The show will be on hiatus for the next few months.

In the meantime, we hope that people will enjoy our archives of past shows.

On this week’s show, a report-back from the Speakout Against War in Lebanon and Palestine held last week in Detroit (Max Sussman, producer). Plus local and international headlines (find them after the ‘more’ link).

Listen to the show: lower quality | high quality

The Michigan Citizen reports that the FBI is continuing to monitor the Detroit area’s Arab American community for Hezbollah related involvement. Although officials admit that there has been no
evidence of any specific or immediate threats of terrorism in the area, authorities say that they fear that increased frustration over the Israel/Hizbollah conflict will soon become out of their control.

The FBI has stated that it is concerned over public support demonstrated for Hezbollah, labeled by the U.S. as a terorist organization, but seen by many in the Arab community and elsewhere as a legitimate resistance movement. The FBI has kept in contact with informants, held private meetings with Arab-American and Muslim leaders, and have alerted leaders in the Detroit area Jewish community of supposed potential security threats at synagogues.

In response to the increased federal security watches, Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News and spokesman for the Council of Arab American Organizations, asked who the protesters of the Israeli offensive should chant for. “ George Bush? The one who’s sending Israel bombs to kill their relatives, to kill more people?”

###

The Ann Arbor News reports that the Michigan Supreme Court recently dismissed the case of Justine Maldonado. Justine Maldonado, an Ypsilanti Township woman, sued Ford motor Company six years ago for the sexual harassment from her supervisor she suffered while on the job.

The Michigan Supreme Court has dismissed her case, now six years later, because she spoke to the media about the supervisor’s past indecent exposure conviction—a conviction that was considered inadmissible evidence in her case.

Some legal observers note that this sets a dangerous precedent. They say that free speech will has ultimately been restricted by this ruling and warn that it may mean that less information about important legal cases will be made public in the future.

###

The Arab American News reports that the Ypsilanti-based air cargo company Kalitta Air carried four shipments of weapons to Israel during the second half of July. Each shipment carried 20 laser- guided “120 Blue 113″ warheads weighing 4400 pounds each.
The Scottish newspaper “Sunday Mail” exposed America’s attempts to conceal the nature of the cargo. Papers obtained by investigators showed that the U.S. tried to sneak at least one flight through an international airport by claiming it was a civilian flight.
The bombs carried by Kalitta Air were blamed for one of the conflict’s worst attacks- a blitz on July 20th which killed dozens of civilians and destroyed four nine-story buildings.

###

Judge William e. Collette ruled against the project to build a 600 foot long wastewater-discharge pipeline headed by the Nugent Sand Company this past week. The pipeline would have gone through a 4,000 year old Lake Michigan Dune near Muskegon. The wastewater project was to lower water levels on company property in order to construct 65 homes around two manmade lakes formed from years of sand mining. The Ingham County Circuit Judge sided with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, saying that the Nugent Sand Company’s proposed pipeline was a violation of the Michigan Sand Dune Protection Act.

Nugent Sand Company, which has been in operation since 1912, still has permission from a permit issued from the Department of Environmental Quality in May to mine sand near the Muskegon coast for at least another five years. Sand mining is a direct cause of erosion, turbidity, and flooding, and has negative effects on local wildlife.

###

International Headlines:

Indymedia reports that local people on the Phillipine island of Rapu Rapu are calling for international help in opposing the Layayette mining project taking place in their home.

Despite strong opposition from local and national groups, the Philippine government allowed the Australian firm Lafayette to start the extraction of gold, silver, copper and zinc in April 2005 on the picturesque island of Rapu Rapu. Lafayette was ordered to halt its operations late last year after two mine spills released cyanide and other contaminants from the mine and into the sea around the island, causing massive fish kills. The government allowed Lafayette to continue operations despite these lapses by granting the company a 30-day test run on July 11, 2006.

With the end of the “test run” last week, locals are putting even more pressure on President Arroyo to stop the mining project. They say that if the mining continues, it will further contaminate thier marine environment, which for many of them is their only means of survival.

###

On the morning of August 1st, about 2,000 women gathered at the Plaza of the Seven Regions in Oaxaca and marched five miles to the state television station. They are part of the social movement that aims to the remove Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz from office.

About 350 women marched into the state TV Channel 9 facilities and took over the station. Indymedia reports that nobody stopped them. Within an hour, the women had control of an AM station, and an FM station. By evening they had taken control of Channle 9, the state TV station, and were broadcasting videos by indigenous community members, as well as videos of the June 14 attack in which civilians were attacked by armed police. The women took turns with a hand-held microphone to demand that Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz resign. The takeover of Channel 9 has also resulted in accurate coverage of the marches and rallies being aired for the first time on state TV.

Women have played a strong part from the beginning of the movement, as they comprise half of the teachers’ union and/or are mothers of students affected. As parents they have expressed rage against lack of decent schools and classrooms, and most recently against paying enrollment fees for public schools. Free education is guaranteed by the Mexican Constitution. Fees to register, as well as purchase of uniforms and books, appear to have fronted yet another method of state theft.

###

On 12 August, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1701 aimed at ceasing hostilities’ between Israel and Hizbullah. It went into effect at 8am Monday morning local time, 33 days after Israel began its war on Lebanon.

According to an article on counterpunch.org, resolution 1701 is a weak and ambiguous resolution that has ultimately rewarded the use of violence to settle disputes in breech of international law and the UN Charter itself.

Critics charge that the current resolution does not stop the war and does little to ensure the protection of the civilian population of Lebanon. While Hizbullah must cease “all attacks,” Israel must cease only “offensive military operations.” Israel has already announced it will not lift is blockade of Lebanon in clear violation of both this resolution and international law norms.

Furthermore, resolution 1701 is problematic because it adopts the Israeli narrative by placing the blame of this war entirely on Hizbullah and creating the false impression that civilian deaths and infrastructure damage in Lebanon and Israel were somehow equivalent.

Karim Makdisi, the author of the counterpunch article, reports from Beirut:
“Overall, if the UN is to be judged in terms of its primary mandate, that of ensuring international peace and security via the principle of collective security, then it has quite clearly failed the people of Lebanon, just as it has the people of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.”

