The Partisan Defense Committee vigorously protests the prosecution of Andy Thayer, a well-known Chicago antiwar activist and co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, who faces bogus felony charges of aggravated battery against a police officer. We say: Drop all charges against Andy Thayer!
On January 7, Mr. Thayer was among 100 protesting against President George W. Bush at the corner of Jackson and Dearborn Streets, during Bush’s meeting with Mayor Richard Daley and businessmen at the Union League Club. Mr. Thayer was one of four protesters holding a large banner that read: “End the War and Occupation!” and “Troops Home NOW!” As Bush and his motorcade drove away, Mr. Thayer was surrounded by cops on horseback, and then arrested. The cops also grabbed three other demonstrators who were holding the banner—Buddy Bell, Kevin Clark and Jeff Pickert. On January 25, Mr. Thayer was indicted by the Cook County grand jury on trumped-up felony charges that carry a possible seven-year sentence.
Mr. Thayer was targeted for arrest as retaliation for his role as an organizer of many large antiwar rallies and marches in Chicago. Mr. Thayer helped spearhead the effort to win the right for antiwar protesters to march on Michigan Avenue, which was strongly opposed by the city police brass. That the full weight of the city government is behind the false prosecution can be seen in the fact that Deputy Chief of Police James Keating is serving as complaining “witness” claiming he was “battered” because Thayer “bumped” him. The witchhunt directed at Mr. Thayer comes as the City is restoring the Red Squad, and in the context of all-sided attacks on civil liberties in the name of the bipartisan “war on terror.”
On April 18, two of the “Bush 4” defendants—Bell and Clark—were acquitted of all misdemeanor charges. Outrageously, Pickert was found guilty of disorderly conduct and sentenced to 30 days’ supervision. Mr. Thayer still faces trial on the bogus felony battery charges.
We vehemently demand that all the charges against Andy Thayer be dropped immediately!
* * *
Donations for Andy Thayer’s legal defense can be sent to: Eighth Day Center for Justice, 205 W. Monroe Street, 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606. Make checks payable to Eighth Day Center for Justice, earmarked “Bush 4 Defense.”
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
The People of Wales Almost Nab John Bolton in Citizen's Arrest!
Former Bush advisor, John Bolton narrowly escaped arrests by a very large group of welsh citizens who took it upon themselves to make a citizens arrest of him on charges of false evidence leading to the war with Iraq. The people of Wales are still Paul Robeson's people!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Iraq War Protester Threatened with Deporattion From Canada
Hello,
I got this message and action alert from United for Peace & Justice
(UFPJ). The Iraq war resister is from Fairmont, Indiana, 70 miles East
of Lafayette. He has been ordered to leave Canada, where he was
seeking to live after refusing to go back to Iraq. Please take
action. Sheila
War Resister Corey Glass loses bid to stay in Canada
First Iraq War veteran to face deportation
Courage to Resist
May 21, 2008
US Iraq war resister Corey Glass was told May 21 that his application
to stay in Canada for "humanitarian and compassionate" reasons has
been rejected. He has been ordered to leave Canada by June 12. If this
order is allowed to stand, Corey will be the first Iraq War resister
to be deported from Canada.
Please take action now!
Sign the "Dear Canada: Let U.S. War Resisters Stay!" letter. Courage
to Resist will immediately send three letters to Canadian officials on
your behalf via International First Class Mail.
http://www.couraget oresist.org/canada
Call Canadian Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion at 613.996.6740 or 613.996.5789
• to support the Parliamentary motion to allow Iraq War resisters to
remain in Canada,
• to oppose the deportation of people of conscience who have resisted
an illegal war, and
• to support the will of the majority of people, not the U.S.
government's endless war agenda. (Polls show that 64% of Ontarians
believe resisters should be allowed to stay.)
Be on the lookout for a national day of vigils and actions at Canadian
consulates nationwide if Corey is deported.
Corey Glass, 25, of Fairmount, Indiana went to Canada in August 2006
after serving five months in Iraq as a Military Intelligence Sergeant.
"What I saw in Iraq convinced me that the war is illegal and immoral.
I could not in good conscience continue to take part in it," said
Corey. "I came here because Canada did not join the Iraq War."
On December 6, 2007, with Courage to Resist organizers in attendance,
the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration called on the
Canadian Government to "immediately implement a program to allow
conscientious objectors and their immediate family members to apply
for permanent resident status and remain in Canada; and the government
should immediately cease any removal or deportation actions against
such individuals."
It is estimated that several hundred Iraq War resisters are currently
in Canada, many of them living underground.
