Interview with Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish
Earlier today we had the opportunity to interview Doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish who is in town to present at both Calvin College and GVSU on how the Israeli Assault on Gaza has affected children. He was invited to West Michigan by the group Healing Children of Conflict, which seeks to offer medical treatment to children, which have been wounded from US military attacks or with weapons supplied by the US.
To view the interview just click here.
Carl Levin and US Imperial Policy
As we have documented previously, Michigan Senator Carl Levin, while having some liberal leanings on domestic policy, tends to support US Foreign Policy that is essentially imperialist in nature.
Earlier this week during a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command Levin made some interesting remarks that indicate he supports an imperialist position.
Levin is in full support of the US occupations of both Afghanistan and Iraq. When speaking about Afghanistan Senator Levin seems most concerned about the speed in which the US & NATO forces are training Afghan military recruits or the lack of necessary equipment for the US special operations forces in Afghanistan.
All of Levin’s references to Afghanistan are in support of the US counterinsurgency plan that President Obama has called for since last fall. Nowhere in his statement does the Michigan Senator acknowledge the Afghani civilians who have died as a result of this campaign.
On Iraq, Levin supports the Obama administration’s claims that the US forces will be reduced to 50,000 by the end of this year and eventually all US forces will be gone by 2011. This of course doesn’t not address the massive US bases that are in Iraq nor the independent reports coming from that country which suggests that the US will not remove all of it’s troops in the next few years.
Levin then goes on to discuss the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing and “that Al Qaeda is a global organization that continues to threaten harm to anyone that does not share its radical views.” Levin mentions the growing anti-American attitude in places like Yemen and the Afghani/Pakistani border and say that US special operations forces need to be deployed in all of those countries to “address the underlying causes of violent extremism.”
However, some groups would argue that it is US policy, particularly the occupation of Afghanistan that is creating anti-US acts of terror. This is the assessment of Afghan groups like RAWA and former CIA Analyst Michael Scheuer, both believe that US policy creates terrorists.
Senator Levin then ends his statement by addressing US policy towards Iran. Levins says, “Iran continues to work to undermine stability in the Middle East and to stoke fear across the region. The brutal tactics and human rights abuses of the Government of Iran in its efforts to silence the voices of the people of Iran are of deep concern.” While it is true that Iran has an atrocious human rights record, it is no worse than Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Israel, all of which are US allies in the region.
Levin supports greater sanctions against Iran for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of their push to develop nuclear technology. This argument ignores the fact that Israel already possesses nuclear weapons, which begs the question why one country in the region can have them and not another.
Media Alert – The Great Internet Rip-Off
The FCC just released its National Broadband Plan. Based on the gushing media response, you’d think that America’s Internet was sailing smoothly into the future.
Think again.
There are some good things in the plan, but it punts on the thorniest problems that Internet users face in America: astronomical prices, slow speeds and no real choices among providers.
The FCC plan is a promising start, but it’s short on action. And Comcast and Time Warner Cable are thumbing their noses at it — having just announced plans to jack up their Internet prices even higher.
That’s why we’re asking you to sign on to this letter telling FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski that we need real choices, lower prices, faster speeds and an open Internet in America. Nothing less.
The only way to keep down prices, and get the Internet we need, is for the FCC to follow through on our demands. We’re facing:
High Prices: Cable and phone companies jack up Internet prices simply because they can. People have too few options for world-class Internet connections, resulting in costs that are among the highest in the developed world.
Slow Speeds: Average U.S. broadband speeds are 20 times slower than speeds available to users in Japan, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Korea and Hong Kong.
Few Choices: Five percent of American households have no wireline providers; 13 percent of households have just one; and 78 percent have just two. In other words, 96 percent of the country has two or fewer choices for wired broadband.
The National Broadband Plan is our best chance to fix America’s Internet problem. But prices will not go down, and speeds will not increase without concrete action from the FCC.
It’s time we took a stand against the narrow corporate interests that have held America’s Internet captive for too long.
Radical Author/Journalist John Ross to Speak in Grand Rapids
Next week, John Ross, radical journalist and author of numerous books on the Zapatista Rebellion in Mexico, will be speaking in Grand Rapids.
