THE DEATH OF PENSIONS?

[Col. Writ. 6/1/05] Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal

With the judicial seal of approval of the United Airlines plan to ditch its pensions, comes another battle in the long war of capital against labor. By this attack on those who have spent their lives making the fortunes of United, the 'business community' opens yet another front in their rapacious war to gain more and more profits.

Now, thousands of disenfranchised workers must turn to the US government for their pensions -- a government agency known as the Pension Benefit Guaranty Board. But, guess what? The PBGC itself is going bankrupt. And, even if it were not, the PBGC doesn't intend to pay out full pensions. If some workers are lucky, they'll receive *one third* of their expected pensions. Some workers, who haven't built up enough seniority, will get nothing!

(So much for the holy right of Contract!)

As this tragedy unfolds, executives and management make out like bandits. Like United's CEO, Glen Tilton, who, in 2002-2003 received over $5.5 million in compensation -- with a pension for $4.5 million locked up in a trust!

And, as United goes, so goes other companies in the airlines industry, and also other US industries. That this comes along at the same time as the Bush Administration is trying to scuttle Social Security, is a social obscenity.

In fact, many of these companies are having pension problems because they intentionally underfunded pension plans. They meant for it to break down, and then they sought judicial support for their bailout plans.

Everybody wins -- except the workers.

This war against workers, unless it is vigorously opposed by workers fighting in their own class interests, will result in nightmares where elderly must work until they drop dead.

For, with no pensions, and no social security, how can it be otherwise?

This business-friendly, labor-hating government is actually trying to set up a judicial, administrative, media regime that will undo the New Deal.

After the Great Depression of 1929, mass movements, such as rent riots, sit-ins, marches, and great demonstrations, struck the country. One such movement was for pensions for those who spent their lives working in hard toil. Movements such as these in the 1930s changed things. Scholars Frances Fox Piven and (the late) Richard Cloward, noted, in *The New Class War: Reagan's Attack on the Welfare State and Its Consequences* (Pantheon Books: 1982/1985 [revised/expanded edition]), p. 118: "In other words, the movements changed reality; they transformed the State."

Business, however, in its never-ending quest for more profits, continues its war through the political leaders that it buys, and by furthering their agenda. Now, as assuredly as the earth revolves around the sun, comes this vicious attack on pensions.

United Airlines is not the end; it is but the beginning of an end. And it will be an end, unless working class people stand up, in their own interest, and fight for what their fathers and mothers, at great struggle and sacrifice, have won.

Consider the French, those people who are referred to, by many US politicians, as quislings and cowards. They do not allow their political or business leaders to buffalo them. They hit the streets, in mass and militant protest, whenever the rights of working people are compromised. Recently, they closed down the nation's transportation because of threats to workers' pensions.

American politicians, who often claim to want to help 'working families' are quiet as church-mice. The Democratic Party, which is as much in big business's pocket as the Republicans, is mum.

People see it, and shake their heads, and go on.

They see it, and don't see it.

Instead of uniting, to fight it.

Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal



Posted by Liberation News:
lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news

That this coldblooded murderer has somehow been recreated as a leftist dilletante is yet ANOTHER example of how incredibly without substance the mind of the far left is.

There's simply no refuting it. If the left and whoever the fuck is leading this sinking ship of credibility can't see even the strategic value let alone the moral imperative of disavowing any connection with some failed, racist, cop-murdering cab driver such as this wesley cook piece of shit then they hardly have anyone to blame for their slide into oblivion.

It is curious that the Phillidelphia PD *lost* the only material evidence that was supposed to link Mumia to the shooting. The bullets taken from the victim.
Maybe that's why that 'human piece of shit' [Fresca] keeps on mewling about this topic.

If they were lost at all, which is certainly a very new development in this case which somehow you have been privy to, they were CERTAINLY around for the trial and numerous ballistic tests which matched them to cook's gun.

If you are actually going to try and refute that, you're simply a moron or a liar. It's inescaple and very well documented.

" ballistic tests which matched them to cook's gun."
Uh, not really as the bullets were frist thought to be 44 cal. Cook had a 38 and as usual you are full of shit. Why do you post your rancid droppings when you should just STFU and die?

Yet Another Witness Comes Forward and Refutes The frame-Up Of Mumia Abu-Jamal!

By STEVE ARGUE (April 27, 2003)

Under oath, and with a man’s life on the line, hospital security guard Priscilla Durham testified that she heard Mumia Abu-Jamal yell out as he lay bleeding in the hospital, "I shot the motherf---er and I hope he dies."

