Clipmarks | papananook's 'protest' clips

Pentagon to EPA: You and What Army? Refuse to clean up

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:27:34 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: If it were a private polluter and not the Pentagon, the EPA would most likely go to court to force compliance, but an executive branch policy prevents federal agencies from suing one another.

Other agencies, including NASA and the Department of Energy, have complied with the EPA’s Superfund cleanup orders without protest.

This is the second time in a week that it’s been revealed that the EPA’s authority has been ignored by others in the government. The New York Times reported last Wednesday that, when the EPA sent an e-mail to the White House concluding that greenhouse gasses can be regulated by the Clean Air Act, the White House simply refused to open it, successfully getting the EPA to backtrack.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

The Washington Post is reporting that the Pentagon is refusing orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up three sites where it dumped chemicals that the EPA says have contaminated soil and drinking water and pose “imminent and substantial” dangers to public health.

The sites are at military bases at Fort Meade in Maryland, Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, and McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.

The Post also reports that the EPA has identified 12 Superfund sites contaminated by the Pentagon that the Pentagon refuses to acknowledge, even though it is required to do so by law. Of the 1,255 Superfund sites on the EPA’s list, the Department of Defense owns 129 - making it the single biggest polluter in the country.

“This is stunning,” said Rena Steinzor, who helped write the Superfund laws as a congressional staffer

“The idea that they would refuse to sign a final order - that is the height of amazing nerve.”

Anger Mounts as Police End Protest Against US by Czechs

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:27:01 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Not in their back yard...Another fool's missile shield.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

The battle lines for America’s controversial anti-missile missile shield in central-eastern Europe have been drawn across the Czech Republic, with the pro-base Prague government fast losing the fight for Czech hearts and minds.

Military police have forcibly ended a six-week-old Greenham Common-style “occupation” by Czech Greenpeace activists of Height 718, the planned site of America’s missile-tracking high-speed radar base in the Brdy military district southwest of Prague.

Following the centre-right Prague government’s signing of the US-Czech missile base agreement last month, a wave of mass protests and “rolling” hunger strikes demonstrated the level of public disquiet over the siting of the US base on Czech soil.

The ranks of environmental protesters, leftist anti-missile activists and the usual rent-a-crowd have recently been boosted by prominent public figures on symbolic, short hunger strikes at Brdy to show their opposition to the American base.

GAO backs whining local war profiteers

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:24:47 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: What?! We can't spread the taxpayers' money for cozy deals overseas! Unthiinkable.

Clip Source: www.npr.org

All Things Considered, June 18, 2008 · The Government Accountability Office Wednesday upheld Boeing's protest of a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract awarded to Airbus and Northrop Grumman. The decision is not binding but there may now be pressure on the Air Force to re-examine the deal.

April 10, 2008
Boeing Protests Rivals' Plan for Ala. Aircraft Plant
April 4, 2008
Boeing Official: Air Force Manipulated Tanker Deal
April 1, 2008
Northrop Grumman CEO Defends Air Force Deal
March 6, 2008
Air Force Deal with Airbus Enrages Congress

Bush unwelcomed in N.Ireland

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:09:36 GMT

clipped by: papananook

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Human rights protesters have urged Northern Ireland’s politicians to tackle US President George Bush on the issue of prisoner treatment.

Amnesty International staged a demonstration in the city centre yesterday to voice their concerns about the detention of terror suspects without trial at Guantanamo Bay and the transfer of prisoners to other countries for interrogation, known as extraordinary rendition.

Further protests are expected today to coincide with his arrival in Northern Ireland, with police notified of two separate events.

The Bush Not Welcome group, which represents in excess of 100 people, have organised a protest at Stormont scheduled for 2.30pm.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph last night, group spokesman Paddy Meehan said it was an outrage for Northern Ireland’s politicians to have invited the US leader to the province: “Bush Not Welcome opposes Bush’s legacy in Iraq, his environmental crimes and his anti-worker policies,” said Mr Meehan.

St. Paul GOP Convention Protest Dispute Returning To Court

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:24:34 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: There's gonna be a ruckus. 8 yrs. of frustration has to o somewhere.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Round 2 of the legal fight over protests outside this year’s Republican National Convention is under way.

The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War is taking its dispute with the city over a march on the Xcel Energy Center back to federal court, reviving a case originally filed when the group was frustrated with the city’s sluggish response to its permit request.

This time, the organization wants a judge to force the city to change the time, location and duration of a route for an estimated 50,000 protesters expected to voice their disapproval of the war in Iraq. The coalition is accusing the city of rolling out the red carpet for the convention while ignoring the free-speech rights of citizens.