Ross is on tour with a new book entitled, El Monstruo: True Tales of Dread and Redemption in Mexico City. He will be speaking at two public events while in Grand Rapids.
On Wednesday, March 24 at 7pm, Ross will give a talk on The Drug War and Mexican Migration. The presentation will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1100 Lake Dr. SE in Grand Rapids. There is a Facebook event set up, which we encourage people to share with others.
On Thursday, March 25 beginning at 9pm, Ross will read from his new book and talk informally with people in a gathering at Mexicains Sans Frontieres, located at 120 S. Division on the 2nd floor. There is also a Facebook event set up, so please pass this information along as well.
Both events are sponsored by The Bloom Collective, Mexicains Sans Frontieres, and GRIID.
Cornell West talks about the Obama Administration
Avi Lewis, co-director of the documentary The Take, interviews Professor and author Dr. Cornell West. They discuss the Obama administration and African Americans, US as Empire and Racism in the US.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit today demanding that the government disclose the legal basis for its use of unmanned drones to conduct targeted killings overseas. In particular, the lawsuit asks for information on when, where and against whom drone strikes can be authorized, the number and rate of civilian casualties and other basic information essential for assessing the wisdom and legality of using armed drones to conduct targeted killings.
“The public has a right to know whether the targeted killings being carried out in its name are consistent with international law and with the country’s interests and values,” said Jonathan Manes, a legal fellow with the ACLU National Security Project. “The Obama administration should disclose basic information about the program, including its legal basis and limits, and the civilian casualty toll thus far.”
The CIA and the military have used unmanned drones to target and kill individuals not only in Afghanistan and Iraq but also in Pakistan and, in at least one case in 2002, Yemen. The technology allows U.S. personnel to observe targeted individuals in real time and launch missiles intended to kill them from control centers located thousands of miles away. Recent reports, including public statements from the director of national intelligence, indicate that U.S. citizens have been placed on the list of targets who can be hunted and killed with drones.
The ACLU made an initial FOIA request for information on the drone program in January. Today’s lawsuit against the Defense Department, the State Department and the Justice Department seeks to enforce that request. None of the three agencies have provided any documents in response to the request, nor have they given any reason for withholding documents. The CIA answered the ACLU’s request by refusing to confirm or deny the existence of any relevant documents. The CIA is not a defendant in today’s lawsuit because the ACLU will first appeal the CIA’s non-response to the Agency Release Panel.
“The government’s use of drones to conduct targeted killings raises complicated questions – not only legal questions, but policy and moral questions as well,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “These kinds of questions ought to be discussed and debated publicly, not resolved secretly behind closed doors. While the Obama administration may legitimately withhold intelligence information as well as sensitive information about military strategy, it should disclose basic information about the scope of the drone program, the legal basis for the program and the civilian casualties that have resulted from the program.”
The ACLU’s lawsuit seeks, in addition to information about the legal basis for the drone program, information about how the program is overseen and data regarding the number of civilians and non-civilians killed in the strikes. Estimates of civilian casualties provided by anonymous government officials quoted in the press and by various non-governmental analysts differ dramatically, from the dozens to the hundreds, giving an incomplete and inconsistent picture of the human cost of the program.
Attorneys on the case are Manes, Jaffer and Ben Wizner of the ACLU National Security Project and Arthur B. Spitzer of the ACLU of the Nation’s Capital.
The ACLU’s complaint can be found here: http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-v-doj-et-al-complaint
The ACLU’s FOIA request can be found here: http://www.aclu.org/national-security/predator-drone-foia-request
Last night members of the Stop Targeting Our Kids (STOK) coalition spoke to the Grand Rapids School Board about their work and some possible ways in which to partner with the school district.
During the public comment a STOK spokesperson stated:
The STOK coalition is grateful for all that you do in service to the health and well being of our children, our families, our schools and our community. We are also deeply concerned about a staggering national rise of in-school advertising, marketing and product placement. As parents, educators and community members we believe that the practices of advertising and marketing that target children and youth are in direct conflict with the healthy physical, emotional, social and intellectual development of our youngest community members.