In the original police report by Officer Gary Wakshul, who was with Mumia the entire time through his arrest and medical treatment, Wakshul stated, "during this time the Negro male made no comment." Yet Gary Wakshul stated later that he heard Mumia confess that night. Gary Wakshul didn't "remember" this confession until almost three months after Mumia's arrest when prosecutor McGill met with police asking for a confession. Officer Wakshul absurdly stated that he didn't think the confession was important at the time he wrote his original report. Despite the importance of this evidence a jury has never been allowed to hear Wakshul’s original report.

Security guard Priscilla Durham’s testimony has now been refuted by yet another eyewitness. The half- brother of Priscilla Durham, Kenneth Pate, submitted a declaration through Mumia’s lawyers in the U.S. Court of Appeals and in the Third Circuit Court on April 24, 2003 stating that, “I read a newspaper article about the Mumia Abu-Jamal case. It said Priscilla Durham had testified at Mumia's trial that when she was working as a security guard at the hospital she heard Mumia say that he had killed the police officer. When I read this I realized it was a different story from what she had told me.”

Instead Kenneth Pate asked her, ‘"Did you hear him say that?” [I shot the motherf---er and I hope he dies.] " Priscilla answered, "All I heard him say was: 'Get off me, get off me, they're trying to kill me."

In the affidavit Kenneth Pate also states, “She said that when the police brought him in that night she was working at the hospital. Mumia was all bloody and the police were interfering with his treatment, saying ‘let him die.’ Priscilla said that the police told her that she was part of the "brotherhood" of police since she was a security guard and that she had to stick with them and say that she heard Mumia say that he killed the police officer…”

Despite the importance of this new affidavit, directly contradicting testimony that put Mumia on death row, a court clerk is refusing to file the new evidence and its accompanying remand motion for the evidence to be heard in a lower court. As Mumia’s attorneys have stated in a press release, “the clerk's refusal to file the motion was ‘an unlawful act of bureaucratic usurpation’ which violated Mumia's rights under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

In response on May 7, 2003 attorneys for Mumia Abu-Jamal were forced to file a motion in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking the court to order its clerk to file the remand motion. This clerk's obstruction of justice is just the most recent refusal by the courts to hear evidence of Mumia's innocence, but in the past these decisions had been made by judges.

The statement of Kenneth Pate is only the latest testimony that comes together to prove that Mumia Abu-Jamal is a political prisoner and the victim of a government conspiracy to frame him and put him on death row in 1981.

The frame-up trial of Mumia 21 years ago included the testimony of three eyewitnesses (Veronica Jones, William Singletary, and Robert Chobert) who later said they were threatened, coerced, or made promises by the police to get them to give false testimony against Mumia.

Facing protest and international pressure in support of framed political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal Federal Judge Yohn threw out Mumia’s death sentence on December 18th 2001. Judge Yohn's ruling, while possibly sparing Mumia the death penalty, did not overturn Mumia's conviction or grant him a new trial based on new proof of his innocence.

This decision is under appeal by the State of Pennsylvania, which is trying to reinstate Mumia’s death penalty sentence. In addition, political pressure is being applied by Pennsylvania Governor (D) Ed Randell for the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Ed Randell, a racist Democrat Party leader, promised the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal when he ran for governor.

Mumia’s attorneys have also appealed Yohn’s ruling and continue to fight to have the evidence heard and Mumia freed.

In earlier sentencing Mumia had been given the death penalty largely based on arguments that he had been a member of the Black Panther Party. This sentencing, based on political beliefs, was in violation of Mumia's 1st Amendment rights. Former membership in the Black Panther Party was used against Mumia effectively. This is largely because of the way the Black Panther Party was falsely portrayed in the corporate media while the FBI, working with local police departments, carried out a systematic campaign of murder and frame-ups against the members of the Black Panther Party in 1969 and 1970 killing 39 members.

While Mumia Abu-Jamal survived that period of bloody political repression in American history, he was later framed up for a 1981 crime he did not commit.

As a freelance journalist Mumia exposed the murderous police brutality and political repression carried out by the police against the MOVE organization in Philadelphia. That murderous repression was then directed at Mumia Abu-Jamal in 1981 when the Philadelphia Police shot Mumia, beat him, and interfered with his medical treatment. Failing to murder Mumia in the street and in the hospital the Philadelphia Police and DA then framed him on the false charge of murder on Police Officer Faulkner.

In May of 2001 Mumia's attorneys dropped a legal bombshell by submitting into court a sworn affidavit that contains the confession of Arnold Beverly to the murder that Mumia is accused of committing.

The new evidence that both state and federal courts have refused to hear include the confession of Arnold Beverly who states in his sworn affidavit, "I shot Faulkner at close range." Beverly also states very clearly, "Faulkner was shot in the back and in the face before Jamal came on the scene. Jamal had nothing to do with the shooting."

Arnold Beverly's confession is corroborated by eyewitness statements and forensic evidence. Beverly says he was wearing a green army jacket the night he shot Faulkner. William Singletary was there the night of the shooting. He says he saw a man shoot Faulkner and it was not Mumia. He also states that the actual killer was wearing a green army jacket.