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On this week’s show, an interview with Gregory King and MaxZine Weinstein about their organizing work in East Nashville, Tennessee around issues of police brutality, gentrification and homelessness (Megan Williamson, producer). Plus national, and international headlines (find them after the ‘more’ link).

Listen to the show: lower quality | high quality

On July 19 Las Vegas passed a law outlawing the feeding of homeless people in public, downtown areas. The ordinance states that feeding groups in public parks is “detrimental to the aesthetic atmosphere of parks.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a lawsuit last Wednesday on behalf of the organization Food Not Bombs, claiming that the new law violates several constitutional rights.

Food Not Bombs has faced pressure in other cities, including Richmond, Virginia and Venice, California. Likewise, faith-based groups offering meals in parks have been pressured by city leaders and businesses to move their programs to less visible – and often less accessible – places.

According to The NewStandard, Las Vegas joins a growing number of cities that are passing laws and ordinances intended to push homeless people out of public places. In addition to anti-panhandling, anti-camping and anti-loitering ordinances, feeding programs in public parks are the latest targets.

###

Electronic Intifada reports that a group of young American Jews staged a “Die In” last Tuesday in downtown Boston to demonstrate their opposition to the Israeli government’s bombing in Lebanon and Gaza. Participants began the action at 8:00 am inside the South Station commuter station. They wore black clothing with stickers that read “Not all U.S. Jews support Israel’s actions!”

Distinguishing themselves from other recent protests led by Jewish groups in the Greater Boston region, these American Jews take the position that Israel’s attacks on civilians, UN observers, infrastructure, and refugees is unethical, counterproductive, and contrary to the Jewish tradition of respect for human rights.

Matt Soycher of Jamaica Plain said this: “We want to break the false consensus of unequivocal support for Israel and make it known that many American Jews disagree with our government’s support of Israeli aggression. Recent rallies called by Jewish organizations in support of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and Gaza have not spoken for us. Now, we are speaking for ourselves.”

###

The two largest music publishers’ associations have threatened to bring legal action against organizations and websites that share guitar tablature. Guitar Tab Universe received what it calls a threatening email from the National Music Publishers’ Association as well as the Music Publishers’ Association stating that descriptions of how one plays a particular song constitutes copyright infringement.

The website, which helps users teach each other how they play guitar parts for different songs, points out that the practice is the basis of music instruction, and argues that the suit would in effect be brought against all musicians who have ever shared how to play a particular piece with another person. The suit is the latest indication of the extent of the assault on file-sharing and other so-called proprietary rights by the corporate music industry against individuals and organizations.

###

In Philadelphia, a man has been arrested by police for taking a picture with his cell phone of an arrest occurring in the street in front of his home. The family of 21-year-old Neftaly Cruz say the police had no right to enter their property and arrest their 21-year-old son. Cruz says he had just stepped out to see the commotion going on in the street and decided to take a picture with his cell phone when a police officer opened his back gate, dragged him out into the street, and threw him onto a police car. Cruz was then handcuffed and taken to jail.

Police told Cruz that he had broken a new law that prohibits people from taking pictures of police using cell phones. Larry Frankel of the American Civil Liberties Union asserts that such a law does not exist, and said that, quote, “it’s rather scary that in this country you could actually be taken down to police headquarters for taking a picture on your cell phone of activities that are clearly visible on the street”.

###

Last week, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an environmental watchdog group that monitors government actions, revealed that the US Forest Service released a new proposal on predator control over two months ago and urged citizens to participate in the 60-day public comment period before it closed on August 7th.

The controversial rule would reverse the prohibition on cyanide guns, sodium-cyanide traps and poison baits, allow motorized hunting inside federally designated wilderness areas, and permit killing on an entire local population of animals rather than just the offending animal. Management of predator control would no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the federal agency but instead be outsourced to interested “collaborative groups”. Species affected include mountain lions, bears, coyotes, wolves, and any other species seen as threats to the livestock industry.

According to the PEER website, the federal government destroyed 2.7 million wildlife in 2004 – one animal every 12 seconds – because they were deemed a nuisance to ranchers, farmers, or municipalities.

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Media watchdog group FAIR reports that cable news channel NY1 in New York has decided to block anti-war Democratic challenger Jonathan Tasini from a primary race debate with incumbent Senator Hillary Clinton. Tasini is Clinton’s only primary challenger and a recent Marist poll finds Tasini with 13% support. By contrast, a Democratic contender for governor, Tom Suozzi, was invited to participate in the July debate despite having poll ratings of only 9%.

In a statement in the Village Voice, the channel asserted it had set up objective thresholds for candidates to pass which include requirements that the candidates poll at least 5% and have spent and/or raised $500,000 dollars. Suozzi has spent over $6 million dollars on his campaign, compared to only $150,000 dollars for Tasini. NY1’s criteria contrast sharply with those used by the League of Women Voters, for years the main sponsors of debates, which required only whatever was required to get onto the ballot in a region – in this case, 15,000 signatures. Tasini has already received over 40,000 signatures.

At a Tasini campaign forum protesting the shut-out, writer-activist Barbara Ehrenreich said, quote, “When you have to have half a million dollars to tell people what you stand for, then we’re not talking about democracy anymore, we’re talking about plutocracy.” To take action protesting the channel’s policy visit the FAIR website at www.fair.org .

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Israel’s bombing of key highway bridges in northern Lebanon and strikes in south Beirut paralysed United Nations aid convoys on Friday. Air strikes against four bridges on the main coastal highway linking Beirut to Syria stalled an eight-truck convoy carrying 150 tonnes of relief. The destruction of the bridges cut what the United Nations called its “umbilical cord” for aid supplies.

The U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) called off planned convoys southwards to the port city of Tyre and Rashidiyeh after air strikes on a southern Beirut suburb prevented drivers from reaching the convoys’ departure point. The UNHCR was also forced to put off trips around Beirut to assess the needs and deliver aid to up to 400,000 people living with host families or in schools and parks in the area.

