enjoyable sex, chosen motherhood, I CHOOSE, where, how and when!!
Last Monday a feminist picket was called at the Health Ministry in Madrid to protest exclusion of single women and lesbians from health benefits, the latest neo-fascist law, as well as new restrictions on abortion rights, ,exclusion of violence victims with less than 24 hrs in hospital from statistics, closure of hospirals, etc etc. Men were invited.
Well over 500 people showed up, to a festive atmosphere, but the pòlice aggressively identified people, harrassing old people and then attacked without warning, causing many injuries. The press were attacked first, so there are few images of the violence. Continue reading “Lesbians/singles excluded from Health Benefits, police attack demo”
Marie Mason is a political prisoner, activist, and musician, among other things. She’s being held in a supermax gulag in Texas for over 22 years, and she never hurt anybody. Please visit supportmariemason.org/ for more information.
Top 40 music seems to be undergoing a sea change lately. Cher has a feminist song on the radio and in the club. Neko Case is taking gender identity straight to task. Frank Ocean and Macklemore are topping the charts with songs that carve space for queer-friendly voices in the machismo-drenched worlds of R&B and hip-hop. Ann Powers at NPR declared 2013 “Country Music’s Year of the Woman,” and Jewly Hight at the Nashville Scene pointed out a similar trend last year, of female artists whose sounds still fit the country genre, but whose lyrics and personae push the boundaries of country femininity.
Every day the demos are getting bigger, pickets become gigantic and merge into marches and rioting.
It’s not just a case of changing Prime Minister, half the government are implicated in mass bribery. If Rajoy goes others and the maybe the whole government will fall.
Then the ‘Troika’ program of closing all public services, schools, hospitals, pensions.. plus 500 mortgage evictions a day and general unemployment.. may grind to an halt.
Outdoor air pollution causes more than seven million deaths each year, according to a 2014 World Health Organisation study – the equivalent of more than 2 Chernobyl disasters annually, with over 10 times that number of us suffering chronic health problems from poisoned air.
It calculated that, each year, at least a million people died as a result of ozone and over 5 million deaths can be linked to fine particulate matter. Air pollution increased respiratory and heart disease risks, with the young, elderly and infirm most vulnerable.
Since the Industrial Revolution unscrupulous capitalists have knowingly exposed the public to deadly air pollution to increase their profits, knowing that it’s practically impossible to prove they cause the slow agonizing deaths.
In just over a week from now, the sentencing phase of Bradley Manning’s court martial will commence. Some time in August we will know the verdict on all outstanding charges, as well as the sentence in relation to those charges of which, if any, he has been found guilty. Depending on what happens over the next couple of weeks, a maximum sentence of life imprisonment may still be on the cards. Even if the more serious charges are dismissed, he could still face severe sentencing.
Rally in support of Bradley Manning on August 8, 2010, in Quantico, Virginia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
And, so, we are at that critical point when all stops have to be pulled out – for every day, every minute, every second – until the verdict is announced. In short, it’s make or break time. And this is not just about Bradley Manning – it never was – for if he falls, then so do we all.
Though the justice system will deny this, it is a fact that the court of public opinion has significant influence on a trial’s outcome, particularly in the case of a political trial. Moreover, in the land where celebrities are cast as gods, it is inevitable that they too can influence events and decisions, including those of a political nature.
So, to everyone who believes they have influence and that the true criminals in this case are those in Government: this is the time to do whatever you can to make a bold and uncompromising statement – whether that be in the mainstream press, on television, via the Internet or by any other means.
Finally, to those thousands of people around the world who knew that Bradley – a thrice Nobel Peace Prize nominee and acclaimed by three Nobel laureates – should never have been charged in the first place, know that whatever the outcome of this farcical trial if we have the same courage as Manning has shown from day one then we will prevail and see, sooner or later, his liberation.
Note: the above video features a song for Bradley by the UK ska band, The Specials. Below is a copy of a full-page advertisement to be published in the New York Times on July 25 (assuming costs are recouped in time – see here to add your name to the ad). An earlier video tribute by celebrities and well known political commentators is also featured once more.
Worldwide protests in support of Manning are called for July 27. To see where, click here .
Go for it!
Updates
1. The U.S. government ended its five-week case against Manning in the first week of July, after
English: Slogan for the support of the persecuted American ex-soldier who is claimed to have leaked secret documents to WikiLeaks Deutsch: Slogan für die Unterstützung und Freilassung von Bradley Manning, der beschuldigt wird, geheime Dokumente an WikiLeaks weitergegeben zu haben (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
providing no evidence that he had “aided the enemy” by passing military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks.
2. Manning’s defense then filed four motions to direct a verdict of not guilty on most of the greater offenses he’s charged with, including “aiding the enemy,” violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and stealing government property. If we take just one of these four charges that of ‘Aiding the enemy’… In January Judge Denise Lind asked the prosecutors, “Would you have pressed the same charges if Manning had given the documents not to WikiLeaks but directly to the New York Times?”. Their reply: “Yes Ma’am.” This reply was interesting in that it equated Wikileaks with all other media, which means, basically, that any media publishing anything about war crimes is in the eyes of the Government, ‘aiding the enemy’: the enemy here being the public. Also, by selectively prosecuting Manning and not, say, the New York Times, the Government demonstrates that this trial is an absurdity and entirely political.
3. An important defense witness was Yochai Benkler, a Law professor, who explained how Wikileaks is a publishing house that uses new methods of gathering and disseminating information. Excellent commentary on Benkler’s testimony is given by Kevin Gosztola. Here is a full transcript of Benkler’s testimony.
4. For commentary by the Bradley Manning Support Group on all the four charges that the defense is seeking dismissal, click here .
The Free 