Four eyewitnesses, including two cops, put a man wearing a green army jacket on the scene. Five eyewitnesses described a man fleeing the scene the way Beverly describes he did. Mumia of course was not running anywhere, he was lying on the ground with a bullet in his chest.

According to Arnold Beverly, Mumia arrived on the scene after Beverly had already shot Faulkner. Beverly says that Mumia was then shot by an arriving officer. The prosecution claims that Mumia was shot by Faulkner in self defense as Faulkner laid on the ground dying. Yet Beverly's story does fit with forensic evidence and the report of a cop at the scene that night. The cop stated that Mumia was shot by an arriving officer. The downward trajectory of the bullet into Mumia's chest also makes it physically impossible for Faulkner to have shot Mumia from the ground. In fact five hours after the shooting a police medical examiners report states that Mumia "was shot subsequently by arriving police reinforcements."

On every level Arnold Beverly's sworn confession to a capital offense is in fact backed up by evidence, while the prosecutions version of events is not. This, however, has not been cause enough for the prosecution to reconsider pushing for the execution and jailing of an innocent man. Instead they have successfully argued in court that the new evidence was not brought forward in a timely manner.

Ramona Africa spoke on this point at demonstration of 3,000 for Mumia on August 17th 2001 stating, "Judge Dembe has said she wants, in three weeks, some briefs to determine whether or not it's too late to prove his innocence, whether or not this information comes too late. We're saying it's never too late! What is she talking about, too late?… We aint interested in legalities. We're interested in what's right. Slavery was legal, but that wasn't right! Apartheid was legal but that wasn't right! The murder of Shaka Sankofa down in Texas, despite his innocence, was legal but that wasn't right! We don't care about legality. We care about justice and what is right."

In State court Mumia's attorney, Eliot Grossman put forward important legal arguments on why the 60-day limit should not apply to Beverly's confession, which was first made in 1999. He pointed out that Mumia's former, and fired, legal team of Leonard Weinglass and Dan Williams misinformed Mumia that they were investigating Arnold Beverly's confession when in fact they never had any intention of presenting it for evidence. Williams makes this point clear in his new book "Executing Justice" where he states that he doesn't believe the Beverly confession and that he doesn't believe the police would ever frame up an innocent man. These attorneys allowed the 60-day time line to expire without Mumia's permission or knowledge.

Mumia fired Weinglass and Williams after Williams betrayed attorney client confidentiality in May 2001 by publishing the money making book, "Executing Justice," purported to be an insiders account of Mumia's case. The publication of the book at a critical time in Mumia's appeal process shows that Williams was not looking out for Mumia's legal interests. Weinglass also knew the book was coming out, but did not inform Mumia. This, like their treatment of the Arnold Beverly confession, was a betrayal of the interests of their client and shows that they were not adequately representing him.

In federal court Judge Yohn has ruled that Beverly's confession is inadmissible citing the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1996. The act, among other things, sets a time limit of one year for death row inmates to present new evidence. Yohn echoed the prosecution by falsely stating the "petitioner chose not to present his claim to the state court or even to this court until May 2001."

Yohn's chilling decision also cited the infamous 1993 Herrera decision that proof of innocence is no bar for execution.

These rulings and statements of both Judge Dembe and Judge Yohn, along with those of Judge Sabo before them, are in effect saying that an American capitalist court of law is no place for evidence proving innocence.

On September 4th of last year Terri Maurer-Carter, an official court stenographer in the courts where Mumia was framed, came forward with more information on the state of mind of Judge Sabo during the trial. She states in an affidavit submitted last year, "Judge Sabo and another person were engaged in conversation. Judge Sabo was discussing the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. During the course of that conversation, I heard Judge Sabo say, "Yeah, and I'm going to help them fry the n______." There were three people present when Judge Sabo made that remark, including myself."

Judge Sabo presided over Mumia's original frame-up trial, but he didn't just do that. He came out of retirement to rule against Mumia at subsequent appeal hearings on whether or not Mumia got a fair trial. At these hearings Sabo ruled that Sabo had not violated Mumia's legal rights by denying him legal representation of his choice and denying him the right to attend his own trial.

Judge Sabo also ruled for the prosecution against the admissibility of the testimony of a key eyewitness in the original trial, Veronica Jones, who stated that she was coerced through threats from the police into giving false testimony against Mumia in the original trial. Jones was a prostitute who says that the police threatened her with prison on warrants and of taking her children away if she didn't say what the police wanted. She was later arrested off of the witness stand on a petty warrant while she told the truth testifying at a hearing for a new trial for Mumia. This testimony was important evidence of the fact that a frame-up had taken place. Yet Sabo did not allow a new trial based on this information or any of the other evidence brought forward.