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Common Dreams.org reports that about 300,000 Lebanese children have been displaced by Israel’s three-week war against Hizbollah. Children make up a third of the people who have abandoned their homes. These young children are now living in open-air camps, in schools, in displacement centers, or they are being housed with host families.

Many of the displaced children are behaving aggressively and getting into fights. The trauma experienced by these children is also manifesting itself through crying, bed-wetting, sleeplessness and nightmares. The stress of the ongoing attacks and the lack of nutrition have caused many women to stop breastfeeding. Relief agencies have said they are desperately in need of infant formula.

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On this week’s show we focus on Israel’s war on Lebanon and how people in the U.S. are opposing it. We hear audio from a protest against Israel that took over the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday (Fred Nguyen of WBAI, producer) and a frontline report from Bilal El Amine in the south of Lebanon (Bilal El Amine for KPFA, producer). Plus local, national, and international headlines (find them after the ‘read more’ link).

Listen to the show: lower quality | high quality

The University Board of Regents approved a 5.5 percent tuition increase for the University of Michigan, with students paying on average $500 more for tuition and fees. This is a small increase from the 12.3 percent increase of last year and the overall rising tuition rates since 2001. The financial aid office states that it is committed to increasing aid with the rise of tuition, with students of middle class families receiving around $9,000 in aid. A recent report from the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee found that Michigan families put 32% of their income to pay for one year at four year- public univerisities-despite financial aid. It also showed that 56% of graduates from the university who take out loans owe over $17,000 after receiving their diploma. The university is currently in a $80.5 million deficit.

###

Dick DeVos, the republican candidate for governor, has spent over 16.5 million on his campaign, using $12.9 million of his own fortune and with no opponent for primary elections. Compare this to Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s 11.2 million, and it makes for the most expensive electoral race in Michigan history. DeVos’s campaign includes a $12 million television and radio advertizing push, the largest ever by a Michigan office runner. Granholm, who has spent only $4.1 million on her re-election campaign thus far on staff salaries, consulting fees, and printing, and plans to hold off on major spending until closer to November 7th. DeVos has raised mroe money from more individuals than Granholm, and has a vast personal wealth to as an advantage for the upcoming gubernatorial campaign. He is the former president of Alticor, formly known as Amway Corp. Labor unions like the AFL-CIO and Michigan Education Association made significant donations to Granholm,
along with celebrities like Madonna and Phil Donahue. Polls indicate a toss up for this record-breaking expensive race, the first
gubernatorial campaign where neither candidate uses the public campaign fund that would limit how much can be spent.

### National and International Headlines:

Last Tuesday, the US Senate passed the Child Custody Protection Act 65-34. This act would criminalize any person other than a parent or legal guardian who helps a minor cross state lines to obtain an abortion. Dubbed the “Teen Endangerment Act”, advocates of abortion-rights fear that the bill would discourage young women from seeking help, increase their likelihood of putting their own lives at risk with a self-induced abortion, and escalate violence in unstable family situations. In 1996, the American Academy of Pediatrics found that one third of pregnant teens who choose not to involve their parents do so because they “already have experienced family violence and fear it will recur”. In a press statement, Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, stressed that “Restrictive legislation does not necessarily foster good family communications. This bill would endanger teens by eliminating safe alternatives to parental involvement. Aunts, sisters, grandmothers, clergy, counselors and friends could be fined or imprisoned for helping a teen who may be a victim of family abuse, rape or incest.”

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In the next few weeks, Camp 6, a new permanent maximum-security jail will open at Guantanamo Bay. Despite the Supreme Court ruling that the military tribunals at Guantanamo breached US and international law and President Bush’s claim in June that he would “like to close” Guantanamo, the prison camp will be expanded by this 30 million dollar 2-story block, which was built by a Halliburton subsidiary. Commander Robert Durand, a spokesman for Joint Task Force Guantanamo, said that the Camp 6 is designed to improve the quality of life for the detainees. Yet this fails to address the hundreds of detainees who continue to be held at Guantanamo without charge or hearings. According to an investigation of military documents by Seton Hall University, 55% of the prisoners are not alleged to have committed any hostile acts against the US and of all the prisoners that have ever been held at Guantanamo since 2002, only 10 have ever been formally charged.

###

A Human Rights Watch report released last Thursday documents the wide range of abuse of domestic workers in 12 countries, including El Salvador, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. Abuse ranges from physical and sexual abuse, forced confinement, labor exploitation, to denial of food and health care. “Instead of guaranteeing domestic workers’ ability to work with dignity and freedom from violence, governments have systematically denied them key labor protections extended to other workers,” said Nisha Varia, senior researcher for the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. At highest risk for abuse are migrants and children as domestic work is one of the few economic opportunities available to them. According to estimates of the International Labor Organization, more girls under age 16 are in domestic work than in any other category of child labor, with 700,000 child domestic workers in Indonesia and 20,000 domestic workers between ages 14-19 in El Salvador. Governments will have the opportunity to initiate change as Indonesia’s National Commission on Violence Against Women begins this week and the UN General Assembly’s High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development occurs in September. Recommendations of the Human Rights Watch include extension of labor protections to domestic workers, establishment of minimum standards of employment, and insuring accountability of employers.

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On this week’s show, Tarek Dika, a dearborn resident home from Beirut, discusses his perspective on the military conflict (Kate McCabe, producer), and a we look at the Art Fair madness that gripped Ann Arbor last week (Dana Christenson, producer). Plus local, national, and international headlines (find them after the ‘read more’ link).

Listen to the show: lower quality | high quality

Last week, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (or PETA), asked Manchester Village President Patricia Vailliencourt to enact legislation that would ban the use of bullhooks, electric prods, and other devices commonly used to inflict pain on circus elephants. PETA’s request comes in light of the scheduled July 26 visit of the Carson & Barnes Circus to Manchester, Michigan.

According to a press release issued by a local PETA organizer, the Carson & Barnes Circus is a chronic violator of the federal Animal Welfare Act, who recently paid a $400 fine for mishandling elephants and whose animal care director was caught on videotape attacking elephants with bullhooks and electric prods. Bullhook abuse by animal trainers is routine at circuses, but penalties are rare.