As a Grand Rapids based organization, we encourage the GRPS Board and administration to explore the rapidly increasing relationship between commercial interests and public schools. We are interested to learn as to whether the GRPS Board has considered the establishment of policy to help our school leaders, teachers and staff as they navigate the ever growing barrage of corporate advertising disguised as educational programming, materials, products and offers. Committed to the practices of education, advocacy and research surrounding the effects of commercialization on children, STOK coalition members are ready and eager to partner with GRPS stakeholders to ensure that the Grand Rapids Public Schools maintain a mission rooted in integrity, best practice, quality and awareness in the face of the tremendous onslaught of marketing and advertising directed towards children and youth.
The School Board made no commitment at this time as to whether or not this is an issue they will investigate.
Media Bites – Bud Light Book Club
In this week’s Media Bites we take a look at another Budweiser commercial, one that first aired during the 2010 Super Bowl. In this ad a guy interrupts a women’s book club because there is Bud Light present. He demeans the women and what they are discussing, just so he can get beer. Essentially, this ad is about male privilege.
Students Protest GRPS Policies
About 60-70 students gathered yesterday outside the administrative offices of the Grand Rapids Public Schools to protest two issues the students don’t think are in their best interest.
One issue is a proposal to consolidate all four of the GRPS high schools into one large graduation ceremony. The students we talked to said that they want the tradition of walking on stage with their school to get a diploma.
A half hour later, during the GRPS school board meeting, a student liaison to the board asked a question about this proposal to change graduation ceremonies. GRPS Superintendent Taylor said that this was a “rumor” and that he guarantees that students will walk and get a diploma, but he never said that each school will have its own ceremony.
The second issue that the students were protesting was the recent announcement that the school district will offer more online classes. Students told us that this means that some teachers will lose their jobs and they don’t support that. In addition, as Jakayla Holstein, a student at union said, “lots of students can’t concentrate as well with instruction from a computer screen, they need a real live teacher.” Danny Santiago, also a student at Union said that students are already skipping class and he thinks that having fewer teachers and class online will only increase the amount of student absenteeism.
However, if you look at the local news coverage from last night’s protest, most of the major commercial news agencies did not even address this second issue.
The WOOD TV 8 story makes it sound as if the students cause for concern “was rooted in confusion.” In the WZZM 13 story, more time is given to Superintendent Taylor and other school staff that to the students grievances. The WXMI 17 story states that the school district hasn’t come to a decision on the matter school graduation ceremonies.
The only major local commercial news agency to mention that the students were also protesting the issue of online classes was the Grand Rapids Press, which stated that the students were “saying they deserve to be taught by human beings.”
In addition, none of the news agencies bothered to ask the students how they organized this protest and what means they used to get the word out. One of the organizers, Paris Lara, told us that had just found out on Friday about these proposals, so he and others began to call people, text them and used a Facebook page that was created called the Grand Rapids Public Schools Student Union. Several of the students we talked to said they would keep pressuring the GRPS administration until their concerns were heard.
Vampire Movies, DVD Sales & the front page of the GR Press
It is certainly not surprising that the main story on the front page of today’s Grand Rapids Press is devoted to consumerism, since we have noted this in the past. However, a notable difference with today’s article is that it essentially acts as advertisement for local retailer.
The story in question is headlined “Retail revels in ‘New Moon,’” which is about the upcoming sale of the 2nd movie in the Twilight trilogy. The story basically provides a format for representatives of various local retailers to discuss their plans to market DVDs of the much-hyped teen movie. In addition, other sources cited in the story are those from the DVD distribution industry and a fan-based magazine.
However, the most outlandish aspect of the article was the sidebar next to the photo that accompanied the story. The sidebar is essentially a run down of what five area retail stores are planning along with the sales of the Twilight DVD and their hours of operation.
At a minimum the Press should have reserved this article for the “Your Life” section of the paper or better yet it should have just been run as a straight up advertisement. Making this a news story is not only an affront to journalistic standards, but it is an insult directed at the public.