In addition Judge Albert Sabo barred Mumia Abu-Jamal from his own trial claiming that Mumia was barred for being disruptive. Yet court records have now revealed that Sabo barred Mumia from his trial at the request of Mumia's incompetent and now disbarred defense attorney at the time, Anthony Jackson. This court appointed attorney made his request on the grounds that Mumia was about to fire him and would if Mumia wasn't barred from the trial. Sabo's granting of Jackson's request was a clear violation of Mumia's right to legal representation of his choice and of his right to be present at his own trial.

Another key ingredient missing in the prosecution's case against Mumia is a motive. Beverly's confession, however, does contain a clear motive. Beverly states, "I was hired, along with another guy, and paid to shoot and kill Faulkner. I had heard that Faulkner was a problem for the mob and corrupt policemen because he interfered with the graft and payoffs made to allow illegal activity including prostitution, gambling, drugs without prosecution in the center city area."

The entire chain of police command that "investigated" Mumia have in fact since been removed from the Philadelphia police force for corruption. At the time Faulkner was killed in December 1981, the FBI was involved in at least three investigations of the police in the center city area for corruption including extortion and bribery connected to the mob, prostitution, after-hours clubs, and gambling in the center city area. Targeted in the FBI investigation were Inspector Alphonzo Giordono, the senior cop at the scene of Faulkner's shooting, James Carlinini, head of homicide, and John DeBenedetto, head of the division where Faulkner worked.

Witnesses and informants in the FBI investigation were murdered. This included a witness who testified against DeBenedetto in 1983.

Police concern that Faulkner may have been an FBI informant could easily have led to his murder. Donald Hersing who was a source for the FBI at the time testifies in an affidavit for the defense that the Philadelphia cops were very concerned about possible FBI informants at the time. In a similar situation the LAPD Rampart cop who blew the whistle on police corruption and murder in LA was released from prison in 2001. He immediately went into hiding out of fear for his life from fellow officers.

Attorney Eliot Grossman stated at a press conference, "Mumia Abu-Jamal was in the wrong place at the wrong time when a hit was in progress on a police officer causing problems interfering with police corruption." But for the Philadelphia police he was at the right place at the right time. Mumia had exposed the murderous police violence used against the MOVE organization. Corrupt police officers used the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

What we do makes a difference, however. The government's attempt to murder Mumia Abu-Jamal in 1995 was halted by mass protests, including 10,000 people in Philadelphia, and international support. Those actions stopped Mumia’s execution within days of it being scheduled to take place. Continued support for Mumia Abu-Jamal in the streets will be necessary to keep Mumia alive and to free him.

Mumia has sat on death row for the past 21 years, removed from his family. Yet he now stands out as an uncompromising voice for the oppressed and exploited. Many have called him the voice of the voiceless.

The many prominent supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal include the European Parliament, Nelson Mandela, the Japanese Diet, the Congressional Black Caucus, The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sam Jordan, Leonard Peltier, and many unions in the United States and around the world.

In addition, Mumia Abu-Jamal has been made an honorary citizen of Paris by the French City Council. That honor was last bestowed on Pablo Picasso in 1971.

Mumia stands up for unions, against war, against racism, for equality for gays and lesbians, for the poor, and against the many injustices of the so-called criminal justice system. Mumia speaks up on many of the issues ignored, lied about, or glossed over by the corporate media and the corporate politicians. We need Mumia, yes we need him alive, but we also need him free. Yet all of the evidence shows that Mumia won't get justice in America's courts unless we turn up the heat.

For protests, teach-ins, and strikes (like the west coast 1998 longshoreman’s strike for Mumia) to: Free Mumia Abu-Jamal! Do not reinstate the death sentence for Mumia! All new evidence should be heard! Abolish the Racist Death Penalty! For a socialist revolution in the United States to free all political prisoners and charge the police for their crimes!

Liberation News
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news

The bullet:

* 1) The fatal bullet was originally reported to be a .44.
2) The .38 bullet now in evidence has a fragment missing (evidence "lost" by the police) and it is not possible to tell without the fragment if it was fired from Mumia's gun.

He was framed - the whole trial, everything about it was a sham

Arnold Beverly, confessed to the murder and said that Mumia is completely innocent.