Similar legislation to ban the use of electric prods and bullhooks in elephant training is currently pending in Chicago.

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The Michigan Supreme Court has made a decision to revisit a law that would require all voters to present a photo ID at the polls before they could cast a ballot. The law was originally introduced in 1996 under Governor John Engler, but was never implemented because Attorney General Frank Kelly ruled the law unconstitutional. At the time, Kelly also ruled that it violated the first and fourteenth amendments of the Constitution guaranteeing equal protection.

The NAACP, the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus and the Michigan Democratic Party have come out as strong opponents to the law, charging that it discriminates against Blacks, poor people, and non-drivers. Many citizens do not have a photo ID because they don’t drive or can’t afford to get one.

According to the NAACP, almost 400,000 of the state’s 7 million registered voters have no ID. African Americans make up 18 percent of that figure, compared to 10% for whites. Twenty-five percent of women over the age of 65 have no driver’s license.

The head of the Detroit NAACP told the Michigan Citizen that asking for photo identification would increase voter intimidation at the polls and send a signal that, “it is open season on harassing voters at the polls.”

The court could rule on the implementation of the law before the November election. Critics have called it an orchestrated campaign to decrease minority voting during an election year.

###

For the past two weeks on BlackBox Radio, we have been following the story of Oscar Ramos, a local resident and undocumented worker. Mr. Ramos has a severe spinal column injury which he sustained while on the job. He has been detained in Monroe County Jail for almost 2 months despite his medical condition. During this time, because he has not had access to the medical care or proper nutrition that he needs, his condition has deteriorated. His detention by Homeland Security is largely due to malfeasance on the part of his lawyer, who failed to represent him at an immigration hearing, causing him to be arrested and scheduled for deportation to Honduras.

At this time, Mr. Ramos and his family are hoping that he can stay in the country so that he can undergo a necessary surgical operation for his spinal injury and recover under the care of his physician. If he is deported to Honduras he will likely not ever recover from this serious injury that he sustained while on the job. Mr. Ramos is asking concerned people to call local representatives and express their support. Please contact the parties listed below and tell them that you support amnesty for Oscar Ramos.

Representative Steve Tobocman
stevetobocman@house.mi.gov
517.373.0823

Congressman John Conyers
john.conyers@mail.house.gov
DC office: 202.225.5126
Detroit office: 313.961.5670

Senator Carl Levin
DC office: 202.224.6221
Detroit office: 313.226.6020

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Detroit Field Office: 313.568.6049

On this week’s show, an update on the case of Oscar Ramos, a report from Sunday’s Ann Arbor demonstration by supporters of Israel and counter-protest by supporters of Palestine & Lebanon (Megan Williamson producer), and Nadia Hajib, senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies, discusses the outbreak of war between Israel and Hezbollah (Kate McCabe producer). Plus local, national, and international headlines (find them after the ‘read more’ link).

Listen to the show: lower quality | high quality

There have been several new developments in recent weeks in the Pittsfield Township fight against Wal-Mart and the effort to recall Township officials who have been unresponsive to residents’ demands.

For almost two years, Pittsfield residents have been organizing to stop the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter at the corner of State Road and US-12- a location that is adjacent to several area schools.

Last March, a grassroots organization called “A New Pittsfield” launched a campaign to recall Township Supervisor Jim Walter, Treasurer Christina Lirones and Clerk Feliciana Meyer, after residents determined that these elected township officials were not acting in the interest of local citizens.

Among the official reasons for the recall effort, residents list excessive compensation and pension benefits, numerous false statements made to Township citizens, and a general disdain for residents’ concerns about a pending Wal-Mart store.

It was also alleged that these officials misused Township resources as part of their campaign against the recall. The Ann Arbor News reported last week that the Michigan Secretary of State has cleared two of these Pittsfield Township officials of those charges. The secretary of state is still looking at four allegations against the third official.

Adding more controversy to this already heated issue, is the July 5th announcement that a new Political Action Committee (or PAC) called “Friends of Pittsfield,” has been formed to fight the recall. According to a press release being distributed by Pittsfield residents, this new Political Action Committee is actually a front group for Wal-Mart. The press release states that “In many towns across America, Wal-Mart has prominent residents set up Political Action Committees right before an election as a means to donate money to a campaign. Pittsfield Township is possibly the newest recipient of Wal-Mart campaign dollars.” The statement by A New Pittsfield goes on to note that the new PAC was formed by a Detroit resident and lawyer with no known ties to Pittsfield, and that this may be Wal-Mart’s way of influencing voters to keep in office Township officials who have been sympathetic to Wal-Mart’s cause.

The recalls of these three Township officials will be on the ballot in the upcoming August 8th elections.

###

Media Mouse reports that Michigan Citizens for Life have failed to obtain the 317,757 valid signatures necessary to place an amendment to the state constitution on the November ballot. The amendment would have defined personhood as beginning at the moment of conception.

Michigan Citizens for Life had planned to use this amendment to outlaw abortion in all cases, including pregnancies caused by rape. The initiative had gained the support of several far-right religious organizations including the Eagle Forum of Michigan, the American Family Association of Michigan, and various anti-choice groups.

The initiative failed to gain the support of the statewide Right to Life organization due to the far-reaching nature of the proposal, and low expectations for the success of the measure.

The American Civil Liberties Union had said it would file a lawsuit to block the initiative if it had been approved.

###

On July 7th, three Michigan Democrats have called on the Environmental Protection Agency to update it’s data collection involving oil and chemical spills in the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and Detroit River areas.

The Associated Press reports that Congress’ investigative arm found there were 991 spill reports from the U.S. side of the waterway, compared with 157 spills reported by Canadian officials.

The Accountability Office stated in their recent report that “these reports do not accurately portray the actual number or volume of spills” and said the EPA was “uncertain of which specific facilities are subject to regulation under its spill prevention program.”

The 98-mile corridor linking lakes Huron and Erie is part of the U.S.-Canadian boundary and provides drinking water for more than 5 million people. The lawmakers said about 500 facilities, such as chemical companies, oil refineries and power plants, are located in the area.

