LONDON - In a week when world leaders concluded that it would be "unrealistic" to aim for a legally binding agreement at the upcoming UN Climate Conference, there are signs that activist groups are working to create their own systematic plans
The anti-sweatshop movement at dozens of American universities, from Georgetown to U.C.L.A., has had plenty of idealism and energy, but not many victories.
Until now.
The often raucous student movement announced on Tuesday that it had achieved its biggest victory by far. Its pressure tactics persuaded one of the nation's leading sportswear companies, Russell Athletic, to agree to rehire 1,200 workers in Honduras who lost their jobs when Russell closed their factory soon after the workers had unionized.
A federal judge said Monday that Tim DeChristopher won't be allowed to argue that global warming posed an imminent threat that justified placing bogus bids to derail a Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease auction last year.
"The court finds that DeChristopher's necessity defense fails because there were reasonable, legal alternatives open to DeChristopher other than his alleged criminal acts," U.S. District Judge Dee Benson wrote in his nine-page ruling.
The other day I received a pre-publication copy of The
Battle of the Story of the Battle of Seattle, by David Solnit
and Rebecca Solnit. It's set to come out ten years after a historic
coalition of activists shut down the World Trade Organization summit in
Seattle, the spark that ignited a global anticorporate movement.
There is only one solution to the twin problems of escalating health
care costs and the epidemic of the uninsured: a Medicare-for-All,
single payer system.
Unfortunately, the healthcare debate on Capitol Hill has evolved
without serious consideration of the Medicare-for-All single payer
health proposal. There are many reasons for this, but one is that many
who actually support Medicare-for-All have claimed that the proposal is
"not feasible."
At least three doctors will be risking arrest in civil disobedience actions during Mobilization for Healthcare for All's
third wave of actions this week, which are being held to demand an end
to insurance abuse and to demand real health care reform for all.
EAST JERUSALEM - Israeli authorities are increasingly targeting and intimidating non-violent
Palestinian grassroots activists involved in anti-occupation activities who are
drawing increased support from the international community.
Several weeks ago masked Israeli soldiers stormed the home of Ehab Jallad
from The Jerusalem Popular Committee for the Celebration of Jerusalem as
the Capital of Arab Culture for 2009.
One of the most cherished items in my possession is a postcard that was sent from Mississippi to the Upper West Side of Manhattan in June 1964.
“Dear Mom and Dad,” it says, “I have arrived safely in Meridian, Mississippi. This is a wonderful town and the weather is fine. I wish you were here. The people in this city are wonderful and our reception was very good. All my love, Andy.”
Personal details about thousands of people - said to include those only suspected of minor public order offences such as peaceful direct action and civil disobedience - are being compiled on a database run by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU).
The data includes pictures of people taken demonstrations and other observations made by police on the scene, such as vehicle registration numbers. These enable cars to be tracked using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
Let's say you occasionally despair for the future of the planet. In
that case, the place you need to be this week is the website for 350.org.
Every few minutes, something new arrives at our headquarters, where
young people hunched over laptops do their best to keep up with the
pace. News that activists in Afghanistan—Afghanistan—have organized a
rally for our big day of action on October 24. They'll assemble on a
hillside 20 kilometers from Kabul to write a huge message in the sand:
"Let Us Live: 350."