And hundreds of thousands of people support him like -


1199ers for Peace & Justice;
Afrikan Frontline Network, Wilmington, DE
All Peoples Congress, Baltimore, MD
Amina Baraka; Author
Arise for Social Justice, Springfield, MA
Asha Bandele, Writer, New York City
Asians for Mumia
AWOL Magazine, Philadelphia, PA;
Black August Organizing Committee;
Blackberri, singer/songwriter;
Boots Riley, Performer, (Hip Hop group The Coup), Oakland, CA
Challenging White Supremacy Workshops, San Francisco, CA
Break The Chains Collective, Eugene, OR
Brenda Stokely;
Communist Workers Party;
Critical Resistance NY;
David Wong Support Committee;
December 12th Movement;
Elombe Brath;
Gaylon Alcaraz, Writer, Chicago, IL
Iglesia San Romero De Las Americas (UCC)
Insubordination Magazine Philadelphia, PA;
International A.N.S.W.E.R
International Action Center, New York, NY
International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia
Abu-Jamal, Norfolk, VA
Irish Republican Socialist Committee of North America
Jericho Movement, New York, NY
Just Justice for Mumia and the MOVE 9, Tours, France
Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal;
Latinas & Latinos for Mumia; nation-wide
LeiLani Dowell, Peace and Freedom candidate for House of Representatives, San Francisco, CA
Leslie Feinberg, Co-founder of Rainbow Flags for Mumia;
Malcolm X Commemoration Committee.
M'Backe House of Hope, Wilmington, DE.
Millions for Mumia/The International Action Center
Mothers Organized for the MOVE 9 and Mumia, Philadelphia, PA;
Move Organization, Philadelphia area, PA
Movement in Motion, arts and activist collective, NYC
National Jericho Movement
The National People's Campaign, Philadelphia, PA
N'diga Coffee and Books, Chicago, IL
NEFAC;
Patrice Lumumba Coalition
Pan African Arts Society, Denver, Colorado
Patrice Lumumba Coalition; New York, NY
Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty
Peoples Video Network
Philadelphia Friends of MOVE;
Philadelphia Socialist Workers Party
ProLibertad Freedom Campaign
Prison Activist Resource Center, Oakland, CA
Queens N'COBRA;
Refuse and Resist, National Office, New York City
Resistance in Brooklyn;
Reverend Herbert Daughtry;
Reverend Luis Barrios;
Ron Crenshaw, Friends of Zimbabwe, Brooklyn, NY
Socialist Front of Puerto Rico (New York), NY
Straight Out Scribes
Students in Solidarity, Pittsburgh, PA
Support Network for Armed Forces Union (SNAFU)
Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Houston, Texas
The Free Mumia Coalition of Albany, NY
The Jericho Movement New York City;
The MOVE Organization, Philadelphia, PA
The National Peoples Campaign, Phil, PA
The New York Free Mumia Coalition
Third World Coalition of the American Friends Service Committee, VA
Third World Coalition of the American Friends Service
Committee, Philadelphia, PA;
Vieques Support Campaign, New York, NY
Ward Churchill, Colorado American Indian Movement
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Philadelphia, PA
Workers to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal;
Workers World Party
Youth for Mumia, National Collective




In Africa, trade union leaders in Senegal, general secretaries of the five labor federations in Benin, as well as labor activists in the Republic of Mauritius and Angola


In Asia, labor activists and trade union leaders in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Taiwan


In Brazil, the youth and students committees, the Black movement and trade union leaders.

2000 delegates to the Sao Paulo State Workers Party convention

In Martinique, over 300 endorsements were gathered over the past weekend, mainly from trade union leaders and activists. Several declarations and statements of support have come in from Chile, Mexico, and Peru, among other countries in the Americas.


In Europe, Members of Parliament (MPs) and trade unionists

The British Firefighters Trade Union Federation

In Spain, the UGT federation of public services workers

In Portugal, representatives of the Portuguese government and of the U.S. embassy.

In Russia, political organizations and trade unions in St. Petersburg

In Germany, hundreds of endorsements have been collected

In the Netherlands, a committee has been established

A high-level international delegation comprising Members of Parliament and leaders of major trade union federations


New endorsers


GREAT BRITAIN : Tony BENN, MP, Labour Party ; Jeremy CORBYN, MP ; Jamie RITCHIE, lawyer ; John HAYWOOD, teacher ; John SPENCER, secretary of the Freelance section of the journalist trade union ; Ben RICKMAN, Brent Trades Council, local union TUC, Brent ; Joe MARINO, general secretary Bakers trade union, BFAWU. TAIWAN : ICLE, Information Committee for Labour Education. YEMEN : Mahmoud MAHMMED, trade unionist, oil industry.

INDIA : Samir KUMAR, leader of the Indian trade union centre (CITU) ; T. S. Rengarajan, trade unionist, CITU, New Delhi.

PORTUGAL : Joao PROENCA, general secretary, UGT. AUSTRALIA : R. J. HENRICKS, trade union secretary.

SENEGAL : Souleymane SOUARE, trade unionist, SATEL.

BENIN : Gaston AZOUA, general secretary, CSTB ; Pascal TODJIMOU, general secretary, CGTB ; Siméon DOSSON, general secretary, CSA ; Pépin SIMEON, general secretary, COSI ; Justin ADJIBABE, leader UNSTB, and 57 trade unionists and leaders of youth organisations.