The EPA conducts only a handful of inspections within the corridor each year. The agency issued only four fines from 1994 to 2004.

###

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative will remain on the November ballot. This ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of affirmative action supporters who allege that citizens were tricked into signing the petition when canvassers told them it was an initiative to support affirmative action.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Justice Stephen Markman, who ruled on the case, said the allegations would not justify removing the issue from the ballot, even if they are true. Justice Markman wrote in an official staement that “a citizen cannot blame others when he signs a petition without knowing what it says.”

The MCRI, which would ban government affirmative action programs that use race or gender preferences in hiring, contracting and university admissions, will remain on the November ballot.

###

National and International Headlines:

Ford Motor Company will save $5 billion in retirement obligations after the US District court last Thursday approved it’s plan to charge Ford retirees for health care coverage. The Detroit News reported that 51 percent of current Ford members in the UAW voted to have individual hourly retirees pay $370 a year and $752 per family, as opposed to paying no fees. Ford and GM combined; there are 197,000 active UAW workers and 422,000 retirees.

The ruling, similar to the one made with General Motors Corporation in October, was a response to $1.6 million in losses for American automotive companies.

The ruling was promptly challenged by a group of retired hourly workers from Ford Motor Co., who filed a class- action motion last week that argues the UAW did not have the right to negotiate benefit cuts on behalf of retirees, who do not pay union dues and were not allowed to vote on the agreement. The motion also claims that Ford cannot legally reduce benefits based on the pact.

The outcome of the retirees’ motion could have implications for tens of thousands of Ford retirees, surviving spouses and dependents. It also could establish a precedent for other U.S. automakers and parts suppliers trying to shed costs by reducing retiree benefits.

###

Tennessee and Nebraska passed legislation that limits marriage to a man and a woman last week. The Nebraskan 8th district court ruled that the Nebraska marriage Amendment—approved by 70% of voters in 2004—is “rationally related to legitimate state interests” and does not violate gay rights.
The court overturned last year’s ruling that the ban hindered the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians because it was too broad and discriminatory.

In Tennessee the ACLU argued that the state did not meet its notification requirements for a proposal to ban gay marriage, but the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the ACLU did not have grounds to file a suit. The proposed amendment which the ACLU wanted to remove from the ballot will ensure, if passed, that the current Tennessee law banning gay marriage cannot be overturned by future legislation.

44 other states have taken similar motions to prevent same-sex marriage by means of statute or constitutional amendment.

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Reuters reports that 200,000 protestors took to the streets of Mexico City on Sunday to demonstrate their support for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico’s leftist presidential candidate who claims he lost the recent election due to fraud. An election court is currently investigating allegations that electoral officials fixed the vote in favor of Felipe Calderon, the ruling party conservative candidate. Calderon won the election by a margin of 0.58 of a percent, which comes out to be about 240,000 votes.

Lopez Obrador, called AMLO by his leftist supporters, has vowed to bring millions of Mexicans out of poverty. He is encouraging further protests to keep pressure on the court, which expects to make a decision and announce the president-elect by early September. Despite the fact that European Union observers have said there was no major fraud, leftists continue to be suspicious of the results since the government almost certainly stole the election from their candidate in 1988.

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On this week’s show: the story of Oscar Ramos, a local undocumented worker who is scheduled to be deported to Honduras despite serious medical problems resulting from an on-the-job injury (Megan Williamson producer), plus local, national, and international headlines (find them after the ‘more’ link).

Listen to the show: lower quality | high quality

Between The Lines reports that Karyn Risch, a Royal Oak police officer, is suing the department for discrimination. She claims that she has been passed over for promotions because she is a woman and a lesbian, despite having seniority and higher test scores than the male candidates who received the promotions.

Although she says she is sure that her sexual orientation is a factor in her lack of advancement at work, Risch’s lawsuit does not mention sexual orientation. This is because it is legal in the state of Michigan to discriminate in hiring and promotions on the basis of sexual orientation, but it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender.

There are currently no women in upper management of Royal Oak’s police force. City attorney David Gilllam has stated that Royal Oak has no policy on the promotion of women.

###

A local rape survivor, whose $1.25 million jury verdict against Hurley Medical Center was recently overturned, has just lost her appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court.

The Flint Township woman was sexually assaulted by a nurse’s aide while hospitalized at Hurley Medical Center for psychological problems in 1998. Five years later, a jury found that the medical center was partially responsible, and awarded the survivor $1.25 million in damages.

But the recent 5-2 decision by the Michigan Supreme Court revoked the woman’s right to damages when it ruled that the hospital couldn’t be held liable for the actions of an employee who was acting outside the scope of his employment.

Attorneys for the woman unsuccessfully argued that the Supreme Court has previously adopted an exception to this rule in cases where an employee was aided by his employment status.

The Flint Journal printed the survivor’s statement that read, “I am very upset with the Supreme Court. I think it’s horrible that I go into a place of treatment and I’m not protected, and that they are not responsible at all.”

Lorenzo Powell, the hospital employee who was accused of another sexual assault during his time at Hurley Medical Center, pleaded no contest to a felonious assault charge and was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay the victims’ counseling costs.

###

The Grand Rapids Press reports that development of two projects meant to house homeless youth have been shut down by a committee of residents who claim that the housing would hurt the character of the neighborhood and affect property values.

Barnabas Ministries and Jordan River, two Zeeland Michigan organizations, have met opposition from residents since May, when they announced their plans to open residential programs for homeless teens who have just graduated from substance abuse programs.

After residents complained that such programs would tarnish the neighborhood, a committee to revise local zoning ordinances was formed, and zoning laws were changed to prohibit the homeless youth programs from being housed in the area.

A public hearing on the committee’s zoning revisions is slated for Aug. 3.

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The Flint Journal reports that an Almont, Michigan, family is getting ready to emigrate to Reynosa, Mexico to be with the husband and father who was recently deported after spending months in jail.

