HUD's Public Housing Privatization Scheme "PETRA" Is Rejected (tags)
People across the nation are speaking out against the scheme to privatize 1.2 million public housing units, under a HUD proposal called Transforming Rental Assistance (TRA) initiative. The struggle against the privatization of public housing in Berkeley and Oakland has blossomed into a nation wide struggle against the profiteers that are trying to terminate public housing programs across the nation! On May 25, 2010, at a congressional hearing, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and many housing advocacy organizations from across the country spoke-out against HUD's proposals, and submitted written statements for the hearing record opposing TRA, including the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness and other Los Angeles housing and human rights organizations.
KPFA: Lords & Ladies vs. the Peasants (tags)
by a gray-haired KPFA listener who missed the French revolution
Pacifica Radio: FREEDOM TO SPEAK LARRY BENSKY'S LANGUAGE! (tags)
Many people in the KPFA listener community in the San Francisco Bay Area have asked me, Joseph Anderson, for a copy of my UC Berkeley "Daily Californian" newspaper guest column on Pacifica Radio's KPFA character Larry Bensky. At the time of its original publication, I knew nothing about Bensky other than how he came across on the air. I guess it is time for a confirming retrospective. Bensky hasn't changed a bit. This was written during the Pacifica Radio crisis of 1999, when Bensky was fired (thanks to *me*, now it can be told!). I immediately notified and talked to Mary Berry, then, about his insubordination and symbolically offered to let her have Bensky in exchange for Pacifica Radio back. But, it was still nice to have someone Black shut *Bensky* up!
Iran: A Bridge too Far? (tags)
The weapon that could defeat the US in the Gulf A word to the reader: The following paper is so shocking that, after preparing the initial draft, I didn’t want to believe it myself, and resolved to disprove it with more research. However, I only succeeded in turning up more evidence in support of my thesis. And I repeated this cycle of discovery and denial several more times before finally deciding to go with the article. I believe that a serious writer must follow the trail of evidence, no matter where it leads, and report back. So here is my story. Don’t be surprised if it causes you to squirm. Its purpose is not to make predictions –– history makes fools of those who claim to know the future –– but simply to describe the peril that awaits us in the Persian Gulf. By awakening to the extent of that danger, perhaps we can still find a way to save our nation and the world from disaster. If we are very lucky, we might even create an alternative future that holds some promise of resolving the monumental conflicts of our time. MG
Thousands March Against War in Berkeley (tags)
Thousands of students and community residents marched against war and racist hysteria in Berkeley, CA today. The march ended at the Daily Californian, where an encampment will be held until they apologize for a racist cartoon published this week. See SF Indymedia for more coverage.