MOROCCO : Mounir Alami KHALID, trade unionist CDT.

ALGERIA : Mustapha BENMOHAMED, MP, national popular Assembly.

Republic of MAURITIUS : Rada Kistnasmy, Veena Dholah and 24 trade union and popular organisations leaders.

RUSSIA : Evgueni KOZLOV, Russian Party of Communists (Leningrad region) ; Mher MARIKYAN, Dmitry LOBOK, Council of employees, engineers, workers and peasants of Leningrad region.

SRI LANKA : Somawansa AMARASINGHE, Political bureau of the JVP.

CHILE : Patricio CID, physician, Foro por la Democracia ; Pedro SANDOVAL, Partido de Trabajadores (Workers Party) ; Hector VELASQUEZ, trade unionist steel industry ; Luis MESSINA, bank trade unionist; Jorge GEORGACOPOULOS, trade unionist ; Patricio GUZMAN, director of Debate Social.

SWITZERLAND : Christiane JACQUAND, national councillor; Michel BUHLER, artist ; Suzi DULEX, MP ; Alain FRANCK, trade unionist ; Michèle WINTER-DUTOIT, health sector, trade unionist; Georges WINTER, writer ; Monique GAVIN, trade unionist, health sector; Abdou LANDRY, lawyer ; Antonio HERRANZ, trade unionist health sector ; Sylviane HERRANZ-DUVOISIN, journalist ; Rachid EL KHATTABI, UCPO ; Jacques ROBERT, trade unionist, president of the CGAS, secretary of the industry and building industry in Geneva.

COMOROS : Ali Ibauroi, general secretary of the Comoros Workers confederation.

PAKISTAN : Gulzar Ahmed CHUDHARY, general secretary, APTUF ; Nasir CHUDHARY, Progressive Youth Organisation. SPAIN : Manuel CAMARA, senator. ANGOLA : Antonio Alberto NANDO, president of the Democratic party, vice-president of the Association of African Lawyers.

BRAZIL : Eduardo SUPLICY, Senator of the Republic, PT (Sao Paulo) ; José GENOINO, federal MP, PT (Sao Paulo), leader of the federal MP fraction of the PT ; Aloisio MERCADANTE, MP federal PT, Sao Paulo ; Arlindo CHINAGLIA, MP federal PT, Sao Paulo ; Valter POMAR, member of the PT national executive; Flavio JORGE, in charge of the struggle against racism, national secretariat of the PT.

In France: 25,000 signatures have been gathered to date. Thousands of signatures are being gathered every day on the Open Letter to Clinton and are being sent to the International Committee to Save Mumia.

The following are some of the many trade unions that have endorsed : Loire Atlantique, Paris and Val d¹Oise regional federations (FO), Artists national federation (FO), or the executive committee of the railway workers of Sotteville-les-Rouen CGT section undersigned by 123 railway workers. Also, the Dole hospital (Jura region) CGT local, and the Roannais region CGT local, which writes to Clinton: "You have the duty, power and responsibility to prevent the execution".

Many renowned personalities have decided to join the International Committee, including: Yves Bonnefoy, writer, honorary professor at the Collège de France ; Michael Deguy, writer, former president of the international Collège of philosophy, honorary president of the Maison des écrivains (House of Writers) ; Bernard Noël, writer, president of the international philosophy Biennial; François Dominique, writer; Roland Ménard, author, winner of the SACD radio award ; Roland Timsit, actor ; Jacques Belleville, biologist...

Thousands of signatures, individual or in groups, include 6 Socialist Party leaders of Paris, 417 college pupils of Arras, 5 wage earns in air transports, 206 college pupils in Bondy, 506 activists in the Congress of Energy (CGT), 205 inhabitants of Montpellier, 885 people in the Rhone region, 850 in the Oise region, 158 students and IUT students in La Rochelle, 90 post office employees in the Seine Saint Denis department

" * 1) The fatal bullet was originally reported to be a .44. "

You're right. It was reported to be a .44 by the examiner ON THE SCENE by simply looking at the holes cook put into Faulkner.

Balistics of the other slugs matched cooks gun which was found ON HIS PERSON at the crime scene.

There have obviously been many people falsely accused and convicted. Cook is not one of them.

The MOUNTAINS of evidence against him is so incredibly airtight that it's taken an almost mass halucination for the left to rally around him.

That or the simple fact that a black killing a white cop gives leftists a hard on.

Never has there been such a cut and dried case.

Fry him.