Carlos De La Torres, an undocumented resident, had originally agreed to a voluntary deportation to Mexico in order to start proceedings to gain legal US citizenship. But while waiting for a deportation plan to be developed, Carlos panicked and fled when an Almont police officer tried to stop him last December. He was charged with ‘fleeing and eluding,’ which is a felony, and was held in jail for several months while the U.S. and Mexican governments finalized his deportation plan.

He was not released from jail until last week, at which time he was deported to Mexico.

Now his wife is trying to sell their house so that she and their two young children, all U.S. citizens, can move to Mexico and reunite with Carlos after many months apart. His wife, Sandra De La Torres, was quoted in the Flint journal as saying, “He told me he will be waiting for me 100 feet on the other side of the border.”

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National and International Headlines:

The Wilmington Journal reported last week that the alleged rape victim in the Duke University lacrosse rape case was offered $2 million to drop the charges, but turned down the money.

Jakki, the cousin of the alleged victim, said that alumni of Duke University offered the $2 million dollars to the Black woman who alleges that she was beaten, sodomized and called racial slurs by three White men on the Duke lacrosse team. These three men are each charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping.

The Wilmington Journal also reports that sources have confirmed that early in the case, Black community leaders were also allegedly approached and offered sums of money for themselves, North Carolina Central University and the alleged victim, if they could influence her to retract her allegations. The same sources said that that those leaders flatly refused the offer.

The alleged victim, a college student and single mother of two who has been portrayed as untrustworthy in mainstream media because she was working as an exotic dancer during the time of the assault, has even rejected financial offers of assistance from caring supporters. Her cousin stated that this is because she doesn’t want even the slightest appearance that she is pressing her rape claims to profit in any way.

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From June 19th to 23rd, an estimated 10,000 people from 100 countries met in Vancouver, Canada for the World Urban Forum.

The five-day conference, now in its third year, focused on issues surrounding rapid urbanization and decent housing, as the urban population of developing countries is set to double the next three decades.

The needs of women were also focused on heavily during the forum. A spokeswoman for the NGO Power Camp National stated that the effect of rapid urbanization is often felt most by women and children, and “women need to be represented as crucial stakeholders in urban sustainability.” Experts also note that as women join the migration from rural to urban areas, they often become increasingly vulnerable to economic and sexual exploitation.

HIV/AIDS, children’s nutrition, schooling, environmental pollution, health care, and housing were some of the issues addressed in relation to urban development.

Sisa Njikelana, a South African member of parliament, concluded that “the kind of healthy urban life we are talking about is one that is human-friendly. One in which money is not placed above our humanity.”

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Violence may have peaked in Gaza after many Palestinian deaths, as the Israeli army begins to pull back from its reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for the capture of an Israeli army officer by Palestinian militants. The death toll was high for Palestinians, although no Israeli injuries were reported. Electronic Intifada reports that on July 8, the Israeli army killed a Palestinian woman and two of her children, and injured another five members of the same family, when a plane dropped a bomb close to their house located to the east of the Sheja’iya area of Gaza City.

The death toll for Palestinians killed by the Israeli military since June 25 is at least fifty-two. In addition, more than a hundred and forty have been injured, many of them seriously.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights issued a statement condemning the killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military, the endangering of Palestinian civilian lives, and the destruction of civilian property through disproportionate use of lethal force.

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On this week’s show, a review of the controversial Orange Order Marches taking place in Belfast (Kate McCabe producer), and a look at some creative campaigns by the Rainforest Action Network to curb U.S. oil consumption (Megan Williamson producer). Plus local, national, and international headlines (find them after the ‘more’ link).

Listen to the show: lower quality | high quality

Local Headlines

Four farms in Washtenaw County have received the lion’s share of this year’s Farm Preservation funds for the State. The money goes toward easements that keep the land out of development. This is the second year that farms in Washtenaw County have received substantial funds and reflects the accelerating pressure on farmland in the greater Ann Arbor area as residential sprawl moves further from the city center.

The farms targeted include the Davenport Farm on Marshall Road, the Wing Farm in Scio Township, the Geddes Farm in Pittsfield Township, and the Alexander Farm in Northfield Township.

The preservation funds make up only a portion of the total amount needed to keep the land out of development. Local groups must now raise the additional money needed if the protection is to be fully funded.

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The Detroit City Council has approved a new annual fee for trash collection. The Fee will cost households $300 per year, and be included in their property tax bills. The measure was approved last Friday, despite the strong objections of many local residents who spoke at a public hearing on June 26th.

According to the Michigan Citizen, several Detroiters at that hearing said that they would be forced to move out of the city if the fee was instituted. Many also pointed out that they are already struggling to keep up with rising utility, water, insurance and tax bills. Senior citizens and young first-time homeowners were especially vocal opponents of the fee.

In a weak response to these concerns, the City Council also passed a discount for senior citizens whose annual income is less than $40,000. If the mayor agrees, those residents will pay $150 per year.

The Detroit Free Press reports that council members said they backed the fee because Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had threatened to lay off 600 more city workers, including police and fire personnel if it wasn’t approved.

Councilwoman JoAnn Watson, the only councilmember to vote in opposition to the measure, said that she did not accept the idea that the trash collection fee or mass layoffs of city workers were the only options for raising the needed funds. She suggested that the money for trash management could be taken from the $130 million owed to the city by the state of Michigan.

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The Michigan Action Project reports that a bill in the Michigan Senate meant to protect Michigan waterways from the effects of excess fertilizer not only does little to control the problem, but preempts local governments and communities from regulating the compounds in future. This means that all local ordinances in place throughout the State passed to reduce phosphorous runoff would in effect be nullified.

Phosphorous is the prime suspect in the return of algae blooms in bodies of water throughout the State that pollute beaches and deprive the water of needed oxygen, leading to fish die offs. Algae blooms can also contain toxic microcystins which cause illness in humans when ingested.

The current bill would allow homeowners to apply up to a half pound of phosphorous per 1000 squarer feet of lawn. A single pound of phosphorous can lead to the growth of up to 500 pounds of algae, according to the report. The Project is calling on legislators to enact laws similar to those in Minnesota which allow the use of phosphorous only after soil tests show phosphorous deficiency.