"The Government should implement that recommendation immediately,"
said author Lawrence Hill. "Corey Glass had the courage to listen to
his conscience. He is working hard to build a new life in this
country. He should be allowed to stay."
With political refugee status attempts rejected by the Canadian
Supreme Court last year, Corey appealed to be allowed to immigrate to
Canada for "Humanitarian and Compassionate" reasons. All of the war
resisters who have already been rejected as refugees have applied for
this status.
"Many had hoped that the Canadian government might find this avenue as
a face-saving measure that would allow some war resisters to remain in
Canada,but not as refugees," said Gerry Condon, Project Safe Haven.
Gerry Condon concluded, "The prognosis is that the status of U.S. war
resisters in Canada will become more difficult. AWOL GI's will still
be able to enter Canada as visitors and apply for refugee status.
Because each case is reviewed individually, this will gain them a de
facto sanctuary, however temporary."
It's critical that supporters of GI resistance here in the U.S. get
ready to step up our efforts. It's inevitable that at least some of
our U.S. war resisters in Canada will be coming home soon. They will
be facing court martials and confinement, and what we do in response
will effect these people's lives, and the momentum of the GI
resistance movement.
With contribution and content from the War Resisters Support Campaign
(Canada) http://www.resister s.ca
I got this message and action alert from United for Peace & Justice
(UFPJ). The Iraq war resister is from Fairmont, Indiana, 70 miles East
of Lafayette. He has been ordered to leave Canada, where he was
seeking to live after refusing to go back to Iraq. Please take
action. Sheila
War Resister Corey Glass loses bid to stay in Canada
First Iraq War veteran to face deportation
Courage to Resist
May 21, 2008
US Iraq war resister Corey Glass was told May 21 that his application
to stay in Canada for "humanitarian and compassionate" reasons has
been rejected. He has been ordered to leave Canada by June 12. If this
order is allowed to stand, Corey will be the first Iraq War resister
to be deported from Canada.
Please take action now!
Sign the "Dear Canada: Let U.S. War Resisters Stay!" letter. Courage
to Resist will immediately send three letters to Canadian officials on
your behalf via International First Class Mail.
http://www.couraget oresist.org/canada
Call Canadian Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion at 613.996.6740 or 613.996.5789
• to support the Parliamentary motion to allow Iraq War resisters to
remain in Canada,
• to oppose the deportation of people of conscience who have resisted
an illegal war, and
• to support the will of the majority of people, not the U.S.
government's endless war agenda. (Polls show that 64% of Ontarians
believe resisters should be allowed to stay.)
Be on the lookout for a national day of vigils and actions at Canadian
consulates nationwide if Corey is deported.
Corey Glass, 25, of Fairmount, Indiana went to Canada in August 2006
after serving five months in Iraq as a Military Intelligence Sergeant.
"What I saw in Iraq convinced me that the war is illegal and immoral.
I could not in good conscience continue to take part in it," said
Corey. "I came here because Canada did not join the Iraq War."
On December 6, 2007, with Courage to Resist organizers in attendance,
the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration called on the
Canadian Government to "immediately implement a program to allow
conscientious objectors and their immediate family members to apply
for permanent resident status and remain in Canada; and the government
should immediately cease any removal or deportation actions against
such individuals."
It is estimated that several hundred Iraq War resisters are currently
in Canada, many of them living underground.
"The Government should implement that recommendation immediately,"
said author Lawrence Hill. "Corey Glass had the courage to listen to
his conscience. He is working hard to build a new life in this
country. He should be allowed to stay."
With political refugee status attempts rejected by the Canadian
Supreme Court last year, Corey appealed to be allowed to immigrate to
Canada for "Humanitarian and Compassionate" reasons. All of the war
resisters who have already been rejected as refugees have applied for
this status.
"Many had hoped that the Canadian government might find this avenue as
a face-saving measure that would allow some war resisters to remain in
Canada,but not as refugees," said Gerry Condon, Project Safe Haven.
Gerry Condon concluded, "The prognosis is that the status of U.S. war
resisters in Canada will become more difficult. AWOL GI's will still
be able to enter Canada as visitors and apply for refugee status.
Because each case is reviewed individually, this will gain them a de
facto sanctuary, however temporary."
It's critical that supporters of GI resistance here in the U.S. get
ready to step up our efforts. It's inevitable that at least some of
our U.S. war resisters in Canada will be coming home soon. They will
be facing court martials and confinement, and what we do in response
will effect these people's lives, and the momentum of the GI
resistance movement.