All evidence and court bias aside, answer one question:

What would you do if a cop was about to kill your brother?

the original judge was heard saying exactly the same thing "I'm going to fry the nigger"

and hundreds of thousands of people me included who went over the "airtight" evidence are all wrong of course

then the signed confession of Arnold Beverly means nothing - hell people do that all the time don't they ?

confess to murder - of a cop no less

that's a common occurrence which of course doesn't cast *beyond reasonable doubt* on the case which is the legal standard required

and this "evidence" - funny how it was tampered with, cooked, lost and faulty

but that's "airtight" not because hundreds of thousands of people say so - because "fresca" (who can't be bothered to read any sentence longer than a few lines) says so...

then considering who does say so

talk radio heros

he's guilty - fry him

that's as long & complicated as THEY wish to deal with it too

if you press them with reasonable doubt you can squeeze "bullets were found all over him, everywhere and they all match perfectly"

bullets that *were not there before in the original trial* and of course no *powder evidence* (whenever a person fires a gun there's nitrate salt blown all over themself which can easyly be detected - this has been used to convict many people)

only we don't need any real evidence here, Sabo didn't, all he wanted to do was "fry him"

Fresca talks about the motivations of all those people, from Members of Parliament to Firefighters to government officials all as one group "the left" (which of course are allways wrong and horney)

when a list is presented detailing all these different people from *all walks of life* it's simply skipped - lets just call them "the left"


after all if it's not a 2 word slogan - "1)fry 2)him" or 1)incredibly 2)airtight it must not matter

ignorance is bliss, hate is bliss


assumptions are made on the actual evidence (or lack of), all those people (all left and therefore automaticly wrong - 1)left 2)wrong

and the confession

when you take away reason (which consists of looking over the data and applying analysis) often a very complicated process that hundreds of thousands of people manage to do


all you have left IS raw emotion 1)fry 2)him, 1)hard 2)on


exactly what fresca is all about

so is it any surprise such simple REACTIONARY concepts are all she deals with - parroting the same simplistic BS as other well known reactionaries do day in and out

the giveaway is simple one or two word thoughts and concepts as above


incredibly airtight is the reason he was fried years ago and didn't go through appeal after appeal

we are talking now precisely BECAUSE it's NOT airtight - much less "incredibly"

this simple fact ALSO escapes fresca - the very fact that she is even here talking about it at all is because it's not...


so even the simplist of concepts ALSO escapes her - when it's convenient or more to the point - INCONVENIENT..

Fortunately people aren't executed on mere convenience - imagine where "the left" would be if they were. If Fresca was our judge...

I shudder at the thought

"All evidence and court bias aside, answer one question:

What would you do if a cop was about to kill your brother?"

Excellent point. Unfortunately it doesn't even remotely apply here. Faulkner was not and it's never even been suggested that he was, trying to kill cook's brother.

Several eyewitnesses at the trial testified that cook's brother hit Faulkner first and then was hit back by Faulkner with a flashlight. His brother, in fact, pleaded guilty to assualting Faulkner.

In fact, his brother has never made A SINGLE statement in all the years that this has gone on claiming that cook was innocent of killing Faulkner. Not a single statement.

Hex has done a nice job of retelling the myths about the case, starting with the inane myth of Judge Sabo making the "fry the nigger" statement which is groundless and hardly relevant since the Death Penalty is NOT given by a judge. It's given by the jury. That and the fact that the evidence, hex's myth's notwithstanding are irrefutable.

Cook was found at the scene kneelig over Faulkner's body.
He had a gun and a holdster for the gun on him.
The slugs in Faulkner were matched to his gun.

That's more than enough right there but then we have eyewitnesses and alleged confessions. Hardly the compelling evidence that the physical evidence is , but compelling nonetheless.

SO many myths have been created but if your really interested actually read the trial transcripts.

He's simply guilty.

When you think you're arguing with her you're REALLY arguing with *the official lies*

She doesn't even come up with her own thoughts and sure as hell didn't dive into the hundreds of pages of evidence LIKE I DID

here's the proof -

Results


68 for Several eyewitnesses at the trial testified that cook's brother hit Faulkner first and then was hit back by Faulkner with a flashlight..

71 for Cook was found at the scene kneeling over Faulkner's body.

165,000 for He had a gun and a holster for the gun on him.

143 for The slugs in Faulkner were matched to his gun.

984 for his brother has never made A SINGLE statement in all the years that this has gone on claiming that cook was innocent of killing Faulkner



as you can see she's SIMPLY regurgitating what other people say. A small minority too compared to the number of people who support him -

29,500 for Mumia Abu-Jamal is innocent
123,000 for free Mumia Abu-Jamal
225,000 for free Mumia
9,920 for Mumia Abu Jamal was framed

and these people aren't regurgitating..

Re: whats my favorite Pink Floyd album

YOU ASKED ME - and where are you NOW ?

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/07/131362_comment.php


busy regurgitating BS while ignoring Skeptic just as you ignore all the evidence on Mumia except the official LIES ?

Well it took you long enough to answer now didn't it you jackass?