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Palestine News Network reports that thirty-two Palestinian organizers and activists from across the U.S gathered in suburban Detroit last weekend, marking the first politically diverse national meeting of Palestinians in the U.S. since 1988.

The meeting sought to gather Palestinians from a diverse range of political affiliations in order to develop ways of mobilizing the Palestinian community in the US. According to participants’ statements, this meeting “comes at a critical time when Palestinians are facing a political and economic siege.”

Out of this meeting came a document entitled the “Detroit Declaration, ” which asserts Palestinians’ right equality, self-determination, and the right to return to their original land.
The document also stresses the importance of empowering Palestinian grassroots organizing in communities across the US, stating “We believe that empowerment of our community hinges on its ability to live in relative security and safety. For this reason, we seek to address the community’s interest as members of the Palestinian national body, as well as its particular concerns as activists, organizers, recent immigrants, youth, women, and workers who face particular challenges in the US.”

The “Detroit Declaration” also announces that a ‘US Popular Palestinian National Conference’ will be held in 2008, the 60th Anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba.

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National and International Headlines:

Tennessee Independent Media Center reports that despite serious questions as to the reliability of his conviction, the state of Tennessee executed Sedley Alley last Wenesady morning. Alley was convicted of the 1985 murder of Suzanne Marie Collins, but recently revealed evidence has led to questions about his guilt.

Evidence withheld from the defense at trial reveals that Alley was under police surveillance at the time of Collins death. The state also placed heavy emphasis on Alleys supposed confession, but the confession bore all the earmarks of being false or coerced. Many facts of Alleys confession bear no resemblance to the facts of the actual murder. More disturbingly, Alley was interrogated by police for over two hours, but the tape recording of the interrogation is under one hour long. The tape includes seven places where the recording was stopped and then restarted. DNA evidence exists that could be tested to prove, once and for all, whether Alley was guilty or innocent. But the state of Tennessee has continually refused to allow the testing.

Alley’s execution came only days after the Chicago Tribune revealed evidence that Texas executed an innocent man, Carlos De Luna, in 1989. De Luna’s case makes the fourth time in nineteen months that investigative journalism has exposed an execution of an innocent man.

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The Associated Press reports that investigators have found evidence that American soldiers spent nearly a week plotting an attack in which they raped an Iraqi woman, then killed her and her family.

According to a statement made on Saturday by an anonymous military official, the soldiers entered the home, separated the woman from her family, then raped her and set fire to her body in an apparent cover-up attempt. Three members of her family, including a young child, were also murdered. The official said the attack appeared “totally premeditated” and that the soldiers apparently “studied” the family for about a week before carrying out the attack.

U.S. officials said they knew of the deaths but thought the victims died due to sectarian violence.

This investigation is the latest in a long string of inquiries by the US army into crimes committed by soldiers. Last week, the U.S. military charged seven Marines and one sailor with premeditated murder, kidnapping and conspiracy over the April 26th killing of a 52-year-old disabled Iraqi civilian.

Four more U.S. soldiers were charged with premeditated murder recently, after being accused of shooting three Iraqi prisoners last May and then threatening to kill a fellow soldier if he spoke about the killings.

Other cases involve the deaths of three male detainees in Salahuddin province in May, the shooting death of unarmed Iraqi man near Ramadi in February, the death of an Iraqi soldier after an interrogation in 2003 at a detention camp in Qaim, and the killing of 24 unarmed civilians in the town of Haditha last November.

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According to the International Middle East Media Center, some three hundred Palestinian residents have been stuck at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing since Sunday morning, after Israeli closed the Palestinian side. Palestinian officials have been holding talks with Egyptian and Israeli officials in an attempt to secure the entry of the residents into Rafah.

Palestinian Minister of Health, Basim Na’im, said that he contacted the Arab Physicians Society, in Cairo, and asked them to send medicine, land large quantities of food and water as soon as possible. Na’im said that so far, talks with the Israeli side have not brought about any positive result, adding that Israel rejected to give a final date for opening the border crossing.

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The retrial of the Pitstop Ploughshares is set to begin in Dublin on July 5th. On February 3, 2003, as part of ongoing resistance at Ireland’s Shannon airport, Deirdre Clancy, Nuin Dunlop, Karen Fallon, Ciaron O’Reilly and Damien Moran disarmed a US warplane. Within the month, three of the four companies contracted to ferry US troops and weapons had left Ireland. Each of the 5 “Pitstop Ploughshares” spent between 4 to 11 weeks in Limerick Prison, and originally went to trial in March of 2005 on two counts of Criminal Damage for 100,000 Euros and $2.5 million US. If convicted, the penalties carry a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.

The first trial ended in a mistrial after 6 days, and the government’s first attempted retrial the following October also ended abruptly, with the judge removing himself in agreement with the Defence counsel that his attendance at the Bush inauguration in 2001 tainted his role as judge with a “perception of bias.”

The five anti-war activists return to trial this Wednesday, July 5 at Dublin’s Four Courts, and the trial is expected to last for two weeks. For more information on how you can help support the Pitstop Ploughshares, please visit their website at www.peaceontrial.com

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On this week’s show, we talk to two filmmakers who are documenting Michigan’s community farms(producer: Kris Kaul), and an update from Elena Herrada about the latest wave of repression and intimidation aimed at Mexican immigrants living in Southeast Michigan (producer: Megan Williamson). Plus local, national, and international headlines.

Listen to the show: lower quality | high quality

Local Headlines

Now, a follow up to last week’s story about the two Southwest Detroit police officers accused by multiple residents of sexual assault, molestation, and frame-ups. The Michigan Citizen reported this week that police officers Michael Osman and Michael Parish have been transferred from the Southwest District to the Western and Eastern Districts, respectively.

The information about the officers’ transfers surfaced at a preliminary examination for Byron Ogletree on June 19. Ogletree was arrested by Osman and Parrish after a stop for a cracked windshield. Numerous witnesses have stated that the officers threatened, beat, and sexually assaulted Ogletree in the parking lot of a Sav-A-Lot store. During the incident dozens of witnesses protested the officers’ behavior, shouting “Rodney King” and “Malice Green” in reference to the two black men who were murdered by police.

