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Activists to Protest Central American Free Trade Meeting in Houston, Oct. 20-27.
The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) will do to Central America what NAFTA did to Mexico.
Activists are organizing events in protest.
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Around 11am, Wednesday, October 15, 2003, SF Liberation Radio was raided by upwards of 25 FCC agents, Federal Marshalls and the SFPD. They brought a warrant and entered the station, housed in a basement, through a second story aparment, "with battering rams and prybars," according to an eyewitness account of the raid. The micropower radio station has been broadcasting in SF since 1993. No arrests were made, but the station's equipment and antenna were seized.
The staff, comprised of local activists, journalists, writers, and others who care about freedom and social justice, is dedicated to giving their audience a politically progressive point of view. Their focus is on issues like police brutality, environmental degradation, political prisoners and prisoners' rights, media censorship, animal rights, homelessness, equality and economic justice, and attacks on women and women's right to choice.
On July 2, 2003, two FCC agents came to the station. DJ Carmen La Salle refused to let them in to inspect the equipment. They informed her that refusal would result in a $7,000 fine, and a $10,000 fine for broadcasting without a license. They hand-delivered a "notice of unlicensed radio operation." The station was given until July 20 to present a "proof of a license or authority to operate this radio station."
On August 18, 2003, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support SF Liberation Radio. The eight Supervisors present voted 'aye' to not only support SFLR in its history and endeavour but also to condemn the FCC and Congress’ attempts to further deregulate the corporate media.
WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT COMING AFTER THEM NOW, WHEN THEY HAVE BEEN BROADCASTING WITHOUT A LICENSE FOR TEN YEARS? GET THE WORD OUT, DO NOT LET THE US GOVERNMENT SILENCE VOICES OF DISSENT!
Transit Strikers Demand Healthcare
Mechanics at the MTA walked out Tuesday to demand that their healthcare benefits be preserved. The pro-business media were critical of the middle-class wages of around $50k earned by the mechanics, but didn't discuss the level of skill required to repair buses, or enlarge the story to include the issue of universal health care implied by the strikers' demands.
Wednesday, contract bus drivers walked out over a contract dispute. An LA Times story echoed the MTA's rhetorical argument that the strikers are well paid workers pitted against the underpaid, underinsured workers who ride the buses. They did not explicitly contrast this with the vital role inexpensive public transit plays in enabling business to pay these lower wages.
Also, Sheriffs On Strike Over Salaries: LA Sheriffs have also been having a sickout for most of October for wage increases that continue the County's habit of granting raises that outpace inflation. The average annual pay for a County cop is $71k, often significantly more than that of the people they serve and/or arrest. (LAT)
By MERLIN CHOWKWANYUN
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2003, Sherman Martin Austin began serving one year in federal prison under terms of a plea agreement for which he was sentenced on Aug. 4, 2003.
Austin, the 20-year-old African-American founder and former webmaster of the anarchist website www.raisethefist.com, pleaded guilty to "distribution" of information about making or using explosives with the "intent" that the information "be used for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a Federal crime of violence." Such was deemed illegal under a relatively obscure federal statute, 18 U.S.C. 842 (p)(2)(A), pushed through Congress by Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the late 1990s. The offending material, which Austin repeatedly has emphasized he did not author, was housed on an isolated section
of Austin's web server, and a small portion of it contained amateurish
instructions on how to assemble simple explosives.
Now, as Austin and the increasing number of people analyzing his case count down the days to his freedom, new facts about his case are coming to light. Gathered from court records, law enforcement documents, and interviews, these new details reveal a sloppy federal investigation of Austin, one of inconsistencies and dubious evidence that nonetheless resulted in an armed raid of Austin's 950-sq. foot Sherman Oaks, CA home, a nightmarish 13-day detention in two cities, and ultimately, a year-long federal prison sentence handed down by a Reagan-appointed federal judge.
The new details also show the egregious politicization of Austin's case by
federal prosecutors and the judge who sentenced Austin. They show the FBI, during its investigation, engaging in questionable conduct that make parallels to COINTELPRO quite apt. And above all, the new information elevates Sherman's case beyond its obvious--and obviously important--free speech implications and demonstrates just how low the bar is for authorities to cobble together an affidavit for easy approval (and a warrant) from a judge. Read ENTIRE ARTICLE. Visit the new FREE SHERMAN Website.
STRIKE! Supermarket Workers Start Pickets
For the first time in 25 years, supermarket workers have gone on strike. Workers started picketing Vons and Pavillions (part of the Safeway empire) on Saturday night; in response, Ralphs and Albertsons locked their workers out and brought in scabs to keep the stores open.
An unrelated story of abuse at Albertsons.
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