Three good choices. Not my favorite of course , but good choices.

As for all this cook nonsense, c and p'ing google results hardly changes the fact that the scumbag has become a celebrity of the left simply because he killed a cop.


And while you may have more experience with breadboards and jazz fusion, you have definitely NOt spent more time on the cook case.

But, trying to argue the obvious guilt of cook to one of his blind supporters is like trying to argue that the earth is round to a flat earther.

The important thing is that he's still locked up. Hopefully getting sick.

And by the way, wasn't I supposed to be afraid to cross you due to your fine "datamining" and cyber slueth skills?

Here's the deal. You suck at investigation.

You can't even get my sex right and I've pretty much given all my personal details away on this board over and over again.

But keep trying.

"his brother has never made A SINGLE statement in all the years that this has gone on claiming that cook was innocent of killing Faulkner"

By the way jackass, you do realize that if one is to google that particular phrase, or any phrase for that matter, it will show all pages that have those particular keywords in them. Not in ANY particular order , just appearing somewhere in the content.

For instance mumia and guilty turn up about 36, 000 pages.

Your cyber sluething remains flawed and embarrassing.

zero - ziltch

> NOt spent more time on the cook case.

Not only did I spend 2 weeks reading everything I could find in 2001, I also helped produce a CD for distribution for people to listen to in thier cars while driving to work

A friend made a label and did the burning while I made MP3 CD's for us

We were actually *part of the movement of active supporters* responsible for some of those google hits you've dismissed

Before I got behind him I wanted to be *damned sure* he's innocent otherwise I would be wasting my time to look like a fool

Before investing in D/L'ing the clips, converting and burning them, plus using up blank CD-R's *I was paying for* to give away to people...

It's one of the most thoroughly researched projects I've ever done - because I was about to spend *money and time* on it...


the thread in question re: the lyrics

you havent yet showed your face even now on it !

must be afraid of *something* there as you were being downright chatty *right up to the point the subject of tracking down kobe came up* - everyone has dissappeared except Jerry - the one person who IS safe and isn't important

Timestamps speak for themselves...

take this;


Cook was found at the scene kneeling over Faulkner's body.

(any of the words but the searched for structure hits returned first)

that's OR

Cook +was +found +at +the +scene +kneeling +over +Faulkner's +body

(spaces are ignored except if in quotes but every *key* word, not ANY)

that's AND not OR

"Cook was found at the scene kneeling over Faulkner's body. "

(some keywords are ignored unless in quotes)

that's ALL

try the advanced search then *pay attention to what the search box shows after you get results* and you'll see what I mean..

the +'s are all the words, quotes are the exact whole sentence and normal spaces allows *any of* the words..

Forget the Death of Pensions

Let's hope we will see the execution and death of the brutal murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal and very soon now (the sooner we rid the earth of this vermin the better)

have any evidence to back that up ?

anything new to add that we can't see on other websites *word-for-word*

any original thoughts of your own at all ?

Fresca > BA
BA > Fresca

Fresca >< BA

and that's putting it politely !

The fact was, some cops probably wanted to stop him. He was a radical journalist, and one who was pretty prominent in Philly in the 1970s. I'm sure he knew about corruption there -- Philly was well known for being a screwed up government.

If he did it, so be it. If someone else did it, Mumia would have be the perfect fall guy. Mumia would have zero support from anyone in the PD. Evidence would disappear. Witnesses would go quiet. That is the power of being in the PD - you're legally sanctioned to use force, and nobody can really stop you except other cops.

It would be up to internal crusaders who would be willing to make sure that due process was followed.

Add it up. It's fishy, and the man should *never* be put to death, for that reason.

they screwed up any evidence that could have overcome this legal requirement right at the start

both because of sloppy handling from the arrogance of being sure they would obtain a conviction and due to direct corruption

he was in M.O.V.E. - that alone speaks volumes about why they framed him

the transcripts and evidence plus opinion (legal or otherwise) not to mention the new developments in the case since I checked it out a few years ago adds up to quite a bit of reading..

It would take at least a few weeks to go over it

The only detractors we see here obviously haven't read squat excepting equally simple minded and short sound-bite lies designed with them in mind..

A word-for-word search pulls up the exact sentences they pasted here on right-wing pro-death websites, showing they have nothing to offer other than thinly veiled hate - their bread & butter

While serious efforts of comprehensive research are dismissed with said sound-bites supported by lies of doing even basic reading on his case.

People who play these games are insulting to both the targets of thier lies and the subject at hand - trolls in the truest sense who's goals are -as stated- to disrupt, distract and discredit.

And they don't care who they are trashing per se, only that they don't appear to be too cruel so as to alienate readers into just skipping or ignoring them entirely

which would impact thier ability to engage in the three D's

the only bottom line they are concerned with - their own