Osman and Parish gave their versions of the event during the June 19th examination. Osman said he beat Ogletree in the shins with his baton and punched him in the jaw. Parish said he pepper sprayed Ogletree, kicked him in “tender points” in his inner thighs and pointed his gun at the man’s temple while threatening to shoot him. They both claimed their actions were necessary to subdue Ogletree.

In response to the news that Osman and Parish were going to be transferred, Marcon Green, who testified that he had been molested by the officers, said, “People are going to be in trouble in those neighborhoods. They better watch out because those guys are up to no good no matter what district they’re in. They need to be locked up. They do not need to be police officers.”

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As one of only twelve states without the death penalty, Michigan law mandates that a person convicted of first-degree murder is sent to prison without possibility of parole. State Representative Dan Acciavatti, a Republican from Macomb County, is seeking to change that. Earlier this month, he introduced a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the death penalty to be considered in first-degree murder cases.

The Associated Press reports that Acciavatti acknowledges his proposal has faces an uphill battle in the state Legislature. Every attempt to allow capital punishment in Michigan has failed, including recent efforts in 1999 and 2004. But his proposal may spark a discussion about how to get tougher penalties in place for certain criminals.

If the death penalty doesn’t become an option, Acciavatti has said he will continue pushing for more severe punishment for Michigan convicts, including confining prisoners to high-security prisons for the duration of their sentences and denying access to exercise or recreational activities.

The death penalty proposal is called House Joint Resolution Y.

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A lawsuit was filed in United States District Court last Thursday, seeking an injunction to prevent the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative from being placed on the November ballot. The lawsuit, filed by Operation King’s Dream/BAMN, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the Macomb County NAACP, and numerous African-American and Latino individuals, charges that the MCRI’s financial backer Ward Connerly, the MCRI’s Executive Director Jennifer Gratz, the MCRI, the Michigan Secretary of State, and the State Board of Canvassers violated the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 during the collection of petition signatures and in making the decision to place the MCRI on the ballot. In addition, two of Detroit’s labor unions—AFSCME Local 207 and Local 312—signed on to the lawsuit due to the large number of members who believed they were signing a petition in support of affirmative action.

MediaMouse reports that the Civil Rights Commission gathered over a thousand pages of testimony outlining “systemic” fraud in the campaign to place the MCRI on the ballot. The text of the case filed last Thursday specifically charge that Connerly, Gratz, and the MCRI violated Section 2 of the Civil Rights Act in their systemic and racially-targeted fraud used to obtain ballot access for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. The filing goes on to state that the Secretary of State and members of Michigan’s Board of Canvassers have violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in supporting the MCRI’s inclusion on the November ballot without an investigation.

A decision in the case will be made before September 1st when ballots are printed for distribution overseas.

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National and International Headlines:

Transgendered people and their allies met last Friday in New York’s Chelsea Park to protest New York City’s refusal to give them a permit to march as part of Pride Week. The city denied the groups a permit because they do not recognize transpeople as part of the city’s Gay Pride Celebration.

According to an account on New York Indymedia, the trans community came out in strong numbers despite the presence of police on motorbikes who lined the perimeter of the park. Many of the marchers held signs demanding an end to violence aimed at transpeople.

In June of 2000, Amanda Milan, a 25-year-old African-American transgender woman, was brutally murdered in the middle of an intersection near Port Authority Bus Terminal as onlookers cheered. Several participants in Friday’s march carried signs remembering Milan with the message, “not one more transwoman murdered.”

After several speeches and a rally in Chelsea park, the crowd successfully held an un-permitted march along 8th Avenue.

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The Dayton Daily News reports that an American soldier convicted of fatally shooting a handcuffed Iraqi cow herder in 2004, was freed from a military prison in Oklahoma last Friday. His release comes more than a year before his sentence was up. The shooting was one of two of Iraqi civilians during a 10-day period by members of the same Hawaii-based platoon.

Sgt. Jeffrey D. Waruch, a member of that platoon who was present during the shooting of the handcuffed man, was also accused in the other shooting, in which a 13-year-old girl was killed and her mother and sister wounded. Waruch was discharged without being accused of a crime. Army officials determined it was unlikely they would find sufficient evidence against him.

Both shootings were examined by the Dayton Daily News late last year in a special report. The Ohio newspaper reported then that dozens of soldiers were accused of crimes against Iraqis since the first troops deployed for Iraq, but despite strong evidence and convictions in some cases, only a small percentage resulted in punishments.

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Two groups, Green Korea and the Chuncheon Civic Group, have filed a lawsuit against the South Korean Ministry of Environment to gain the release of pollution data from abandoned U.S. military bases. Activists from these environmental groups allege that dangerous levels of pollution may exist at the former US military bases that are scheduled to be returned to South Korea.

According to Stars and Stripes Pacific Edition, the United States has tried to return closed bases for the past 18 months, but South Korea has declined. US military officials claim that the previous South Korean government agreed to take the land “as is.”Army officials have added that any further cleanup efforts should be handled by the South Korean government as “the price of peace.”

Earlier this year, a major South Korean newspaper published a report containing leaked data about the pollution rates at US military bases. The data showed unsafe levels of ground and water contamination at over a dozen military sites, including bases in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and North Carolina.

Meanwhile, South Korean environmental government officials have refused to comment on the leaked data and status of the bases in question.

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Israeli Newspaper Maariv reported last week that the Israeli security services are preparing for a campaign to bar international peace activists from entering the occupied West Bank to participate in the “Summer Peace camp” organized by the International Solidarity Movement. Israel stated that international activists working with the ISM will be expelled for “supporting illegal organizations.”

On June 22nd, Israeli authorities at Tel Aviv’s International Airport barred eight international peace activists from entering the country. The activists were detained, strip searched, and interrogated by Israeli Intelligence for a total of eight hours before they were forced on a plane leaving the country. These international volunteers intended to participate in Freedom Summer 2006, a non-violent campaign coordinated by the International Solidarity Movement to aid the Palestinian residents in the occupied territories.