“This really is a question of whether the political discussion in this country is owned by the politicians or if the people are allowed to participate,” said Bruce Nestor, a lawyer for the group.

France to March Against Bush

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:23:29 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: It's sad..no, outrageous... that there's not enough people in the USA to get up and march against Bush but the French will do it.

Clip Source: www.politicalaffairs.net

Paris, Jun 8 (Prensa Latina) Left-wing parties, trade unions and social organizations in France will hold demonstrations across that country to protest the upcoming visit of US President George W. Bush.

Bush will be received by his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday and Saturday, in a working meeting, where they will discuss international and common topics.

A communiqué signed by 30 organizations pointed out this will be the occasion to express the popular rejection of Bush's militaristic policies, just like it is being done in the US and the rest of the world.

The text expressed discomfort with the catastrophes generated by the US government's interventions in other countries.

"The consequences of the war in the Middle East are misery, corruption, terrorism, millions of civil victims and destroyed countries," the document said.

Maine Jury Says It's Legal to Protest an Illegal War

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:07:02 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: But just when I was feeling tempted to settle for the paltry encouragement in something as entirely meaningless as the demise of yet another administration enabler like Katz, who, for all his weasely ways, is finally only the dull instrument of his boss's heartlessness, a story came my way that gave me a moment of hope.

But first, the bad news. The bad news is that this hopeful story -- one that illustrates a constructive and effective direct action for change -- was reported only in the Bangor Daily News. Period.

The good news, which that paper reported on April 30, is that six peace activists were acquitted on charges of criminal trespass for failing to obey a police request that they abandon their sit-in outside U.S. Sen. Susan Collins' office in the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Maine.

The defendants, Doug Rawlings, Henry Braun, Jimmy Freeman, Dud Hendrick, Rob Shetterly and Jonathan Kreps -- dubbed the Bangor Six -- were arrested in March 2007 for protesting Bu

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

A rare bit of good news for the anti-war movement goes largely ignored by the media.

The stink leaking out of Ira Katz's office at the Veterans Affairs just doesn't stop. Every day some callous new email shows how little he cares that the stunning statistics about soldier and veteran suicides he is trying to suppress represent real lives that were his responsibility; some flat-footed attempt is made to convince Congress -- again -- that he didn't mean to "mislead." As the widow of a Vietnam vet who took his own life after coming home, all the skulduggery and frightening indifference that agents of this government have exhibited in its attempt to keep it all out of sight has been particularly hard to take. But even given my deep personal connection to these stories, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to sustain an appropriately high-decibel level of outrage. I am so very tired of it all. A little good news would go a long way.

Salt Lakers confront Preznut Bush

Thu, 29 May 2008 18:25:54 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Anderson helped organize the rally and not only denounced the war in Iraq, but spoke out against further military action. "There is a substantial risk, especially with the complacent citizenry, the president will order an attack against Iran, having continued the case for another illegal, tragic war of aggression against a people who largely stood in sympathy and solidarity with us on 9/11," he said.

Some high school students who are not old enough to vote were there, believing their voices can still make a difference. Rose Nelson told us, "No matter how old you are, you can still exercise your First Amendment right, and that's the right to protest, to assemble. We've got to say something because we can."

Clip Source: www.ksl.com

Protesters gather in Salt Lake as Pres. Bush visits Utah

May 28th, 2008 @ 10:03pm

While President Bush was in Park City, protesters gathered in downtown Salt Lake City to hold a peace rally.

There were not as many protesters tonight as there were in August 2006, the last time the president visited Utah, but several hundred people, possibly more than 1,000, gathered tonight to protest the president and the war.

Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said, "We raise our voices in unison today because President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other members of the administration have engaged with the sad complacency of Congress and much of the mainstream media in unprecedented egregious human rights violations, vast deceit of Congress and the American people, astounding crimes against peace, of the same nature as those for which men were convicted during the Nuremberg Trials, war crimes, crimes against humanity."

They gathered to cheer, shout and hold signs in a rally for peace.

Lie-Down Protest

Fri, 23 May 2008 13:28:54 GMT

clipped by: papananook

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

More than 100 campaigners against cluster bombs staged a lie-down protest in the middle of O’Connell Street in Dublin this morning.According to gardaí, the protest started at 7am and lasted about an hour. Campaigners, including survivors injured by cluster bombs, laid down in the median of O’Connell Street close to the Spire.

The protest was as part of the campaign to secure an international agreement banning cluster bombs. An international conference taking place this week in Croke Park aims to ban the manufacture and use of cluster munitions.

