and Kantar face years in federal prison on felony charges for their anti-imperialist solidarity action on Aug. 16, 2010, in Big Rapids, Mich., when they confronted U.S. Senator Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, for his complicity and participation in war crimes against the peoples of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and other victims of U.S. wars, including the homeless population in Detroit. At a meeting Kantar read a detailed statement, backed up with five pages of substantiating documentation, after which Mohsen allegedly placed a de-crusted apple pie into the senator’s face. The statement and references can be found at www.mecawi.org.

Mohsen and Kantar are both 23 years old. Mohsen is a senior at Michigan State University majoring in anthropology. Kantar graduated from Ferris State University in 2010. Both youth are anti-imperialist activists and staunch supporters of the Palestinian people’s struggle against U.S.-backed Israeli occupation and war.

Mohsen spent over a week locked up in the Mecosta County Jail for her “crime.” She was held on a quarter-million-dollar bond requiring $50,000 in bail. While incarcerated, Mohsen, a Yemeni-American, reportedly was subjected to ethnic slurs and her vegetarian dietary requirements were disregarded by the jail authorities.

MECAWI came to Mohsen’s defense immediately and organized a protest Aug. 20 outside the federal building in Detroit where Sen. Levin has his offices. Levin’s staff received phone calls and emails demanding the senator use his weighty influence and stature to get the bond reduced and charges dropped against the pair. He maintained it was out of his hands to do so.

Mohsen was released from Mecosta County Jail on Aug. 24 on a reduced bond while the state “suspended” their case because the FBI took over the investigation. On Dec. 30, 2010, Mohsen and Kantar were indicted by a grand jury on two counts each of “forcible assault on a Federal Officer” and “assault on a Member of Congress.”

These outrageous charges include a reference to 18 USCS Section 1114, alleging Mohsen and Kantar fall under the guidelines of “[w]hoever kills or attempts to kill any officer or employee of the United States.”

This railroading of Mohsen and Kantar must cease immediately.

It is an outrage that taxpayers’ money is being spent investigating and prosecuting these young people for an act of free speech when there are rightwing thugs and murderers attempting to assassinate elected officials and carrying out massacres (Tucson), bombs are being placed at MLK Day marches (Spokane), the Tea Party and its racist vitriol are being cheered in the media, and trillions are spent on wars, military occupations and bailing out the banks while the needs of society are greatly unmet.

A pie in the face is not a crime! Solidarity is not a crime! Free Ahlam Mohsen and Max Kantar!

DPN SEEKS PARENT ORGANIZER CANDIDATES

Detroit Parent Network seeks to recruit teammates to work as Parent Organizers. Candidates will be responsible for working with allocated schools in the Detroit Public Schools organization to ensure that there is a strong parent involvement plan to improve student achievement.

• Interested Qualified Candidates must have a two-year associate degree or equivalent experience; one to two years experience in event planning, community organizing, program/workshop facilitation and ability to engage parents and families.

• Prefer candidates that have knowledge of the Detroitcommunity; school culture

Applicants should submit cover letter and resume to Denise Becker, Human Resources at 7375 Woodward, Suite1100 Detroit MI 48202 or fax it to (313) 309-1451; or email it to dbecker@detroitparentnetwork.org

DPN SEEKS BILINGUAL PARENT ORGANIZERS

Detroit Parent Network is looking for teammates to work as full-time Parent Organizers. Successful candidates will be responsible for working with allocated schools in the Detroit Public Schools network to ensure that there is a strong parent involvement plan designed to improve student achievement.

Interested qualified candidates should be or have:

• a two-year associate degree or equivalent experience; one to two years experience in event planning, community organizing, program/workshop facilitation and ability to engage parents and families.

• knowledge of the Detroit community; school culture

• fluent in either Arabic, Hmong, Bengali, or Spanish

Applicants should submit cover letter and resume to Denise Becker, Detroit Parent Network Human Resources at 7375 Woodward, Suite 1100 Detroit MI 48202; or fax it to (313) 309-1451; or email it to dbecker@detroitparentnetwork.org

San Francisco: Job: Executive Director of Color of Change
http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2011/01/job-lead-color-of-change-as-its-new-executive-director/#

San Francisco: Job: Associate Director of Center for Media Justice http://centerformediajustice.org/home/about/jobs-at-cmj/

Oakland, CA: Job: Executive Director of Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training http://www.grassrootsfundraising.org/article.php/ed_search_2011

New York, NY: Job: Executive Director of National LatinaInstitute for Reproductive Health http://latinainstitute.org/employment/Executive-Director-Job-Announcement

If you or any talented people you know are curious about organizing, working to make the voices of students and the community louder than corporate interests, please email me. We are hiring all over CA and the nation. CA and all over the country: Job: Campus Organizers for the Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) http://www.uspirg.org/jobs/positions