With contribution and content from the War Resisters Support Campaign
(Canada) http://www.resister s.ca
From Protest Poems.Org
"In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane." Oscar Wilde
Bui Kim Thành is being held in an asylum despite a psychiatric determination of sanity.
On March 6th, 2008 police broke into Bui Kim Thành's house and took her to the Bien Hoa Mental Hospital, where she is still being held incommunicado.
Bui Kim Thành is a human rights lawyer, Internet writer and member of the banned Democratic Party of Vietnam.
This is the second time Bui Kim Thành has been kept in psychiatric care by Vietnamese authorities. In November 2006, she was committed and kept for eight months, despite the fact that two psychiatrists concluded she was not suffering from mental illness. She has said that she was forcibly medicated during that time, though doesn't know with which drugs.
She is believed to have been/to be targeted for her critical online writings and dissident activities. Bui Kim Thành has been reporting for various media outlets, the internet and international NGOs on issues of social injustice and human rights violations in Vietnam.
She is known for her defense of destitute women farmers made homeless by illegal land expropriation.
Incarceration of dissidents under the guise of treatment for mental illness is not uncommon (see link from website).
For links to more information see the website: www.protestpoems.org
--
Thank you for taking part!
Bui Kim Thành is being held in an asylum despite a psychiatric determination of sanity.
On March 6th, 2008 police broke into Bui Kim Thành's house and took her to the Bien Hoa Mental Hospital, where she is still being held incommunicado.
Bui Kim Thành is a human rights lawyer, Internet writer and member of the banned Democratic Party of Vietnam.
This is the second time Bui Kim Thành has been kept in psychiatric care by Vietnamese authorities. In November 2006, she was committed and kept for eight months, despite the fact that two psychiatrists concluded she was not suffering from mental illness. She has said that she was forcibly medicated during that time, though doesn't know with which drugs.
She is believed to have been/to be targeted for her critical online writings and dissident activities. Bui Kim Thành has been reporting for various media outlets, the internet and international NGOs on issues of social injustice and human rights violations in Vietnam.
She is known for her defense of destitute women farmers made homeless by illegal land expropriation.
Incarceration of dissidents under the guise of treatment for mental illness is not uncommon (see link from website).
For links to more information see the website: www.protestpoems.org
--
Thank you for taking part!
Scott McClellan's New Book
I am soo excited about the former White House Press Secretary's testimonial concerning the crimes of the Bush administration! Oh how fabulous to watch the fall of tyranny...
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sydney Pollack-Bobby Deerfield!!
I also love Bobby Deerfield! I want that Volvo Al Pacino drove! That was a wonderful film and Al Pacino was hot!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The Sad Passing of Sydney Pollack
My favorite of his films were The Way We Were(of course!) and The Sterile Cuckoo. He was born in Lafayette Indiana? Oh wow...
Black Male Sexuality
"Rufus looked up and down the street, then looked into the man's ice-cold, ice-white face. He reminded himself yhe knew the score, he'd been around, netiher was this the first time during his wanderings that he had consented to the bleakly physical exchange ; and yet he felt that he would never be able to endure the toch of this man...." -James Baldwin, Another Country
I am currently rereading Another Country for the first time in about 7 years. This passage stuck to me and really peaked at my curious mind. There is something about black men, especially Black men of pre-1980s generations that is very queer. There is a subtle queerness there that has been untouched by intellectual inquiry. The reading of this passage only triggered these thoughts in me. Alas, I really draw my thoughts from varied Black male sources that I have encountered that lend themselves to this....Richard Pryor..who alludes to his possible bisexuality....Huey Newton...who expressed this as well....in relation to himself and black men of his time and era as well...Malcolm X....who is to have been a favorite at the YMCA during his adolescence and early adulthood.... and this queerness may well be a more immediate cause of such severe homophobia among black men and in the blakc community.I wonder how many Black men born in the first five decades of the twentieth century had homosexual experiences....
I am currently rereading Another Country for the first time in about 7 years. This passage stuck to me and really peaked at my curious mind. There is something about black men, especially Black men of pre-1980s generations that is very queer. There is a subtle queerness there that has been untouched by intellectual inquiry. The reading of this passage only triggered these thoughts in me. Alas, I really draw my thoughts from varied Black male sources that I have encountered that lend themselves to this....Richard Pryor..who alludes to his possible bisexuality....Huey Newton...who expressed this as well....in relation to himself and black men of his time and era as well...Malcolm X....who is to have been a favorite at the YMCA during his adolescence and early adulthood.... and this queerness may well be a more immediate cause of such severe homophobia among black men and in the blakc community.I wonder how many Black men born in the first five decades of the twentieth century had homosexual experiences....
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