Representatives of more than 100 states are attending the conference, although the United States, Russia and Britain - some of the most prolific users of the small munitions - are not attending.

Cluster bombs open in mid-air and scatter as many as several hundred “bomblets” over wide areas. They often fail to explode, creating minefields that can kill or injure anyone who comes across them.

New York 8th-Graders Boycott Practice Exam But Teacher May Get Ax

Fri, 23 May 2008 13:14:20 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Right ON, kids...about time, too. see article for the teach's trouble.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Students at a South Bronx middle school have pulled off a stunning boycott against standardized testing.

More than 160 students in six different classes at Intermediate School 318 in the South Bronx - virtually the entire eighth grade - refused to take last Wednesday’s three-hour practice exam for next month’s statewide social studies test.

Instead, the students handed in blank exams.

Then they submitted signed petitions with a list of grievances to school Principal Maria Lopez and the Department of Education.

“We’ve had a whole bunch of these diagnostic tests all year,” Tatiana Nelson, 13, one of the protest leaders, said Tuesday outside the school. “They don’t even count toward our grades. The school system’s just treating us like test dummies for the companies that make the exams.”

According to the petition, they are sick and tired of the “constant, excessive and stressful testing” that causes them to “lose valuable instructional time with our teachers.”

Karl Rove's pundit problem

Thu, 22 May 2008 17:36:22 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: The guy should be in jail--or hung.

Clip Source: www.smirkingchimp.com

If Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) holds true to his recent promise to slap Karl Rove with a contempt of Congress charge for refusing to answer questions about explosive abuse-of-power allegations and whether Rove unleashed the Justice Department on a prominent Alabama Democrat, it will be interesting to see how Rove's newfound media employers at Newsweek, Fox News, and The Wall Street Journal handle the story.

It will also be worth noting how Beltway opinion-makers in the press, who in recent weeks have been praising Rove for his second act as a full-time pundit, deal with the messy development.

When Rove began lining up media jobs following his 2007 White House departure, there were howls of protest about such an obvious and controversial partisan being embraced by media outlets as a news analyst.

politics-to-press revolving door is not good for journalism. (We need more reporters, not pundits.) But the trend is not going away, and history shows the media are far more willing to hire partisan

Slick Back-Hair Men Rally Against Negative Hollywood Portrayal

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:22:12 GMT

clipped by: papananook

Clip Source: www.theonion.com

Ray Swartz, a prominent slicked-back-hair man.

LOS ANGELES—Thousands of members of the slicked-back-hair community gathered in Hollywood Monday to protest the film industry's longtime trend of depicting men with slicked-back hair as untrustworthy, unlikeable antagonists.

"There have been 4,192 films in the past 10 years in which male characters with sleek or slicked-back hairstyles have been portrayed in a negative light," said Ray Swartz, chairman of the National Organization of Men with Slicked-Back Hair. "Even though men with this hairstyle comprise just 3 percent of the U.S. populace, they make up nearly 80 percent of all film and TV villains, bad guys, and just plain assholes. As a result, thousands of men who enjoy wetting their hair and then combing it straight back face a silent but pervasive form of discrimination every single day."

"I'm just a man with slicked-back hair," Swartz added. "Does that make me a sleazeball?"

Protest Songs for 2008

Sat, 10 May 2008 21:48:45 GMT

clipped by: papananook

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Protest Songs for 2008 Click the ad to go to singer/songwriter Zak Smith's website. Watch the video for his song Traitor's Way, written in response to the war in Iraq. Also listen to his song Choke This Republic Boys, written about the state of the media in America.

Hong Kong torch protesters removed 'for own protection'

Tue, 06 May 2008 20:26:28 GMT

clipped by: papananook

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Student activist braves angry pro-China supporters to protest against human rights abuses on first day of Olympic torch's domestic journey

Police remove Hong Kong torch protesters 'for own protection'

Dockworkers Take May Day Off, Idling All West Coast Ports

Thu, 01 May 2008 23:38:48 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: A solidarity message from Iraqi dock workers is in the comments

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Thousands of dockworkers at all 29 West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, took the day off work today in what their union called a protest of the war in Iraq, effectively shutting down operations at the busy complexes.

The action came two months before the contract expires between the dockworkers, represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and the Pacific Maritime Assn., which represents port operators and large shippers, many of them foreign-owned.

“We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq,” said union President Bob McEllrath.

The dockworkers’ action also affected ports in Oakland, Seattle and San Diego, and was expected to last between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The dockworkers do virtually all the work involved in loading and unloading freight between ships and the port, handling containers brimming with toys, clothing, computers and automobiles.